RAGINPIT MAGAZINE

Godhead is a band that has been controlling the underground sounds by blending industrial with hard rock music for over 15 years. They were the only band signed to Marilyn Manson’s Posthuman Records releasing their ground breaking album 2000 Years of Human Error. Since their formation Godhead has made themselves a house hold name by touring extensively and consistently putting out solid records. Godhead has released 9 studio albums to date and Jason Miller of Godhead is currently working on his acoustic solo project as well as keeping busy with his many acting and voice over jobs.

Tell me how Godhead formed as a band?

Jason Miller: It was kind of like one band formed out of another. The band was originally called Blind. We toured quite a bit regionally and nationally. When got signed it turned out that another band had been going by the same name Blind already. So I changed it to the name that I originally wanted to call the band, which was Godhead. Since 1994 we have gone under the name Godhead. We had some lineup changes in the early formations of the band. Right off the bat we started touring the states and Europe. In 1999 is when Marilyn Manson’s manager saw Godhead play in Hollywood, California and we signed to Manson’s Posthuman label in 2000.

Did you guys become good friends with Manson?

Jason Miller: Yeah, I would say so - there for a couple of years when we were working together. He always kind of kept his distance though.

You guys were the only band on his Posthuman label right?

Jason Miller: Yeah, it went well for the short amount of time that it was running. Back then when a big artist like Manson wants to start a label they would get another label to fund the whole thing. So they got Priority Records to fund it. When EMI who already owned Priority Records merged with Capital Records we were dropped. Captial was mainly focused on their hip-hop catalog. Capital wasn’t really concerned with the rock side of things. Ozzy had a label and Manson had a label and when that happened they kind of went away. It was all kind of a sad deal.

Do you currently have a relationship with Manson?

Jason Miller: You know that kind of ended it. I still talk to his manager every so often. I’m sure if I ran into him that things would be cool.

Were you guys fans of Manson’s music before you signed with his Posthuman Label?

Jason Miller: Yeah, we were stoked man. We were fans, but we weren’t copiers or anything. We appreciated what he was doing musically.

Did you guys take off after you recorded the 2000 Years of Human Error album?

Jason Miller: Yeah absolutely, people knew about us before. That’s how we caught Manson’s interest, but it definitely took the band to a new level.

After your Posthuman Records deal ends you guys record your follow up album called Evolver, which I thought was an amazing album. You worked with some of the guys from Static-X on that album right?

Jason Miller: A little bit, yeah. Wayne is a friend and I wanted to have some guest vocals. So he did guest vocals on the song "Give Away" for that album. It was really cool to have him.

At any point in this time are you able to make a decent living with your music? Was Godhead your full time job?

Jason Miller: Yeah, absolutely. When we signed with Manson it became our job. Now things have changed a little bit. Unfortunately, since the Manson deal, we have been on three different labels. That kind of hurts or career for sure. Now we all kind of do other things to supplement our income besides Godhead. I run a recording studio and I do some acting. I’m also working on a solo record that’s completely different from Godhead. This is something that I have always wanted to do in the back of my mind.

Are you looking for a label for your solo project?

Jason Miller: Yeah, I pretty much already have a home for it, but I don’t want to announce it yet.

You just released a new Godhead album At the Edge of the World , how’s that going for you?

Jason Miller: Well as far as creativity goes it went very well. We put it together and found a home for it. Right now the touring possibilities aren’t looking too good for it. The economy isn’t too good right now; we don’t want to go out and lose a bunch of money. We are just waiting for the right touring opportunities to start promoting the album. A lot of people like our new album At the Edge of the World. We have been doing some videos for it as well. We have another video coming out for the song called “The Decline.” We did a video for the song “Hero” and we are going to do a video for “The Origin of Suffering.” That’s all in the works, but as far as touring goes, we really can’t go out right now. It’s been kind of frustrating; we blame the label that we are on now. They have been having some financial difficulties and none of the artists on the label are touring. We are basically waiting for money from their distributor. Everything is just kind of on a holding pad. It’s certainly disappointing, but we are going with some difficult times right now as a country.

Are you guys playing any local shows while you are waiting to go on tour?

Jason Miller: Yeah, we plan on doing some more of that. We don’t want to over play the L.A. area. We did a press release party when the album came out in Hollywood. We will be doing some weekend runs and stuff like that in the future.

Do you guys have a solid fan base in L.A.?

Jason Miller: We always seem to do well here. I think that’s another reason why we don’t over play the area. If we played every week fans would be like “well I will skip this show and I will see them next week” we don’t want to fall into that type of thing.

