Interview with Jeff Miller

AN INTERVIEW WITH NEW MONSOON’S JEFF MILLER
By Tim Hurley


For six years now San Francisco’s New Monsoon has been tearing up the jam world with their exhilarating blend of psychedelic rock, world percussion, and infectious grooves.  Having recently won Best Rock Band at the North Bay Music Awards, the band continues to make their mark and win the respect of fans and critics alike.  Last week Jammed Online writer Tim Hurley got to catch up with guitarist/songwriter Jeff Miller to discuss the current tour, their latest album “The Sound”, and why Neil Young can do whatever he wants.


TH:  How are things going to today?

JM:  Excellent we just got back from Alaska, and our drummer actually just got his green card today.  That was a huge one; we were waiting on that for awhile.

TH:  Were you guys sweatin’ that?

JM:  Yes, he was ecstatic.  We are too.

TH:  How was the Alaska trip for you?

JM:  It was great, incredible.

TH:  Did you get a good response from the crowd there?

JM:  Oh yeah, we played a music festival there.  It was a great scene.  They are like sponges up there.  They don’t get as much music as we down here so they were pretty appreciative.

TH:  I am sure they were.  My sister lived in Alaska for a few years, and she just loved it. 

JM:  It is gorgeous.  We really scratched the small surface there.  We actually got to go whitewater rafting at Denali on a class 4 rapid that was pretty hard core.  But nobody got thrown from the raft, everybody managed to stay on which is good.

TH:  That’s the goal huh?

JM:  Yeah, don’t die.

TH:  Right on.  Well again I want to say how much I appreciate you talking with me today.  I know you guys are pretty busy.

JM:  No sweat.

TH:  It is an honor for me, not so much as a I writer but more as a fan.  I’ve been seeing you guys play a good number of times over the last couple of years.  In fact, I was able to see you 3 or 4 times in the last year, and the band has really gotten better.

JM:  Thank you, man.

TH:  So how do you feel the current tour is going?

JM:  Excellent you know.  Lately we were out in Sioux City, IA where we played Saturday in the Park.  That was a great event.  Then we went to Summerfest with moe. and got to open up for them.  That was fantastic.  Then we went to Alaska, and now are going to Hood River to do our own jam event for two days.

TH:  Yes, the New Monsoon Wind Jam Weekend, right?

JM:  Correct.

TH:  How did that come about?

JM:  Well, we had been scouting a location to do our first official New Monsoon event. And we had gone up to Hood River a couple of times and got a really good response up there.  We have a good fan and friendship base with those folks.  And they have a fantastic facility called Stonehedge which is this beautiful, kind of Tolkien sort of setting.  And we just pictured this kind of renaissance fair-esque thing with a weekend where people can come up and hike, or go in the river, or whatever they want to do.  And they said let’s do it, lets get it done.  It was a mutual agreement.

TH:  So that’s this weekend (July 15-16)?

JM:  Yes, correct.

TH:  That sounds amazing.  And you said you just played in Sioux City, IA recently?

JM:  Yeah, we just played there at Saturday in the Park, which is their town festival at a great amphitheater.  It was a very multi-cultural, family sort of crowd.  Not your typical jamband crowd.  But they were very enthusiastic.

TH:  I’ve be there a few times, I am originally from Iowa.  I remember years ago seeing Big Head Todd and the Monsters and Rita Marley.  They get pretty good artists there.

JM:  Yeah, we were sharing a dressing room with Chuck Berry!    I didn’t actually get to meet the guy, but it was pretty cool seeing our name next to his.

TH:  He’s still going, that amazing.

JM:  Yeah, I think he’s like 80 or something.  Still playing Johnny B. Goode. 

TH:  Fantastic! 

JM:  It was!

TH:  Well you know the last time I got to see you guys play was a couple of weeks ago at the Wakarusa Festival in Kansas.  You performed a Friday night set in the Voodoo tent that was off the hook!  It was really hot.  A lot of people I spoke to after the festival thought it was actually one of the better sets they had heard all weekend.

JM:  Yeah, we ripped it out with our buddy Tim Carbone from Railroad Earth.

TH:  What is it about playing festivals such as that, High Sierra, or Austin City Limits that guys enjoy so much?

JM:  It’s kind of a built in scenario because everybody’s there for the music.  And you are playing up against all these great people you know?  It kind of brings the best out of you.    You just want to rock it because it is your hour, hour and a half to shine.  Your really gotta turn it on.  It’s a little different from a normal show where people are coming just to see you.  At festivals they are seeing all this great music, so we think we should pull out all the heavy artillery.  There are all these amazing people playing at the same time, so we thrive on the challenge.

TH:  You know last year you guys got to play another amazing venue, I am of course talking about Red Rocks in Colorado as part of the Big Summer Classic Tour.  How was that experience for you guys as musicians?

