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Obligatory nice photo of me:

Photo: R. Tanglao, Jan 2006

My musical career:

1. My grandfather led a church choir and played piano and organ. I took classical guitar as a kid. After quitting in 1982, I forgot everything about music till I took up the drums in 1988. I still can't read musical notation.
   
   
2. My first paying gig was in April 1989 at the Science Last Class Bash at the University of British Columbia, with a band called the Juan Valdez Memorial R&B Ensemble (I skipped an important honours biology lecture to set up). We were pretty bad, but the crowd was pretty drunk, so it was okay. The guitar player from that show, who was also my roommate, has also been in every band I've played in since.
   
   
3. A couple of band name and lineup changes later, I was the drummer and singer in an original group called The Flu from 1992 to 1995, full time for the last two years of that. We released one cassette album, which nearly no one heard, but they liked us when we visited Australia.
   
   
4. To survive, we also created a cover band called The Neurotics. While I quit both The Flu and The Neurotics in late 1995 after I got married, I re-joined the latter band in 2000, and still play in it.
   
   
5. In 2004, I began posting my original podsafe instrumental rock recordings here on this website.
   
   
6. By mid-2005 I started releasing those recordings as a semi-regular podcast, to which you can subscribe in iTunes (version 4.9 or above) or using the RSS feed in any other podcatching software.
   
   
7. Since then, quite a number of podcasts have used my free tunes as background or theme music, including the inaugural episode of CBC Unplugged's "Studio Zero," an episode of former MTV veejay and podcasting co-inventor Adam Curry's "Daily Source Code" show, and "Windows Weekly," hosted by tech journalists Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott.
   
   
8. In late 2005, I was one of 32 performers involved in the Podsafe for Peace recording of "If Every Day Were Christmas." Proceeds from online sales of that track go to UNICEF, and the composers (Slau and Orlando Pagan) are also donating their publishing royalties.
   
   
9. Just before Christmas 2005, I released my debut solo album of podsafe instrumental rock tunes, Penmachine Sessions, which you can buy on CD through this page.
   
   
10. In 2006 and 2007, I continued playing with the Neurotics and releasing new podsafe tracks at my podcast, and also began co-hosting Inside Home Recording with Paul Garay, a podcast about how to record music yourself, using digital recording techniques in your project studio.
    
    

More typical photo of me in live performance:

To link to this page, use the shortcut buy.penmachine.com.

Buy the CD | The Fine Print | Hear Samples | Track Listing | More Info | My Other Music | Links | Photos

NOW AVAILABLE DIGITALLY AT THE AMAZON MP3 STORE, eMUSIC, OR THE iTUNES MUSIC STORE

PLEASE NOTE: There's another Derek Miller (without the K in the middle) who's actually a reasonably famous, award-winning Canadian musician, and, to be clear, he's not me! Rather, he is this guy, who is quite talented. After you've picked up my album, go check out the several he's released.

Buy the album right now

PLEASE WRITE A REVIEW: I'd appreciate it if you write a review at the CD Baby site, at Amazon, or at the iTunes Store once you've had a chance to hear the album, so that other people can find out what you think of my tunes. The physical CDs are sold out, but you can still buy the downloads!

Purchase options:

