Since co-founding metal band CKY in the late 90s, musician Deron Miller hasn’t slowed down. Although he departed from the band a few years back, Miller has gone on to form bands MechaCkY and World Under Blood. He’s also returned to the band Foreign Objects to record another album.
Of course, Miller is no stranger to the horror genre, having acted in several roles over the years and marrying the beautiful and iconic Scream Queen, Felissa Rose Esposito Miller. Taking time from his obviously busy schedule, Deron Miller talks to us about his career in music and acting, as well as upcoming projects!
HGL – As a musician, who were some of your earliest influences? When did you know that this is what you wanted to do?
Deron Miller – In 1978, I was 2 years old. My older cousins wanted me to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang up in their bedroom because the Super Bowl was on downstairs. He had an Ace Frehley poster in his room, the classic one with Ace blowing up his guitar. I stared at it for hours, and kept asking about it incessantly, the way a 2 year old does. Fuck Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Finally he took out the records and I was enthralled. I knew what records and music were at that age because my mom used to play a lot of disco in the house. Stuff like Abba and the Bee Gees. A lot of people hated disco but I love it. It’s one of the very few mainstream musical fads that actually required musical talent and songwriting ability. So disco and KISS became my starting point. Giving disco a dark side is something I always wanted to see.
The movie Prom Night from 1980 kind of created that sense. I always wanted to be involved in music and film because those were the only things I cared about. It was an obsession that happened very early. I never wanted to be a rock star or filthy rich from what I did because I sensed that once you climb on top, the only way forward is down. I just wanted it to be stable. As soon as I got my first guitar I was determined to be the best at it because I was very comfortable playing one. Eventually I was taken in by metal because metal and extreme metal are the types of music where there are no rules. You can tinker with any genre in metal…not only that but metal music and being a credible musician in that field requires the highest performance capability. You have to be an amazing player at your respective instrument. Death metal musicians, the credible ones, represent the fact that you can do anything with your instrument. You always have that urge to improve.
HGL – Getting interested in music at such a young age, I imagine you’ve had many guitars over the years. Do you have a favorite?
Deron Miller – I’m now endorsed by a new company called Esoterik who are making the finest guitars I have ever played. I am not obligated to say that. It just happens to be true. But I don’t have emotional connections to guitars. There’s no sentimental value. I went from having 16 guitars to having 5. I’m not a gear head at all, I don’t know how a guitar works. I just want to play one. In my experiences I have found that the people that like to take them apart and fix them and rebuild them…are people that can’t really play or write songs. Generally speaking.
HGL – Congrats on the endorsement, although it isn’t too surprising considering how how busy you’ve been! One of your bands, MechaCkY, released the song “Conditioned or Unconditional,” which is fantastic. Do you have plans for more tracks or an album?
Deron Miller – We are going to record a lot of songs for the new CKY album. We’re going to make 2 records. One of the cds will only be available to the people that contribute to the campaign. Its fun to make music if you get rid of any negative elements that make it torturous. Its very easy to find yourself busy and/or overwhelmed when you love doing what you do. All 3 of my bands will have new records coming up.
HGL – That’s an amazing perk for fans! We can’t wait to see what’s in store with the upcoming records. Going back a bit to last year, you produced Foreign Objects’ second album, Galactic Prey. What inspired you to go back to the studio for this album?
Deron Miller – Well I received a very cool instrumental track by a fan and I was blown away because I thought it sounded like what new Foreign Objects would sound like. It kind of rekindled the desire to resurrect that style and that band. Initially I wanted to work with that fan on all of the new material, but he became too star struck and anxious, and started trying to rush things. I was in no hurry, but when you realize that this is really important to somebody, and they see it as a huge opportunity, I can see why it fell apart. It was a mistake to try and work with this guy, but at the very least it did give us the kick in the ass to want to make a new record, and I think Galactic Prey is incredible. I listen to it all the time. Everyone did such a good job. As a musician, we’re lucky because if we don’t have anything to listen to, we just record albums that we want to listen to.
HGL – Wow. Well, I know there are many out there that are grateful Galactic Prey came about. Now, we know you have a broad range of talent- vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards- and on World Under Blood’s “Life is Too Long to Like You,” you debut as a drummer! How long have you played the drums and were you nervous to take the project on?
Deron Miller – Thank you. No I’m not nervous. I’ve always had access to a drum kit over the years, and 10 years ago Tim Yeung gave me one I could finally call my own. I put a lot of time into drumming…especially extreme drumming. I lost 40 lbs just practicing, trying to get as good as I want to be. I love playing drums because the way I beat those things…it kills so much stress.
HGL – That’s some serious dedication if you were able to lose 40 lbs! Of course, your resume goes even beyond music as you’ve ventured into acting. Is that something you want to keep pursuing? If so, would you want to stay focused on the horror genre?
Deron Miller – I’ll take any acting job, because its a lot of fun. It’s professional make believe. The only ambitions I have in acting are to improve and get some kind of work. I’m working on doing my own show. It will be a vehicle for me to get my sense of humor out there, some political points of view with my tongue in my cheek, and just offend the fuck out of everyone.
HGL – Awesome! Considering you’re known for speaking your mind already, I have no doubt this will be entertaining to watch. Are there any other current or upcoming projects you want to let fans know about?
Deron Miller – Just expect top notch stuff and a lot of it. If I ever wake up one day with a new record in the can and doubts about it, I will have to reassess the situation. I don’t want to be 50 years old and putting out crap just because I got paid to do so. I don’t get paid enough to only do this for money.
HGL – Fair enough. It is obvious that you get insanely passionate about your projects and we would hate to see that disappear. One last question that I would love to know…what are your favorite horror and sci-fi films?
Deron Miller – My favorite sci-fi stuff would be the old 80’s V miniseries and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. My dad used to take me to Star Trek movies, and that’s the only one I really liked. I like slasher films, mostly all of them. As soon as a supernatural or demonic element is inserted, I lose interest. There’s nothing scary about something that isn’t possible. I don’t understand the whole zombie genre…I guess its more about gore than suspense, but none of those things are possible, so I find that stuff quite boring. But a guy with an axe can do a lot of damage before anyone stops him. That’s more realistic.
It bothers me that Jason and Michael Myers can’t die, because there’s no point in fighting them if they cant, but in the beginning it was more believable because at least initially they were somewhat human. They weren’t superhuman. In recent years, I thought The Strangers was very effective. It was creepy. It worked. Most new slasher films are either too cheap or poorly cast or both. I don’t want to see Ron Jeremy in a horror movie, or any movie. I liked Scream 4 and its disappointing that it didn’t make enough money to warrant another sequel. But the genre always returns. Good ideas never die…they swing back around and are usually reinvented. But they don’t have to be. Just give a guy an axe and make me jump a couple of times and I’m happy.
