Walter Miller enters this conversation with a presence that feels both bold and deeply personal, the kind of artist who understands that music is as much about truth as it is about performance. His journey began in the most unexpected way, as a child choosing to sing in a room full of simpler talents, a moment that quietly set the tone for everything that followed. From there, his path unfolded through years of musical exploration, shaped heavily by the sounds that filled his home and the icons who redefined what it meant to stand confidently in your own voice. Rock music, in particular, became more than just a genre for him. It became a space where identity, emotion, and expression could exist without limits.
In this interview, Walter reflects on how those early influences evolved into a sound that blends the grandeur of classic arena rock with a modern, forward thinking edge. He speaks openly about the emotional weight behind Good Morning LA, a song that captures vulnerability in a way that feels unfiltered and immediate. What makes his perspective compelling is not just the story behind the music, but the way he approaches songwriting itself, allowing real life experiences, even the ones that do not end as expected, to shape something meaningful and lasting.
Beyond the studio, Walter’s connection to live performance remains at the core of who he is. You can sense that everything he creates is meant to be felt in real time, in front of an audience, where energy and emotion collide. At the same time, he is intentional about growth, constantly learning how to balance spectacle with sincerity, power with intimacy. This conversation reveals an artist who is not chasing a fixed image, but instead embracing the full spectrum of who he is, unafraid to be theatrical, vulnerable, confident, and reflective all at once.
What inspired you to become a musician, and how did your journey into rock pop first begin?
Well what’s so crazy is I started singing because of this talent show my kindergarten class had. Everyone’s talent was stuff like doing a cartwheel or jumping rope, which… lit. But for whatever reason, when my parents asked five-year-old me what my talent was, I said “singing” as if it was so obvious. No one in my family has any background in singing so they were kind of thrown, but they let me go ahead with it. And I obviously wasn’t Frank Sinatra or Mariah Carey level of a vocalist, but I could carry a tune, and no one else in family could. Ever since then, I’ve always been thinking about the next performance. Seriously.
I first branched into rock because my music taste is incredibly influenced by what my mom played me when I was younger. She had such a love for rock and rock music and it just strikes such an emotional core with me too. Add in the fact that my higher voice for a guy made me kind of feel like the odd man out in school choir, and after hearing voices like Steve Perry, Prince, Freddie Mercury, and Jon Bon Jovi, I suddenly felt like my higher voice had a place to fit in. I grew up doing musical theater too, so the live setting for rock music and how crowds seem to respond to it really resonated with what I like.
I’ve always felt like I have a mix of both stereotypical feminine and masculine traits (to which I embrace both sides equally), and I feel like no matter if you’re more theatrical like Steven Tyler and Elton John, or the other end of the pendulum fashion-wise like Billy Joel, rock was a safe haven for every type of personality. Masculinity really is whatever you want it to be in rock, and I personally feel like it should be like that in the every-day world too.
“Good Morning LA” shows a more vulnerable side of your artistry. What drew you to explore that emotional space in this song?
All I was thinking about when writing it was reassuring the guy I was head over heels for that going out with me was the right decision, and to see our relationship through. I knew I wanted a song on the album to show some vulnerability, but entering into writing this, it wasn’t like I was thinking “Oh here’s where I’m going to do that.” My sole intention was just writing a song for this guy, and it wasn’t until after I wrote it that I was like “Hold on, this might be what the album needs.”
How would you describe your sound to someone hearing your music for the first time?
I would say it takes the stadium rock of the ‘70s and ‘80s and brings it into the modern day. I was very inspired by Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” and how it was very clear that she was inspired by disco and did her homework on the era, but her album didn’t sound dated. It was her answer to what disco sounds like in the present day while also not being so tied to 2020 trends either. It was more focused on moving everything forward, which is my goal with arena rock.
The song comes from a personal long distance relationship. How did that experience influence you both as a person and as a songwriter?
When it comes to influencing me as a person, I learned a lot from this guy, like I loved how comfortable we were being ourselves with each other right off the bat. I would want that in future relationships of mine. There really were some great things about our time together. I also learned a lot about certain things I don’t want in a relationship, and how I want someone to match my energy in commitment and certainty that no matter what’s ahead, we’re going to choose each other.
As a songwriter, I tend to agonize over every line in a song and making sure everything is perfect to a nauseating degree. With my EP “situationship” that I dropped in November 2024, I learned a lot about just letting lyrics flow out of me uninterrupted and not worrying about how they sound so much, and in a way that made my songwriting more honest in a different aspect. I kind of tapped into some of those skills here in just worrying about how I felt and not saying things so perfectly for the sake of the track, but mostly for this guy. I felt like I was at a critical hour and I only had so much time to make this to convince him to hang in there, so I just locked in on that main goal and before I knew it, the song was done within two nights.
He ultimately didn’t listen to the song until after he broke it off with me, so who’s to say if it would’ve made a difference. But I guess that goes back to how it’s changed me as a person. I left that relationship with closure thinking “Well at least I got this amazing song out of it.”
