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Skylyne Spotlight: The Millers
The Millers turn old-school rock ’n’ roll, Gen Z frustration, and live-band joy into songs about work, money, exhaustion, and holding onto your own happiness
Skylyne Spotlight: The Millers
My first encounter with The Millers was at Mondo.NYC - I was there for the conference, saw them play, and ended up following them afterward to see what they would do next. When I found out the band started with a bunch of music business students sitting around Crosby’s guitar at a picnic in Central Park, it made me love them even more. I’m a music business student too, so there was something very familiar about that story, except they actually turned the random hang into a band.
What stuck with me most from seeing them live was how naturally they fit into an older rock ’n’ roll world. There’s rockabilly, blues, soul, a lot of guitar, and a lot of movement, but they’re also four Gen Z students making music about the lives they’re living right now. Their EP State of the UNION dives into work, money, nepotism, exhaustion, while still trying to find some joy through all of that.
I’d been wanting to talk to them since Mondo, so I’m very happy that I finally got the chance.
SKYLYNE: Thank you so much for doing this with us. As mentioned, I first discovered you live at Mondo, and I’ve been keeping up with the band ever since. For someone meeting The Millers for the first time, how would you introduce yourselves?
THE MILLERS: I’d say we’re a group of multi-cultural Gen Z kids that creates old school rock 'n' roll. We create music with a message and music that makes you dance.
SKYLYNE: The story goes that your band formed as music business students during a picnic in Central Park. As a music business student myself, I find that story fascinating. When did that casual moment begin to feel like the start of a real band?
HANA (THE MILLERS): It wasn’t until a year later. When we first started, we felt a musical connection and met up every week. We had zero gigs lined up and zero original music, but we still loved to rehearse and play music together. I think that original foundation helped us build our chemistry. Our first gig was UVL and then Brooklyn Bowl’s Battle of the Bands. It was our second performance as a band and we ended up winning the competition. We didn’t really know anyone in the audience, but people were screaming and cheering for us - it felt so surreal. I think the biggest shocker was people singing back lyrics to songs they were hearing for the first time. From that moment, I really believed we had something special developing.
CROSBY (THE MILLERS): Definitely winning the NYC Battle of the Bands at Brooklyn Bowl. For us, as a brand-new band, that was a real eye-opening moment. The audience was dancing, screaming... there was just so much joy in the room. That was when we realized, "Okay, maybe we're actually onto something." It felt like the band was becoming real. So, when the band became just me and Hana the following year, we still kept it going while actively writing new songs at the practice rooms.
SKYLYNE: Where did the name The Millers come from?
THE MILLERS: Funnily enough… It's named after Larry Miller. The original band from 2024 was composed of freshman music business students (Hana, Crosby, Chiwoo, and Mio). We all met in Larry Miller's BSMI class and then actually got to know each other at the music business picnic in Central Park, and from that point forward we started the band.
SKYLYNE: You all come from very different musical backgrounds. What does each member bring to The Millers that the others probably couldn’t?
THE MILLERS: Each member's musical background is so integral to our sound. Self-taught guitarist, Crosby Doyama, has influences stemming heavily from rockabilly and blues influences. His musical influences are primarily from the 1950s-1970s. He’s studied the styles of the greatest guitarists of those eras: Chuck Berry, James Burton, Mike Bloomfield, and more. Not a ton of young guitarists have studied these 1950s guitar icons.
Even when we’ve had guitarists sub in for Crosby, they’ve all been incredibly talented, but they don’t have the same expertise of this era of music that Crosby does. Crosby can effortlessly add in blues licks to any song and give it that old school flair that is so central to our sound.
Harrison is incredible at understanding how to elevate a song through the groove. A lot of our songs are upbeat and danceable, but the way he plays the drums indicates how people dance. It’s really interesting to watch. Depending on the groove he plays, the audience members shimmy like Elvis or do an aggressive metal-like head bang. He controls the direction that people instinctively move.
He first started playing drums in church, so he has a lot of gospel influences in his playing, and gospel music itself has influenced rockabilly and rock 'n' roll (which ties perfectly with Crosby). However, he also has more modern influences for drummers such as Questlove, and he’s able to seamlessly tie in elements of R&B and neo-soul to make our sets more dynamic. It’s incredible to have a drummer who understands the structure and beat of rock ’n’ roll, but can also blend in new elements to it.
