Jake Miller
Has Lived a Hundred Lives Since 17
by Kayla Marra
Jake Miller is an optimist, and his passion for what he does makes people smile. He is a 29-year-old singer/rapper from Weston, Florida. Since the release of his debut album Us Against Them in 2013, Miller has taken the world by storm. He has gone on to release three studio albums, amass millions of streams, and millions of monthly listeners, become an independent artist, and so much more.
The thing we love most about Jake is how the positivity that he puts into the world is so prevalent in everything he does – from his songs to the way he treats others, and even how positive his fanbase is.
So much has changed since the last time we chatted with Miller in 2015 on his “Dazed and Confused” Tour. We were lucky enough to catch up with him recently about his new music, post-pandemic life, his songwriting process, and everything that has happened since!
How are you?
I’m good! Just making a lot of music and getting ready to go on tour. I believe we’re leaving in ten days. Got a lot of exciting stuff going on.
The last time we spoke to you was on your “Dazed and Confused” Tour in Philly, right after you threw the first pitch at the Phillies game. You’ve come so far since 2015, what would you say has been your biggest milestone since then?
Looking back on my whole career, my favorite moment was getting to perform in my hometown arena. I grew up going [there] for shows. I saw my first ever concert there. I saw NSYNC there. I grew up going to hockey games, concerts, Jingle Balls, and stuff like that. Then I got to perform there, in my hometown, in front of like 20,000 people. It was the best night of my life.
You’ve released your newest single “8 Tattoos.” Could you tell us a bit about the meaning behind the song, as well as the writing process?
I wrote that song a couple of months ago with my friends Brett Truitt and Alex Wilke. The song is really about just using tattoos to measure the growth and changes that have happened in your life over the decade and more. About the kids that I haven't seen since high school. Obviously, it's not about the tattoos. It's more of a metaphor. Just about how I wonder if you recognize the person who I am today compared to the person you knew back in high school, because I'm a completely different person. I'm just like “night and day” different. I'm sure you are, and most people are. I think it's just a really cool song about changing in good ways and bad ways. Also hoping those people that you remember from ten years ago haven't changed too much, because you liked them that way. I just hope that people don't change, even though you have as well.
If you could pick one line from the whole song to encompass the vibe and meaning, what would it be?
There's a lyric that says, “I've lived a hundred lives since 17” and I really do feel that. I feel like 17 years old was a dream. It was so long ago that I don't even really remember. It's just all a blur. Lots of up and downs, like it's a crazy roller coaster.
You’ll be embarking on the “8 Tattoos” Tour next month. What can fans expect to see as well as hear on this tour?
Well, I’m playing “8 Tattoos” of course! (Laughs) Just a lot of songs that I want to play as well as songs that I know the fans want to hear from way back in my career. Songs Like “A Million Lives,” “First Flight Home” and “Selfish Girls.” Songs I made way back in the day. I'm bringing some of those back just for the OG fans.
You’ve got to throw something in there for the OG’s!
Of course!
Which cities are you most excited to visit again – or for the first time?
New York City is always one of my favorites to play, I love Philly. Anywhere in the Northeast has always been really great to me. I'm bummed I'm not going home to Florida on this tour, but I'm excited to do the Northeast. Los Angeles is going to be sick. I'm excited for all of them.
I have a feeling you'll be back in Florida soon, so those Florida fans have something to look out for.
Exactly! We never stop touring.
How excited are you to see fans’ actual faces again in person, and be able to perform live for them?
That's the best. Going away from tour for six months and then just seeing everyone's usernames and comments but not really putting faces to names [was hard]. Hopefully, I’ve made a lot of new fans since the last tour that maybe I'll [get to] meet for the first time this tour. It's always just really nice, especially when I see the same people coming back year after year. [I’ll] give them all a hug and tell them how much I appreciate them being with me since the beginning.
I bet it was a drastic change to go from being able to play shows to none at all. How would you say the last three years have impacted and/or grown your songwriting?
I think we've all, just as people, seen so much change over the last three years, over the pandemic. It's really just affected every aspect of my life. I think I’m a much happier person than I was a couple of years ago. This pandemic put a lot of things in perspective. I'm in a great relationship, I have a great family, great friends, and I value that even more than I did before. That all just spills into my mood, my vibe that I'm feeling throughout the day. That spills into the songwriting. I wouldn’t say that my songwriting has drastically changed. I just think whatever I'm feeling for the most part is really positive and that's just spilling into my songwriting.
Who would you say are your biggest songwriting influences? Have they changed over time, or stayed the same throughout the years?
Pretty much stayed the same. John Mayer and Jon Bellion are two people who, even though they're very opposite, I just am completely inspired by every single thing that they release. Jon Bellion, in terms of his super left field creativity and John Mayer in terms of his really emotional lyrics and guitar licks. I just pull certain elements from both of them in almost every song that I write.
What’s the best piece of advice you were ever given? This can be regarding performing, songwriting, or life in general.
I used to play baseball before I got into music, I thought I was going to be a professional baseball player one day. Then I didn't grow up to the to be big and strong like everybody else, so I couldn't hit the ball as far. So I'm like okay, maybe I'll make music. Anyways, I grew up being a pitcher and every time I was on the mound, my dad would just tell me to imagine myself in a bubble and block out all the noise from everyone in the stands and on the other team. I could just remember that in everything I do in life. Especially now, with all the social media, all these different platforms, a million comments, and everything, there's just too much to see. So much information entering our brains every minute. Sometimes, I just have to remind myself to ground myself and put myself in that bubble. It was really important.
Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to pursue music as a career?
Make the music that only you want to make. Don't try to make music that you think other people will like. Just make music that you will like. Don't make music just for the sake of it going viral on Tik-Tok. Just make good music, and then if it's a good song, people will use it. I know a lot of friends who go into the studio and try to think of Tik-Tok-able lyrics. That's the opposite of what I do. Just stay true to yourself, make great music, and if you like it, you know other people have to like it too. There's a lot of people in the world.
Lastly, you’ve been teasing new music on your Instagram for a couple of weeks now. What can fans expect and how soon is this new music coming?
I have a new song coming out right before tour called “Keep Her,” a really fun summer song. [It is] my favorite music video that we've ever shot, where me and my girlfriend dress up as old people and we escaped from the hospital. It’s amazing. It's so much fun. We just ran around LA doing reckless stuff like egging cars, graffiti… It's just a great video. That comes out right before the tour. Then after tour we're going to drop some more songs and package them into a little EP, probably five or six songs. [I’m] always working on other music, so I'm probably going to have personal things that are going to happen in my life towards the end of the year, so I'm going to write some songs about that.
Do you have anything that you’d like to say to your fans?
I just want to say how much I appreciate them, whether they just discovered me yesterday or in 2011. Every single person matters to me, and I appreciate every single person. Whether it's coming to the shows, just clicking the like button, or listening to the songs, they're the ones that make it all possible. I appreciate you guys.
Check out Jake’s latest single “Keep Her” streaming on August 12th! You can also catch Jake coming to a city near you on the 8 Tattoos Tour, tickets available here: https://www.livenation.com/artist/K8vZ91780vV/jake-miller-events
Copyright ©2022 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: August 10, 2022.
Photo ©2022 Daniel Prakopcyk. Courtesy of The Chamber Group. All rights reserved.
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