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36 illinoisentertainer . com june 2024 continued from page 32
years . It ’ s one of my favorite songs I ' ve released . It ’ s right up there with the new Plain White T ’ s album for me , if not one notch higher just because it ' s so fun . And it ' s fun because Million Miler is just me and my production buddy , Dan . It ' s just my brain going crazy . I can do whatever I want . There ' s nobody telling me it should be like this , or the label saying this , or the management saying this . Whatever I want , I do it . In that aspect , it ' s some of the most fun stuff I ' ve ever done for sure . I feel like “ Holy Shit ,” especially , is just fun and happy and loving . You can feel the heart in it even though it ’ s just goofy and fun .
IE : I ' m also a sucker for synth-pop . That ' s my bread and butter . Did any of the music from the ' 80s influence Million Miler ? Was that the kind of music you grew up with ? TH : Absolutely . Some of my earliest memories in my life are of my mom playing Pat Benatar and Michael Jackson records in the house , so I definitely grew up with that . The ' 80s have a soft spot in my heart . The Goonies is my favorite movie ever . Stranger Things is my favorite thing ever . The 80s were definitely a culprit to that Million Miler synth sound . But then current artists tapped me into hyper pop . It opened up the floodgates to bring that ' 80s vibes in a totally new , fun way .
IE : You have a new song out there . Are you gearing up for another Million Miler album ? TH : I mean , absolutely . I ' ve got about seven songs written . I just have to finish recording . The new Million Miler album will be coming before the end of the year .
IE : You ’ ve also got another band TLB , which has more of like a punk rock vibe . And you guys released a Christmas song a couple of years ago . TH : Yeah , I ’ m actually the drummer of TLB ; I started out as a drummer . TLB has two of my best friends and we put out two albums and a handful of Christmas songs . All the songs are just fun , Ramones-style breakup anthems with a lot with a lot of swearing and a lot of drinking involved . It ' s like a punk paradise band . It was a band that started out of necessity , turning a terrible situation into the most fun , rowdy therapy session . My best friend was in his own band with his girlfriend . They were blowing up in Chicago and about to get a record deal . Then she left him for the manager of the band .
He was heartbroken and devastated . He wrote a bunch of " fuck you " breakup songs about her . And because I have a studio set up
in my house , he came to me like Hey dude , do you want to record some of these with me ? I think it would be really good to get this off my chest . And I was like , Hell yeah . So , we started doing it , and it was like , dude , we have to be a band . These songs are so amazing . Then I started writing more with him just to get him through this shitty-ass situation . And that became TLB . We ' ve played South by Southwest , we ' ve opened for a bunch of our friend ’ s bands in San Francisco and frickin DC and Chicago and Houston . But it ' s more of a popup band . When there ' s time we ' ll get together and spend two weeks making a record and then play some shows . You never know when TLB is going to pop up .
IE : Fingers crossed that more TLB is coming soon . Getting back to Plain White T ’ s last year you sold a portion of the band ’ s song catalog to Concord . This is something that artists are doing more and more these days . What led to that decision to sell part of the catalog ? TH : When you go into a publishing contract with somebody , they get their cut for a certain amount of time ; that ' s just part of the business . A couple of years ago , I got my rights back . Since I had full control of the catalog , I thought this is the moment where a lot of people are getting nice checks for these catalogs . So , I went into thinking let ’ s just see what this would be worth . There were some really nice offers , so it seems now is a good time . And it ' s Concord , which we ' re in a relationship with anyway . Fearless , the record label the Plain White T ’ s started on and are still on , are a part of Concord . So , it just felt very safe . The timing was right , so it all made sense .
IE : As we ' ve discussed throughout the interview , there ' s so much you ' ve accomplished with Plain White T ’ s and your other projects . What ' s something that you would still like to achieve ? TH : Happiness . Pure joy and feeling like I ' m getting the most out of life , which I am . But just finding a little bit more of a balance and taking time out to do some other things . That ' s my new goal . You ’ ve got to remember to live in the moment and make time for things that aren ' t music-related , which sounds crazy because that ' s the best stuff in the world . I ' m just trying to find that balance of working , playing , and loving . As you get older time becomes more and more priceless . There ' s nothing I love more than being creative and writing songs ; it ' s just part of who I am . I also want to have another hit song , and I want Million Miler to be headlining Coachella in three years . Maybe I ' ll throw those goals out there . I want a life balance , but I also need to be headlining Coachella as Million Miller .
Appearing July 4 Frontier Days , Arlington Heights ; Sept . 1 Schaumburg Septemberfest .