Zhaoyi is truly a student of music. He has studied so many different artists and eras of music and understands what elements are core to each genre. He only started playing bass in high school and is completely self taught. He’s inspired by musical geniuses such as D’Angelo and Prince, and loves their complex arrangements and meters.
Coming into The Millers, he studied the artistry of Marcus King and Ariel Posen who are modern blues/rock artists who he took inspiration from. Because he has a vast array of musical influences, he can easily add a bluesy slide guitar line over a funky bassline and make it work. He also loves to add unique guitar textures by playing with its sound. He creates new combinations on Crosby’s guitar pedals so that our recordings have a unique timbre - which is so integral to creating our own sonic identity.
Hana is a self-taught singer and songwriter. She brings in the stories and experiences she’s learned over the years into the band’s songs. She sang for the first time when she was 17 in a jazz ensemble and studied the vocal techniques of Ella Fitzgerald. From there, Hana hyper-fixated on one singer at a time.
Her Mount Rushmore of divas consist of: Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Mariah Carey, and Beyonce. These artists have beautiful songwriting abilities, powerful vocal abilities, and a commanding stage presence - all skills that Hana wanted to master herself.
When it came to re-building the band, Hana decided to write music that fit Crosby’s strength: blues and rock ’n’ roll. While she didn’t grow up listening to this style of music, she was exposed to it through movies and musicals such as Grease and the Blues Brothers. By hearing that style early on, she knew how to create rockabilly songs and borrowed the elements tastefully.
SKYLYNE: How do you make creative decisions as a band? Is The Millers a democracy, or does one person usually have to make the final call?
THE MILLERS: Everyone has an input but a lot of decisions are driven by Zhaoyi and Hana. Zhaoyi is very stern about creating content and music that is central to the message of the band. He wants to make sure our output is intentional.
Hana is focused on branding and growth. Working on social media accounts with Crosby and working on looking for new opportunities on the horizon. But when it comes to the music that we create, it was originally spearheaded by Hana with the songs she brought in, but as this band has solidified, everybody has been playing a key part in where our sound is directed.
CROSBY (THE MILLERS): Adding onto that, it also really depends on the songs. Definitely, the overall production side is driven by Zhaoyi, and Hana. Zhaoyi has great artistic visions, and Hana has a clear vision of what the song should sound like since she is usually the one who brought the song to the band. I was more involved in the creative decisions for “Mama's Working Overtime” and “American Dream,” while I didn't really contribute to those decisions on “Get on Your Feet.” So it really depends on the song and who was in the room at that moment when the song was created.
SKYLYNE: Your music carries a lot of older rock, blues, and soul influences while still sounding connected to your own generation. How did you arrive at that balance?
THE MILLERS: Our diverse tastes in music play a big role for sure on that.
CROSBY (THE MILLERS): I have old-school sounds in my playing for sure though I did not realize that until we formed the band.
SKYLYNE: Are there artists you each look to as inspiration, both musically and for the kind of careers you want to build?
HANA (THE MILLERS): I’m a big fan of Laufey. I love her music and her vibe, and I’m inspired by how she grew to prominence over the years. During the pandemic she built her own fanbase and eventually signed to a label. She still owns her masters and she retains creative direction which is what every artist hopes to keep when they get signed. Since then, she’s toured all over the world and won Grammys… fingers crossed, lets hope The Millers can do both of those things in the future.
I also love Bruno Mars. He’s phenomenal in all fronts of his artistry: singing, dancing, producing, songwriting, performing, etc. and he has mastered so many different styles of music. I hope I can grow as a performer and be as impactful as the people who inspire me.
CROSBY (THE MILLERS): Jack Johnson. He's someone I've looked up to since high school, not just as a musician, but as a person! What I admire most is how he uses his career to give back to the community. He's the founder of the Kokua Hawaiʻi Foundation, which supports environmental education in Hawaiʻi's schools and communities.
Since 2008, he's also run the Greening Tour, promoting local food vendors, reducing single use plastics at venues, and encouraging more sustainable live events. On top of that, he spends a lot of time volunteering at farm, and beach cleaning. He also has his own record label, Brushfire Records, and his recording studio is powered entirely by solar energy.
I think that's brilliant. That's the kind of career I want to build. Not necessarily just in music, but in whatever I do. I'm not saying The Millers have to do everything Jack does, but I do think it's something we should always be thinking about and staying aware of as a band moving forward as we take this music career more seriously.
