Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kyle Miller. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kyle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
This last year we put out our newest album offering called “Joy Alchemy”. The internal conversation for us (Gretta and I) during this time was revolving around, what things do we have control over in our lives and how can we lean into those things with intentionality? We’d just exited a big season of healing and bitterness and we both felt ready to move forward from the past and build something joyful. The songs were birthed from that type of alchemizing if you will. Out of our six albums it feels like the most raw and unfiltered versions of ourselves. Both in the live performance of the record and in the writing.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Gretta and I stumbled into the music industry accidentally. If you can even call what we do a part of that. We started out chasing the muse in the corners of a garage in the woods of northern Arizona. We released those songs under the moniker, Tow’rs in 2014. A year later we had our first kid and the record had done well enough that I had quite my job to start writing the next one. We started touring in 2015 and have stayed touring consistently over the last 10 years. Last year we released our sixth album called “Joy Alchemy”. In 2018 we opened our own studio space here in Flagstaff, AZ called Lore Audio Provisions where we record our records and help other artists capture their own. We most recently just got back from a month long tour out east and will be fixing to be back out on the road this coming fall. I keep pinching myself that we get to keep doing it. There’s been a lot of hard seasons in pursuing music full time, but it feels as important as breathing at this point. All art does actually. It’s the space we massage out our questions, make sense of the past and speak our wishes to the future. I hold it all with an open palm knowing each day we get to do it is a gift.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
I’ve always been a bit more on the shy side and so when I started out I was scared to trust myself. I think that’s a pretty natural thing for humans. The resource though I wish I had then is the knowledge that I understood and could do more than I realized. Now getting to work with other artists at our studio I want them to trust themselves creatively and trust their own intuition. I believe it’s what makes each artist unique and is the fuel for us to keep going amidst the bombardment of all the hard things there are to navigate in the music industry. On a more practical level another resource I wish I had read earlier was the “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. I found it to be one of the most influential books on being a creative and a writer. Let alone a human being trying to make my way through life.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding thing to me in being a creative is the built in posture of awe that comes with seeking songs and lyrics. It invites you to listen and keep your eyes peeled for something beautiful. A true gift. A second thought along those same lines is I find the best way to be a creative is to have the beginners mind as Rick Rubin puts it. I believe this angle of working gives me a softer approach to the future and a more curious mind. Both worthy ways of living in my opinion.
Contact Info:
- Website: Towrsmusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/towrsmusic?igsh=MWNta2s1emNrd2FnYw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/6HgqHWDBoWuoWeWd/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@towrsmusic?si=wQsT5y9ALr4CNgbh
Image Credits
Jacob Little, Jordan Fatke, Rod Cooley, Ben Anderson