Chances are you’ve seen Allison Miller perform. While her name may not as synonymous as some of the singer-songwriters she’s recorded and toured with — Ani DiFranco, Natalie Merchant and Brandi Carlile among them — Miller has been banging away on drums for years.
Now the out drummer-pianist is taking her seat at center stage as the band leader on her second album, Boom Tic Boom, fronting a jazz ensemble including collaborators Myra Melford (pianist/composer), Todd Sickafoose (bass) and Jenny Scheinman (violin).
AfterEllen.com recently caught up with Miller on a rare break from touring to discuss the album, being a queer fashion icon and why female drummers always have to prove themselves.
AfterEllen.com: When did you first become interested in jazz?
AM: I was first interested in jazz when I was about 16. I had been introduced to jazz but not the kind of jazz that I ended up loving. I got introduced to Big Band jazz — a Buddy Rich record, but I wasn’t that into it. Then someone else gave me a Miles Davis record called Miles Miles and that’s when I fell in love with jazz. That was more of a small group of really creative, improvisational jazz, which is more like what Boom Tic Boom is. Before jazz, I was really into Prince and Michael Jackson, Earth Wind and Fire and bands like that. I pretty much like all different styles of music.
AE: How did Boom Tic Boom come together?
AM: After I got home from the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, I sat down and over the span of two or three weeks and wrote most of the music for that album. It was so nice to have that time at home because I tour a lot. I was inspired by my friends so I made it a point to wake up early every morning and go straight to the piano and write music.
AE: When and where was Boom Tic Boom recorded?
AM: It was recorded in February 2009 in Brooklyn at a studio that’s just a couple of blocks from my apartment.
AE: What was the recording experience like?
AM: It was great; we made the whole record in about nine hours of studio time. It was very quick, very different than the other kinds of records I make for singer-songwriters where it takes months. This is a very quick, live recording of us all together at once, and a lot of times going with the first take.
AE: You just finished a short East Coast tour to support Boom Tic Boom. Any plans to hit the road again? Maybe a West Coast trip?
AM: Yes! Right now I’m planning on coming out west in December, which I know is a long way away, but it was the only time that I can get the band all together! Each player has their own projects and/or recording/touring with other people – Todd is touring with Ani [DiFranco] and I’m really busy touring with Brandi Carlile right now. It’s hard to get everybody together, but we’re planning on December.
AE: You’re slated to tour with Brandi Carlile through the summer – including two Southern California dates with Lilith Fair. What does that mean to you? Is this your first Lilith?
AM: It is my first Lilith! I used to tour with Natalie Merchant years ago and I joined Natalie’s band right after Lilith Fair’s stops. I just missed out on the first Lilith Fair, but this time around I’ll definitely be there and into it! I’m super excited. To me, that was such a groundbreaking idea that Sarah McLachlan came up with; a real groundbreaking festival. I just hope that people grab on to now it like they did in the late ’90s. It seems like a pretty good lineup.
AE: Brandi said in an interview that you’re the best drummer she’s had and that she’d love for you to “marry the band.” Has there been a formal proposal? AM: [Laughs.] Not a formal proposal, but she keeps egging me on to move to Seattle. There’s a house that’s actually for sale not too far from where [bandmate] Timmy [Hanseroth] lives. But I’m a pretty hardcore New Yorker and it would be pretty hard to leave Brooklyn. Maybe I’ll just buy a country home out there.
AE: You’ve recorded and toured with some amazing artists – Ani DiFranco, Natalie Merchant and Brandi. Do you have a favorite memory that stands out?
AM: I toured with Ani for about three years. One of my favorite moments is the time Animal – who is Ani’s best friend and often comes out and serves as her nanny since Ani has a baby now – was opening one tour on the West Coast, I think the show was in Seattle. We always like to play pranks on each other and the very last night of our tour, while Animal was singing on-stage, me and the production manager, Michael, went out – we weren’t completely topless, but I just had a bra on – and danced behind Animal.
Then, another time in New Orleans, Toshi Reagon – a really close friend of mine – was opening and me and Michael decided to go out in our underwear and had this fake marriage ceremony while Toshi was singing. I was the guy and he was the girl. I had a bow tie on and he had a veil on and we had the whole ceremony. [Laughs.] I always encourage nudity on-stage! That was pretty fun. Animal was always running out naked, too.
AE: How did you get involved with fashion site DapperQ.com?
AM: Since I met Brandi, I’m like her boy-girl mannequin on tour. She loves fashion and she definitely likes to pick out clothes for me. I’ve always loved fashion, but she’s definitely got me into fashion again in the past year or so. My friend Susan [Herr], who started DapperQ and lives in Brooklyn, has always admired my sense of fashion and started the site because she wants to inform women who want to wear men’s clothes and wear them in a queer fashion. She approached me and asked if I would be the first person to interview and do video for the website. Of course I was really into it.
AE: DapperQ started a campaign to dethrone The L Word‘s Kate Moennig and crown you America’s Dyke Heartthrob. What do you think of that? AM: [Laughs] I saw that! I think it’s funny; it said something along the lines of someone with a little more meat on their bones!
AE: What advice do you have for young, female drummers?
AM: First, know your instrument. Whether you want to play rock ‘n’ roll or jazz or classical or country or you’re a singer-songwriter, what ever it is, really know your instrument because no matter how many times you play, people will always question whether you can play or not. You really have to, I hate to say this, but prove yourself over and over again. Also, if you know your instrument, then you’re standing up for other women, too. You’re being an activist and a feminist just by playing your instrument well.
Second, follow your heart and follow your path with what you want to do and what you want to be. Sometimes I pretend like I have blinders on in the sense that if I can sense there’s a lot of strange sexist energy coming at me, I’ll pretend I have blinders on and all I can see is straight forward toward my goal. By having my blinders on, I can really just focus on my end goal, which then gets the results that I want, and then I make a difference as being a feminist and an activist.
AE: Why do you think female drummers always have to prove themselves?
AM: I think it’s just like anything else. I think it’ll become less and less as years go on — and it already has, even since I started drumming. I just don’t think that there have been enough public images of women playing the drums to make a difference in the way men think and the way women think. When you open up a drum magazine, rarely do you see women. And when you do, usually it’s one or two in an ad for a cymbal or for a drum and usually they’re dressed in a very feminine way and it’s usually the same two women they’ve been having for 20 years. I experienced it when I was little. I’d get my Modern Drummer magazine or whatever it was and I would leaf through it thinking, “Where are the people who look like me?” I was so determined to play the drums that I ignored it but I can see how some young girls would open up a drum magazine and if they don’t see anyone playing the drums who looks like them they might just be discouraged and think — even if it’s just subconsciously — “Well, no one else is doing this that looks like me or acts like me, maybe I shouldn’t do it.” If you don’t see other people doing it, then it could be kind of difficult to feel confident in doing it.
AE: What’s next for you?
AM: I want to make a percussion record — an all-drumming record. I’ve been planning it for a couple years now and I’ve got a few songs written but I need to write a couple more pieces. My idea is to have a lot of it be not traditional percussion, like have one piece be played with pots and pans from my kitchen and to really explore percussion sounds from things that aren’t normally percussion instruments. I’m really inspired to record another record with this band.
Boom Tic Boom is available now in iTunes.