ZHAOYI (THE MILLERS): It really varies from month to month, but honestly I've been really listening to Blake Mills, and a lot of his work just as a songwriter, guitar player, and producer. He’s like an all around top gun, and I really hope to be that skilled some day.
Other recent heroes include Pino Palladino, Mason Stoops, Joey Landreth, mk.gee – all sorts of these quiet geniuses that’ve really shaped music in new ways, and I hope that I can always bring something new to every situation I’m in.
HARRISON (THE MILLERS): Recently I’ve been blessed with witnessing what I call one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. It was a performer by the name of “Nobody”. He performed a set of original music he produced with a giant guitar THAT HE MADE HIMSELF MAN. It had midi compatibility, it could act as a dj mixer, and it looked cool as heck.
He was undeniably my awakening into what it meant to be an artist. Being someone who comes from a family of tech people, seeing that I could take all parts of myself, even those that most people don’t associate with the arts, and strive to create moments as amazing as what I witnessed that day will forever be what I strive to achieve.
SKYLYNE: Your social media often shows a much more playful and chaotic side of the band. How much of that humor reflects what your rehearsals and friendships are actually like?
HANA (THE MILLERS): All of us are so different, I’m not sure if we all would have come together if music wasn’t in the picture. It’s hilarious because we are always on different wavelengths: Harrison will be quoting something and then Zhaoyi thinks he’s referencing a song so he starts singing… and then Crosby’s just like… idek whats going on man.
But while we are vastly different people, we are always on the same wavelength when it comes to creating music and performing.
CROSBY (THE MILLERS): Yeah, haha. Even to this day, I still have no idea what Zhaoyi and Harrison are talking about half the time. They're always making random references or talking about songs, and I'm usually the only one who doesn't get it.
You know we're actually planning to show more of that side of the band. Maybe we'll turn it into a new project... who knows? Maybe on YouTube or something. Non-music stuff! But that's a conversation for another time. Stay tuned.
SKYLYNE: Congratulations on your new EP, State of the UNION. What made these three songs belong together as one project?
HANA (THE MILLERS): The songs felt like they worked thematically and sonically together. They were all recorded in one live take and used fully live instrumentals. We recorded it without a click track and didn’t really add any effects like autotune on it. We kept it very raw which drove the emotion of the songs. Thematically, the songs tied into the idea of reflecting on the current state of the U.S: “Mama’s Working Overtime” reflects on the economic disparity in this country, “American Dream” reflects on unequal opportunity and nepotism, and “Get on Your Feet” concluded the story in a hopeful note.
Despite the fact that most of us have to work and hustle until we are drained to the core, we should still allow ourselves to enjoy life. No company or person can take that away from us. So even though life feels cyclical and draining, we should still allow ourselves the time to let loose, dance, and have fun. Our joy cannot be stolen by those in power.
SKYLYNE: “Mama’s Working Overtime” turns economic frustration into the story of a mother working constantly and still struggling. Where did that song begin, and how personal is its central character?
HANA (THE MILLERS): It’s a bit difficult to talk about, but this song is definitely a reflection from what I observed in my own life. For as long as I knew, my mom worked full time while simultaneously raising me. I didn’t have any nannies or guardians, she did everything herself. Most of my life I observed my mom’s life revolving around work. It didn’t matter if we were eating dinner or on vacation, she was still planning meetings and writing emails to her colleagues.
I have this vivid memory from high school where I was studying for bio till 4am every night, and my mom would come back home at 5am. We both looked at each other asking why we were still up. Both of us answered that we were working.
My mom was a journalist, which is not a lucrative career path. But she cared so much about her job and wanted to make sure that underrepresented people’s stories got told. Then I asked myself, why does my mom have to work so hard to get so little rewards? She’s not recognized for her efforts or compensated generously, so I genuinely just felt angry.
I asked myself, how come the people that work the hardest aren’t recognized? She’s working overtime, but she can’t enjoy the fruits of her labor. I hope to live in a world where the people who make the most sacrifices and work the hardest reap the largest rewards.
SKYLYNE: You also submitted a live version of “Mama’s Working Overtime” to the 2025 NPR Tiny Desk Contest. What did performing the song in that format reveal about it?
THE MILLERS: The rawness of the song. We had to do the song in one take, no cuts, and it pushed us to improve our musicality and let our authenticity shine through. It’s not a perfect take, but it was true to ourselves at the time and it captured the moment.