JM:  Oh god, it was amazing.  Getting to perform at THE venue as far as I’m concerned…  And for two days!  I remember this little storm that came in the second day, and we played one of songs “Bridge of the Gods” as the winds were coming through, and the lightning was crackling between the two rocks.

TH:  How appropriate!

JM:  I know!

TH:  You guys conjured it maybe, huh?

JM:  Yeah I think so.  We summoned it.

TH:  You guys had a chance to play with your buddies String Cheese on that tour.  Prior to that you had signed with their recording label, SCI Fidelity.  What was it about them that convinced you to join the team?

JM:  Well they actually approached us, because we played the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.  And the recording came out surprisingly well.  A friend of ours made a suggestion that we send them a copy of it.  We weren’t necessarily expecting to release that particular show, but it came out so well.  It was the perfect length, and it was a set that showed us in a certain light, and it was of course the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.  So everything was there.  It was easy because it was already mixed and done.  Not much production had to go into it.  It was ready to go.  We actually got nominated for a Jammy for Best Live Album of the Year with it too.  That was a real honor, to be up there with like Widespread and others.

TH:  And you guys released your latest album, The Sound, last year and it’s on a different label, Harmonized Records.

JM:  Yes, because SCI Fidelity had a bunch of stuff going on and there was no way it could have been released when we wanted to release it.  So we partnered up with our other friends Harmonized Records, who are most associated with Home Grown Music.  And we thought it would also be good to spread ourselves out a little and have some different things going on.

TH:  How was the recording process on this album different from your previous releases?

JM:  Very different.  It was the first time we went into a real studio that cost a lot of money!  The other two studio records, Hydrophonic and Downstream, were done at our home.  Space we actually don’t have anymore, unfortunately.  So we didn’t have the ability to do that again.  Plus, we wanted to step it up a notch.  So we got involved with Michael Schrieve who came on as producer, then he involved another guy Paul Kimble who was from Grant Lee Buffalo and provided the engineering.  We decided to go with a heavier, thicker sound because now we had the options to do so.  The album is totally different.  We are trying to throw the fans a couple curve balls to see if they are paying attention.

TH:  How does the experience of being the studio compare to playing live?

JM:  I enjoy them both in different ways.  When playing live, you are up there and in the moment and getting energy back from the crowd.  In the studio you are more like working on a painting.  It’s really more internal with the band.  I love it.  I really wish I could do more studio work.  I wish I had my own studio.  Hopefully someday we will. 

TH:  You know there are not a lot of rock bands that have three percussionists.  Do you find difficult to write arrangements for songs to incorporate such an ensemble?

JM:  Not really, they pretty much figure it out themselves.  We will all bring a list of ideas in, and then throw it around.  Like “hey, this would be a good place for tables, or let’s let the congas support the drums here”.  But they are kind of a brain unto themselves.  They take a raw idea and mold into how they are feeling it, which can give different shades to the tune.  Taking a standard groove, that might be a straight-up rock groove, then you add that kind of Latin sound to it and you’ve taken it to something a little more orchestrated.  Sometimes it can be hard for everyone to find their part.  When I am writing a song I am writing from inspiration, not necessarily writing thinking to myself about every single member in the band and what they are going to play.  But it is pretty easy because everyone is used to how they play.  The longer we do this and play everyday together you get more comfortable knowing what each guy is going to play.  I think that is why the great bands like the Allmans, the Dead, Santana, and others do so well is because the longer you play is like more equity you build into the musical company.  They can go to places that are really special because they have been doing it for 15-20 years.  I feel like that it is our goal, longevity.  We want to keep getting better and better.  You can see it in bands like Widespread, and Cheese.  They are starting to get more mature.  That is the level we want to be at in like the next 5-10 years.

TH:  Fantastic.

JM:  Yeah.

TH:  In regards to writing music, a lot of artists today seem to be writing a lot of songs with political messages behind them, reflecting the wide gap of views in today’s society.  Do you ever feel compelled to mix your politics with your music?

JM:  On our last album, The Sound, we did that…  In particular the song, “The Sound”.  But I think there is a way to do it without being too preachy or trite.  I don’t feel like it is necessary to talk at people, say things like recycle, or support George Bush, and do this and do that.  I just want people to think about shit.  I personally was going through a frustrated phase with the whole September 11th thing, terrorism, and the Iraq war.  But a lot of the anxiety was being generated by the media.  So I kind of got onto this concept of hey, turn down the sound.  Turn off your TV.  Go out, go on a hike, and create your own perspective.  Do not just be force-fed stuff.  So the whole chorus for the song became about, “smash the wall that hides the lies and turn down the sounds”.  Don’t listen to what is being fed to you.  It was one of those songs that we don’t pull out all the time because sometimes if you pull it out in the middle of a show it can take the crowd into a heavy direction.  But I have people come up to me and say that was the best song I have ever heard. 

