Jake Miller Speaks on New Album and How He Overcame One Of the Biggest Transitions in His Life

Archived from our July 2017 issue.

Jake Miller is taking the pop music world by storm. Jake is not only a pop artist, but he has a special twist (rapping) to his craft. Singer, songwriter, and American pop rapper are just a few of the many things on his resume. November 2013, Jake released his debut album “Us Against Them”, which quickly launched him into the public eye. Shortly after the release of his debut album, Jake supported the album with his first concert tour, this only the beginning for the pop star and the start to something huge.

January 2013, Miller had signed with E1 Music, which he then released “A Million Lives” and “The Road Less Traveled” under. Due to the chart success of the track “Dazed and Confused” Jake’s EP initially named Lion Heart, had then been renamed

Jake signed a record deal with Warner Bros that within a few years, would fall through, but not under any bad terms. “Timing is everything. Warner Bros was a good fit for me when I moved out to LA a couple of years ago. I have nothing but love for them. We shook hands and decided to go our separate ways. Right now, I’m super excited to return to my independent roots and have full creative control.”

Being in the music industry may sound fantastic, but it’s not just ups you see. There’s always more than what meets our eyes. This year, Jake announced a tour that would stretch across 20 plus cities. Before we knew it, this tour was cancelled with little to none explanation. Having had tickets ourselves, we were unsure what to think. With this album, our expectations were surely surpassed.

“This year, I went through and breakup, parted ways with my label, and canceled my highly anticipated US tour all within about 2 weeks. I felt like everything was crashing down on me. But I used all those emotions to write songs and work harder than ever. Those experiences are what helped me make this album so I wouldn’t have changed it at all. You would be surprised how much peace of mind you can obtain by channeling your emotions through music.”

Thankfully, to get him through this break up with his label, he has the overwhelming love pouring from his fans, friends and family. Jake has a strong bond with his fans in person, but an even tighter bond with them over social media–which make us love the guy even more. Jake is constantly thanking his fans on social media, giving music teasers, and most definitely helping them with their life situations as well.

Clearly, it’s best to have a record deal to back you in all you do. However, Jake is showing his fans and the media that he doesn’t need a record label in order to be successful in his music career. “Right now, I’m just concentrated on making great music. Getting better at writing, producing, singing, rapping, etc. Maybe one day if the deals right, I’ll sign again. But all I know right now is that I’m having a lot of fun.”

Jake’s success in 2016 is one many would like to achieve, Jake announced in January that he had been signed to Wilhelmina Models. Not only was he signed with one of the best modeling agencies, he also released the name of his upcoming EP, “Overnight” and shortly after, he was set to support girl group, Fifth Harmony on their 7/27 tour. Jake opened up to Contrast about the girls, “Those girls have been amazing since I met them in 2014 when we were MTV Artists To Watch together. I’ve gotten so close with all of them and I’m so proud to see how huge they’ve become.”

The name, “Jake Miller” is now a household name among children and teens of all ages, worldwide–in just a few short years. With a new album out, Jake’s sound, artistry and lyricism has shown to have developed drastically. Like most albums in today’s music, Jake’s album follows real life experiences. “This album has a very special place in my heart. This year has been an emotional roller coaster for many reasons, and I poured every ounce of myself into these lyrics, melodies, and beats. These songs are definitely the most raw songs I’ve ever made. If you listen to the album in order, you’ll notice I almost tell a story. That story is my roller coaster that I’ve been on this last year. Every song is a different thought or experience that I’ve had at 2:00am in LA.” Perfecting his craft, Jake mentions “There are no features on this album. I wanted to be the only one”

It’s no surprise that Jake is absolutely killing it with his music. On the same day that he started supporting Fifth Harmony on their “7/27 tour” in 2016, his album “Overnight” had took the #1 spot on the iTunes Charts, landing him ahead of Beyoncé who was at #2 and Adele who was in the following spot at #3. How did Jake and the crew celebrate? “I celebrated with my band just by ordering a bunch of pizzas to our hotel room lol nothing crazy. It was more of a celebration on social media.” Success? Clearly an understatement.

With the release of an album, everyone’s next thought is “what’s next?” Jake talks with Contrast, “We are doing a headlining US tour in September to promote this new album, 2:00am in LA. Music videos on the way. And of course, I plan to make more music!” Jake also mentioned his dream collaboration would have to be John Mayer. Perhaps John would be interested in collaborating with Jake? “He has inspired me in so many ways for as long as I can remember” Something our hearts desire and would be on board for.

Though, as we can see, Jake Miller hasn’t had very many failures. He’s actually doing a lot better than some artists. However, the thought of failure does scare Jake. Who doesn’t get scared from the thought of not being successful? “failure scares me. This is what I want to do until I’m physically unable to anymore. This is the only thing that keeps me happy and keeps me sane. But failure isn’t an option because I work harder than anyone I know.”

How could we forget to mention Jake’s “overnight” music video? Jake recruited Olympian, Simone Biles for the video. In the video, if you haven’t seen it, Simone and Jake get real closeup and it’s quite the romantic scene. Not only did he get Simone Biles in his video, he is performing at some of music’s biggest events. Is it safe to say that Jake helped Simone get into the acting career? Hopefully we’ll see more from them both.

Jake has a massive follow count across all his social media. For Twitter, he is at 657.7 thousand followers, Instagram he is at roughly one million followers. Clearly social media presence is not an area where he struggles–does he even struggle anywhere? Jake’s following continues to grow by thousands weekly and it isn’t stopping anytime soon. “I’m slightly addicted to social media… when I wake up in the morning I check every account, first my texts and my email, then I go to Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, my Spotify stats.”