Sproton Layer was an American
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...
group formed in
Ann Arbor, Michigan in the late 1960s. Their music was mostly
hard rock with
psychedelic
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science ...
touches.
It was composed of bass guitarist, singer and primary songwriter
Roger Miller
Roger Dean Miller Sr. (January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992) was an American singer-songwriter, widely known for his honky-tonk-influenced novelty songs and his chart-topping country and pop hits " King of the Road", " Dang Me", and "Engl ...
and his younger brothers
Benjamin (Ben) Miller on guitar and
Laurence B. (Larry) Miller on drums. Trumpeter Harold Kirchen (brother of guitarist
Bill Kirchen
William Knight Kirchen (born June 29, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a member of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen from 1967 to the mid-1970s and later worked with Nick Lowe. ''Guitar Player'' magazine de ...
, a longtime member of
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen were an American rock band founded in 1967. The group's leader and co-founder was pianist and vocalist George Frayne IV, alias Commander Cody (born July 19, 1944 in Boise, Idaho, died September 26, 2021 ...
) later joined the group.
Sproton Layer found local success, but earned wider attention when its personnel went on to greater success with other musical groups: Laurence and Benjamin were both members of
Destroy All Monsters
is a 1968 Japanese Kaiju, ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film, which was produced and distributed by Toho, Toho Co., Ltd, is the ninth film in the Godzilla (franchise), ''Godzilla'' franchi ...
, and Roger had numerous musical projects, notably art-punk group
Mission of Burma
Mission of Burma was an American post-punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. The group formed in 1979 with Roger Miller on guitar, Clint Conley on bass, Peter Prescott on drums, and Martin Swope contributing audiotape manipulation and acting as ...
and silent film accompanying group
Alloy Orchestra
The Alloy Orchestra was a musical ensemble based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, that performed its own accompaniments to silent films of the classic movie era. Performing on an unusual collection of found objects (horseshoes, plumb ...
.
Sproton Layer recorded an album's worth of material shortly before breaking up in 1970; it went unreleased until 1992 when New Alliance records issued a single of "Lost Behind Words" and a full-length album, ''With Magnetic Fields Disrupted''. The album was reissued by the German label World in Sound to much greater notice in 2011. Journalist Michael Azerrad
[Azerrad, Michael. '' Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991''. Little Brown and Company, 2001. ] described the recordings as a valuable document of "an amazing band that sounded like
Syd Barrett
Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...
fronting
Cream
Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
."
The Miller brothers would later occasionally record under the name
M3.
Roger and Benjamin Miller continue to records and perform under the name M2.
Sproton Layer is scheduled to perform again on June 14, 2013 at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor.
Discography
* 1991 - "Lost Behind Words", New Alliance Records
* 1992 - ''With Magnetic Fields Disrupted'', New Alliance Records
* 2011 - ''With Magnetic Fields Disrupted'', World in Sound Records
See also
*
MC5
MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...
*
The Stooges
The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Da ...
*
Proto-punk
Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wi ...
*
Punk rock
*
Post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...
*
Detroit rock
Detroit, Michigan, is a major center in the United States for the creation and performance of music, and is best known for three developments: Motown, early punk rock (or proto-punk), and techno.
The Metro Detroit area has a rich musical hist ...
*
Nonfiction
Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with bei ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Sproton LayerLaurence MillerRoger MillerBenjamin MillerWorld in Sound
Protopunk groups
Hard rock musical groups from Michigan
Musical groups disestablished in 1970
Musicians from Ann Arbor, Michigan