TH:  They like the message?

JM:  Exactly, and when you a song like that you might lose some of the folks that want to hula-hoop and dance the whole time, but then you can do it like Michael Franti who tends to make it a little more fun and still get a message across.  That is kind of a fine line there.  It was a leap for us to do that.  We thought to ourselves, do we want the title track to be a socio-political thing, and have a stance there?  There is kind of anti-right wing and media thing without trying to be too liberal and say hey, let’s hug a tree and recycle our plastic bottles. 

TH:  So you haven’t written a song yet called “Republicans Suck”?

JM:  Right!  Exactly!  But like Neil Young for example, does an album and comes out with a song called “Let’s Impeach the President”, so you realize when you get to that level you can just fucking say it! 

TH:  I think Neil can get away with those types of comments now.

JM:  Yeah, Neil can pretty much do whatever he wants.    But there is hope for art when there are people who have the courage like Neil who just say it.  But I am not particular out to always have my music be that way.  Once in awhile if you feel strongly about something you have to let it flow.

TH:  And Neil Young still gets his awards.

JM:  Right!

TH:  Speaking of awards, you mentioned earlier that you were nominated for a Jammy.  A lot of mainstream, and even non-mainstream artists seemed to be judged upon the amount of awards and recognition they receive from organizations and the media.  I know you guys were awarded Jambase.com’s 2003 Emerging Artist of the Year, a Jammy for the Big Summer Classic tour, and then most recently Best Rock Band at the North Bay Music Awards.  How important are awards to the band, and do you let it define your success?

JM:  No, not at all. We are doing what we do and trying to do the best we can and if people appreciate that with an award or whatever, then wow, great.  Hopefully that means we are doing our job, you know?  But I am so critical of the music itself.  I am pretty picky.  I kind of like Simon on American Idol.  You know, I will hear a show and I think maybe this show is good, but it can be better.  But in the meantime, it is very flattering.  But to answer your question, no, it doesn’t define our success.

TH:  It probably helps to not be content with yourselves because it pushes you to getter.

JM:  Right, absolutely.

TH:  So you mentioned earlier that some of the influences you guys have had were like the Allmans Brothers, Santana, and others like that.  What are you listening to now that might influence some of the music you play in the future?

JM:  You know I really like Queens of the Stone Age.  I have a real soft spot for heavier stuff.  And Tool….Tool’s new album is fantastic!

TH:  It really is; you are right!

JM:  We are in the jam scene, but we are very eclectic in our tastes.  Some guys might listen to the Black Eyes Peas new album for two weeks straight, then Tool’s new album comes out and we love that too.  Or Queens of the Stone Age, or maybe Audioslave.  But I haven’t bought any new music recently.  I have a hard time even keeping up with stuff people burn for me.  But also other discs like Neil Young’s new album, or David Gilmour’s.  I am also always checking out Ben Harper’s stuff.  And I am really looking forward to hearing Pearl Jam’s new album. 

TH:  I haven’t heard it yet either, but I hear great things.

JM:  Yeah, me too!

TH:  Well I think you and I can agree that the future of releasing music will be done digitally through downloading and whatnot versus actual physical discs.  How do you embrace the digital age and music?

JM:  I have been warming up to it.  But personally I like, and maybe I am just old-school, to have something I can hold in my hand.  I like to look at the artwork, and read the lyrics.  And I think there is a certain value going to a record store.  But a relative bought me an IPOD shuffle, and it’s great.  So I can’t say I am against the whole thing.  It is what it is, and can make things easy.  For example, we just did a series of shows with Steve Kimock at a club in San Francisco for three nights and released the shows on Nugs.net.  It is already selling competitively with our studio album that was released in stores.  There is definitely an audience there.  But I not a big fan of MP3s because the quality has been dumbed-down.  The best records to me are still done with analog.  You hear so much more with tape than you do with files, since files are compressed.  I feel like it would be great to marry the two worlds of analog and digital and get back the fidelity that has been lost.  But the accessibly of digital music is pretty amazing.  We have really shortened the gap.

TH:  Jeff, speaking of releases, I wanted to know if there are any projects or releases coming soon from the band that fans might get excited about?

JM:  We are always working, and always on to something.  We are focusing a little more on live stuff right now.  Maybe do a live album later this year.  We are taking a little hiatus form the studio and letting The Sound kind of sit out there for awhile.    But what I would like to do is like a hybrid, where we do a live and studio mix.

TH:  Sounds great, I look forward to it.  Jeff thanks again for taking time out of your busy day to talk with me, I really appreciate it. 

JM:  Yeah man, no problem.

TH:  Good luck with the rest of the tour.

JM:  Alright, take care buddy.



Published July 2006 by Jammed Online Music Magazine (www.jammedonline.com)
http://www.jammedonline.com/newmonsooninterview.html