Rob Miller, author of The Hours Are Long, But the Pay Is Low: A Curious Life in Independent Music, answers questions about his new book.
Q: Why did you decide to write this book?
Persistent haranguing from friends and colleagues.
I wanted to give the perspective of an independent record label owner who remained small, but viable. It is a business that places a premium on growth for growth’s sake. I wanted, through my story, show how intertwined independent creative communities are, how important they are, and, it its heart, the book is a celebration of them, and an appeal to appreciate and strengthen them. It was always about more than just one label, or one person. This is something we all need to be aware of, because such things can disappear astonishingly fast.
Q: What is the most interesting discovery you made while researching and writing your book?
How deep the connection between my past and my business ran. It seems obvious to me now that experiences I had as I discovered music as a teenager directly, and largely without me being consciously aware of it, informed virtually every aspect of my business and how I navigated the music industry. As I say in the book, the label may not have been planned, but it wasn’t an accident. As for the writing, how, in this long form that I’ve never attempted, something that I wrote seven chapters previous could deftly resonate in the next paragraph, and that even the loosest of chapters are all part of molecular structure: they are dynamic, vibrating, separate entities, but bound together by an incredible force.
Q: What myths do you hope your book will dispel or what do you hope your book will help readers unlearn?
That it was easy. That it was all planned. That it was inevitable. That we can take our indie creative communities for granted. That there is a single “right” way to do things. It’s ok to be weird. In fact, it’s necessary.
Q: Which part of the publishing process did you find the most interesting?
How much working this closely and for this amount of time with a caring and committed editor will shape a formless blob into something that I genuinely didn’t know I had in me.
Q: What is your advice to scholars/authors who want to take on a similar project?
- Don’t
- Or, if #1 isn’t an option, be prepared to take the inviolable words you have meticulously crafted, each as important as the next, each building upon the previous in order to construct a foundation of unshakeable strength, and cut 20% of them out. Shave, shave, and shave. When you are done shaving, shave some more. Then, once you have finished that final round of shaving, lather up and shave once more.
Q: What do you like to read/watch/or listen to for fun?
I’m a record guy. My collection is vast, varied, and weird. It never stops giving. I’m always finding something new in it.
Favorite books I’ve read recently:
Overstory by Richard Powers
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
And I don’t know if I could have gotten through the pandemic without “Ted Lasso.”
Rob Miller is the cofounder and former co-owner of Bloodshot Records. His website is robmillerwriting.com.