LOS ANGELES, CA- When I attended Jake Miller’s headlining gig at the El Rey back in May, I had a realization. Sugary pop music will never go away. Every generation has a boy/girl band that caters to young ears. For me, my phases were New Edition to NSYNC to Hanson … and so on. Though we all grow up, there’s always someone younger right behind us to pick up where we left off.
Jake Miller put out his first EP back in 2012 and has been steadily releasing music since, dropping an EP or studio album (or both) every year. To say his output is prolific would kinda be an understatement.
Having already dropped a stellar EP this year (Based on a True Story), today he drops a brand new EDM infused summer jam: “Nervous”. Written by Miller and produced by Tomos, the budding 17-year-old DJ, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, “NERVOUS” follows his last single “OCEAN AWAY” and marks the second of five new songs to be released by Jake this summer. The chorus with the twitched out synth is definitely some club banging material, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this song gets the remix treatment from some producers. It’s undeniably catchy pop music that ‘d bound to have the same fans come back out to see him on stage when he hits the road again with Hoodie Allen this fall.
Kicking off the music for the evening was the family band Just Seconds Apart. Just Seconds Apart is Sela (drums), Ari (Guitar), and Alex (Keyboard) Poulos—19-year-old triplets…. thus the band name “Just Second Apart”. That’s pretty damn clever if you ask me.
Unfortunately, I missed the start of their set, but what I did catch was a lot of fun. Without even knowing that they were related, I could tell that there was a strong bond that connected them together during the performance. Although they were relatively spread far apart from one another on stage, they seemed to be able to read each other’s musical direction without having to look at each other.
From my vantage point, Ari’s stage presence and look had me thinking he was a younger version of John Mayer. Behind the drums, Sela was loose and freewheeling. When she caught me to point my camera at her, she hammed it up and gave me the obligatory drum stick point.
This band is young, and you can tell that they are still developing as songwriters, but the nine tracks that they’ve released are any indication, they are well on their way to hitting their stride.
Next up to bat was former Big Time Rush member, Logan Henderson. I kinda grew out of Nickelodeon programming when “You Can’t Do That On Television” was axed, but I certainly knew of the band the death grip that they had on young female hearts from 2009 to 2013.
Often times, singers leaving groups to embark on solo careers when the group is in its prime can be viewed as a silly venture. I mean, Big Time Rush was still winning awards four years after the series had ended in the United States!
But Logan Henderson seems to be making steady strides to establish himself as a solo act. His two studio albums (Echoes of Departure and the Endless Street of Dreams – Pt. 1 and Echoes of Departure and the Endless Street of Dreams – Pt. 2) finds Logan polishing his sound, taking a decidedly more mature approach to his music compared to the pure popness of Big Time Rush, and his fans clearly appreciated his post BTR crooning.
Before Jake Miller took the stage, I made sure my earplugs were mushed in tight into my ears. You’d have done the same if you knew how loud a room full of screaming young ladies can get.
Jake’s been in the game for a good minute now, and he knows how to cater to his fans. Even his outfit, tight jeans, and a sleeveless shirt to reveal his massively ripped biceps was the stuff of teenage fan-girl dreams.
Jake performed most, if not all, of the songs off his latest extended play Based On A True Story and his loyal fans were singing every word to songs like “Skinnydip” and “Nikes”. I may have felt a tad uncomfortable looking into the crowd of female faces singing the hook of “Skinnydip”- “skinny dipping all night, underneath the moonlight”- knowing that the longing look in their eyes was them fantasising about skinny dipping with Jake.
Jake’s got the all the ingredients to make a big mark in the pop music genre. A great look. Huge biceps. A tenor voice that has a Justin Timberlake type range. I think all he needs is the right songs and producer to really hit the vien of the cultureal zeitgeist. Will “Nervous” get him one step closer? If not, we’ve got three more singles to look forward to this summer.
Jake Miller will be back at the El Rey on October 1, 2019 opening for Hoodie Allen. Hit up his links to get you some tix.
Follow Jake Miller on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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