Meet Wayne Miller of Selma Studios in Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Wayne Miller.

Wayne, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Well, to start, I’ll give you a little context- I am a producer/mixer, songwriter and musical director here in Los Angeles. As an MD I have worked with Christina Perri, Mike Posner, Demi Lovato, Snakehips, AlunaGeorge and many others. In the studio, I’m working with some of LA’s best up and coming artists- MILCK, Julian Roy, Bailey Baum, Annika Grace, Kid Nobody and lots more. I’ve also written music for TV, film and commercials. This is a bit of my journey to becoming a full-time producer, creator and owner of Selma Studios in Hollywood.

I grew up in Salem, Oregon, which is near(ish) to Portland. In my formative years, I listened to a lot of Elliott Smith, Nirvana, Beastie Boys and jazz/fusion stuff like Weather Report and Fela Kuti so I come from a pretty diverse musical background. I spent a lot of time playing upright bass in orchestras and bass guitar in indie bands.

In late 2007 a drummer friend in LA called about a bass gig for an artist on Sony Records. I was already considering a move to LA and this opportunity sealed the deal. I moved down a few weeks later. From there, I toured all over the US and Asia in 2008 and 2009 while dabbling in producing, mixing and songwriting.

Between 2009 and 2013, I continued touring as a bass player and musical director, performing on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and others. This was a time of huge growth for me, and it eventually led me to MD for Christina Perri, an experience that took me all over the world from 2013-2015.

A few months after the Christina Perri tour cycle ended, I began musical directing for Mike Posner. His song, “I Took A Pill In Ibiza,” exploded and he needed a new live band. As the Posner gig grew, we played shows all over the globe and I would bounce back and forth between mixing TV tracks in my studio and MD’ing remotely and playing bass and singing background vocals in the band.

As of mid-2016, I’ve spent most of my time at Selma Studios producing, writing and MD’ing. My team is growing and I’m really excited to see what we’ll accomplish in 2020.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge for me has been mental- continuing to believe in my ability, vision and creativity in the biggest music city in the world. I have to constantly remind myself of the famous Theodore Roosevelt quote “Comparison is the thief of joy” and do my best to stay focused and present. I also learned early on that even a good opportunity can be a distraction from doing what I really wanted to do. There’s a saying that good is the enemy of great, and I’ve found that if I take on a good opportunity, I might miss out on, or not have the time for a great one when it comes along.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
Selma Studios is a multi-faceted creative studio, comprised of producers, musical directors, audio engineers and songwriters. We are known for creating authentic, personal work with our collaborators and delivering world-class music and performances. Check out MILCK’s newest EP- Into Gold, I co-produced (along with MILCK) and mixed the track “Don’t Make It Easy” from that project. Also, check out Julian Roy’s tracks “Blue Jay” and “Catch What I’m Saying”, both recent releases that were co-written, produced and mixed by me at Selma Studios.

Contact Info:

• Website: waynegmiller.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: instagram.com/waynegmiller, instagram.com/selmastudios

Image Credit:
Greg Ullery, Josh Valle, Pamela Baker

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