Choose:	Price:	What You Get:
Amazon MP3 Store	$8.99 USD or $0.99 per song	Digital download in unrestricted MP3 format BUY FROM AMAZON
iTunes Music Store	$9.99 USD or Cdn or $0.99 per song (direct download)	Digital download NOW IN HIGH-QUALITY UNLOCKED AAC FORMAT ("iTunes Plus") for iTunes, iPod, computer, or other media player
eMusic	Monthly subscriptions from $9.99 USD (you keep your downloads forever)	Digital download in unrestricted MP3 format BUY FROM eMUSIC
CD Baby (worldwide) album download	$9.00 USD Complete digital album download only (MP3 format)	Full album in high-quality unrestricted MP3 format BUY FROM CDBABY
CD Baby (worldwide) SOLD OUT! Please buy a download	$12.75 USD (shipping extra)	1 disc: audio CD and liner notes in jewel case only (no DVD) SOLD OUT!
PayPal (U.S. customers) SOLD OUT! Please buy a download	$15.00 USD (shipping included)	2 discs: audio CD and liner notes in jewel case + BONUS data DVD* (see "the fine print" below) SOLD OUT!
PayPal (Canada customers) SOLD OUT! Please buy a download	$15.00 Cdn (shipping & GST included) GST #869295311	2 discs: audio CD and liner notes in jewel case + BONUS data DVD* (see "the fine print" below) SOLD OUT!
PayPal (outside U.S.A. & Canada) SOLD OUT! Please buy a download	$19.00 USD (shipping included)	2 discs: audio CD and liner notes in jewel case + BONUS data DVD* (see "the fine print" below) SOLD OUT!
Podsafe for Peace (download)	$0.99 USD (donated to UNICEF)	Unrestricted audio MP3 download of "If Every Day Were Christmas" charity song (Derek sang in the chorus)

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The fine print:

About PayPal: You don't need a PayPal account to send money via PayPal—any major credit card will do. If you have a PayPal account with funds in it, you can use that too. All PayPal purchases include any applicable taxes as well as shipping—what you see is all you pay, and I send directly from my house to you.

About the iTunes Store: The iTunes tracks are no longer locked up with horrible digital restrictions management (DRM), and they're super-high quality, better than you can get here on my site. How cool is that?

About CD Baby: Physical copies of my CD are now sold out. If I eventually get more, the CD Baby price is cheap, but they calculate shipping separately, since they send it from their warehouse in the U.S., so whether it's a better deal depends on where you are. The full-album digital download price of $9.00 is a good deal, though, and gives you unrestricted MP3s, but you can't buy tracks individually.

*About the Bonus DVD: I used to offer a bonus DVD included with direct purchases is a computer data DVD, not a video for DVD players, but it is now also sold out. It worked on Windows, Macintosh, and Linux computers, and included a bunch of totally exclusive stuff:

• Pre-encoded versions of all the album songs in MP3, AAC, and Ogg Vorbis format, ready for iTunes, your iPod, or another application or portable device (you don't need to waste time ripping your own MP3 files).
• The original uncompressed master audio tracks in AIFF and WAV format, so you can burn full-quality audio CD copies if you want.
• The GarageBand master files I used to create the songs, so you can see how they were built and play with the loops and sounds yourself. Remix away! (Probably only works in GarageBand or Logic Audio on the Mac.)
• Additional songs and demos, some otherwise unreleased, and bonus material.
• A little introductory video from me, playable in QuickTime or iTunes or on an iPod with video capability. (May not work easily on Linux.)
• Album artwork graphics.
• Some other stuff I've probably forgotten about.

Questions? Email me at dkmiller@penmachine.com. Otherwise, go buy it!

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Hear samples and learn more

My album is a bit of an experiment, since you can download full MP3 files of all the tunes right from this website. If you buy it from me, you get a bonus DVD with stuff that's not available online (mostly because it's just too big), plus the knowledge that you help support my music, which should make you feel all warm and fuzzy. That's worth $15, right?

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Track listing

Each link in the track listing (44:52 total running time) takes you to more information and a full MP3 download of that tune:

