When you come across music that sounds a lot like what’s going on in your head, your first instinct might be to pocket that information and safeguard it from the world. Even though I wouldn’t want to be overly public about this, there were many times while listening through the new album from Caleb Miller’s project-collective Here Here when I was nodding my head and thinking to myself, “This sounds a lot like the mess that goes on in my brain. Especially when I’m trying to have a conversation with anyone else.” 

I Was Wrong About Most Things To Do With Other People mimics chaotic conversation, one that director Caleb Miller seems to be struggling with internally. The musical crew Miller assembled for the album includes Alex Burgoyne (alto sax), Lee Tucker (trumpet), Abhilasha Jayanthi (guitar), Andrew Kovaleski (tenor sax), Nick Weckman (bass trombone), Troy Kunkler (drum set), Eric Stratton (bass), and Joey Gurwin (Oranjudio Studios). Miller handled keyboard, synth, and vocal duties himself. Before cutting this record, Miller had collaborated with all of these musicians before, but never all together. It’s a sweet little anecdote, adding to the perception of Columbus as a major city that, at the same time, allows you to cultivate relationships and network within an arts community in an almost suburban way.

The first track “I” certainly sets the stage for this, beginning with the Here Here ensemble coming in extra airy with the horns. The manic pacing of this record becomes apparent after 30 seconds. The music starts to present itself as more chaotic just before Miller frantically counts the group in. Cymbal crashes, saxes, and horns come in with a dominating burst of energy that feels like it could also fall apart any second. 

What really struck me as heady was the transition between the first and second tracks. On “Was Wrong,” Miller begins to half-ramble, half-rant, saying phrases such as, “I’m still wondering” (about what?) and “I’m still wondering if you can take what I want to” (want to what?). These quips never seem to get to the end of a complete thought and align with the intricacies of bringing a group of eight musicians together. Even if you’ve worked with them all before. Even if they’re extremely professional and proficient.

There’s a point in I Was Wrong when the chaos subdues. It’s a speed run almost from the start through the first four tracks before we divulge into our first moment of peace entering “Do With.” The rambling and ranting ceases by the end of “Was Wrong,” but the brash instrumentation still lingers for a bit longer. It’s not until we reach “Do With,” however, that we are penetrated by one of the only moments of serenity. It’s a devolution that feels and sounds natural, much like somebody fully processing a behavior disorder in their head. The crazy and calm moments make up all of who we are, even when those crazy thoughts alienate and calm moments spoil us. The final three songs feel like a departure, but the juxtaposition here more so captures the artist’s intent rather than sounding like two separate projects.

The cacophony of sounds that were part of Portage – Miller’s preceding release – are still present. Although the 2021 LP is more ambient-adjacent, longer in running time, and contains a little less yelling than I Was Wrong. Don’t get me wrong; the aggression from Portage most definitely pours over into the new record. The jazzy elements and rigid noises most certainly carry over as well. However, while the former seems more interested in the amount of space that can create sounds, the latter feels like a more direct, more brief statement. The succinctness of this latest record doesn’t mean that it outshines the former, but what it does show is that Miller is comfortable with exploring the idea of jumping songwriting realms. They are both extremely heady records, but you almost have to be in antonymous moods in order to enjoy them fully.

On the Bandcamp page for the album, Miller penned a few paragraphs about the current artistic route he is going down. He wanted to start using clearly-stated processes – such as driving completely different ways to familiar destinations, composing without a band in mind, extremely gradually introducing behavioral changes to natural aversions and trying to bike everywhere he could – to bring something fresh to his musical projects. The specific processes that Miller wanted to bring to I Was Wrong included writing something for a one-time event, following through with something for the sake of it, working on it almost daily for one month, and choosing a larger number of people than he had worked with in various projects. It’s the directness of these ideals that lead to the controller chaos of this record. Caleb Miller is confirmed heady.