"It's freaking awesome" - Jason Charles Miller on being in The Primals, working on FF14, Cyberpunk 2077, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and Much More

RPG Site: For those unaware, tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.

Jason Charles Miller: My name is Jason Charles Miller. I've been an entertainer in some way, shape, or form since I was about 5 years old. That was the first time I sang in front of an audience, and I've been chasing that feeling ever since. I work very heavily in music, voice over, video games, anime, and also in tabletop role playing games.

RPG Site: You mentioned how you've been performing since you were five years old. I believe there's an incident involving a train from when you were a kid right?

Jason Charles Miller: I was on a train with my dad and apparently at the end of the train, there was an entertainment car, where you could buy snacks, and there was a guy back there singing and playing songs, and no one was really paying attention to him. The way my dad tells the story is that the guy said into the mic, "Well, does anybody else want to give this a try?" So me being I think four or five at the time, not understanding sarcasm, said, "I'll try." and I sang Country Roads by John Denver, and apparently brought the house down. So that's what inspired me to be a performer, I suppose.

RPG Site: Did you get into voice acting before music?

Jason Charles Miller: No, I was a musician first. I acted in community theater and school theater, but I was a musician first. I was playing in bands when I was 14. I was in choir from 12-13 years old. Music pulled me out to Hollywood and voice acting was going to just be a side job, and then it became what it has today for me.

RPG Site: What made you want to get into voice acting? Were you offered roles after being in a band? You've done a lot of anime work since becoming a voice actor.

Jason Charles Miller: Not really. Music didn't necessarily lead to it. What happened was I have always been a huge anime fan, and that's what made me inspired to become a voice actor. I took some classes and got some coaching, and eventually made a demo and got an agent. Godhead was asked to write and record a song for a Pop-Tarts commercial, and by my singing on the song, that made me eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild.  I took that as a sign, so I jumped into voice acting wholeheartedly and took it very seriously. I still do to this day.

Being a musician that travels a lot, it is a little bit more flexible. It's more flexible than say acting on screen because when you act on screen, I believe someone once said, "I don't get paid to act. I get paid to wait around. I do the acting for free." But with voice acting, you're in and you're working right away, and then as soon as your lines are recorded, you're out of there.

That seemed like the most logical thing for me because it freed me up to still be a musician and work on music projects.

RPG Site: Before getting into your solo career and other roles, how did you get involved with Final Fantasy XIV and what is your history with the Final Fantasy series? 

Jason Charles Miller: I auditioned to be Raubahn Aldynn, and that was a really great role for me, and then years later I auditioned again to sing. The composer, Soken, was looking for a voice for Shadowbringers, and I auditioned and got it. That started our relationship and so I've sung on four songs for him in Final Fantasy XIV, and then a song that we did for Kenny Omega, the wrestler. 

I really value that relationship because it's one that has taken me all over the world, and has really made me feel a part of a  community like nothing else ever has. The XIV community is an amazing family I'm privelleged to be a part of!

RPG Site: When you worked on Shadowbringers music, you hadn't actually played the game. Now you stream it quite often, don't you?

Jason Charles Miller: Yeah, I may stream it later today. I know this interview won't come out today, but I'm probably going to stream it later today. I have a lot of fun playing it now when members of the community come in, and know who I am, and help me and it's really quite fun.

RPG Site:  I think it's very notable just showcasing your skill as a musician that you were able to deliver those performances without actually having a lot of context for the story and the game at the time.

RPG Site: I'm curious how the work relationship has been for you with the Final Fantasy XIV team. What sort of direction do you get and are you involved with the lyrics at all for the FF14 songs?

Jason Charles Miller: Not usually, no. They send me the finished lyrics and then I can interpret them slightly, and do some rhythmic changes here or there. I give them the option: I'll record it exactly as written, then I will do a few changes and then Soken can decide which takes he wants to use.

RPG Site: How did you get into Final Fantasy as a series like before you started working on it?

Jason Charles Miller: FF3 was my jam. I played Final Fantasy III when I was young and that was the one that really put it all on the map for me. Getting that airship. That was the thing. And then once you got the airship, everything became a lot easier. 