1. How Tall Jennifer Is (2:54) - Soft back-porch acoustic, loud propulsive guitar, then back.
2. Hotcake Syrup (3:02)- Sugary, head-boppin' power-chord drivin' music.
3. Stop Yield Go Merge (2:26) - Bleeping synthesizers, a backbeat, screaming lead guitar, and an ominous string section.
4. Clouds or Smoke? - (3:47) Bluesy space rock with a jazz beat.
5. Cold Cloth and an Ice Pack (3:08) - Old-style funk-R&B combo jam.
6. Had a Plan, Had to Change It (3:22) - Twin-guitar shuffle blues written for CBCers.
7. Pirilloponzi (3:13) - Twang groove with words about email and love. Vocals by Chris and Ponzi.
8. Meltdown Man (3:17) - Wild 'n' crazy, Brylcreem-and-burgers rockabilly guitar workout.
9. Fresh Snow in the Valley (4:01) - Techno beats, echoing riff, synths, and lead guitar.
10. The Burning Moon (2:53) - Spaghetti western down on the bayou: spooky piano, tremolo guitar, and organ over a stuttering beat. A collaboration with Simon James.
11. Pocketbook (2:36) - R&B horn intro leads into groovy bass, Hammond organ, and drums.
12. Deep Cycle Discharge (3:11) - Four-on-the-floor electronica pits a piano against hovering UFO sounds. A collaboration with Simon James.
13. Gronk Patrol (2:48) - A slow march with guitars that bloop, twang, and scream.
14. That's No Dream (4:11) - Happy funk guitar and organ in a convertible with the top down.

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More info about the tunes and my podcast

The songs on Penmachine Sessions (and new additions) are all available as part of the Penmachine Podcast, a page on this site where you can download them. You can also subscribe to the podcast with a program like iTunes (version 4.9 or higher). Then, whenever I add a new track, you'll get it automatically, and it can go straight to your iPod—all for free. Cool, eh? If you don't know about podcasting, then read up or check out Technorati's Podcast search for more references.

If you have iTunes, the easiest way to subscribe is to click the Subscribe link: , which should open iTunes and take you directly to my podcast page in the iTunes store. Then click Subscribe there to start getting the songs for free.

Otherwise, you can search for "penmachine" in the iTunes store's Podcast directory (see instructions) and subscribe that way. Finally, you can click and drag the orange and grey "RSS Podcast" button or the address http://www.penmachine.com/rss/podcastmp3.xml to your iTunes window (or other podcast subscription program).

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My other musical endeavours

In addition to being a writer and editor, I play drums and sing for about half my living, in two bands, The Neurotics (as "Sticky Neurotic") and HourGlass (as myself), with Sebastien "Dirty Neurotic" de Castell (my old roommate) on vocals, guitar, and keyboards; Mark "Bumpy" Olexson on guitar (or bass) and keyboards; and a rotating cast of other characters that includes Adam "Woody Neurotic" Woodall on vocals, guitar, and harmonica, Sean "Dilly" Dillon on guitar, or Ed "Slappy" Laslo on guitar; and either Dave "Lumpy Neurotic" Haddock, Dirk "Doink" Slow, or Doug "Swingy" Elliott on vocals and bass. We wear wigs and glittery jackets and talk in fake British accents. People seem willing to pay a lot of money for that.

I've been drumming for money since about 1989 (two years after I learned the instrument), which is a bit longer than I've been writing for money. I've played in Terrace and Edmonton, Victoria and Penticton, New York and Melbourne—but mostly around Vancouver. For the full story on my fab-rock combos, visit the Neurotics/HourGlass Web site at www.TheNeurotics.com. (I built the site too.)

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Where else to hear my stuff

In addition to cover-band material at the Neurotics site, my original tunes are also available via podcast.net, Odeo, and Podcast Alley, or the Podsafe Music Network:

who's playing my tunes?
who else?

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Photos

There are tons of photos in the band photo gallery. Here are some others. (Click any one for a larger version.)

This is what my drums look like. The kit is a bit of a Frankenstein's monster, with a red Pearl free-floating maple snare; burgundy low-end CB Percussion and Pearl Export drums (circa 1990) for the kick, rack tom, and floor tom; and hardware from Pearl, Gibraltar, and Tama. The drumheads are from Remo and Evans, and I use 7A wood- and nylon-tip sticks from various manufacturers. The cymbals are Sabians, made in New Brunswick, Canada, and my earplugs are orange foam ones from the local pharmacy (you can see them sitting on my drumsticks).

Here, I hit things with the sticks (yes, that is a wig too)...

...while here, I am (in 1995) being just too groovy for words, baby! (I'm the one in front, in the maroon velour jacket.)