AnyFinal Fantasy 14player worth their salt will know Jason Charles Miller, or at least be familiar with his voice, considering he’s belted out vocals across four iconic tracks for the MMORPG, including the unforgettable Close in the Distance.
Miller also lent his vocal talents to pro wrestler Kenny Omega’s latest theme song, which was also composed by Soken.
Miller was first asked to collaborate with FF14 composer Masayoshi Soken on Shadowbringers, the theme song for the expansion of the same name. “I knew the significance right away. To be asked to sing the theme song to an expansion of such a giant popular game is something that happens very rarely in anybody’s career. I wanted to make sure that I did a fantastic job.”
Working With Masayoshi Soken
Miller worked on Shadowbringers for two days, working so hard that he swapped out his audio engineer as he wanted to work later than the first could manage, all so he could give Soken as much material as possible.
“I give one take, one completed comped take of exactly what’s written, and then I usually give two to three more options of fully comped takes where I might do something a little bit different but still within the spirit of the song. I give some variations so Soken can decide which he might like, my second verse from take three, or my first verse from take four.
“By takes, I don’t mean I just sing it once. I sing it as many times as possible until I’m satisfied, then I build a complete take, and then I start over again and do it again. I think it’s important to do that if you’re working with someone remotely because then you’re giving them options so they don’t have to do a lot of back and forth.”
A ‘comped’ take is when musicians record the instruments individually, then layer them to sound like they were recorded together.
After Shadowbringers, Miller went on to feature his vocal talents in To the Edge, from 5.3 Reflections in Crystal, Close in the Distance, for the Endwalker expansion, and most recently, Unleashed, for the new addition to the Arcadion raid in Patch 7.2.
“I love Unleashed. In fact, I want to work up an acoustic version of it for me to just play on my own time,” Miller says. “But I know that Close in the Distance has the most emotional impact for players, and so to me, that’s my favourite because I can see the effect that it has on people when I sing it live. That is really something that’s special to me. I feel a heavy level of responsibility to make sure that when I sing any of these songs live, they are what the fans are expecting.”
As well as being given the lyrics, Miller is usually provided a single page information sheet explaining what’s going to happen with the song and a little bit of context. “When I heard Close in the Distance for the first time, I knew it was going to be special before I even read the notes.”
Video Game Songs Have More Significance
Performing for Final Fantasy fans in comparison to performing as the frontman of his own band Godhead or as a solo artist, Miller explains that some elements are similar to when he performs with The Primals. He’s once again singing with a rock band, which he’s done his entire life.
“Every single person in the audience knows every word to every song. Besides the fact that we have visuals behind us of where the song appears in the game, I know that in their minds they’re seeing that, right? It’s a bigger experience than just singing at a rock concert because if you’re singing your own song or a song that is just known audibly, or even if there’s a music video that goes with it, everyone interprets that song differently.
“When we’re singing songs from a game that appear in a certain place, at a certain time in a game, that almost gives more of a connection to the audience member because then they remember what they were doing with their character the first time they heard it.”
He goes on to express that MMORPG characters are extensions of ourselves, and when our characters experience events in Eorzea, we experience it for ourselves. “Your emotions don’t know the difference, right? How many people have made best friends playing MMOs? How many people have met their spouse?
“To our brain and to a certain extent, our souls, definitely our emotions, what we experience in the game simulates in our body if we experience that in real life. I feel the songs have even more significance when I’m singing them for players when we’re performing at FanFest or Eorzean Symphony. There’s a magical connection.”
Final Fantasy 14 has such an impressive catalogue of hits, and Miller tells meone of his favourites is Flow. He often finds himself touring alongside Amanda Achen, the singer for Flow, for Final Fantasy events, and laughs as he tells me, “I sing Flow a lot, and I’ll sing it to Amanda sometimes too.”
Miller and Achen have become firm friends through touring together, sharing advice on touring and keeping their vocals in shape, and at MomoCon in Atlanta last year, the two sang Shallow from A Star is Born together.
“We talk a lot about the significance of the game and what it means to the players, and she plays as well now, because we want to experience what everyone else is experiencing. Once we saw that firsthand, it’s sort of an infectious thing.”
“I’m The Luckiest Person In The World”
Miller is a gamer himself, telling me he played World of Warcraft for years and that he “probably had an unhealthy relationship” with it, which I’m sure any MMO player can relate to. He’s done voice acting for several video games, including World of Warcraft, which he says “gave me more of an excuse to keep playing it.” But he’s also done voice acting for Final Fantasy 14, taking on the role of Raubahn Aldynn for A Realm Reborn, though later expansions feature a different actor. Miller loves that he was asked to return to FF14 to collaborate on the music, adding that “even though I didn’t voice that character anymore, it was really cool to be a continuous part of the game.”
Miller has done voice acting for many video games, and always tries to play those he’s involved with. “I want to experience what the players are experiencing, and I also want to know what I’m talking about if people ask me questions about it.” He tells me it’s fun to come across his own voice when playing games, though he admits “sometimes it can take you out of the game”.
Miller recalls playing Final Fantasy 3 and “the big moment when you get the airship and then can go everywhere, that’s such a milestone”, and is currently playing through Final Fantasy 14. At the moment, he’s in the second expansion, Stormblood, and tells me, “I haven’t gotten to the expansion where I started singing, but I did do the expansion where I’m acting, so that’s kind of fun.”
Dragoon is his job role of choice, all because “Estinien looks so frigging cool. I was like, ‘I want to be that.’”
It’s not just fantasy RPGs Miller enjoys; he’s also a big fan of EA Sports FC, though he’s mainly into career mode, rather than succumbing to the obsession of FUT. He loves EA Sports FC so much that he tells me he’d love to do a song for the menu music.
In addition to voice acting for several games and creating songs with Soken for Final Fantasy 14, Miller has also written and contributed songs for other big name games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
“I’m the luckiest person in the world,” Miller says, “I’m one of the luckiest singers in the world because I’ve sung on so many cool franchises. I can’t believe it sometimes, and sometimes the fans can’t believe it. They’re like, wait, you’re the guy that sang on this, and you’re the guy that sang on this? You know, they were years apart, but yeah, that’s me again. And I’m so happy that I have that in my life and in the history of my career.”
When it comes to contributing more for Final Fantasy 14, Miller says, “If I have my way, I’m not going anywhere”, but acknowledges that it’s entirely up to Square Enix, so Unleashed might not be the last time we get to hear his voice rocking out in Eorzea.
