Benjamin Rush Miller

The Sensorium Saxophone Orchestra formed in 2008 as NYC's first full-on saxophone orchestra with 12 saxophones and percussion. ...fully embracing the spectral melodies and otherworldly timbres...a haunting dissonant swoon like that of battling church organs, or a swarm of bugs."
Village Voice, Christopher Weingarten Aug. 2009

In 2009, Franck Vigroux & Ben Miller began their overseas collaboration with live performances in NYC and DC. For the next two years, Miller laid down vocal tracks over Vigroux's icy electro beats. In 2011, Transistor became available as a digital download on D'Autres Cordes Records. This year it was re-released on vinyl with a late April Artist-in-Residence in southern France. Exiled and Oto are Vigroux's video representations off the album.

Miller also collaborates as multiphonic sound designer for renowned Poet Anne Carson. NOX was performed in Boston and in Miami with Anne, Robert Currie and Merce Cunningham dancers Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener. This multi-disciplinary performance expounds on Carson's most recent book of the same name. Performances for 2012 include Spring concerts in Philadelphia and NYC.

Cultivating his technique since the early 80's, Ben Miller/degeneration creates a sonic tapestry that defies standard guitar playing. Miller produces a dense, multiphonic soundscape by outputting several pickups separately through various effect chains. With the addition of analog tape and radio, it is difficult to discern where any one sound originates or where it is heading. Last year's releases included Polar Shifts (Obsolete Units/cass), Live Performances & Radio Broadcasts (Tigerasylum Records/cdr) and Eyelands Under Eyelid (Gulcher Records/cd).
"Mariana Trench" is due soon (Floating Tube Records) on vinyl!

Since fall 2011, Miller has been performing solo with a vintage Silvertone arch top guitar on which he installed two Teisco pickups wired stereo. Unlike his other solo performances, few electronics are used. A lethargic vacillation between so-called tonality and atonality and the unique character of the instrument itself is the main consideration. Most of this is freely improvised with an occasional song thrown in. "A Ripple in the Air" was released in November and can be purchased through this website.

Miller has explored psychedelic songwriting, freeform improvisation and notated scores in quasi-tonality for what seems like eons. His primary sound-makers are Guitar & Multiphonic Prepared Guitar, Alto and C-tenor Saxophone, Tape & Electronic Manipulation and Voice. He is currently giving workshops on Found Sound and Graphic Score Improvisation. He also teaches Fundamentals of Music both 1 on 1 and in groups for children and adults. Miller was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan having since formed and collaborated with various ensembles focusing solely on original music. He has resided in the NYC metro area since 2003.

Photographers on this website: Orin Buck, Koury Angelo, Bill T. Miller, and Bridget Toner.

Ben Miller @ Wikipedia

Contact Ben Miller at info@benmiller.info

© 2011 Ben Miller

Website by Orin Buck