Jeremy Milligan Interview

Jeremy Milligan Interview Transcript
PETER RIZZO: When did you first begin to take an interest in music?
JEREMY MILLIGAN: I guess I spend a really short amount of time playing piano when I was eleven or twelve, a passing thing that didn’t stick. I didn’t start playing guitar until I was 13.

PR: What did you listen to when you started playing guitar?
JM: I listened to a lot of what…Queen was really big at the time, right when Wayne’s World came out. A lot of Queen…Motley Crue, Van Halen.

PR: When did you first start listening to jazz music?
JM: Jazz was um…right towards the end of high school. I was 17 or 18. My first jazz record…or cd I don’t know why I call them records, was Medeski, Martin and Wood. “It’s a jungle in here” which I still have and still listen to. When I first got it, it was way over my head. It’s pretty far out sometimes and I wasn’t prepared at all. So it was confusing and I didn’t listen to it much for a while and I rediscovered it a few years later.

PR: You play both guitar and drums, which one do you like better?
JM: Guitar definitely. Played drums for a couple of years in Bathtub Mary, played all of Northampton quite a lot. I played drums because I already knew all the songs and we needed a drummer. I got pretty good at it, but I never took it as seriously as I did guitar. I’m just a lot more comfortable doing that.

PR: So you were in a band call the “Sofa Kings” where’d that name come from?
JM: It’s not a skit it was like a joke. We just kinda decided to get with that. Band names are the worst. I didn’t even bother with this one; I just called it my name. Yeah band names are difficult then you end up with things that don’t really make much sense and aren’t all that flattering.

PR: After college you played on a cruise ship, what was that experience like?
JM: Pretty interesting, some of it was really good. For everything that was good there was something else that was really bad. Really good beach time, got a good tan. But um…it was honestly just incredibly boring. I was on the boat for six months. I had two people in the cabin and the cabin was probably about the size of my bathroom right now. SO it was really small. I’m kind of a tall guy, and when I laid on my bunk my head and feet touched the wall. Pretty small living situation. And there are so many people living there that it’s just not big enough. You definitely don’t have any privacy. I lived in a dorm too and it was much bigger. If you get sick of your dorm, you go for a walk. If you get sick of your cabin, there’s nowhere to go. Eight different bars so you end up doing that all the time.

PR: What a hard life you had
JM: Not good for you, catches up to you.

PR: It says on your website that you play weddings, do you play a lot of weddings
JM: yup did a couple last weekend. I play ceremonies on classical guitar.

PR: What do you prefer a wedding or a concert?
JM: Oh definitely a concert, I’ve been lucky enough to work with cool people for their weddings. If they are hiring me they’re usually not the hyperactive bridezilla that people talk about sometimes. So you in that way I’ve kind of lucked out and got to work with some nice people. It also pays really well. Its pretty good work.



PR: You’ve been in a lot of different bands, is the new project something you can stick with?
JM: As far as I have been in quite a few different bands. First time it’s been exactly what I want to be doing. I wrote the music and wrote exactly what I wanted to hear. It’s much more fulfilling for me, kind of my little project. I’ll definitely be sticking with it for a little while longer, I think it will change, people come and go are available or not available and all these things.

PR: Why did you decide to have no lyrics on this album?
JM: Well you know. I’m sort of an instrumental guy. I do sing a little bit but I don’t think it’s my strong suit. This album came from my history with playing jazz and classical music. So no lyrics were kinda coming from that place. I’ve thought about doing albums with lyrics but it would be such a different thing for me to do. My playing doesn’t really suit my singing all that well so it would be a challenge.

PR: You pull from a lot of different influences, what’s the hardest part of trying to put it all together in the music?
JM: well parts of it were easy. Some of it wasn’t really all that conscious. I wasn’t really trying to take this part of jazz really consciously. Even there is no singing, trying to work a pop sensibility into the music. Not just crazy improvisations. But catchy and listenable. One thing I feel that I could’ve done a little better in a couple songs. What I was going for with this recording. That’s the hardest part.

PR: What’s your favorite track from the new album?
JM: “settle” one of the first tracks that was finished. Three done right off the bat and settle was kind of interesting because as I was creating it, I hated it. It just wasn’t what I expected or though it was going to go and when it was all done, it was exactly what I wanted. So that’s the happiest one, I’ve been getting a lot of good feedback about that track.

PR: Far out question, if either candidate decided to use your song in for a campaign song what would you say?
JM: I’d be psyched, thrilled. Either one is fine with me. If you can get in touch with them in any way that'd be great too.