From a remote mountain location in Ventura County, song-writer and music producer Gary Miller makes music which is heard all around the world.
Miller is one of the most sought-after producers in the music business – working with David Bowie, Simply Red, Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry and many more of the biggest names in music.
He originally moved to the U.S. from England, after he became fed-up with traveling back and forth to record artists, and became enamored with the Californian climate.
In his studio, he may sound like he’s surrounded by musicians, but, in fact, it’s basically a one man band – as he’s working with technology that means the multi-instrumentalist can do it all himself.
Miller nearly lost his music studio three years ago, in the Woolsey Wildfire.
"There were two buildings on the property. The main house went, but the studio survived," he told KCLU.
"The trees were on fire, like two feet away from the building, so it's a miracle it didn't just go up. The studio was maybe 10 feet from the main house, and the main house looked like a bomb had hit it when I got back," said Miller.
Pre-pandemic, Miller started working to produce an album of Police and Sting covers to raise money for victims of sex trafficking – and roped in famous friends like Slash from Guns N Roses.
The album became known as Rock Against Trafficking.
"Someone brought me a leaflet showing me that 27 million children were being abused and raped. At first I couldn't believe it, but I looked more into it...and then I really wanted to put something back," he said.
"I decided to do an album, I chose all Sting and The Police songs and once I got the idea, Slash was the first one that came on board and it just snowballed from there. Then we got Julian Lennon on, Heart, Journey - all these people.
"The album is finished now. Obviously the pandemic has slowed things down. But the idea is to release the album and all the proceeds go to rescue children from human trafficking."
The album has already spawned a top 7 rock chart hit for the version of Roxanne by Glenn Hughes from Deep Purple - but Miller says he hopes that once it’s easier to hold concerts, a live rock show benefit will also be in the works.
