Deron Miller

Deron Miller

Miller performing with CKY in 2009.
Background information
Birth name Deron John Miller
Born (1976-05-21) May 21, 1976
Chester, Pennsylvania, United States
Origin West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • songwriter
  • record producer
  • actor
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • vocals
  • bass
  • synthesizers
  • keyboards
Years active 1993–present
Labels
Associated acts
Notable instruments
Parker NiteFly M
Parker P38
Parker P40
Jackson Warrior
Esoterik DR3

Deron John Miller (born May 21, 1976) is an American musician, record producer and actor. He is best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of West Chester-based heavy metal band CKY, which he co-founded in 1998. Prior to CKY, Miller performed in the band Foreign Objects with CKY drummer Jess Margera, and he has since formed death metal group World Under Blood.

Early life

Miller has stated that his first musical influence, at the age of three years, was Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley.[1] He started taking guitar lessons at the age of eight, after "losing interest" in playing the piano,[2] and was later influenced by death metal band Death, including vocalist Chuck Schuldiner and guitarist James Murphy, followed by "more extreme music ... and more underground musicians" such as Cynic, Pestilence and Malevolent Creation.[1] He has described his first guitar as a "$50 piece of crap", noting that it was possibly J. C. Penney-branded, followed by an "imitation B.C. Rich" and, later, an Ibanez RG570 in 1992.[1]

Career

1992–2002: Early career, Foreign Objects and CKY

Miller played in his first band This End Up in 1992,[1][2] and later formed Foreign Objects with future CKY drummer Jess Margera, whom he originally met at high school.[3] The band released its debut extended play (EP) The Undiscovered Numbers & Colors in 1995.[3] Along with bassist Ryan Bruni, the duo later performed under the name Oil, before meeting guitarist Chad I Ginsburg (who was then working as an audio engineer) and changing the name of the band to CKY.[3] Miller is credited with having conceived the name, which stands for "Camp Kill Yourself" and was believed by the frontman to be "a perfect title for a horror movie".[3]

CKY released its debut album Volume 1 in 1999, which originally featured songwriting credits exclusively for Miller.[4] 2002's follow-up Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild credited "Deron Miller w/ Chad I Ginsburg and Jess Margera",[5] with Margera being omitted from the formulation for An Answer Can Be Found and Carver City.[6][7]

2002–2006: Death tribute album and controversies

Miller and James Murphy worked together on a Death tribute album and the second Foreign Objects release.

In December 2002, it was announced that Miller would be working alongside guitarist James Murphy, drummer Dave Culross and vocalist Brett Hoffman on a tribute album for the band Death, to benefit the family of founding member Chuck Schuldiner.[8] After Schuldiner's family approved the project,[9][10] bassist Terry Butler, Slipknot members Mick Thomson (guitar) and Paul Gray (bass), and more joined the project,[11] which was titled Within the Mind: In Homage to the Musical Legacy of Chuck Schuldiner and scheduled for release through Mascot Records.[12]

In addition to their collaboration on the Death tribute album, Miller and Murphy also worked together again on Universal Culture Shock, the second album by Foreign Objects, released in 2004.[13] Murphy contributed lead guitar and mastering to the album, with Miller praising the guitarist for making the album "one thousand times better".[13]

During the build-up to the release of CKY's third studio album An Answer Can Be Found, Miller was involved in a number of controversies with the music media. First, he called out Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine for threatening to cancel shows at which "Satanic" bands were also scheduled to appear, asking him to "stop creating drama".[14] A few weeks later, he criticised a number of commentators on the website Blabbermouth.net for posting negative comments about CKY, describing them as "lonely, jealous music fans".[15] Following the release of An Answer Can Be Found, Miller also responded to Jenny Eliscu's one-star review of the album for Rolling Stone magazine, describing her as "juvenile" and an "ugly skank", and proposing that she was "not intelligent enough to understand" the band's lyrics.[16] Eliscu responded by complaining to CKY's label, The Island Def Jam Music Group, that the frontman had launched an "harassment campaign" against the journalist, alleging that he had posted her home phone number online, leading to fans calling her with death threats.[17]

2006–2011: World Under Blood and collaborations

Miller founded the death metal band World Under Blood in 2006.

