Before hitting the stage, Richard Miller (aka the hip-hop artist MIL Muziq) imagines he is playing to hundreds of thousands of people at the Coachella Music Festival.
“That way I’ll always hit the audience with everything I got,” the Sioux City-based entertainer explained. “Whether I’m playing for a crowd of 10 or 10,000, I wanna put on a show.”
When Miller performs at the Four Winds Music and Art Festival, taking place from 2 p.m. to midnight Saturday at the Marquee, 1225 Fourth St., he will, no doubt, be playing to a crowd that is larger than 10 but smaller than 10,000.
However, we might be mistaken since Miller will be sharing the stage with such musical acts as Banana Cramps, G.L.U.E., REV, Winter Wayfarer, Fatal Fall, Panic Drive, Low Speed Chase, Germ Circus, Tamen Royy, the Blac Order, Lilac Jam, Stronghold, Cri$iS, Spiraldoubt, Crystal Lizard and some of the best “fine art” artists around.
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“Four Winds combines music and art in one place at one time,” Miller said. “That’s pretty cool. Since music fans may also be art fans, it is good marketing.”
Indeed, Miller, a Briar Cliff University marketing and business administration graduate, understands music can incorporate both art and commerce.
After all, he is the founder and CEO of MIL MUZIQ GROUP, which is a music company, a record label and a clothing line.
“I have a lot of respect for (longtime BCU business professor) Judy Thompson,” Miller said. “Judy taught me so much about business when I was going to college.”
Miller also credited his dad Ricky Miller (a prominent Miami-based minister) for teaching him all about music.
“Dad was all about his music and I was a faith counselor,” he recounts. “To this day, I still incorporate some Christianity into my music.”
“It may sound like old school hip-hop but the Christianity happens to be the ‘secret sauce,’” Miller said with a smile.
To say music is life to Miller might be an understatement. Especially if you know that MIL is short for “Music is Life.”
Indeed, he is a disciple of both stagecraft and sound.
“I study all of the artists who’ve come before me, whether they are Michael Jackson, Prince, Jay-Z or whomever,” Miller said. “They are the masters and I learn by understanding what made them tick.”
As a former Miami resident, Miller also has a fondness for such “Magic City” rappers as Rick Ross and Trick Daddy (aka Maurice Samuel Young).
“Both Rick Ross and Trick Daddy were very influential to me when I was growing up,” he said. “In that way, I also want to inspire the next generation of rappers.”
Richard Miller, also known as MIL MUZIQ, yells in to his microphone as confetti falls at the Abe Stage at Saturday in the Park on Saturday in …
Miller already does that when he works at the Sioux City Conservatory of Music as well as at 2022’s Saturday in the Park when he performed on the Abe Stage with a uniquely long-eared hype man.
“I worked with a rabbit named Thugs Bunny,” he explained. “I love interacting with my audience and having Thugs Bunny on my side is an instant ice breaker.”
This is especially true when Miller introduces hip-hop to kids. Recently, he began working with an 11-year-old rapper named Jarod Wright.
“I’ve even wrote a song for Jarod called ‘Blow Up,’ which we hope will ‘blow up’ the music charts,” he allowed.
You see, it is all about mixing art and commerce for Miller.
Which is why he was so keen on participating in this year’s Four Winds Music and Art Festival.
“The music will be largely rock and roll,” he reasoned. “That means a lot of the audience may’ve never heard of MIL Muziq before.”
“Music is Life, man,” Miller said smiling. “And I want my voice to be heard.”
Mitch Martin talks about his new bar the Green Room downtown beside the Marquee which Mitch also owns.
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