Exclusive interview: Tor Miller Chats Generation of Me, Being an Independent Artist, and His Upcoming Tour

A few years ago, we introduced you to Tor Miller. The New York-based artist was quickly making a name for himself with his emotive songwriting and powerhouse vocals. He received praise from countless publications including The Huffington Post and Nylon, and released two critically-acclaimed albums: American English and Surviving the Suburbs.

Since the success of American English and Surviving the Suburbs, Tor Miller has embarked on an exciting new chapter in his career as an independent artist. His new record, Generation of Me, is a retrospective look at his journey as a man and artist.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Tor about Generation of Me, his long-running collaboration with Adrian Simon, and more.

PC: Tell us about “Big City” and the inspiration behind the song.
Tor: I wrote “Big City” with a friend of mine, Adrian Simon. We wrote that song about four years ago. It was the first thing we ever wrote together. The first time that we sat down together that song came out. It sparked what would later become a very rewarding and incredible collaboration. He then went on to produce the whole record and helped write about half the record with me. That experience was a very important piece to the relationship that Adrian and I now share. I’m very grateful.

In terms of the inspiration for it, I was broke, young, and living in New York City. I was trying to find my place and trying to find my people. It’s really reflective of that. New York is equally the most draining and most exciting place in the world. I wanted to capture a bit of that experience—finding a way to find yourself in this big metropolis in a way that feels authentic to you. There’s a great message in the song about how I was going through some struggles and trying to figure out what kind of artist I wanted to be. There are elements related to the music industry and the people you meet and the voices that you have in your head. That all played a part in the song.

PC: Speaking of that larger body of work, how does Generation of Me build upon American English and Surviving the Suburbs while also differentiating itself?
Tor: There was a period of time where I believed that the record was the baby of American English and Surviving the Suburbs. If you brought these two albums together, you would have Generation of Me. I’d say what differs the most from the other two records is that it’s a little more adventurous sonically. It touches upon some genres and sounds that I hadn’t quite immersed myself in thus far. Elements of it feel a little bit more modern than some of my other material.

PC: If you had to pick one song off the album that best encompasses who you are as an artist, which would it be and why?
Tor: That’s a tough one, and the answer will probably change over time. But right now, I’d say “The World is Gonna Tear Us Apart,” which is the last song on the album. It was a live one-take in a room, playing piano and singing. That probably feels the most authentic to who I truly am.

PC: You recently became an independent artist. Can you talk a little bit about the challenges and benefits that’s had on your music and growth as an artist?
Tor: I would say that the greatest benefit is you truly do have complete creative freedom. How that manifests itself in the album creation process is that I didn’t feel like I had people over my shoulder. I didn’t have voices of fear chirping in my ear, and I wasn’t being questioned constantly. I mean, Adrian and I challenged each other. It wasn’t like we had free rein and that I couldn’t take any criticism. I’m not that type of person. But it felt nice. It felt like it came from more of a pure place in a way.

It was just my friend and I making this album together. It brought us closer as friends and collaborators. I’d say the difficulties are the behind-the-scenes things that I wasn’t really privy to while signed to a label. Those things are taken care of behind the scenes. I miss that a bit because I’m a musician and not a businessman. All of it rests on your shoulders.

PC: As an artist, there’s this expectation/unspoken rule that you need to be constantly releasing new music. You release new music, you go on tour. What are the benefits of this pandemic? Was there an opportunity to pause? How have you used this time to further develop your craft?
Tor: We really took the pandemic as an opportunity to slow down, take our time, and really try to make the best album that we possibly could because at the time it felt like, what world is there to even put this out in? I took the time to really edit the songs and dive even deeper into them and tried to understand what it was that I was trying to convey with each set of lyrics. The process of singing things over and over and over again and putting a microscope up to everything and diving in and really breaking it apart…Is this good enough? Is this good enough? I was really tough and thorough in the editing process, where I felt more pressure to put it out immediately.

PC: One of the best ways to describe your artistry is that it’s cinematic—not only in sound but also in terms of the music videos that you release. As you’re working on new music, are you thinking about the visual aesthetics? Where does that come in? What is that creative process like?
Tor: I’ve taken it upon myself to get even more involved in that process than I had previously. It can be somewhat random how that all comes to be. For instance, with the “Generation of Me” music video I had the opening shot in my head. I worked with two of my friends, Mike Walker and Jesse Bronstein, and we started from this one idea of walking out of the street and slipping on this condom and then a group of people gather around and where do we take it from there? It was so many days of meeting up at each other’s apartments, workshopping it, and taking a little idea and building off of that. I’d say that with this record, collaboration played a huge part as well. Collaborating with the people I’m closest with is a more rewarding experience than the actual product itself.

PC: This is such an exciting time in your career. As you look ahead to the next five, ten years, what are some of the personal goals that you hope to accomplish in this industry?
Tor: I’d like to play larger shows. That would be nice. But beyond that, I would really like to flex my songwriting muscles. I’ve been flexing my production muscles. I’ve really been enjoying working with other artists and writing music with them and for them. I’d like to expand that element of what I do because I think one of my greatest strengths is songwriting. I’d really love meeting new people and collaborating. If I could open up my collaboration to a greater group of people, I’d be really happy with that. I just want to keep writing songs and producing music that I believe in and not going against my instinct. I feel like in ten years, if I was making music that I still loved, it’d be a success.

PC: As we look ahead to the rest of 2022, what can fans expect from you? Will we see you back on the road? How are you going to celebrate the record dropping?
Tor: Currently, I’m planning a tour. I have an album release show on June 23rd in New York City at Chelsea Music Hall. Then I’m planning a tour in the fall, which I hope to announce dates for pretty soon.

To keep up with Tor, follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, and Apple Music. Pick up or stream Generation of Me today!