In October 2006, it was announced that Miller was working with drummer Tim Yeung and producer Logan Mader on a demo for new death metal side project called World Under Blood.[18] The band later released a number of songs on its MySpace page.[19][20] In 2008, Miller also performed with Malevolent Creation and recorded with thrash metal group Believer,[21] and later also recorded with progressive metal band The Alien Blakk.[22] His Believer contribution later surfaced in the form of a guitar solo on Gabriel opening track "Medwton".[23] World Under Blood's debut full-length album Tactical was eventually released in July 2011 by Nuclear Blast Records.[24]

After a CKY show in St. Louis, Missouri in 2007, Miller reportedly had an altercation with Ginsburg in the tour bus, after which the guitarist claimed that the frontman had left the band.[25] Miller responded with claims to the contrary, while Ginsburg proposed that he would continue CKY with Margera.[25]

2011–present: CKY tensions and Foreign Objects return

The fate of CKY was cast into doubt in 2011, when the band released a video in which each member spoke about their desires for the future of the band; all members but Ginsburg wanted to record solo albums, while the guitarist favoured releasing another CKY album.[26] Miller elaborated on the situation on his Facebook page, claiming that Ginsburg had left the band, and that no one in the "CKY camp" kept him informed of plans and updates, which had led to tensions.[26] Miller was replaced in CKY for the first time since the band's formation in 2012, when former Year Long Disaster frontman Daniel Davies joined for a series of shows at Australian music festival Soundwave.[27] In 2014, Miller reunited with Ginsburg for a planned reunion of the band and a new album,[28] although no further activity was reported and by 2015 he had once again been replaced by Davies.[29]

Since the inactivity of CKY, Miller has released his debut solo album Acoustified!, featuring acoustic recordings of CKY and Foreign Objects songs,[30] as well as resurfaced the Foreign Objects moniker for a new album, Galactic Prey.[31] Both releases were funded via crowdfunding website Indiegogo.[32][33] In 2016, Miller announced that he was concurrently working on a number of different projects: a deluxe vinyl reissue of CKY's Volume 1, the debut album by MechaCKY, two albums by World Under Blood (Life Is Too Long to Like You and Tetanus Invasive), a new Foreign Objects album entitled Lean, Mean and Bleeding Green, and a sequel to Acoustified![34]

Other projects

In an interview in August 2015, Miller revealed that he was working on a pilot for a new show called The Chuck Draper Show with Funny or Die producer Matt Sweeney. He added that he would be playing the titular character Chuck Draper and that former CKY Crew member Chris Raab was in line to play Draper's roommate. Speaking about the tone of the show, which he claimed was inspired by the work of Howard Stern and Christopher Guest, Miller described it as "very offensive" and "hilarious", joking that he wanted people "to be very angry with [him] after seeing it".[35]

Equipment

Speaking in an interview with Guitar.com in 2002, Miller noted that he played Parker Guitars, including the NiteFly M, P38 and P40 models, with d'Addario strings and the Marshall JCM2000 amplifier.[1] He signed a deal with Jackson Guitars in 2011,[36] then later with Esoterik Guitars in 2014.[37] Speaking about Esoterik in a post on his Facebook page, Miller claimed that in 30 years of playing the instrument, he had "never played anything nicer" than their models.[38]

Discography

Solo albums
with CKY
Main article: CKY discography
with Foreign Objects
with World Under Blood
with Believer
with The Alien Blakk
  • Bekoming (2010) – "The Path"

