The Miller Test On the Making Of ‘Double Country’
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind 'Double Country' and the story it tells?
We had a bunch of songs, some old, some new, that could loosely be thought of as “country” songs. From experience we knew that once we started arranging and recording them, they wouldn’t end up sounding very country at all - though some kind of founding spirit would likely linger.
As for the “Double”, in part that reflects a duality in our songs, which are always protest songs one way or another, but usually have another layer that’s a little more personal. Crows on The Scaffold literally begins with the idea of someone playing Cupid, trying to hook you up with someone you’re just not into - ‘Hey preacher man I picked you out a lover’ - only to get bigger and angrier as suddenly it’s the whole world you want nothing to do with.
Songs like Narcotraficante or Country Sleep are maybe the other way around, starting with the politics, then asking what it means to us personally, to the people we know and care about, and to all those other freaks and losers we identify with.
Were there any memorable or standout moments during the recording sessions for 'Double Country?'
We’ve worked at Big Jelly Studios before, but for whatever reason the house engineers had always stayed at arm’s length. This time it was very different, particularly when we recorded our guitarist Matt’s amazing stuff. Al, the Jelly engineer, was all over him with ancient pedals he’d never had the chance to break out before, loops, tapes, the lot. It was like a duet - or maybe a duel. Whatever it was, it came out brilliantly.
The backing vocals have become a real thing for us over the last couple of years too, with multi-part pop-gospel harmonies now a defining element of The Miller Test sound. Our producer John Winfield is an incredible vocalist and working up voice parts together is always a proper adventure. You get these great moments, like when we realised we had to break with Western tuning altogether for one of the lines at the end of the song Quarantine Hotel. Still not totally sure why that was…
What are you most proud of about this album?
That sounds like The Miller Test! I mean, the whole thing hangs together, but it really is crazy eclectic, even by our standards.
There are obviously lots of 70s and 80s retro noises, and they’re probably the dominant thing - we were listening to a lot of recent St. Vincent and Christine and The Queens going in.
But there’s also plenty of contemporary alt-rock influence, like QOTSA or Tame Impala, and weird jazzy bits inspired by contemporary UK hip-hop, and trap brass samples made to do showband stuff, and obviously a little bit of country here and there… but still, we think it sounds absolutely like us and no one else.
Can you tell us more about you as a band?
The older we get and the more we play together the more divergent our interests and influences become. There are a couple of core things we all love - early 70s Stones, Abba - but beyond that it’s a rehearsal room full of polarised tastes.
At the heart of the band is a battle: the outlaw versus the academy. Our best stuff comes about when both sides get a little bit bloodied but still think they’ve emerged victorious.
How do you balance creativity and commercial success in your music career?
It’s not something any of us thinks too much about - we’re just trying to make the best art we can here, and any commercial elements are just part of the palette. Even a song such as Like a Stranger - utter pop, all chorus, a total smash - has these occasional rough edges, weird sounds poking out, and what are really some dark, dark lyrics.
But yeah, in truth it would be a nice problem to have.