You are known for big, arena style rock energy. How do you decide when a song should feel powerful and explosive versus soft and intimate?
It all depends on the lyrical content of the song and the feelings I’m trying to convey. And sometimes it can go from one to another on the same song. There are one or two tracks on the album that I feel as though they fall into that category.
Who are some artists or bands that have had the biggest influence on your sound and performance style?
Freddie Mercury is everything to me, Steve Perry has vocal chords dipped in gold, Prince might have been the coolest person ever, Tina Turner is proof that God is a woman, Robert Plant takes his vocals to places I’d never think of going and I’m eternally grateful he has, and Linda Ronstadt’s voice is the bar I will forever be chasing. I also love Adam Lambert so much! Outside of rock, Lady Gaga has been a huge influence on me since the very beginning of me becoming a musician, I grew up watching Madonna performances religiously on YouTube, and I wouldn’t be the artist I am today without the works of greats like Frankie Valli, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Little Richard. Also, Beyoncé is a huge inspiration for me. She’s almost underrated in her own way because she’s so famous that some people overlook the reasons why she’s as well-known as she is. She’s legitimately making some of the greatest music of all time as we speak. She’s unreal.
What does your typical songwriting process look like from idea to finished track?
It really is a different process every time. The first single “Basic Instinct” I came up with melodies first, and decided that I wanted to write a song about how hot I think guys are, then the lyrics kind of developed over the next week. “Good Morning LA” had a very specific goal that I built melodies and lyrics off of until I finished writing it over the next 24 hours. The third single on the album took months to lock in melodies that I felt fit for the song before discerning what I wanted the song to be about and then coming up with initial lyrics. I then spent even more time obsessing over writing the perfect lyrics.
Once a song is done, I send it to my friend Collin, who’s a phenomenal producer. I send him some reference tracks, and then from there with every song it’s a matter of us assembling the right team of musicians with live instruments to help bring the song to life. Then we have to come up with the appropriate production elements for everything we do by computer. From there, I get a finished mix, take notes on what we still need, get that accomplished, rinse and repeat until finally we have a mix I think is perfect and we send that off to get mastered. Once I settle on a version of the master, the song is good to be released.
How important is live performance to your identity as an artist, and how does it shape your studio recordings?
I wouldn’t be the artist I am without live performance. Maybe it’s because I grew up doing musical theater and choir, but it’s just engrained in me. I don’t know if I would want to do this if I couldn’t perform live. My original music used to not be swayed at all by my live performances, and I was strictly writing to get through some bad relationships, and I only thought of live performances when it came time to prepare for them.
Then I was having to do complicated studio arrangements live, and it was definitely a learning curve. That hasn’t discouraged me from being adventurous in the studio in any way, but I do have it in mind now when I’m recording. I’m also always thinking of how cool elements from the track can be amplified even more live. Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, and Lady Gaga have definitely inspired me when it comes to that stuff, where the live version is a new experience entirely.
The emotional story behind “Good Morning LA” didn’t end the way you expected. How do you usually turn real life experiences into music?
(laughs) Yeah, it definitely did not turn out the way I expected, but you know what? It turned out the way it was meant to. It wouldn’t have worked out with that guy in the long run, and I got this kick-ass song out of it. And I’d say if he listened to it and still called things off then he didn’t deserve me, but he didn’t even give me the chance to play it for him before he broke up with me. So he really didn’t deserve me.
It changes with every song and project for me. My first album was me dealing with a toxic relationship while I was in the closet, and using songwriting as a tool to come to terms with that and to come out to myself. The intended follow up, the R&B album, was me jotting down lyric ideas for years as they came to me, and only after I left undergrad was I able to put the pieces together into a beautiful work as a way to make sense of the trauma I endured.
The EP was a stream of consciousness that I didn’t want to overthink as I told a former flame that I did not accept their poor treatment of me and that we were over. This project was about going on an album and having the same fun I have on stage performing rock music. I felt like my sense of humor and the fun side of my personality that comes out when I perform rock for crowds was missing from my discography. I didn’t like how Walter Miller the artist didn’t fully reflect Walter Miller the person,
so I wanted to have a good time in my music since that accurately reflects my life right now. And I always want to be as honest as possible. I love my life, I love who I am after growing up being told I should hate myself, I love the young adult I’m growing into, and this music is infused with a confidence that reflects all of that with some vulnerability from the moments I don’t feel like I have it all together. And those still definitely exist too.
Now that this single is out, what direction are you hoping to explore next in your music career?
Ohh the third single has been determined for a while. And it’s gonna knock everyone on their asses in the best way possible. The whole album falls under the stadium rock umbrella, and my next song explores a new side of it. Imagine Queen and AC/DC meets Hall & Oates and ABBA with a dash of Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. That probably sounds batshit crazy, and it kind of is a little bit, but I promise it’ll make sense when you hear it. The rest of the album? Get ready for a total thrill ride listening to it through.
