Colorado has been known to be a favored stop for artists touring in the EDM community. Currently emerging from The Centennial State is Nathan Miller aka Milla, an up-and-coming producer and musical prodigy who is only getting started. We were fortunate enough to be able to have a Q&A with the young producer and were excited with what we learned. Right below we posted his newest glitch hop track "Reckoning" and several others, which all showcase his musical ability and knowledge of production. It should become evident by the end of this interview that expecting big things from Milla is a bit of an understatement.
SYNTH: Can you give our readers a brief introduction about yourself and where you're from?
Milla: My name is Nathan Miller, I'm just 17 years old, and I have lived in the same house in Colorado for all of my life. Living in Colorado has been sort of a blessing and a curse because the EDM scene here was very prominent at a point a few years ago, however, I was hardly at the age where raves were my weekend activity. Nonetheless, I feel like being in Colorado, and being in the subculture we have here had a definite impact on not just my music but the fact that my music exists.
SYNTH: That sounds really awesome to have been able to be around such a dominant EDM scene even though you were really young when you started getting into it. Can you tell us a bit about your musical background and how you got into EDM?
Milla: Absolutely. My whole journey with music started when I was a mere 2 years old, on the piano. Since before I was born my parents had a baby grand in the house and I was always on it composing short "licks" and whatnot. This lead to lots of piano lessons which definitely play a big role in my music. In terms of EDM, it all started when my friend Chris showed me a website called Flash Flash Revolution (FFR) [it's like DDR for your fingers with a lot more music]. This website brought me close to EDM and gave me the passion to pursue it. This was in early 2005 and from then on, my assimilation into the EDM culture/scene continued.
SYNTH: Wow that's a really unique background, your talent on the piano definitely shows through in your music. Are there any artists in particular that have really influenced you?
Milla: Oh definitely, KOAN Sound is probably the first artist who comes to mind. The sound quality of their music, especially with the release of Max Out EP, really influenced me to learn the mechanics of production software. However, recently I've been deriving a lot of inspiration from Frederic Chopin, the pianist, and other such artists in that style. I feel like I should mention Savant as well because he definitely inspires me to explore different music styles and keep my repertoire diverse.
SYNTH: We love KOAN Sound! It's great to see how many places you've pulled influence from, you're clearly sculpting your own sound. Do you find yourself drawn towards a particular genre or style at the moment when it comes to your own projects?
Milla: That's kind of a hard question, actually. My immediate answer would be no. My most recent project was a Harpsichord Solo for instance. The reason this is a hard question is because my endgame in the music industry isn't just me up on stage playing shows. I mean, that would be great, and is definitely where I'm headed, but, It isn't the only field in the music industry I'd be happy with. This is the reason I'm not leaning towards a specific genre or style. If I wind up writing scores or making effects for movies I'll be just as happy as if I was working for a company like Native Instruments designing the next VST or DAW. The options are very diverse and all pretty lucrative so I'm trying to not be picky, for lack of a better term.
SYNTH: That's refreshing to hear! You're definitely heading in the right direction. Speaking of VSTs and DAWs, what are your favorites for production?
Milla: I almost don't want to say it because there's such a powerful negative connotation attached to a 17 year old using Fruityloops to produce EDM, but I guess my music will hopefully speak for itself in those regards. I do own Ableton, but that has such an intense learning curve, I've been sort of putting it off. I am a huge fan of Native Instrument's products and personally own the Komplete 7 package. The pianos (for Kontakt), Massive, Reaktor (Razor and Prism, mainly), and Absynth are my main tools for sound design. As for mastering, I stick primarily to Izotope's products because, well, they're just so amazing. This includes Alloy and Ozone. I should also mention Izotope's Iris here too. It isn't a mastering tool but instead a sort-of-like-granular synthesizer that is super powerful and something I, unfortunately, haven't explored much of even though I own it.
SYNTH: Your music more than speaks for itself as you seem to already have a pretty good handle on things. Do you have a special formula for your creative process or does it vary from song to song?
Milla: It definitely varies. A good majority of my music are things I originally came up with on the piano and elaborated on. Or, sometimes I'll hear a track that just really inspires me. I'd say, however, that most of my music comes out of experiments. I'll come up with these strange ideas of manipulating a sound and sometimes it sounds awesome and turns into a song, other times it becomes a learning experience.
SYNTH: Well it's definitey working! As we wrap things up here, do you have any projects you are currently working on/plans for the near future you can tell us about?
Milla: There are 3 major projects that I am working on right now aside from making a ton of music for a possible album/EP release. The first of which is a big orchestra piece that I am writing that will change keys 12 times (includes all keys), and is something I will hopefully be able to notate out and give to an orchestra(?) (that last part is definitely up in the air). The second is a side project that my friend and I have worked on on and off for a bit called DiscoHeadz. It is with my friend Chris who I mentioned earlier, and we are currently working on the Destroid - Raise Your Fist remix contest entry that we will submit. And lastly, my alternate musicians ID where my weird-as-shit music goes to die and is reincarnated as avant garde. There, I upload a lot of beat music like Flying Lotus, Bonobo, etc... I will be paying more attention to that page than I have recently and will be also bringing in some other artists to collab with. It can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/icarus-moth
SYNTH: That all sounds incredible! Thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview, we look forward to all your future releases!
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