“We all talked about it, and you can come on tour with us and film and see what happens.” Although Polyvinyl could only pay $50 a day, who would pass up a job little-brothering Of Montreal on the band's Skeletal Lamping tour, shooting a few vids and getting wasted with local heroes? Well, when fate calls…

“I expected going out with a band to be rampant drug use and groupies, which there were none of, but most of the band are in relationships… and they’re all very professional,” Jason Miller says.

Reclined and monitoring two side-by-side LCDs, Jason Miller zooms around Final Cut Pro, opening frames of Drew Barrymore and bf Justin Long (who, I must add, were spotted canoodling a few days later at the Eastside Jittery Joe’s) waiting in the VIP area for Of Montreal’s performance, who will later destroy their instruments at the end of their Bonnaroo set. He is pre-screening for me his latest/greatest project: Of Montreal’s In a Fit of Hercynian Prig, Oculi. (Yes, we are now announcing the name of the band’s previously untitled concert docuDVD + CD, three-disc set, to be released this fall.)

But Hercynian Prig, Oculi? Jason Miller shrugs off an “I dunno,” but hopefully it’ll mean more gigs and awareness for the director, whose life imitates his art—meaning, the life of the music video director is about the same as the musicians he directs. Here’s the metaphor. The musician must build grassroots support, mostly through free acts of kindness. (Most of the local videos he's done have been for free or for minimal, like gas money.) For the musician, talent and résumé help, but it’s still about who you know and the meaningful coincidence: “I met B.P. Helium from Of Montreal and Dark Meat, and Diplo at the same time through Nick Canada to do a job filming them at the 40 Watt. If I hadn’t gotten that job I don’t know what would be happening right now because everything I’ve done cool in music in the last year has been through Of Montreal or Diplo. So, in the same day the seeds were planted for both,” Miller says.

And payment is like an album advance: “They give you a budget you have to pay yourself out of it and pay the crew and get the locations and the actors, and it’s your job to make sure you have enough money to pay yourself. Most young people in the industry spend all their money making sure they make the best product they can to get more jobs.”

At 23, Miller owns his own business and has directed videos for Ben Folds, Dead Confederate, Hope for Agoldensummer, Allison Weiss, Lullwater, Venice Is Sinking, Modern Skirts, Quiet Hooves and Dark Meat, among others. Two years ago, he created the production company “Eikon” (pronounced “Icon”) with around $35,000 in seed money. Recently, he made a pilot for Al Gore’s news channel Current.tv to be called either “Diplo’s World Tour” or “No One’s Safe.” In the episode, he and Diplo visit New Orleans recording the “Bounce” and “Sissy Bounce” musical subcultures. If picked up, Miller and Diplo will travel the world, uncovering and documenting more obscure music scenes. He also directs TV commercials and short films. When I met with him for an interview, he had just returned from Brooklyn, filming Major Lazer’s new video for “Keep It Goin’ Louder,” and capturing Race Across America in Phoenix. Yeah, he keeps busy. But he’s not quite a one-man band: “I think it’s important to credit the people who’ve helped me along the way. Mainly Ethan Payne. He’s been there since the start… and a lot of bands have also given back.”

His work definitely has an interesting aesthetic, too. His music videos have a fly-on-the-wall voyeuristic tableau that levitates off-kilter, exploring the humane crevasses of the awkward shot and the vaguely unflattering. It’s the floating tambourine flotsam and the disembodied head of the lead singer—it’s the paradox of making the viewer feel like they’re seeing everything panoramic by obscuring the obvious. His work is very intimate. Take his video for Hope for Agoldensummer’s “4th Night,” which won as one of five Jason Miller-directed videos for the Flagpole Award for “Best Music Video.” The short, with its melancholic hues and occasionally unfocused lens, captures the fraternity of commerce and discarded monuments at the J & J Flea Market.

So, what’s next? “I don’t want to do little project after little project forever. Everybody who gets their foot in the door and achieves some level of success in Athens has to leave in order to get some type of work. It’s a bummer because no one wants to be that person who takes advantage of the town to get their success and leave and forget about the town. There’s amazing music here, but it’s also: how do you stay in a town where there’s no money in making videos?”

Really? Resenting the flight-from-Athens-to-greener-pastures-to-make-it-big metanarrative? Yeah, that’s Jason Miller; and I can tell no matter what he decides, he’ll still support the local scene. His production company Eikon does reference Athens—it’s Greek for a beautiful image. Shortly after this interview, Miller sent an email about yet another project he's working out. He's creating a library database of local music to use in various video and multimedia projects, kind of like a publishing company, but with an emphasis on spreading the Athens sound.

Surely one of the nicest guys in Athens and a big-behind-the-scenes supporter of Athens art, Miller is about to blow up, and wherever he goes, it seems he’ll bring Athens with him.

Christopher Benton

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Soundies: Sound Unbound

Jason Miller, along with frequent collaborator Ethan Payne, also makes acoustic, DIY music shorts called Soundies. The ideas was borrowed from Vincent Moon and La Blogoteque’s “Take Away Shows.” So far the duo has produced free videos for touring acts like Pattern Is Movement, Dr. Dog and Chairlift, and for locals like The Empties and The Corduroy Road. While Athens may not have the cultural artifacts of say, Paris, seeing quality acts perform acoustically at your favorite local joint, like the kaleidoscopically carnivalesque Agora or the curiosity that was once the Nuwaubian temple, should make any Athenian crack one.

Jason was cool enough to let me follow him on two shoots—one for Canadian Matthew Barber (pictured) and another for the Modern Skirts dudes. Here are my impressions:

May 8, 2009: We shot outside an old pottery factory near a sparse train yard off Barber Street. At one point Jason and his assistant Res Kent scaled a train to get an odd shot. Cool. Although a guy from the railroad company tried to shoo us away, it was a great place for Matthew Barber to be shot, really. His back-to-basics slow-burners have an antiquity to them that suggests the fragile old pots around, and the dusty fleas flirting between vision and new sun were like the past-tinted phantasmagoria of Barber’s latest LP. Barber played two songs twice to get it right; all in, it took about an hour.

May 29, 2009: Although the Athens zoo has nothing and pretty much blows, it’s a great place for a Soundie, and Modern Skirts are very nice. Phillip Brantley chased ducks and turkeys around while strumming playfully, and the whole vibe was like a chill kickback among friends, as there were 11 crew members and entouragers on the shoot.

With Soundies, everything is impromptu and you really must roll with the punches. Ambient noise, nosy passersby and complete disaster are all part of the whole when spontaneity’s the name of the game. You can watch the entire collection of Soundies at www.athenssoundies.com.

Christopher Benton