Horseback is Jenks Miller: vocal, electric guitar, piano, bass, lap steel, ebow, keyboard, synthesizer, tanpura, shruti box, drums, percussion, processing, fuzz fx.
Other (live) incarnations may include: Heather McEntire: vocal; Aaron Smithers: bass, French horn; Jon Mackey: laptop computer; Scott Endres: guitar; John Crouch: drums; Bradley Cook: bass, laptop computer; Joe Westerlund: drums, percussion; Phil Cook: melodica; Dave Cantwell: drums, percussion; Crowmeat Bob: sax, clarinet; James Wallace: drums, organ; Bryce Eiman: electronics.
Influences
John Coltrane, Skullflower (Sunroof!, Hototogisu, Mirag, etc.), Tony Conrad, Phil Niblock, The Hafler Trio, Brian Wilson, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Thrones, Richard Youngs, Loren MazzaCane Connors, John Fahey, Derek Bailey, Sunny Murray, My Bloody Valentine, Gate, The Dead C, Hermann Nitsch, King Tubby, Kevin Drumm, Davis Redford Triad, Daniel Higgs, Lungfish, This Heat, Alastair Galbraith, Jack Rose, Pelt, Merzbow, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Paul Flaherty, Chris Corsano, Nurse with Wound, Keiji Haino, Corrupted, Neu!, Kraftwerk, Philip Glass (Music in Twelve Parts!), Junior Kimbrough, Current 93, Antony, Daniel Menche, Throbbing Gristle, Suicide, Spacemen 3, Pauline Oliveros, Aaron Dilloway, Wolf Eyes, The Allman Brothers Band, David Axelrod, Andrew Chalk, Mirror, Yellow Swans, Fennesz, Zeena Parkins, SunnO))), Khanate, Amps for Christ, Birchville Cat Motel, Black Boned Angel, The Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble, Peter Brotzmann, Richard Pinhas, Bishop Perry Tillis, Attila Csihar, San Agustin, Black Forest/Black Sea, Black Sabbath, Can, Faust, Sleep, Om, Mouthus, Keith Hudson, Scientist, Glenn Branca (Gloria!), Today Is the Day, George Harrison, Phil Spector, Captain Beefheart, Group Doueh, Blind Willie Johnson, Mark Hollis, Talk Talk, Don Cherry, The Fall, Codeine, Stereolab, Grouper, Roy Montgomery, Chrome/Helios Creed, Prurient, Gastr Del Sol, Tetuzi Akiyama, The Necks, William Basinski, Max Roach, Ya Ho Wha/Father Yod, Galaxie500, Earth, Vibracathedral Orchestra, Stars of the Lid, The Dead Texan, Astral Social Club, William Hooker, Toshimaru Nakamura, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Henryk Górecki, Neil Young, John Cale, Lou Reed, The Velvet Underground, Nico, KK Null, Mindflayer, R.L. Burnside, Bruce Springsteen, Karp, Cavity, Jessica Ryland, Can't, Kites, Jon Gibson, Univers Zero, Jesu, Hair Police, Henry Kaiser, Peter Gabriel, Yeasayer, Hassan Hakmoun, Orthrelm, Spiral Joy Band, The Red Krayola, Makoto Kawabata, Acid Mothers Temple, Silver Apples, Flower Travellin' Band, Wovenhand, Electric Wizard, Killing Joke, Greater than One, Mimir, Pedestrian Deposit, Sir Richard Bishop, Simon Wickham-Smith, Morton Feldman, Tom Carter, Christina Carter, Charalambides, Robert Horton, Lightning Bolt, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Georges Bataille, Joseph Campbell, Magma, Koenjihyakkei, Ruins, Unstable Ensemble, Lichens, Bardo Pond, Carlos Giffoni, Discharge, Six Organs of Admittance, Television, Wilderness, Burning Star Core, Lasse Marhaug, Gregory Isaacs, Ghost, Patti Smith, Comus, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Shearwater, Greg Malcolm, Swans, Angels of Light, Rhys Chatham + Essentialist, Coil, Black Mayonnaise, LSD March, Dirty Three, Mike Tamburo + The Crowned Eternal, and black metal drone a la Burzum, Darkthrone, Ildjarn, Beherit, Hellhammer, Immortal, Absu, Emperor, Celtic Frost, Satyricon, Mutiilation, Thralldom, Ulver, Gorgoroth, Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice, Drudkh, Akitsa, Ash Pool, Forest, Mayhem, Enslaved, Wolves in the Throne Room, Krallice, Xasthur, etc.
"That which causes us to create is our true father and
mother; we create in our own image, which is theirs.
