Trinary System is Roger Miller’s current rock band. He plays guitar, sings and composes. Larry Dersch (Binary System, AKACOD, etc.) plays drums and Andrew Willis (the Web, Crappy Nightmareville, etc.) is on bass, vocals and electronics.
Roger Clark Miller was born in 1952 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He began studying piano at age 6. Inspired in 6th grade by seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, he picked up guitar and bass guitar in middle school, and played french horn in the orchestra to avoid study hall. He was profoundly affected by the psychedelic movement which was full-blown by 1967 - here was real mind-altering music. He did psychedelic lettering for the Ann Arbor rock club "The 5th Dimension", which allowed him to get into the club for free (he saw Jimi Hendrix there on the "kicked off the Monkees" tour). Miller found his voice as a song-writer, composer and improviser in 11th grade (1969/Sproton Layer).
Disillusioned with the conservative state of rock music in the 1970's, he studied composition at CalArts and Thomas Jefferson College (see "1975" by The Fourth World Quartet). There he accompanied dance classes on piano. Adapting his musical skills to dance paved the way for his later soundtrack work (four films at Sundance, multiple silent film scores premiering with Alloy Orchestra at the Telluride Film Festival).
He moved to Boston in 1978 and co-formed the highly influential post-punk rock band Mission of Burma on guitar and voice in 1979. He continued playing keyboards and other instruments during and after Mission of Burma, starting with Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, resulting in over 60 albums under his band leadership. All these recordings push various envelopes, and generally received high praise (NY Times, RollingStone, Boston Globe, Spin, Pitchfork, Pop Matters, etc...). His music tends to vacillate between the two poles of "rock" (guitar, small bands) and "modern" (prepared piano, chamber ensembles), often combining the two with open improvisation. His chamber music has been performed at the New England Conservatory, Tufts University, and other institutions. He is also a visual/conceptual artist, where his art installation "Transmuting the Prosaic" and his drawings have shown in many art institutions/galleries.
When Mission of Burma inexplicably reformed in 2002, things took an amazing turn. But by 2012, looking for a way to free his guitar playing from the confines of a post-punk environment, Miller conceived of Trinary System. He had played with Larry Dersch in his duo Binary System, and knew that his drumming would keep him on his toes. He met multi-instrumentalist Andrew Willis while Andrew was engineering an Alloy Orchestra score. He found his comments intriguing, and, never having seen him play a note, asked him to join Trinary System on bass and synthesizer. It was the right decision. Trinary System began loosely based on previous non-Burma Miller compositions, but covering Miles Davis' "Black Satin" and Can's "You Doo Right" were turning points. Once the value of each player became clear, Miller began composing for the group in earnest.
Larry Dersch played in bands in his hometown of St. Louis, MO, before moving to Boston in 1986. He played on Miller's 1988 album "Win! Instantly!", and then in Binary System (1995-2002). He is currently the second percussionist in Miller's silent film accompanying ensemble The Anvil Orchestra. He has collaborated with Mark Sandman of Morphine, and toured Europe in the acclaimed A.K.A.C.O.D with Morphine sax player Dana Colley. He remains active in the Boston scene and in high demand, and he has won “Best Drummer” awards from the influential local zine “The Noise” three times.
Andrew Willis is “an ex-pat from the Louisville sub-underground” (Byron Coley, 2019), playing in the Web, Azuza Inkh and other improv/noise bands there. He moved to Boston in 1998 to study film scoring, and there saw Binary System, which included 2/3 of Trinary System. He knew he'd be playing with them one day. When he engineered an Alloy Orchestra (now Anvil Orchestra) recording, he and Miller hit it off. When Miller began putting together Trinary System in 2012, Andrew was the only person auditioned. The Hard Machine is a result of those decisions. Andrew remains active as a soundtrack composer and improviser in Boston.
The Hard Machine press release
