Daniel Miller (music producer)
Daniel Miller (born 14 February 1951 in London) is a British music producer and founder of Mute Records.
Biography
Introduction
Daniel Miller first became interested in synthesiser music at Guildford Art School where he studied film and television from 1968-71. By the end of the sixties he had become frustrated with rock music due to the lack of experimentation. Around this time he was discovering the sound of German bands like Can, Faust, Neu and Kraftwerk. These bands were creating new sounds, something Miller wanted to hear. He worked as a DJ in Switzerland for a while before returning to England at the height of punk. He began listening to punk because of the energy and excitement of the music. He liked the whole do it yourself attitude that came with the style of music. This do it yourself attitude had spilled over into the electronic music scene. Synthesisers were becoming cheaper to buy and new bands were appearing such as Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire. This inspired Miller to create his own music. Making some money from film editing and working ridiculous hours he gathered enough money to buy a cheap Korg 700S synthesiser and a four track tape recorder. This led to the creation of The Normal.
The Birth Of Mute Records
After returning from the live tour Miller found a pile of demo tapes on his doorstep. Because he had included an address on the ‘Warm Leatherette’ single cover people had wanted to do a similar small scale deal with Mute. The turning point for Mute Records came when Miller listened to a tape by an artist called Fad Gadget and liked what he heard. In 1979 Mute Records began releasing singles by Fad Gadget including ‘Back to Nature’, the follow up to ‘Warm Leatherette’. Miller ran the label from his North-West London flat. Another early Mute signing was the American artist Boyd Rice (NON).
Music Projects
The Normal
Miller recorded two songs 'Warm Leatherette' and 'TVOD' (Television Overdose). The former was inspired by J.G. Ballard's novel Crash. He called it The Normal to demistify and make it very bland and completed the package by setting up a record label for the release, Mute. He had researched how to make a single so he got some test pressings. Not knowing anything about retail or distribution he approached Rough Trade Records in Portobello Road, London. Originally a record outlet, Rough Trade had expanded into a label and ditribution network. Miller took a test pressing into the shop to see if they would be interested in buying a box of them. Rough Trade Records boss Geoff Travis went to the back of the shop with Miller and played Warm Leatherette. They loved the recording and helped him press 2000 copies of the single. Warm Leatherette was released in May 1978 and sold out very quickly. [4] After receiving critical acclaim for the project Miller decided to explore further. He had been helping out at the Rough Trade Shop when he was given an offer of live work. He didn’t want to perform alone so he decided to form a little group with a person he had recently met. This person was the late Robert Rental who was recording a similar style of music to Miller. The live event was hosted by DJ Colin Favor and included Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire. After that event Miller and Rental took on a Rough Trade tour supporting Stiff Little Fingers. Miller and Rental went down very badly; Stiff Little Fingers were a traditional punk band supported by two people with synthesisers and a backing tape.
Silicon Teens
Another early ‘Mute’ signing was the synth pop band, Silicon Teens; Comprising of four imaginary band members Darryl, Jacki, Paul and Diane. The Silicon Teens were produced by Larry Least (Daniel Miller). The recordings were all recorded by Miller himself and engineered by Eric Radcliffe, who would later work on many other Mute releases. An album was recorded titled ‘Music for Parties’ it consisted of classic rock’n’roll songs like 'Memphis, Tennessee' and ‘Just Like Eddie’. The album became a cult classic with some major record labels approaching Miller with offers for a band that didn’t actually exist. The Silicon Teens gave an insight into Miller’s idea of an all-synthesiser, teenage pop group
Duet Emmo
Duet Emmo was a one off collaboration between Daniel Miller, Graham Lewis and Bruce Gilbert spawning an album and single, both titled ‘Or So it Seems’ in 1983. Lewis and Gilbert were both members of Wire until 1979 when the band split up. All three had been friends for a long time. They had all been using the same studio, Blackwing, and the same engineer, Eric Radcliffe. An initial project had been suggested in 1980 but the success of Depeche Mode and Yazoo had kept Miller busy until the end of 1982. Lewis and Gilbert had both been releasing their own material under the name Dome. Duet Emmo was an anagram of Mute and Dome.
Sunroof
With fellow Depeche Mode music producer Gareth Jones, Daniel Miller has released a few remixes under the name Sunroof. Starting with a remix of "Oh Yeah" for the 1997 Can remix album Sacrilege, there has also surfaced remixes for Neu!, Kreidler, Pizzicato Five, Goldfrapp, Faust, Charles Wilp, and Future Bible Heroes
