What a great time it has been to spend time with my musical brothers, and create a unique and special musical project. We all look at it as a labor of love for our listeners. For those who have spent time on the road like me, it might be better than sharing a tour van and playing cover tunes. That was the true inspiration to write, record and produce original music.
When future Own Device members Kyle and Dan sent me their first song they recorded, I wanted in right away. From the various cover bands I've been with in the past, the bands with Dan and Kyle in them performed mostly original music at large outdoor venues. It went over well, but the musical market we live in loves cover tunes, and bar owners demand it. That left us with a strong desire to delve into a full writing, and recording schedule, on our terms, creating this CD. Thus our name.
Playing live, an occasional sour chord is expected in a four hour show. We found out very quickly that there is no place to hide in todays digital recording realm. We all became much better musicians working diligently in the studio. Of course laughs (usually instigated by me), heated musical discussions, and fighting like brothers were all part of the creative stir. Most of our songs have 30-40 tracks, each written, and recorded one at a time. Drums, bass, many guitars, and then the many vocal tracks. My passion, besides the drum and percussion work is the musical arrangement of the songs. Dreaming up interesting introductions, verses, transitions, is a my passion. Our musical direction is today's feel with a retro touch. We are trying to combine intricate guitar rock, with a pop overtone on the vocals
Tom comes to us from a great pop background, and his forte is creating commercially appealing vocal and harmony tracks in heavier songs like Drivin Rain and Lies. I like to think we succeeded in creating our own sound. Tom and I clown around entirely too much in the studio, and we like to share an occassional Saturday AM movie together.
Danny? Wow what can I say. He and I have been cracking musical rifts for a while now. Me? I'm not a musician, I'm a drummer, a musician's best friend.... I love to take two of his songs, join various parts together and come up with one. Can you believe he lets me? Lies and Solice Greed were actually the start of four songs. I can hum a guitar part I hear in my head as we write and he plays it then perfects it with his ideas, and unique chording. Many times he has a better suggestion on a drum rhythm than I have done. We are always on the same page and he is my musical soul mate. He also learned all the aspects of studio recording, the mixing, effects, mastering ect. If you listen to a commercial CD then Own Device, there is no dropoff, So turn us up without fear of popping highs and boomy lows. I insist in mixing my own drum tracks, so if there is a problem there, it's not Dan's fault. Several professional recording studios have been very impressed with the audio quality. Hat's off to you Brother...
Kyle is the Exec in the studio, and is always coming up with these strange, unique, and quirky guitar chording gems. Some of our unrecorded material for the second Own Device CD should reflect more of this. I like his third harmony vocals that only Mariah Carey could hit. His great big subwoofer for reference playback and the endless laughs, are all a part of him. Thanks for everything Kyle.
Wait, this is a Biography of Rick Miller, right? OK. Married, Taurus, Yes, No, Ummmm, maybe. I'd rather write and record than playing until 2AM in smoky bars. I created this website with the third grade tools kindly supplied by MySpace Layout. I don't know why I wore sandels playing the "running man" intro of Emotions Gone to War. I said "Dan, I can't drop the ice in the glass any quieter." Home Theater. Tom and I like Jonny Quest. Kyle forgets to reset the clocks during spring and fall time changes. Yes, in two months I'll wish I could change some drum rolls on the CD. A St. Thomas beach. It's not a beige dress. I'll let you supply the questions to the prior answers. Please post any and all rebuttal on my comments board. Love to you all,
Oh and buy our CD, you will LOVE it
Rick
Own Device's Debut CD is Now Out
Purchase Single Tracks Online
CD is also sold locally at Welhaven Music
in Rochester, Minnesota.
*Also Available on iTunes! ______________________________________________________
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