As a way to share some of his favorite songs and keep himself busy before the June release of his new EP, Places, Eau Claire-born, now Minneapolis-based, Peter Miller of We Are The Willows has created a video series called “At Home.” The short clips are intimate and insightful – one on one with the artist as he tells a story about his relationship with the song or his house. In the first installment, Miller did a simple guitar and voice cover of the Beatles tune, “Getting Better.” For his latest, he sat down at the piano to record a favorite Death Cab For Cutie song and added some light hand claps and guitar work in the background. Check out his version of “Blacking Out The Friction,” below our interview!

 

AP: What is the At Home Series?


PM: The At Home series will be a bunch of videos I make of myself recording some songs that I love.  Yep, its kinda self-indulgent.  I’ll be posting a new video every week while I’m at home.  I haven’t quite figured out what I’ll do from the road.

 

AP: What gave you the idea for the videos? What are you hoping to express/convey with them?

PM: It was my friend Nate’s idea.  He suggested makin’ these videos as a way of keepin’ busy and productive while I’m at home.  I liked the idea since I haven’t put anything out into the world in over two years.
I’m not sure that I’m intent on expressing anything particular with these videos.  I mostly want to try and make something that looks and sounds nice.

 

AP What songs are you doing for it? Why did you choose each song and/or what does each mean to you?

PM:  The most recent video is a Death Cab For Cutie jam.  I’m planning on doing an Edith Piaf number called, “La Vie En Rose”.  I love the version that Louis Armstrong does.  I also have a History Books cover and a Laarks cover coming up.
So far I’ve just been playing jams that I know how to play. But I’ve been thinking of songs to cover and most of the songs I’m inclined to record are ones that bring me back to times that ruled.  I really want to record this Jimmy Eat World tune from Clarity.

 

AP: What’s the process of recording them?

PM:  Its been really nice recording these songs because I basically just record the first thing that comes to mind.  Sometimes it takes a few days to get all the ideas down, sometimes it comes real quick, but either way its really easy and free.
Recording these songs has acted as some sort of creative catalyst for the sake of writing and recording my own tunes.  When I get stuck on my own jams, I take a break and record one of these songs and it sorta frees things up in my brain.

 

AP: Your amazingly cute dog made a couple cameos in the first video. What’s its name? How old is it and what breed is it? Will it be in all the videos? Please talk openly about this, since it’s really important!

PM: The dog in the videos is my pup Milo.  He’s a shit-poodle, or a shitzu poodle mix.  I never thought I’d own a dog this small, but he is super friendly and really weird, so he’s kinda stolen my heart.  He’ll probably show up somehow in most of the videos.  I’m thinking he may play a huge role in the Edith Piaf video.