Let us create therefore without fear, for we can
create nothing that is not GOD." 21 (KA)
- Aleister Crowley, The Book of Lies
"Vision first."
- Robbie Basho
Sounds Like
Trimorphic Protennoia, Vitvivatora
Record Label
Utech, Turgid Animal, HFQ, BTR (RIP), NA Folk Hero
Approaching the Invisible Mountain (HFQ/NAFH 2008)
"Billed by label Holidays for Quince as an "improvisational guitar record," Approaching the Invisible Mountain sees a departure from the gorgeously dreamy noise of Horseback's 2007 release, Impale Golden Horn. Miller's latest work sees him working his electric guitar for all it's worth, stretching its capabilities far left of center without ever forsaking listenability. And that has become Miller's reputation, making the seemingly avant-garde accessible. It wouldn't be a stretch to call Miller one of the area's most versatile and innovative musicians." -- Dive Blog (May 2008)
"On his solo debut, Approaching the Invisible Mountain, Miller picks and coaxes sounds from his guitar in a more standard style. In doing so, though, he explores some of his most nebulous territory yet through six instrumental improvisations bend around a thematic piece, "Babylon Destroyer," a blues-based guitar revision. Miller breaks up minitature guitar figures using space and silence in surprising ways. The result can be alternately confusing and alluring, but this record isn't meant to unfold in black and white." -- The Independent Weekly (June 2008)
"You can feel the room breathe on the recording, which gives it immediacy and also reveals Miller’s tasteful restraint. At some points, it seems as if he’ll wander off into new, uncharted territories, but he stays on his own path, gracefully thwarting the listener’s expectations. By bending a note, pausing to let the segments resonate, and then resuming form, he makes Approaching the Invisible Mountain something both plotted and intentional." -- Tiny Mix Tapes (January 2009)
"The enjoyment in this material lays within the personal connection between the player and the instrument. Miller exercises brilliant restraint, making a smart move to not overstay the thirty minute running time. This is not Horseback. This is a more personal affair with the guitar kept immediate and at the forefront within the confines of your head. In a time when it seems that solo guitarists and pedal junkies are fast becoming a planetary epidemic, I have much respect for a player who from time to time is willing to rely strictly on intuition, dropping the use of their toys and sticking to the basics. 8/10" -- Foxy Digitalis (July 2008)
"This album is all guitar. Just one guitar. One very well played beautifully sounding guitar. Jenks Miller also plays as Horseback. Though that is a lot more psychedelic and drone, but this is just straight up guitar playing. I find it to be very calm and soothing." -- Brayan Magdaleno, KUCI New Experimental Releases (October 2008)
"A beautiful set of solo electric guitar pieces that might remind you of John Fahey, but remind me most of Neil Young's Dead Man soundtrack." -- Trianglerock.com (June 2008)
"On his latest, and the first under his own name, Approaching the Invisible Mountain, Miller grabs his electric guitar, builds it up and tears it back down, stretching it further than most would consider, drawing tones from across the sonic map ... Granted, it sometimes takes an open mind and a willingness to experiment, but listeners able to leave their comfort zones will immediately find that buried under sounds that might first be classified as experimental and unknown, there is an abundance of melody and beauty.
Approaching the Invisible Mountain is no different. The seemingly avant-garde is drawn back toward the center on the type of record that features such distinct and different sounds that each of its six tracks could serve as the soundtrack to all of your dreams." -- The Daily Tarheel (June 2008)
Impale Golden Horn (Burly Time/HFQ 2007)
"So gorgeous. Absolutely one of our favorite new records, a practically perfect fade-out-drift-off-drone-dream-disc ... Best drone record of the year? Quite possibly... " -- Aquarius Records (New Arrivals 270, July 2007)
"A great drone record can envelop, displace and fascinate by turns, such is the wealth of detail in every frozen but rapidly liquifying moment. Lesser efforts may favor detail over impact and change over stasis, but it is the rare breed that achieves the fine balance of subtlety and power necessary to maintain interest over extended listening. For that reason, Impale Golden Horn, Chapel Hill, North Carolina multi-instrumentalist Jenks Miller’s debut full-length as a solo artist, is one of the finest drone discs I’ve encountered in some time. Although drone is at the heart of Miller’s aesthetic, labeling the project that way is somewhat unjust. The disc’s closer, "Blood Fountain," sports a beautifully morphing structure akin to songcraft, but it is also the easiest point of entry for what can be a dense listening experience. Miller layers creamy-smooth guitars, piano, watery-clear vocals and hard-panned drums over a bed of distortion, but for Miller, distortion is never a crutch. As with Birchville Cat Motel or early Stars of the Lid, it is a vehicle, a portal through which starker focus on the subtle transformations occurring in simultaneous sonic events is achieved. Harmonic shifts and the drums’ miraculous emergence are bolstered but, importantly, never overshadowed by shimmering fuzz ... The disc’s diversity is somewhat masked by all-encompassing drones, but it is there, waiting to reward the dedicated listener." -- Signal to Noise (Issue 49, Spring 2008)
