In August 2022, Americana based artist Pete Miller released his newest effort Live On Record, and quickly saw its lead single “A Light Out There” connecting with the listening audience while earning charting success in the UK and amassing 80K+ streams. We had the opportunity to check in with Pete and talk with him about his influences, why he thinks the song resonated so quickly, his songwriting approach, and much more!

(Interview by: Jeffrey Kurtis)

1) You’ve pulled influence from Cash, Neil Young, and Townes Van Zandt. In what ways do you lean into each of their unique signatures and filter them into your own unique sound?

Well, I suppose, there’s a reason why people are influenced by musicians like them. They’ve created (and create) art that stands the test of time and I will never stop listening to their music. That being said, I never try to lean on any performer to create a specific sound during a recording or else I’ll do what the Greats have already done, which isn’t any fun to do; Of course, who I am influenced by will always be inside the songs, whether I like it or not…and that’s perfectly fine…But, this is more on a subconscious level, I suppose…And there are times, if I am stumped, I’ll find myself asking, “What would Johnny Cash do”…For instance, for the song, “Rising Man”, I did just that in regards to a specific word, which I was considering taking out of the song altogether; but, I quickly stopped contemplating it when, after a month, I heard Cash sing a song which had the word in it…After I heard him sing the word, I was rest assured that it was okay to put it in the song…But, When I am writing songs, for the most part, I usually listen to Classical music, jazz, or a movie soundtrack I like (Especially the ones from the films, “Thief”, “Gattaca”, or “Memento”). So, in essence, I like to work on songs with a blank canvas rather than being constrained by what I think musician’s in the past would have tried to do…As Bob Dylan once famously said, “I can only be me, whoever that is…”

2) Being from the northeast (Connecticut originally), what influence – if any - did the vibrant folk scene of places like NY have on your music early on?

Not much, as I hardly went into the City, and if I did it wasn’t to listen to music (although I did see an act from a band, which contained musicians from the band, Nirvana). But, the journeys there were, mostly, for the hookah Bars and trying to hang out with women. Of course, growing up, I did listen to different acts from the Gaslight Café, a place full of ‘vibrancy’ in New York City, from internet sources (although, when I listened to their acts on the computer, the feeling wasn’t too ‘vibrant’). Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan had a lot of great performances there, which I’ve listened to on many occasions…it was, simply, a different time back then and the music enveloped people’s lives in a whole different way than it does today…And coffeehouses like the Gaslight were a huge reason why, as it was a haven for musicians to be a part of the quickly intensifying Folk-Renaissance scene of the 1960s…Who knows…Maybe it had something to do with all the cigarettes being smoked inside the building. Cigarettes and other things, I am sure…

3) You released your debut Americana album Live On Record back in August of 2022. For those who haven’t heard the album yet, what can they expect to hear from it when they hit play?

I’m not quite sure. There were a lot of mistakes in it pertaining to the Writing, the recording, and a few other things…Words or sentences I should have put in, but didn’t….Things I did put it, but shouldn’t have…And the recording sessions were a bit of a mess, as I wasted three expensive meetings or ‘sessions’…And I thought I was going to, merely, give up after the second or third debacles, but I thought I was too deep into it to stop, even though I couldn’t pay my credit card bill for a while…And I hope to do more “live on records” soon in the next couple of months. I think It’ll be a bit easier this time around, as now I know a little more of what to expect from myself and, perhaps, it’ll be more relaxed. I just have to get into the Man’s recording studio before January, the time when he’ll increase his recording prices.

4) You released “A Light Out There” as the albums lead single. What do you feel made that the best first representative of the album overall?

Well, I’m not quite sure. I recorded it first, so I thought it made sense to put the song first.

5) The song has already earned UK chart success and HAS amassed 80K+ streams. What about this song has made it resonate with fans so much so quickly?

I’m not quite sure…Perhaps that it is not “over-processed”…This was written about the song in a review I read…In the article, the writer said that whenever she heard newer recordings today, the songs contained either too many instruments or instruments that sounded “computerized”… And, I, too, have heard a lot of greatly written songs or, merely, tremendous guitar solos, drowned out by the heavy chains of ‘technology’… And it seems, with the rise of more musical ‘applications’ for the computer, many more will go this route and download chord progressions, instruments, and generic sounding guitar solos, rather than take the time to learn them with real instruments…Now, I do believe I could have used some more instruments in my recordings, but since I didn’t have any musicians, and because the recording sessions were costly, I chose to work with what I had. And, I do believe, I will continue on this trend…As, it happened to me when, on two separate occasions, the recording engineer asked if I wanted to add drums from his computer application to two different songs, but I quickly resorted to not having them there, as they sounded cold, soulless and, essentially, robotic.

6) Besides the single, which song from the album stands out as a personal favorite for you and why?

I’m not really sure. I guess “Hard to find”, as I like playing the song on the guitar.

7) You’re a pure songwriter in that you craft poetry to music. Let’s talk songwriting for a few questions! When you’re crafting a song, what is your writing process? Melody or lyrics first?

It’s both. If I write poetry, then I find some music…If I write music, then I add an already written poem and edit it so it fits the melody…But, the more there is consistency to the process, the more I lose the fun…And the more I try and force something good out of it, the more it puts me deeper in…So, everything always has to be different to me…I can’t be in the same state of mind, or then I start losing creativity in a foolish manner…What did Emerson say? “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds…”

8) How important is it to you that you personally write the songs you perform so that they carry your authenticity to them? Or are you willing to listen to outside pitches and see what might fit into your style and feel?

Well, I haven’t done much performing…But, in terms of recording, and the fact that I am not Elvis, I’d say the only thing I have going for me right now are my own songs…Although on one of the next “Live on Records”…I think I’ll have one of them be just cover songs…But, again, the “greats” will sub-consciously always be in my music whether I like it or not…And that’s as far as I’d like to take it…If I listen to their pitches, then I won’t have a blank canvas, which is what I strive to have when creating anything. 

9) A very cool thing that happened this year for you as well, is that you earned a nomination with the Who’s Hoo: Independent Country Music Countdown Awards. What does recognition like that mean to you personally?

Interesting…Yes, I heard of this…Did I win? I am unsure…It’s cool, I suppose…And I’m grateful they put my name in the competition…But, there’s nothing too much it does for me other than boost the ‘ego’…It’s like this for anyone in an awards show…But, I don’t want to sound too self-absorbed…Who doesn’t want to win a shiny award? Though, again, when it’s said and done, I’ll stay away from it…Funny enough, I probably have this mindset because whenever I think of an awards show, and the awards they give out in them, I think straight to biblical times when people would make golden calves, or idols, and they’d dance around them, worshipping them, until God came down the mountain with His wrath…So, for these reasons, I don’t think I’ll take any chances and feel prideful about it…Unless I win and I have a date…Then, in that case, send me a plane ticket…It’s so easy for Pride to take over, isn’t it?

10) What one piece of advice can you offer to someone who is just starting out and trying to break into the music industry?

I am not sure…I don’t know anything about the ‘music business’ as of yet…Right now, I am, simply, taking advice, not giving it…I’m still at the bottom.

Do you like what you're reading on Today's Country Magazine? Donate today by clicking HERE

• Prev
• Next