Veteran songwriter/musician Gary Miller has toured and written songs with many famous faces. Today he’s happy to hang his hat at Point Dume.
By Michael Aushenker / Special to The Malibu Times
Uber-producer Rick Rubin, mastermind behind everything from landmark Beastie Boys and Run-DMC albums to late-era Johnny Cash and Red Hot Chili Peppers, today owns the legendary Shangri-La recording studio on Morning View Drive. Back in the day, that venue brought veteran songwriter/musician Gary Miller from Great Britain to his personal Shangri-La: Malibu, California.
“It was a great place,” Miller recalled recently, “but I was living at the Sunset Marquis, and I thought this place was too far away for me.”
Yet Malibu’s charms won him over. Now Miller, six years a Point Dume resident, has set out to replicate the vibe he first experienced while working at the legendary music studio where Bob Dylan, The Band and Eric Clapton recorded, and where “Mr. Ed” was filmed, with his newly renovated home studio. As he gives The Malibu Times a tour, he describes the freshly upgraded sound-proof facilities as a “one-stop shop. It’s a perfect place. It’s out of the way. I’m not disturbing anybody.”
When it comes to music, Miller should know quality. He has toured with Sir Elton John and George Michael as a guitarist/keyboardist. Prior to songwriting/producing for Metrophonic, a hit-making factory where he contributed to singles for artists such as Cher, Tina Turner and Rod Stewart, Miller worked at Warner Bros., Almighty and Universal Records.
The May 18 death of Donna Summer was still resonating with music fans when Miller sat down to talk to The Times a few weeks ago. He had collaborated with the disco diva on the song “My Life,” which Miller and Summer wrote together, incorporating autobiographical elements from Summer’s experiences into the lyrics. Still impressed years later, Miller recounted how Summer nailed the vocal arrangement and delivery instantly.
On paper, Miller did not seem destined for entertainment, growing up in Hull, a fishing village in northeast England. His father worked as an engineer merchant in the U.S. Navy, while his mother was a homemaker. Neither came from a creative background. Yet they never wavered in supporting their son’s passion. Miller’s mother bought him his first tape recorder, a Grundis. Despite his later penchant for perfecting pop songs, Miller grew up digging hard rock acts Led Zeppelin, Free and Bad Company. Miller began recording at age 12, joining his first band at 13.
“Because I was tall, I looked older than I was,” said Miller, whose “first album ever was “Jimi Hendrix’s Greatest Hits.’”
Then Miller made like Columbus and discovered America while touring with George Michael, the former Wham U.K. singer, at the peak of his career. It was 1988, and Michael’s best-selling debut solo album was dominating the charts en route to selling a massive 20 million units globally.
“That was like a dream come true,” Miller said. “It was my introduction to America.”
Life on tour was a constant party. However, Michael did not party with his band.
“George was very close to his mother,” Miller said. “He was very quiet.”
Then the party ended.
“The last night was in San Diego,” he remembered, “I was so sad after four months of touring. I flew back to England and I was just depressed.”
The musician suddenly felt his destiny lay in America.
“I could never really settle after that. Since I’ve been in Malibu, I’ve never felt so settled.”
Miller spent six years in Miami producing Paula Rubio, Martha Sanchez, Enrique Iglesias and other Spanish artists looking to crossover before relocating to Malibu, where many fellow ex-pats live.
“I’ve got more friends in America than I have in England,” Miller said.
Malibu is, of course, alive with iconic musicians in our midst: Barbra Streisand, Bob Dylan, The Edge, Tommy Lee, Mike D. of the Beastie Boys, Tom Petty and the Chili Peppers all reside here.
Wrapping up the interview, Miller steps outside his house where one of his neighbors, an internationally beloved actress famous for a quarter-century now, emerges from her home in a polo shirt and jeans to drag the recycling bins back up her driveway (by herself, no landscapers, no personal assistants). As she scrapes them across the pavement, her million-dollar smile lights up at the sight of her neighbor. She throws Miller a wave. He smiles and returns. Yes, Miller has come a long way from Hull.