Now playing XIV, I have a ton of fun. I love how they all tie in to one another with just little things here and there. Like obviously they're different worlds, but you've got Chocoos in most of them. You've got Moogles and then you have a lot of crossover in the lore, and I and I love that. I mean, obviously there's airships in XIV. You just can't control them yourself, but you can still take them.

RPG Site: You did some voice acting for Final Fantasy VII Remake. Did that help get you the XIV roles at all or were they unrelated?

Jason Charles Miller: No, the voice acting in VII Remake and Rebirth were a completely separate production team from XIV. I auditioned for those through my voice over agent.  I know the fans get a kick out of it though! I love when I book something like that, because then it's neat to still be part of the larger franchise as a whole.

RPG Site: When you did the original Shadowbringers theme, it felt like you were doing the main vocals for FF14. It felt like the torch had been passed to you from Susan Calloway whose voice was like carrying the game before. I think both your voices are fantastic and complement each other well. How do you feel about that passing the torch moment and did you know you were going to be in The Primals traveling all over the world when you did Shadowbringers?

Jason Charles Miller: As far as the torch being passed, I don't really know. I feel like there was nothing formal about that. I feel like it's just something that Soken decided to use different voices in different places with Amanda Achen as well. 

I didn't know I was going to be part of The Primals, and it's freaking awesome. I love it and I love that I'm welcome and accepted as a guest as part of so many performances. That's so exhilarating.

RPG Site: When Final Fantasy XIV did the collaboration with Tom Morelo, I found out you introduced him to Soken. How did that happen and how do you know Tom?

Jason Charles Miller: Tom and I know each other casually because we both love Dungeons and Dragons. We know each other from two different places. One, we both attend a lot of Dungeons and Dragons events and conventions, and also we are both involved with the Ronnie James Dio cancer fund. So I was at a D&D event, and we were standing around, we were talking, and I said to him, "You know, the composer from Final Fantasy 14, his absolute favorite band is Rage Against the Machine. He's always wearing Rage Against the Machine t-shirts when we're hanging out"

Tom, I think even jokingly said, "Well, if he ever wants a hot track, let me know." So then the next time I saw Soken, I told Soken and he was like, "Yes, yes, I want a hot track." So then I got Soken's team in touch with Tom's team, and now you have Everything Burns. That's what happens.

RPG Site: Did you ever have a chance to watch Ronnie James Dio perform live?

Jason Charles Miller: Yes. So Godhead actually played on a festival with Heaven and Hell, the reformed Black Sabbath. So I've seen him live, but I never got to meet him though.

RPG Site: Speaking of Black Sabbath, you have met Ozzy Osbourne and had quite a friendship with him.

Jason Charles Miller: Yeah. I had a friendship with Ozzy Osborne. I did. It's been rough still just thinking about it you know because I think in my brain Ozzy's always alive and so it's been tough, but what a way to go out.

RPG Site: I forgot where you spoke about it before, but you said something about how you went over to his house and he made you listen to his album pre-release.

Jason Charles Miller: Well, he didn't make me. He just asked me if I had heard it, and I said, "No, I haven't because it's not released yet." And he said "Well, let me play it for you." And I thought, "Oh, this is great. He's going to play me a song or two off of his album." But no, he played me the whole album from beginning to end, and he sang along with every song, and that is like one of the coolest experiences of my entire life.

RPG Site: Since we're still on Ozzy, you played at the OzzFest, right? How was it like touring back then? I think I own one of the 2001 or 2002 audio cassettes.

Jason Charles Miller: OzzFest was so much fun. It was like a summer camp for bands. We were on one of the side stages, and so all the side stage bands hung out together. We have barbecues and stuff backstage hanging out at catering, seeing your heroes walking around. We didn't know how good we had it back then. It was pretty incredible.

RPG Site: You mentioned being a huge fan of anime. What are your three favorite anime of all time and your favorite current one?

Jason Charles Miller: Okay. Three favorite anime: Galaxy Express 999, Macross (which in America was called Robotech), and Yamato (called Star Blazers in America).

For more modern anime, I would say Attack on Titan. It was great to be involved in that show too. I got to be in four episodes of season two as an actor. But what a cool show.

RPG Site:  Have you considered doing any of your own acoustic and arrangement albums for Final Fantasy XIV music? Like assuming Square Enix is obviously okay with.

