Next time you’re at Toys-R-Us and your eight year old begs you to buy that battery operated toy electric guitar, get it—you may have the next Jason T. Miller on your hands!
Years after veteran arranger and TV/film composer Bruce Miller bought the kiddie instrument for his son, he is not only collaborating with Jason (as co-writers of the score to Fox’s hit sitcom “‘Til Death,” starring Brad Garrett) but also playing the role of proud papa as Jason continues to establish himself as a dynamic, versatile independent behind the scenes force in the music industry.
While developing his resume as a television composer and continuing to work on projects with emerging songwriters and artists, the Los Angeles based Jason scored two major superstar coups in the R&B and hip-hop worlds over the past few years. Collaborating with Kanye West, he co-wrote and produced “Good Night,” a track featuring Mos Def and Al Be Back which the rap mogul recorded as a bookend to “Good Morning,” the opening track on West’s multi-platinum, triple Grammy Award winning album “Graduation.” The song was available as a bonus cut for those who purchased the album on iTunes and on the album’s release in Japan, Australia and the U.K., where it hit #1.
Last year, Grammy nominated R&B singer Keyshia Cole recorded “This Is Us,” a tune Jason wrote with songwriters Evan Bogart (Rihanna, Britney Spears) and Victoria Horn, on her gold album A Different Me. Jason is also credited as a co-producer of the track with legendary A&R executive, songwriter and producer Ron Fair, who was the executive producer of the project.
Despite this run of success in urban music, Jason—who generally operates out of a home studio in Brentwood, which has both Pro Tools and Apple’s Logic Studio--loves collaborating with writers in many different genres. He recently hooked up to write with legendary British songwriter Albert Hammond, whose iconic hits include “It Never Rains In Southern California,” “The Air That I Breathe,” “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before” and “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” Hammond had recently emerged from retirement and was eager to work with some younger writer/producers.
Before Jason’s multi-instrumentalist dad Bruce became a first call TV composer, he was enjoying a busy career as an arranger/producer/musician for numerous pop, R&B, jazz and gospel artists including several Motown acts, Rod Stewart, and Joss Stone, to name a few. So Jason’s childhood included attending sessions featuring the best musicians in the business. Impressed by Jason’s prowess on the guitar, many local bands offered him gigs during high school, but he wanted to play more than just three-chord punk-pop. At 17, he was invited to join his high school science teacher’s blues/rock band and performed at venues throughout L.A.
And then came “Frasier” and his annoying upstairs neighbor. “One of the first TV episodes I got was playing the riffs for Kelsey Grammer’s neighbor, who played loud, obnoxious heavy metal guitar,” Jason says. “People think when your dad’s a well known composer, it’s easy to play the nepotism card, but that sometimes makes it more challenging. When he was hired to do the music for the Ted Danson show ‘Becker,’ my dad auditioned a bunch of veteran session guitarists, but the producers of the show liked the demo I did and thought it fit the vibe of Danson’s character, who was a rough, offensive doctor in the Bronx. When I graduated college, I was still doing all of the guitar parts in the show’s music.”
While still enrolled at UCLA, Jason’s virtuosity also earned him numerous accolades in the rock and guitar worlds. Jason won the national “Jam With Kenny Wayne Shepherd” guitar competition in 2000 and was one of five finalists in the 2002 “North American Rock Guitar Competition.” He was also featured in such publications as Guitar Player, Blues Revue, Parade Magazine and on Fender Guitars’ official website.
Bruce gave Jason some great advice: “If you want to make a good living in this business, you should be writing, as well as playing.” Taking this to heart, Jason got his first gig as a composer for the 20th Century Fox comedy “Quintuplets,” followed by FOX Reality’s “Solitary,” among others, and then collaborated with his dad on the CBS show “Out Of Practice” and again on “‘Til Death,” which is now in its fourth season. Inspired by top songwriters of today like John Mayer, Jason also began writing songs and collaborating with others.
“What’s great about having a steady TV gig is that it’s a strong foundation that gives me the freedom to focus on my songwriting and producing,” says Jason. “If hanging around my dad’s gigs when I was a kid didn’t teach me about the uncertain nature of this business, my own life experience has. The reason I stay active composing, playing guitar, writing songs and producing well known and up and coming artists is that I don’t know what will be happening in five or ten years. Then again, that’s part of the excitement of being a musician who wears so many different hats. You wake up wondering, what cool artist and which fun project is coming up next. I love working with different artists, making them feel relaxed and at home in the studio and opening up to new creative endeavors. Even as I help them achieve their goals, I’m always letting these artists show me new things as well. I feel like there are always new things to learn and embrace.”
*From a bio written by Jonathan Widran