When Jason Miller was growing up in northern California most of his best friends were musicians-in-training. But although he enjoyed music and going to shows too, his priority was sports. Miller’s career as a collegiate swimmer hit a roadblock when the school got rid of its swim team; Miller took a year off in mid-1991 and spent the next year training for the Olympic trials. He came within one round of making the final set of trials.
Miller didn’t go to the Olympics but he earned a four-year athletic scholarship to the University of Hawaii. After graduating he returned to California to play water polo, but he missed Hawaii and decided to make it his home. On March 21, 1995, Miller founded Hawaiian Express Records and applied for a state tax license. When he received it, it was dated March 28, 1995.
Miller, 49, is celebrating his company’s 25th anniversary this weekend with a 25-song compilation album, “25 Songs From 25 Years,” that he is releasing as a complete “hard copy” CD and on streaming services. He is also making most of his label’s older recordings available for free through HwnExp.com.
Congratulations on 25 years! How many projects have you released in 25 years, and where does this one fit?
This is the 163rd album that I’ve planned to do. Not all of the albums I was going to do actually came to light, but I went through the other 162 and picked out 25 artists, and then 25 songs by each of those artists. Some of the songs come from albums that have been out of print for quite a while — one by Go Jimmy Go and one by National Product.
Taking a step back, what brought you into the business side of the music industry?
That mostly came from my friends being musicians and talking about the struggles they were having, whether it was finding a show or putting out an album or how to book a tour. I just tried to find the answers, and a lot of times the answer just became to do it myself, and keep practicing and improving. I’ve done albums. I’ve done tours. I’ve done shows in Hawaii and all that kind of stuff, and it just keeps growing and evolving. But I got into it mostly because they were focused on the music and I was focused on the behind the scenes.
How has the business changed for you?
It has changed a lot. With the way that radio is now so sterile and coming from a central location, there’s not a lot of local music being aired when it’s nontraditional — rock bands and such. Radio was a huge help when you had Radio Free (Hawaii) and things like that, and then everything has gone digital. I prefer (both) physical and digital, so I keep doing the physical (CDs). But there’s not the same level of support, or even close.
What is your next big project?
The Sailor Jerry Festival. It’s another thing I do that grew from realizing that people either don’t know about (tattoo artist Sailor Jerry) at all, or if they do, they’ve only heard about him through the rum that has his name attached. Most people don’t know that he was real person with ties to Hawaii, and the shop that he ran at the time of his death is still in operation on Smith Street. It seemed like an opportunity to help educate people and celebrate the person and his ties to Hawaii. This is the sixth year and it looks like we’re going to have more than 20 venues. The date is June 13, and we do intend at this point to have it.
