Biography
Des Miller was born in 1981 in the valley between Mount Bob and Leonard’s Leap. He’s a modern songwriter with his heart and mind firmly in the lyrical folk tradition. He teaches political economy and lives in a balloon store. He bought that coat for a great price in Paris. He pokes his camera out of car windows and borrows other people’s Whitman. They were not his legs in that photograph.
You might have heard him before. Des was in bands but they kept breaking up. He was co-writer for The New Days. He’s sat solo on stages with his acoustic guitar. He’s played with Jens Leckman; Darren Hanlon; The Devastations. That was probably Des on Triple J, or FBI, or 8RRR, or 2SER, or PBSFM.
Des sounds familiar – like Martin, Byrne, Yorke, like your father’s records, like that bum in the Barri Gòtic doing It Ain’t Me, Babe. But he has a sound entirely his own.
For his debut album, On the Surface of Solitude, recorded behind a curtain in the basement of the balloon store and next to the old cooktop on the rocking chair in the sunroom of a slanting bungalow above the hills hoist; Des called up old collaborators Evan Lock (brooding 70s flâneur, on electric guitars) and Christopher J. Rudge (perfectly turned out, on drums). He brought in brother Will Miller (solid as a pound cake, on bass) and fourth-cousin Robbie Moore (without fear, ..s and tambourine). Their sound is a thump and a bellow beneath Des’ soaring lines.
On the Surface of Solitude was inspired by the philosophy of the French, the cosmic soundscapes of the British and the rhythms of the Americans. It a collection of songs written on the slanting bungalow floors in the autumn and winter of 2006, but also a summation of several years of Des Miller’s listening and crafting. First tastings have impressed, with strong pre-release radio support. "Borderline on Fire" was playlisted on FBI as tune of the week, while "Lucy", "Knife Edge" is single of the week in Inpress Magazine (Melb) and, along side "Requiem", has been rotating through Triple J, FBI, and most community stations around the country.
The album has now received further acclaim with "On The Surface Of Solitude" snagging ALBUM OF THE WEEK on Sydney’s 2ser 107.3 and rave reviews around the country and online.
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