Your Friend’s Taryn Miller finishes her album, heads to the Crossroads

Last year around this time, Taryn Miller — the Lawrence singer-songwriter who performs as Your Friend — was riding high. She had been signed to the respected New York record label Domino, was earning attention from her rereleased EP Jekyll/Hyde, and had booked a slew of national tour dates that included a run with buzz-heavy Australian artist Courtney Barnett.

The momentum was bound to slow eventually, though, and camp Miller has sounded pretty quiet in recent months. But there’s no need for alarm, Miller tells me, because she has been toiling lately on a brand-new full-length. I called her up to get an update ahead of her full-band slot at this year’s Crossroads Summer Block Party Friday, June 5.

The Pitch: You signed to Domino over a year ago. How has being on that label affected your career?

Miller: Oh, man. I feel really lucky and fortunate because they’ve been so patient. It’s just been such a growing process. I’ve learned so much and I’ve worked so hard in so many ways, and I didn’t expect to, and I think I felt really motivated and inspired by that. I have my moments where I get overwhelmed or feel pressure, but the good outweighs the bad almost always. It’s been quite a ride, how I’ve had to adapt and take certain responsibilities that I haven’t had before.

Can you be specific about some of those new responsibilities and changes?

I have a new sense of preparedness. When you’re working in tandem with a company and there’s a bunch of other people that are all involved in this thing, you have to be thinking ahead at all times. You have to consider the timing of things: when the new record will come out, when do we go on tour, that kind of thing. I’ve had to go from planning a show a weekend ahead to planning my life four or five months in advance, and that’s kind of crazy. Like, I decide if I should stay in this apartment. I have to figure out how to pay taxes for this LLC [as a musician], and I never expected to have to consider those things, especially at my age. It’s been rewarding, taking initiative like that in my life.

Another thing is that I took a break from drinking, and it’s been five months, going on six. It’s a different beast, playing shows stone-cold sober and being alone in your own head. Socializing is different for me now. Before, you know, it’s easy to have a drink with someone, and now there’s no buffer — it’s just me. I don’t go out as much at all, honestly. I catch shows every once in a while, but after the show is over, I head home. It’s one of those things where I’m going for the music specifically. And performing, you know, I’m completely coherent through the entire show. I wake up feeling good in the morning, and I think that’s really great.

I think it would have been easy, when you signed to Domino, to say, “Well, moving to New York or wherever would make the most career sense.” What is it about Lawrence that works for you?

I mean, as far as relocating, my nest is built here. My band members are here. The people that really inspire me or support me are all here. I feel like I’m just now getting to a place where I like the layout of my apartment. I’m building this safe, grounded zone for myself where I don’t have to worry about it when we tour, and I know I can come back and work at the places that I love — I’ve still got two jobs — and be around people that I love.

Like last night, I spent all night at the studio with my friend Ross [Williams] of No Cave, and we were just playing and talking, and it’s so special to me to have those connections. I’m very inspired by the musicians in this town, and I think their support is really essential. It feels nice to have a community and a family that is championing you.

Your debut EP, Jekyll/Hyde, was rereleased on Domino last February. You mentioned that you were working on a new record. What can you tell me about it?

It won’t be out for a while, but it’s almost done. I’m getting back final mixes, and I’m stoked. I can see the end of it coming — it’s going to come soon. We went into the studio at the end of March, beginning of April. We finished tracking on my birthday, actually, which is kind of funny. I turned 24 in New York and finished tracking a record — a little poetic, maybe.

Getting to work with [producer] Nicolas Vernhes [the War on Drugs, Deerhunter] was incredible. He’s become a favorite person of mine. There were days where he and I were in the studio alone for, like, 12 hours near the end. He was invested in making it something that he was really proud of, too, and there’s a lot of that. He allowed me the space to veer off in ways that I’ve wanted to, and I feel like I’m getting to make the record that I want to make. It’s so nice to have people believe in your ability and help you achieve what you wanted to do.

But it’s just the beginning, I feel, of a new thing. It’ll be the first full-length, which I’ve never done, and that alone was a challenge because it was the first one. I had to feel good about the songs and what it was gonna become as a whole because you’re tying in so many more tracks and ideas, and making it cohesive has been interesting.