Jason Charles Miller: I've actually recorded an acoustic version of Close in the Distance, although it hasn't been released yet. I really want to be respectful of Soken's vision and because I still work with them on a regular basis, I don't want to jeopardize the relationship really. I've recorded some things on my own, and then I'll decide to only ever release it with Square Enix's blessing.

RPG Site: There are two specific songs that prompted the question. One of them is your cover of Wasted Years by Iron Maiden, which is one of my favorite songs of all time and also a great showcase of your vocal range. 

Jason Charles Miller: Thank you.

RPG Site: The second one is an acoustic performance of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance's Rules of Nature. I was floored by how well you translated that to an unplugged setting while maintaining the crazy vocal range. There's only a low quality YouTube recording of it and I thought an official acoustic album featuring your takes on songs you've done would be amazing.

Jason Charles Miller: That could be really cool. You'll have to send me that. I'm trying to remember what performance that was from. Please send me the link to that.

RPG Site: While we are on Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, how did you get involved in that project? Did Konami approach you?

Jason Charles Miller: The cellist Tina Guo recommended me to, I think, the Platinum Games team, and then Jamie Christopherson, the composer, sent me a demo to sing on. Then that got me the job with those two songs.

RPG Site: Tina has played on your solo album, hasn't she?

Jason Charles Miller: Yeah. Tina is amazing. We've just been talking about collaborating again. I love having talented friends.

RPG Site: Was Rules of Nature your first video game soundtrack?

Jason Charles Miller: No. My first songs in video games were an early Guilty Gear soundtrack.

RPG Site: Oh that's right, the LA vocal stuff with BlazBlue also. I completely forgot you did both those two albums.

Jason Charles Miller: I did BlazBlue and Guilty Gear. That was my first foray into it.

RPG Site: How did those projects come about?

Jason Charles Miller: Once again, it was through friends of friends or through an agent recommending me or auditioning. The longer you stay in the business, in show business, the more people learn about you and know about you, and thankfully think about you for another project.

RPG Site: When you did Shadowbringers, if I recall correctly, you sent them over what they asked for and three other takes. How did you approach Rules of Nature because the notes are pretty high, and I know you're a tenor, but I still feel like that song is just so hard.

Jason Charles Miller: It's so high and so hard. With Rules of Nature and Red Sun, the producers were there with me, so we were doing it all live. So I was able to do the performances, and then they could listen in, and we could do it all in real time. 

Whereas a lot of times with Soken, he'll send me the track, I'll rehearse it, I'll record it, and then send it back. Then if he wants me to do any changes, then we can do it again.

RPG Site: For the original Shadowbringers theme, you also ended up crunching for like two days or something with different producers in your studio to get it out before the tour. Have you had to do something like that again?

Jason Charles Miller: No. Now I just do it on my own, but the first time, yeah, I had two different engineers that basically did it. One tapped out and the other one tapped in because I didn't want to stop working. I knew how important it was going to be.

RPG Site: Back in December, I decided to start a new run of Cyberpunk 2077. When I got to the point where Resist and Disorder started playing, I was blown away. I put it on my work playlist and then I recognized your name when I looked up other songs by you. I was pretty surprised, but soon realized your range is quite something with the Final Fantasy XIV songs, and then discovered that you sang one of my favorite video game songs of all time: Rules of Nature. I didn't even realize you had done those Revengeance songs.

Jason Charles Miller: That's great. I love it when people connect all the dots and they get really excited. I love that.

RPG Site:  For Cyberpunk 2077, you did three songs as The Cartesian Duelists, an in-game band. How was it working on these compared to say XIV's music? I feel like you were a bit more involved across the board here given the songs are from Rezodrone, another project of yours.

Jason Charles Miller: Yeah. We were allowed to write these. So, it was me and my music partner Jameson Boaz. We have a side project called Rezodrone, and they reached out to me, and said what kind of music they were looking for for all the fictional radio stations, and what style each radio station would have playing on it. 

So we actually turned in five songs and they accepted three. So it was a process for sure, but we were allowed to write our own music for that. So that was really fun.

RPG Site: There's one more game you're involved with that's actually coming out soon. You've been working on it for five years now, I think? Iridium Studios' People of Note.

