You Get What You Pay For by Jason Charles Miller

About the artist

As the lead singer of Godhead, Jason Charles Miller has touched a generation and become an icon of the goth music scene. But he and his music have never been that easy to classify. Now, after more than a decade of blurring his band’s renegade industrial roots with a more progressive hard rock mindset, he is embarking on the most evocative path of his music career.
To better understand his future, Jason Charles Miller is diving headlong into his past. In moving forward, he is exploring his roots, stripping his music to its most vulnerable core and paying homage to the artists that have touched his life, and the music that has shaped his soul.

“One of the things I’ve always loved to do is just sit around with an acoustic guitar and sing,” says Miller. “I’m a true believer that if a song doesn’t sound good with just a singer and a guitar, then it’s probably not a very good song.”

That principle has been at the core of Godhead’s music for years, and it is that same principle that is at the heart of his performances as a solo artist. “I want to present new songs with minimal instrumentation, letting the audience hear them in their purest form,” he states, citing an array of influences so vast, it’s no wonder his songwriting is so profound.

Godhead fans know the influence of Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Robert Smith and Peter Murphy on the band, but as a solo artist, Miller expands his palette to more reverently reflect the songwriters that truly define his roots as a singer, songwriter and performer: Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, Cat Stevens, Willie Nelson… The inspirations are as vast as the artist they inspired.

“When I was young, my father used to sing me James Taylor songs to help me fall asleep, and growing up I always loved roots rock artists like Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac and Van Morrison,” he says. “If you are a Godhead fan for our hard beats, heavy riffs and industrial programming, you may find my solo material challenging, but that’s okay. If you are a fan of my vocal lines, lyrics and melodies, I think you are going to really enjoy what you hear. Recording without a band is a very big departure for me, but don’t get me wrong, everything you hear is still very much me.”

One wouldn’t be wrong to say that it’s more him, actually. Miller doesn’t abandon the darker tones that mark his material with Godhead, but as a solo artist he strips that darkness to its starkest, most primal essence, exploring the shadowy depths of country, folk, blues and Americana. It is beautiful and barren, humble and honest, naked and exposed, soulful and spirited…

It is the sound of an artist spreading his wings and setting himself free. It is Jason Charles Miller.