“'Finale' is a pretty brazen debut for Chapel Hill noisician Jenks Miller, an ebow-chugging mix of ever-overlapping drones and shimmering squall. Calling it 'Finale'—even though it’s the first track on the record—was as obvious a choice as, say, 'Exit Music (For A Film)' or 'Ascension.'" (9/10) -- Paper Thin Walls (March 2007)
"Horseback's debut, Impale Golden Horn, reads as "Easy Listening" in iTunes. It seems like an ironic classification for a cacophonous drone-based record. But once you acclimate yourself to the album's oversized sounds, it's an oddly apt fit, especially for the plaintive "Blood Fountain." Featuring help from Heather McEntire of Un Deux Trois and Bellafea, Jenks Miller's maximalist meditation on blood coaxes a twinkling long-form guitar figure through a hedge of hymn-like hums. In no hurry to get where it's going, bereft of abrasive protrusions, it continually lifts and glides, finally bottoming out in a flurry of percussion that teases out the latent rhythm so adeptly that it sounds inevitable when it arrives." -- Independent Weekly (The Triangle's Best Songs of 2007, December 2007)
"This is drone at its most capacious and its most beautiful. It's the sort of thing that would be at home on the next interstellar space probe, nestled next to Bach and Beethoven, to show whoever's listening the breadth of our collective musical experience." -- Sound Advice (January 2008)
"Jenks Miller created this album as a means of cathartically dealing with his OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). And while it won’t be to everyone’s liking, Horseback often makes one feel uncomfortable or unnerved, but in a very good way. Divided into four sections or songs, the album begins with a 17-minute “Finale”. With a lengthy string of drones and guitars, the tune sounds like an epic or mammoth introduction. Yet it’s still a very pretty track that seems to flow easily throughout. It’s a tune that fans of Mogwai would definitely appreciate and admire. “The Golden Horn” meanwhile continues along that path, with Miller adding more piano and putting the guitar feedback in the background. This seems to be a more reflective and thoughtful piece. Perhaps the most interesting song of the four is “Laughing Celestial Architect” which is a decent blending of both first and second song styles, resembling Kevin Shields and his Bloody Valentine or, to a lesser extent, Spiritualized. However, at some point it becomes just a bit mundane and tiring, almost lulling the listener to sleep. The closing “Blood Fountain” is definitely the highlight for the simple fact there are vocals here to offset the sweet music." -- Popmatters (July 2007)
"Miller's attention to detail is astonishing as he builds and deconstructs his instrumental tales. The songs lull you into a blissful dream-like state before slowly bringing you back into consciousness." -- Sound as Language
"Though it be noise, it isn't abrasive. [Its] atonality becomes a densely layered blanket that sweeps over the listener heavily, but without smothering. The faintest hints of a melody seep through the fog from time to time, like the remnants of a pleasantly remembered dream." -- The Daily Tarheel (June 2007)
"A compelling effort to say the least, as the space of these songs provide for enough personal feeling to ensure a connection, be it in a live setting or repeated spins of this album." -- N/A Reviews (October 2007)
"[Impale Golden Horn] is a shimmering gem ... four tracks of layered drone that gains a drum-beat at times and morphs into something resembling dream pop. While the record occasionally steeps in a meditative stasis, some points verge on Sigur Rós-style post-rock, contemplative and majestic at once." -- The Pittsburgh City Paper (November 2007)
"Labeled as a drone record, "Impale Golden Horn" is nowhere about experimentation, improvisation, weirdness or snobbery. Instead it is an impressive work of composition, translating a beautiful and fragile sensitivity, the work of three years ... It takes a few listen[s] to realize how much ["Impale Golden Horn"] is a personal and revealing record, how much depth is hidden behind apparently simple drone waves and layers, how much subtlety lays in the textures and slowly evolving structures of these tracks ...." -- Derives.net (November 2007)
happy holidays. it has been a while and i hope you are enjoying the split that i sent you for our trade. i do have some new tracks up and would like to invite you over for a listen. of course, at your earliest convenience. THANK YOU.
approaching the invisible mountain is stunning work. thank you for sharing it with me. it is music that will be played often around these parts. THANK YOU.
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