The current wave of indietronica has produced a colorful crop of new artists, a lot of them articulating their online experience through the language of glitchy pop music. Within that milieu, the sounds of the New York/Minnesota artist bbpue have a particular warmth. On his self-titled, late-2024 debut, the artist, real name Nick Miller, utilizes cheap equipment and the iPhone app BandLab to create a sonic environment that is both homespun and familiar. Rather than keeping the listener at an arm's length, his strain of IDM-infused slacker rock welcomes them in. Recently, I had a conversation with Miller over Zoom about four-track recording, twee, and Regular Show. There is even a guest cameo from his younger brother, Taylor Miller, and his best friend, Heath Thran. Read the interview below.
I know you said you started making music when you were 13. What kind of music were you making when you first started? What app did you use?
bbpue: iMachina2. I wanted to make electronic music. But with the 16 pads, you got to program it in more of a hip hop way. So I was making just these weird lo-fi beats, basically, with nice synth melodies. I made an album when I was like 16, 17. But I deleted it.
Why'd you delete it?
I just thought it was pretty boring. It's like I said, it's really some lo-fi beats. It's nothing crazy. People's reaction to it was like, Oh, this is really relaxing.
You said in an interview that you realized early on that you prefer electronic music with hip hop patterns rather than dance drums, and I’d say that comes through on your compilation 2018-2023. Was there an intention to make hip hop?
I wanted to be a prod, but I didn't have the software. I was trying to make my music sound like anyone could hop on it. But I wasn't really able to do that at the same time because I was just using my phone and this weird app. I wasn't able to download any apps when I was 13 because I bought an app using my mom's credit card, and I never admitted to it. My mom had the account frozen, so all I could use was that app. I couldn't use GarageBand.
I also heard that you use BandLab almost exclusively to make music. Is that still true?
Honestly, at this point, it's all BandLab, exclusively. Everything I have out has been BandLab.
Do you prefer the way that BandLab sounds? It's more limited, so it’s almost like a four track for iPhone.
Well, that's how I got into it. It’s literally like my recording studio.
I also saw on your website that your brother installed a MacBook speaker on your keyboard.
Oh yeah. I have this old circuit bent Yamaha, Casio-style, toy keyboard. And it didn't have a speaker because the person that modified it put the mods over the speaker. So he put a MacBook speaker on it, so I could play it wherever.
Do you prefer the sound of jankier equipment?
Yeah. I like it for making something super catchy, but at the same time, you're like, what is that sound?
I’ve seen your music described as lo-fi, or 8-bit. But you specifically said that your music is “mid-fi.” Would you reject those descriptions?
Yeah. I guess it makes sense though. Because I use pretty simple waves.
Why not 8-bit?
I don't know. ‘Cause I just don't go for chiptune sounds, you know? Sometimes I guess I do with my drums and stuff, but my synths, the closest thing I can think of for using 8-bit synths is on “i ate myself’ and on “Blood splatters.” But I got to those sounds in a different way. And if I used a chiptune synth for that, it would have given it a different sound. You know, “Blood splatters,” I took like an audio clip and looped it and made it super tiny, tiny, tiny. People say that my music sounds like it's from a video game. I guess I just also don't listen to that much chiptune. I'm more inspired by indie made on four tracks, stuff like that.
Your first album is instrumental except for one song. But then on your debut, you're singing on over half of the songs. Why start singing?
The music I was listening to, but also just because I would make instrumentals with a lead that went really crazy. I realized a lot of the time that sounds better with just a voice. And I liked how my voice sounded on top of those beats. The biggest part is being inspired by 90s electronic with indie elements.
What 90s electronic?
This Puerto Rican band called Superaquello. I found out about them from my friend Alejandro when I was 16. And also Jai Paul. A record label that was big for me was this label 555 recordings. I just went through a bunch of their catalog when I was 18.
The Rate Your Music tag for your album is “indietronica.” Do you agree with that?
Yeah. It’s an umbrella term. They also put slacker rock, neo-psychedelia. Slacker rock only applies to some of the songs. I know the psychedelia tag just means, like, Oh, it's weird, but I like that it's thrown in there to be like, You're not getting your average indietronica. I feel like when I started making and listening to indietronica, it wasn't like every white guy on earth was making that shit. And now it kind of feels like it's like, instead of you knowing a guy that's a SoundCloud rapper, you know a guy that makes indietronica. So I like that it's different, differentiated from it.
When it comes to the current wave of indietronica, it seems to be about filtering twee through a laptop. But you seem to be on a different side of that coin. Some of the songs on your album almost sound like pop punk to me. “Forever” could be a Green Day song.
