Features

June Miller

Please introduce yourself...
Bart van Dijk & Mark McCann make June Miller, we've been working together in drum & bass for just over two years now, we've been friends for about seven years after touring with bands together around Europe.

When did you first try your hand at DJing and producing?
Well, it all came around when we first felt into drum and bass really; Mark moved to Holland back in 2005 and Bart had some Technics.

We had the odd old record lying around and it all felt new and fresh, we started going to Black Sun Empire's night Blackout in Utrecht where we lived and absolutely loved it. The vibe, the people, all felt very close and personal.

It definitely inspired us to want to make the music so we started causally looking at what Logic had to offer but I think the real turning point for us was hearing Breakage's This Too Shall Pass album, it felt so right at the time. It kinda opened up our eyes that there is tons more to this music than we thought, it really gave us the drive to just try and make whatever music we liked.

What kind of stuff did you listen to while you were growing up?
We were really into the hardcore / punk scene, it's how we met. Bart used to be in a band called Deluge and we did some tours together. Some of our favourite stuff was, and still is, Converge, Shai Hulud, Isis, Neurosis, Dillinger Escape Plan, Cave In.

Later, our interests slowly moved to electronic music, starting with more band-like artists as Squarepusher, Amon Tobin, Venetian Snares, Autechre and Aphex Twin to more experimental stuff from labels like Raster-Noton.

Who have been your biggest influences?
Music wise in drum & bass / dubstep people like Breakage, Spirit, Photek, Ed Rush & Op, Sabre, Break, Commix, Calibre, Burial, Headhunter, Shackleton, Martyn have all had a big effect on us. Outside of drum & bass we really enjoy any music that is either really well produced or music that is genuine, fresh and credible. Other than music, our girls, life, films and feelings I guess.

Where did you get your name from?
June Miller used to be the title of one of the songs of my old band. We were listening to some old demo tapes and noticed the song June Miller, and that's where it came from. We really wanted a name that got your attention. So far it's worked pretty good!

Do people often mistake you for a female solo artist instead of a male duo?
Ha ha! Yeah, sometimes people seem really disappointed when they see two scruffy fellas turn up!

How would you describe your sound?
I always find this quite hard to explain 'cause we get really inspired by a lot of sounds. The main focus though is something with space in the music itself, something with feeling, something with thought and something hopefully fresh and exciting. I think most of the music we have been listening to and making all our lives is trying to create an impact (on any level from heaviness to emotional to border-crossing).

Who or what inspires your music?
Life really, every day there's new changelings, new and old feelings, it's all inspiration. We find it really hard to force music so most of time just try and let whatever we're feeling take over.

Who would you like to collaborate with?
Awww the list is endless ha ha! Would love to work with people like Breakage, Sabre, Noisia, Photek, Break, dBridge & Instra:mental.

What do you have coming out soon?
Our debut 12" should be hitting stores real soon which is Converge / Neurosis on Horizons. There's loads more coming after this:
June Miller – Half Top Feelings [Horizons] (Part of the Internal Affairs LP)
June Miller – Drowning Man / Nine [Inside]
June Miller – Soya Sushi [InnerActive] (with Spirit – Smashed on the flip)
June Miller – Poison The Well [Cylon] (part of the Various Art EP)
June Miller & Chillum - Humidity [Tube10]
June Miller – Isis [Eternia Music] (digital only)
June Miller – Malkovich [Uncertified Music] (digital only)

What are you currently working on in the studio?
We've been writing bits and pieces that are all nearly done. We've been working with Anile, so expect a good bunch of collabs soon. Also been working with Data a bit so keep your ears peeled.

Done any interesting remixes recently?
We just finished a remix with live guitar of a Mindmapper tune called Respirator for a digital label called Break-Fast Audio in Holland. Audio should be around real soon. Apart from that not much has come around, always up for a remix!

What's the next challenge for you?
We're really working on the engineering side at the mo, learning new techniques, new ways of writing, etc. Guess the next challenge is to write some music that we're 100% happy with and really proud of and, at the same time, getting more people enjoying our music. Also, because we're not really binding ourselves to one style of dnb, or music in general, one of the biggest challenges is to create a recognizable sound.

Are you making any other styles of music?
Yeah, loads really, finding ourselves making quite a lot of 140bpm bits, also doing more and more dubstep sets lately. Mark's been doing a bit of orchestral work which is really interesting, like a whole new world in making music which is quite refreshing.

What tracks, producers and labels are you feeling at the moment?
Looooads! Think Spectrasoul have taken there sound to a new level and pretty much every tune they make has something special about it. Love what Rockwell is doing, Data is taking the whole minimal sound to an engineering high and names like Anile, Stray, Ulterior Motive, Joe Syntax, Dan HabarHam, Triad, Circa are gonna make some serious moves in 2010.

Photography: Isolde Woudstra