Updated: March 26, 2021
If you’re a rock fan, you may know Jason Charles Miller from his time with Godhead. In the last few years, he has evolved into a solo artist, label owner, and voice actor, among other things.
Miller got into voice acting 17 years ago, after taking classes. It worked out well, since it’s one of the few industries that continued steadily throughout the pandemic. After having tours and festivals canceled, many artists are still struggling to stay afloat.
“We’re all in the same boat there. You get sad about it for a minute, but that phrase ‘misery loves company’ I guess, it’s a little easier to take when all of your fellow musicians are in the same boat, we’re just all trying to make it work.”
Voice acting is more than meets the eye. “It’s so much more than making silly voices with your voice,” he explained. He stated that there’s a lot of terminology that one needs to learn and said, “It’s about being able to convey the emotion of what’s happening with only your voice.”
Perfecting his voice has been a large part of Miller’s journey in music. He started singing country music at just five years old and then trained in classical and opera during high school. These lessons laid the foundation for his career. He still leverages the techniques today, not only to hone his sound, but also to keep his vocal chords healthy and performance-ready.
And Then There Was One
After being in a well-known rock band, Miller returned to his roots after some changes occurred. Several things impacted Godhead’s growth, particularly the state of the music market.
Their most popular album came out in 2001 when people were still buying CDs. The transition to mostly digital proved challenging for their band and most others. “Even the most successful bands were having weird luck and numbers,” he said. Although their music improved in their subsequent albums, the number of sales didn’t match the trajectory.
The band never broke up, but started doing fewer and fewer things. Miller took his opportunity to start over in country music, with just a voice and a guitar. Wanting his sound to be his own style, he chose not to create a band for his new endeavor. “I sort of eased into it by doing solo acoustic shows. There were a lot of fans that already knew me,” he explained, which made the transition easier.
As a solo artist, Miller has performed alongside and opened for country and rock artists including Billy Ray Cyrus, Alan Jackson, Eric Church, Toby Keith, Ashley McBryde, and Allman Betts Band, to name a few.
2021 Albums
Miller plans to release two shorter albums in 2021 and a full-length album in 2022. He plans to release about a song per month. We can expect to hear several guests on each album. “I love collaborating with talented people and there’s so much collaboration already baked into these songs.”
He wrote his latest single “Better Late Than Never” with Jonathan Tyler while in LA. It was a song that he always believed in. They wrote it a while back, but it never made it onto an album.“This song is just too good to ignore,” Miller said. “We all have songs like that sittin’ in a vault somewhere.”
He told the story of the recording process for the new music. He wanted to feature incredible musicians, so he invited Adam Shoenfeld from Tim McGraw’s Band and Cowboy Eddie Long from Jamey Johnson’s band. He recorded when they were at an LA tour stop. “I went to their hotel room early in the morning, snatched them up, dragged them to my studio, put something in their hands, said ‘play on this,’ and got them back in time for sound check.” he joked.
Miller recruited other talented artists to play on his albums. Duane Betts from the Allman Betts Band plays guitar solo on the first song and Katie Cole, who plays with The Smashing Pumpkins, sang backup on the cover of “Day After Day.”
Branching Out
Not only does Miller record music for his own albums, but he has other projects underway as well. Last year, he wrote and recorded the soundtrack and score for the streaming series Undeadwood. It was an instrumental score and took place in the old west. There was one song that he wrote lyrics for that wasn’t on the soundtrack. He recorded the lyrics and melody and made a vocal version titled “Never Turning Back,” which will be on his first album next year. The lyrics and song are inspired by the show, so fans of the show will enjoy it.
Miller hosts recurring events where fans can participate, too. On Mondays, he hosts “Miller’s Music Mondays,” where he broadcasts live from his home every week. He always has a musical guest and they alternate playing songs. “I’m so fortunate to have so many talented friends,” he said. As a fan of video gaming, he also hosts a weekly session on Tuesdays where an entire song is written based on a character in the game Idle Champions.
Additionally, he recorded three songs for the game Cyberpunk 2077 with his friend Jamison Boaz. The two formed a duo called RezoDrone and they wrote songs specifically for the game. Players can hear them when driving around, similar to Grand Theft Auto.
Over the years, Miller expanded his portfolio to these other projects and increasingly wanted to release things that meant something to him. To break down creative barriers, he started his own record label to put out the music he wants. “It’s up to the people to decide whether they like it or not.” This way, he can sink or swim on his own merits rather than relying on someone else’s choice.
From The Wreckage: Part One
Visit https://www.jasoncharlesmiller.com/ to stay up to date with Jason Charles Miller.