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Sharken, Lisa. "Interview:10 Questions with Deron Miller of CKY". Musicians Friend. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Artists". Esoterik Guitars. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Prato, Greg. "CKY Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  4. ↑ Volume 1 (Media notes). Camp Kill Yourself. Distant Recordings/Teil Martin International. 1999.
  5. ↑ Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild (Media notes). CKY. The Island Def Jam Music Group. 2002.
  6. ↑ An Answer Can Be Found (Media notes). CKY. The Island Def Jam Music Group. 2005.
  7. ↑ Carver City (Media notes). CKY. Roadrunner Records. 2009.
  8. ↑ "Ex-Death, Malevolent Creation Members Team Up To Record Death Tribute CD". Blabbermouth.net. December 24, 2002. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Ex-Death, Malevolent Creation Members Get Green Light To Record Death Tribute CD". Blabbermouth.net. February 23, 2003. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Chuck Schuldiner's Mother Endorses Upcoming Death Tribute". Blabbermouth.net. February 25, 2003. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Slipknot Members To Contribute To Death Tribute Album". Blabbermouth.net. July 17, 2003. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  12. ↑ "CKY's Deron MillerSpeaks Out on Upcoming DEATH Tribute: 'This Is The Real Deal'". Blabbermouth.net. February 6, 2004. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  13. 1 2 "CKY's Deron Miller Offers Updates on Death Tribute Album, Foreign Objects Side Project". Blabbermouth.net. October 17, 2004. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  14. ↑ "CKY Frontman Has A Message For Dave Mustaine: 'Stop Creating Drama'". Blabbermouth.net. May 8, 2005. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  15. ↑ "CKY Frontman Slams 'Lonely, Jealous' Blabbermouth.net 'Losers'". Blabbermouth.net. June 2, 2005. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  16. ↑ "CKY Frontman Slams Rolling Stone Journalist Over CD Review". Blabbermouth.net. July 9, 2005. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  17. ↑ "CKY Fans Wage 'Harassment Campaign' Against Rolling Stone Critic". Blabbermouth.net. August 12, 2005. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  18. ↑ "CKY Frontman Working On 'Brutal' World Under Blood Project". Blabbermouth.net. October 22, 2006. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  19. ↑ "CKY Frontman's Death Metal Project Uploads First Track". Blabbermouth.net. November 29, 2006. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  20. ↑ "World Under Blood: Another Song Posted Online". Blabbermouth.net. March 11, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  21. ↑ "CKY's Deron Miller To Tour With Malevolent Creation, Record With Believer". Blabbermouth.net. April 17, 2008. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  22. ↑ "CKY Frontman Lays Down Vocals For New The Alien Blakk Album". Blabbermouth.net. January 27, 2009. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  23. ↑ Gabriel (Media notes). Believer. Metal Blade Records/Cesspool Recordings. 2009.
  24. ↑ "World Under Blood To Release Debut Album in July". Blabbermouth.net. April 11, 2011. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  25. 1 2 "Drama insues [sic] inside of CKY, band fight breaks out". Metal Injection. October 22, 2007. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  26. 1 2 Shaw, Zach (August 2, 2011). "Shall We Wish CKY R.I.P. Now Or Later?". Metal Insider. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  27. ↑ Shaw, Zach (March 19, 2012). "CKY Replaces Deron Miller With Year Long Disaster's Daniel Davies". Metal Insider. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  28. ↑ wookubus (January 9, 2014). "CKY To Return in 2014 With Deron Miller". Theprp.com. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  29. ↑ wookubus (April 17, 2015). "CKY Confirm The Return of Daniel Davies For 'Amnesia Rockfest'". Theprp.com. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  30. ↑ wookubus (December 11, 2013). "Deron Miller Releases CKY, Etc. Acoustic Covers Album "Acoustified!"". Theprp.com. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  31. ↑ wookubus (March 31, 2014). "Foreign Objects (CKY, Etc.) Streaming New Track "Galactic Prey", CKY Working on New Album". Theprp.com. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  32. ↑ "Deron Miller – The Acoustic Album". Indiegogo. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  33. ↑ "Foreign Objects Album 2014". Indiegogo. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  34. ↑ "Ex-CKY Frontman Deron Miller Moves On With His Own Version Of The Band ‘MechaCKY’". Theprp.com. February 3, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  35. ↑ "The Sinner's Ball Radio Show : Episode # 9 Return of Deron Miller of CKY". BlogTalkRadio. August 10, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  36. ↑ MDuffy (November 17, 2011). "Deron Miller Joins Jackson's Stable". Jackson Guitars. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  37. ↑ Deron Miller CKY. YouTube. April 24, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  38. ↑ Miller, Deron (January 12, 2015). "Deron Miller – i STRONGLY suggest anyone looking for a new axe". Facebook. Retrieved July 12, 2015.

External links

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