Jason Charles Miller: More. Nine. Can you believe that? It's called People of Note, and I worked on the first demos for that in 2017. Then at the end of 2019, the game got picked up by Annapurna Interactive, which actually was really nice because then in 2020, I had a job. 2020 was tough for a lot of people. So Jason Wishnov is the game's producer, writer, and director. He and I wrote eight songs for the game. 

I'm also in the game. I'm one of the main characters in the game.I sing on two songs as well. But the way the game works is you play as Cadence, who is a singer that wants to win this big song contest, and she's on a mythical planet called Chordia. Every nation on the planet is controlled by a different style of music. So a lot of the songs that I wrote were all in different styles of music, and then we have mashups and our main composer Jimmy Hinson, for all of the environmental and combat music, it all changes depending on who is in your party and so that was really exciting.

I didn't work on any of that. I just worked on the cut-scene songs. There's a lot of those too. They're all like mini music videos. A few of them are online now. I'm sure you've probably seen them.

RPG Site: How does it feel for you listening to your old music? I know you're a perfectionist. You mentioned in a prior interview that you liked to do like a 100 takes and with each track represented by a different color, it looks like a rainbow and you know your work is done. Do you listen to your older music or prefer looking ahead?

Jason Charles Miller: I like looking ahead, but when I accidentally come across a song that I worked on before, I'm usually pleasantly surprised. I guess that's good. A lot of like old Godhead stuff, I think, still holds up and I'm proud of it.

RPG Site: Godhead's Nothingness is good. I was listening to it again yesterday. I think it holds up well.

Jason Charles Miller: Thank you. It's one of our first records.

RPG Site: Alongside Godhead, I think your solo album Uncountry is fantastic, and an album more fans of your game music should listen to. How do you approach composing your solo albums compared to music for games?

Jason Charles Miller: I think I'm really selective with my own music. If I'm writing music for other people or shows or other artists, I'm more free than when I'm writing for myself. When I'm writing for myself, I kind of get caught in my own head a lot, and I say, "Oh, I wouldn't do that or I wouldn't sing that or I wouldn't hit that chord. Etc. So it takes me longer to write my own stuff because I'm my own worst critic."

RPG Site: Since you have brought it up in past interviews, how do you deal with having imposter syndrome? You brought up a good example of how you started to tackle it when you were in a room with more famous voice talent like the voice of SpongeBob and thought just being there with them speaks for itself? I think that's a great way of looking at things. 

Jason Charles Miller: I mean, exactly. You always get that feeling of nervousness when you're around someone that you perceive is more successful, or is more experienced than you. What you have to tell yourself is, "Hey, you booked this. You got asked to be here. You deserve to be in this room, so get it together and do your job.

RPG Site: I wanted to ask you about your gear, but we don't have too much time to get into the weeds. I'll keep it simple. What's your favorite modern guitar purchase you've made and what is your faithful and reliable guitar you can always go back to, since you've had it for a long time.

Jason Charles Miller: My favorite current guitar is an ESP, I have one of the James Hetfield models. It's called the Truckster, and there's not too many of them out there. I don't know how many they made, but I'm really glad that I got it when I did because it's the one that I play on tour a lot.

RPG Site: That has EMG pickups, right?

Jason Charles Miller: Yes, but not what you're thinking. I put in EMG pickups that they call the Retro Active Fat 55s. They have more of a vintage sound than the ones that come with it. So, I actually pulled the 81 pickups out and put different pickups in to give it more of this vintage 60s-70s sound. I also did that with an ESP Phoenix that I have.

My tried and true is my Gibson SG that I've had forever. I'm never going to get rid of that guitar and that just stays around with me.

RPG Site: Did you leave the stock pickups in that one?

Jason Charles Miller: No, those actually have EMGs 81s!

RPG Site: What are your top three albums of all time?

Jason Charles Miller: Top three albums. Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. This answer changes a lot. The Cure's Disintegration and probably Fleetwood Mac's Rumors.

RPG Site: How do you like your coffee? Go into as much detail as possible.

Jason Charles Miller: If the coffee is good, I like it black. I just have coffee black. If I really need a pick me up and I'm out on the go, I'll get an Americano, which is espresso and hot water. If the coffee is good, I'll just drink it black. That's been my thing for a while now. 

I'll sometimes have a cappuccino late at night or something like that, but waking up, I've got to get going: Black coffee. Boom. Let's go.