So with your album called Shadow Line, the press was saying that it was your attempt to go main stream. One even compared your album to the likes of Staind. Does any of that hold some truth?

Jason Miller: I hated that, I thought that was funny. I don’t think we sound anything like Staind at all. We tried to branch out a little bit on a couple of songs on that album. We know that people don’t want to hear the same thing over and over again. We actually just got the rights back from that album, so we are going to remix the album this summer and have it available on iTunes or Rhapsody. The remixes are incredible!

How would you describe Godhead to someone who has never heard your band before?

Jason Miller: I usually say that it’s industrial rock, somewhat in the vain of Nine Inch Nails. If I said that to the general music fan that they would get a good idea of what we sound like. If you get into too much detail it's like their brain freezes.

Do people ever come up to you and be like, “Oh man your that guy from Godhead?"

Jason Miller: Yeah, I get that sometimes. You know the other day that happened. It was funny; I was on Hollywood Boulevard where all the people dress up like super heroes. My friend's band was playing the Jimmy Kimmel show and I was a guest. So I was walking over to the set and this car drives by and this girl leans out the window and says, “Oh, look it's Jason from Godhead,” and then the very next car some dude drives by says, "hey look, it's Stone Cold Steve Austin.” (Laughs) So I couldn’t even revel with the fact that I got recognized before someone else just shot me down. That’s life, right!

What does the name Godhead mean? I know that Manson is very out spoken about religion. Do you share some of the same views?

Jason Miller: I think that we share some of the same views. People say all these things about how religions have destroyed society and whatever, which I agree with that to some extent. Godhead really means the highest embodiment next to God. For us that’s what music is to us, it’s our Godhead.

Do you write all the lyrics?

Jason Miller: I write all the lyrics and we run a three way split most of the time with the music. On this latest record At the Edge of the World we did a split all the way. What happens is that I might write a song all by myself or the other guys might right a song and we just kind of put it together. I have always felt that the person singing should be the person writing the lyrics.

What made you guys want to release an unplugged album?

Jason Miller: We have been doing that type of thing for years. It’s kind of the philosophy around my solo album. It was originally going to be all acoustic. I have incorporated some more players and it's kind of evolved into this roots rock band. The solo project is what they call Americana. I like to think of it as alt-organic and Godhead is more rock.

How has Godhead fans reacted to your solo project? Do they think that you are going soft?

Jason Miller: Most people really appreciate it. One or two haters might write something negative about it on Blabbermouth. Those guys on Blabbermouth will write anything and everything to get a rise out of the artist. They will write something like, “Godhead is coming out with a new album… Fuck you Goatwhore rules!” You know I can’t really compete with that. (Laughs)

Do you have any messages that you try to convey to your listeners through your lyrics?

Jason Miller: It’s weird because with my solo album I’m trying to tell more personal stories, but with Godhead I try to leave it somewhat ambiguous. I want people to try to figure it out for themselves. I want it to become their song as well.

You have released 9 albums with Godhead, do you have an idea of how many records you have sold?

Jason Miller: Yeah, we have sold about 200,000 records.

I noticed that you have done a lot of voice over’s for video games, Cartoon Network, and have also acted in some films. (Check out his resume at www.jasonmiller.net) How did you get into the film business?

Jason Miller: I started doing music for commercials when I moved to Los Angeles, then I started singing on commercials. That kind of moved over to voice over’s for shows. I acted as a kid so I thought I would work on some on camera stuff again and so far it has worked out great.

If you had to choose between a music career or an acting career which would you choose?

Jason Miller: Music, I’m a musician and I’m always writing songs. I love music more than anything in the world. Acting is nice because you always get paid.

What does the rest of the year look like for you guys?

Jason Miller: We have a really big tour lined up for the fall, but once again I can’t really talk about it. So make sure you keep checking the Godhead site (www.myspace.com/godhead) for announcements for that.

What advice do you have for young musicians starting out in pursuit of a musical career?

Jason Miller: Practice, practice, practice, once you get your band together you got to practice like there is no tomorrow. You have to make sure that your worst show is better than everyone else’s best show. I hate when I see an act live and they haven’t rehearsed enough. You have to be tight, tight, tight, end of story.

Is their anything else that you would like to add?

Jason Miller: Later this year the Shadow Line Deluxe is going to be released as well as my solo album. Keep an eye out for us on the road later this year!

For more information check out these sites:
www.myspace.com/godhead
www.myspace.com/jasoncharlesmillermusic
www.myspace.com/morbidmiller
www.jasonmiller.net