on SIRENS OF PHOBOS:
"...This warped, questing music is sometimes like a game of blind man's bluff in a rotting warehouse: you feel that Miller has set things up so that he too doesn't quite know what's going on. A genuine experiment, then. Miller's guitar is heavily detuned and intonations are random...Miller doesn't use guitar technique as such, he stays firmly in touch with the instrument's sound, so if spokes are being forced through strings, that's what you hear...Motoko Shimizu contributes clear-voiced singing, while Ed Chang tosses in skittish sampled loops. These two are members of New York pranksters Spin 17, and offer a playful foil to Miller's somber preoccupations. Ten minutes into the album, there's a growing sense that Miller is settling in and raising the temperature. The central tracks "Interstellar Still Life" and "Ancestral Communications" have plenty of character. Their dense, clangorous racket is Miller's strong suit, and he should play it more often."
— Clive Bell / WIRE Magazine 2008
on OVER & OUT:
“Ben Miller does just about everything to his guitar, except to play it conventionally…he coaxes out a wide range of wavering, droning tones and textures …more actively inventive than many more revered players.”
— Dream Magazine 2006
on INTERCOM:
"If new expressionists closed their eyes and painted what they saw then Ben Miller must be taping shut his ears and playing what he hears…blood thrashing through arteries, nerves popping, synapses burning,..Formerly a part of the 'anti-rock band' Destroy All Monsters, Miller takes the 'anti' idea a step further."
— Detroit Metro Times 2001
"...a genre-defying album...no chord progressions or standard picking techniques are displayed here... a mesmerizing effort from one of the most progressive guitarists around. "
— Reckless Records, Chicago 2001
You can purchase Ben Miller/degeneration CDRs atmy main website.
SONIC HISTORY: SPROTON LAYER (guitar 1969-71); DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (alto sax 1977-78); NONFICTION (guitar 1981-1985); GKW (multiple instruments 1982-1994); M3 (multiple instruments 1989-present); DIRTY OLD MAN RIVER (prepared multiphonic guitar 1997-2000)
Miller's instrument was deconstructed in 1982 while in the art band GKW (Ann Arbor, MI). At first a septet with two rhythm sections, it became a duet in 1985 with Ben Miller and Robert Currie focusing on stereo cassette loops, analog synths, prepared guitars and obscure foot pedals. Everything was placed on a large steel table and wired into a stereo PA system. Linda Kendall and Peter Knox joined in 1991 furthering the groups' performance-art element. GKW produced several cassette releases with a final show in 1994. They never officially broke up - they just stopped playing :)
"Sunday night at the Performance Network, the band (GKW) that delighted some sections of the audience at the 16mm (film) festival, while annoying others, will play, spotlighting an infrequent performance by one of the most forward-thinking local guitarists....anyone who wants to check out just how avant the avant-garde can be is advised to be there."
The Ann Arbor News, 1983
In the mid-90's, inspired by GKW's direction, Miller focused on lo-fi performance art with twin brother Laurence combining text & props, slide projection, prepared guitar, saxophone, sampling, and tape. Here are classic audience responses to Why Does The Dirt Just Sit There? the sequel.
"You have destroyed any semblance of order on my only day off."
"Your performance gave me a flashback of a nightmare I had ten years ago; a memory I had long since thought forgotten."
"Do you actually know how to play your instrument?"
In 1997, after Kevin Drumm left Chicago's Dirty Old Man River, Miller joined to record on their 2nd and 3rd release. With DOMR, Miller honed a more complete approach to the instrument with a wide variety of preparations and effects.
In 2000, Miller left DOMR and began performing solo as Ben Miller / degeneration , releasing "Intercom" in 2001; a collage of material recorded between 1997 and 2000. In 2002, he formed Regeneration which included Pete Ayars on laptop, Kotaro Seki on electric & upright bass and viola, and Steve Hess on drums. For our last concert at The Metro opening up for Mission of Burma (!), Jonathan Chen played violin. Kotaro regrettably had to return to Japan. In 2003, Miller moved to Brooklyn, NYC where he returned to solo performance releasing "Over and Out" (2004) and "Layer" (2005). "Sirens of Phobos" (2007) included collaboration with SPIN-17's Motoko Shimitzu and Ed Chang. A/V performances followed directed by NYC Filmmaker Matt Kohn.
In 2008, degeneration performed in The MegaHZ Festival, The Sonic Circuits Festival and the NYC Eye & Ear Festival.
A LIVE CDR with performances spanning from 2000-2009 is now being mastered for Tigerasylum Records. Several other new releases are being considered for various labels. stay tuned
Ben, I was listening to some of your music today (a cassette tape recorded from my pc no less) and wondering if you plan to return to DC/Baltimore. Gary
digging your sounds too man! getting stoked for our session! Are you familiar with the Norwegian band Supersilent? thought we can use that as a springboard and take it somewhere else... just a thought! talk soon
Hi Ben, I really enjoyed your set. The visual image you present resembles a blacksmith at his workbench instead of a guitarist. I was very encouraged and picked up a few ideas to try out. Gary
