For years, Newton native Dan Smith advertised guitar lessons around the New York City area by plastering flyers all over street poles and community bulletin spaces. Well, this is kind of like that, only a lot cooler. And it involves the internet and Mission of Burma’s Roger Miller.
The multi-instumentalist of the famed Boston post-punk band is offering to teach guitar lessons via Skype, and he’s taken to Chicago’s Craig’s List to build up his clientele.
“I am a very experienced guitarist, composing, touring and recording,” he writes in the ad. “I have recorded over 45 albums, and remain active as guitarist/singer/songwriter with Boston’s Mission of Burma and my newer band, The Trinary System.”
Miller is offering all lessons through Skype, which means that anyone in the world can take part, and he’s recruiting all players, from beginners to advanced musicians. Lessons will be held on a weekly basis, or students have the option to book “a one-time session to open potential.” Miller says he can tailor the lesson to “whatever their interest”, from song writing to creating riffs.
“While most of my notoriety stems from the post-punk era,” he adds, “I studied composition at California Institute of the Arts and enjoy playing blues. I have played piano all my life. I am currently keyboardist/composer in The Alloy Orchestra, a three-piece silent film accompanying ensemble that tours film festivals all over the US performing our scores to classic silents like Metropolis, Nosferatu, and lesser known classics. We have many DVD releases to our name. I am also a regular soundtrack composer: in 2008, 2009 and 2011 there was a film I scored shown at the Sundance Film Festival.”
Miller proved, once again, that he’s more than just another post-punk guitarist just last week, when The Callithumpian Consort premiered “Scream, Gilgamesh, Scream”, Miller’s punk rock piano concerto, at the New England Conservatory of Music. Check out more info on that here.
Mission of Burma formed in Boston in 1979, going on to influence countless bands, like Nirvana, Peal Jam, and Sonic Youth, and after reforming in the 2000s have released four studio albums, most recently 2012’s Unsound. Check out some of Burma’s classic tracks below…