SKYLYNE: “American Dream” looks at nepotism and the exhaustion of watching other people skip the ladder you’ve been working to climb. Hana and Crosby are credited as its writers. How did the two of you shape that frustration into a song without losing the fun and energy of the music?
CROSBY (THE MILLERS): I originally imagined the track as rock 'n' roll dance music, kind of inspired by that iconic guitar scene in Back to the Future. I think that's why the song has such a fun, upbeat energy.
I didn't write the lyrics, but Hana and I came up with the song idea together in the practice room after I brought in the song. I remember Hana asking me what I was feeling at the time, and I talked about how frustrating it is when people make assumptions about you based on your past achievements instead of who you are in the present.
Later on, Hana came up with the title “American Dream” and developed the lyrical concept from there.
HANA (THE MILLERS): Sonically the song is very upbeat and fun, but lyrically it’s a bit pensive and distraught. Crosby’s guitar part gives it a brighter tonality that keeps a brighter energy, but the storytelling reflects the frustration towards unfair advantages nepotism provides.
The song is speaking from the perspective of someone who’s watching their dream actively being taken away. And there’s an interesting polarity between the somber message and the upbeat dancibility of the song.
If I were to write this song myself, it most likely had a darker tone, but Crosby’s arrangement adds this unique juxtaposition within the piece.
SKYLYNE: Okay, some quick fun questions! Which member has the most unexpected music taste?
HARRISON (THE MILLERS): I think me honestly, I be listening to weeeeeird music like ost for video games about shooting ink in aquatic turf wars.
HANA (THE MILLERS): Zhaoyi’s got the strangest songs on his rotation sometimes
ZHAOYI (THE MILLERS): Harrison just because he listens to tons of video game soundtracks.
SKYLYNE: What is one song each of you would choose for The Millers to cover?
CROSBY (THE MILLERS): I have to go with “Honky Tonk Women” by The Rolling Stones but the Ike & Tina Turner version.
HARRISON (THE MILLERS): “Locked out of heaven” by Bruno Mars
HANA (THE MILLERS): “Pon de Replay” by Rihanna
ZHAOYI (THE MILLERS): “Tulsa Time” - just to get Hana to rip some slide guitar.
SKYLYNE: Which member would survive the longest if the band got stranded somewhere together?
CROSBY (THE MILLERS): I think Harrision would survive the longest.
HANA (THE MILLERS): I feel like Zhaoyi would survive the longest. He could prolly make a campfire and shelter.
HARRISON (THE MILLERS): I’m torn between me and Zhaoyi honestly. I def think I'm decently athletic so that helps, but my survival knowledge suuuucks.
ZHAOYI (THE MILLERS): I lowkey was a boy scout, so it might be be me…
SKYLYNE: You’ve already built a strong identity as a live band. What is the next level of performance you’re hoping to reach?
CROSBY (THE MILLERS): More entertainment. I want to add more comedic elements and make the show feel like an experience, not just a performance. I also want to experiment with more cool lighting effects and build out a stronger stage theme.
Maybe even put a couch on stage (I'm half kidding, but I think creating a unique world around the band would be cool).
HARRISON (THE MILLERS): I honestly want us to start jamming more on stage. I feel as though we’ve been playing together long enough to truly experiment and catch each other's waves through our oceans of musical exploration.
HANA (THE MILLERS): I would love to make our performances more theatrical. Not in a cheesy way, but adding moments and bits that bring the audience into our world and help them get to know who we are.
ZHAOYI (THE MILLERS): I think really learning to cut a good record – that’s a whole ‘nother battlefield we have still yet to conquer…
SKYLYNE: What do you want people to understand about The Millers beyond the music you’ve released so far?
CROSBY (THE MILLERS): We are much more friendly than we look on the ep cover.
HANA (THE MILLERS): everyone in the band is an academic weapon.
ZHAOYI (THE MILLERS): I think it all started working out when we really just tried to figure out who we are, and stopped trying to be someone else.
SKYLYNE: Thank you so much again for taking the time to answer these so thoughtfully. To close things out, here’s your spotlight: what do you have going on right now, and what should people be looking forward to next?
THE MILLERS: Our new single is coming in the fall this year along with a music video
We are coming out with another tiny desk-esque recording of our full EP! Coming soon.
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