Shouts out to Green Day. I don't know how much I was thinking about it when I made the album, but I had a long period where I was listening to MySpace era indietronica the most. But also, I listened to I Set My Friends on Fire like everybody else. I started watching YouTube videos about it, too. They have some really crazy melodies and cadences.
8.1heath’s music really reminds me of the MySpace era, like the MIDI grind
Stuff.
[Pointing to the guy next to him] Bro, that's him. Yo, he’s the real laptop twee.
8.1heath: Yeah. I mean, I go for that shit. I can't lie. You said laptop twee and I was like, that's a pretty fucking good way to describe it.
bbpue: We're on that twee shit. They're not twee like us.
What are some twee artists that you guys like?
bbpue: I like The Bad Spellers.
8.1heath: Hormones in Abundance is really good.
bbpue: Does the Love Letter Band count?
8.1heath: Oh, the Love Letter Band. A lot of like Scandinavian shit mostly.
You guys are starting a record label together, right?
Heath: Hell yeah. And our friend Lucius too.
Nick: It's not like a super serious thing, but we're doing it. And you know my brother's EP is going to be on there. He's using an actual four track.
I feel like you and your brother’s music is pretty similar—the fidelity and tone is very similar. What's some music that our parents were playing in the house when you guys were kids that might have been influential?
Our dad was obsessed with this band called Ultravox. Some real dad shit. A lot of dads like that band. They’re an 80s new wave/new romantic band. Scottish vocalist. They had pretty cool synths going on. Their old shit is fire. Especially this song called “Dislocation.” Another big thing for me, my aunt just randomly played “Heartbeats” by the Knife when I was a kid. That song is perfect. That song had me thinking differently, because at that point I was listening to dubstep mostly. But it was that along with getting into Jai Paul that made me get more into the pop side of it.
My roommate texted our apartment group chat last week. He was getting on a plane and he was like, “The dude next to me is talking about bbpue.”
Fire. What the fuck?
You're international. Is that the goal, to get really big?
Yeah. But also, I don't always know. I would really like to blow up. But there's so much stuff that comes with it. My main goal with music was always to make an album that people just love so much, you know? That's always been my goal. And I kind of achieved that. So now I want to make an album that even more people just love.
You talk about wanting to make an album that's universally loved. Is there a classic album that you consider a blueprint for the music that you make?
I don't know if they're classics, but there's definitely albums that are blueprint-y for me. I love DJ Klock. His third album. It's crazy to get a certain level of emotion from instrumentals, you know? And the whole vibe all together, it feels like I'm in the ocean or like I'm flying around. But there's other albums too. Emak Bakia’s Jane. The Famous Boyfriend's Making Love All Night Wrong [split album]. That was huge for me. It's also made on four tracks. But it's just these moments of insane warmth and pop genius. Also Todo Sigue Intacto by Apeiron. It’s blueprint-y for me, in the sequencing. Every track feels like it has its place. It made me feel like I can never make a song where I made it for no reason. I'm also very perfectionist with music.
Do you usually wait for inspiration to strike? Or do you ever just open your laptop with the goal of making something?
I usually wait for inspiration. But yesterday I was like, I’m just gonna make a bunch of shit. I didn’t like them at first but I played them in the car with my brother and Heath and they sounded good. I also made those beats for another person. Do you know goodguydar?
No, who’s that?
When Xavier was blowing up, he was posted with 1c and all of them. His music was always just vibey as fuck. I don't know how to explain it, but the beats he would hop on were way different than the kind of music I make. So I asked him, are you trying to try some new shit? And he was like, I'm down.
You also made that song with fakemink. I feel like that's like part of your lore now.
I keep forgetting to send him these melodies. I don't know if he still wants them.
Are there other rappers/hip-hop artists out right now that you want to work with?
I want to work with the Citadel guys. I’m trying to make some shit with Swords2. I
wanted to link Swords when I went to North Carolina, but like, we had never really talked. Wackoes, I would make something with him. I got music with Ja66 coming. And Instagram Filter. He hopped on this beat I made forever ago. I was gonna make a song about vampires, and I made the whole song, and then I listened to it the next day, and I was like, why the fuck did I make this? So I gave him the beat. I'd also love to work with jackzebra. Harto Falión.
You started making a video game. Do you plan on finishing it? I know you hate the video game music comparison, but would you ever score a video game?
I'm more about scoring a movie. I really want to do that. Or like a TV show. I'd love to score an animated series. That's my dream.
Yeah. A lot of the indietronica and rap coming out I would describe as post-Adventure Time.
People have said that my music is like Adventure Time, but I never really watched
Adventure Time. I was Regular Show. I wasn't allowed to watch Spongebob.
What's the best phone game?
I'm yet to find a really good phone game. But I really like Floppy Jump. And I really like Pako. PewDiePie played it back in the day. You drive a car through arenas and try not to crash into anything.