Halifax-based musicologist lends an ear to HBO Max’s latest series

Jeffrey Miller extends his longstanding relationship with Michael Mann as music consultant on ‘Tokyo Vice’, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker’s new crime drama

CITYnews halifax \ Steve Gow

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Halifax musicologist Jeffrey Miller is playing an important role behind-the-scenes on the new HBO Max series, Tokyo Vice.

As the show’s music consultant, Miller has had a hand in selecting the carefully chosen songs and musical style for filmmaker Michael Mann’s new Japanese-set crime drama.

“The way it works is I meet with (Mann) in his offices in Los Angeles, and he gives me a script and we’ll talk about ideas for music,” says Miller, who has worked with the four-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker for nearly 30 years. “He might have some ideas or just a few choice words about feelings and scenes — then I take the script, I read it and I start pulling together my own ideas for either specific scenes or an overall feel for the movie.”

Based on Jake Adelstein’s acclaimed novel, Tokyo Vice recounts the American journalist’s experience investigating the seedy underworld of the Japanese mafia in the late-70s and early-80s.

Starring Ansel Elgort (West Side Story) and Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai), Mann’s new series, which streams in Canada on Crave, posed a very specific challenge for Miller.

“(Michael Mann) was looking for something that was of the period, and so I started reading the script and understanding what he likes. I started looking at the late-70s and early-80s kind of grunge rock movement,” says Miller. “Also, because it was set in Japan, I listened to a lot of Japanese music from that era to give it a place and time — it could be anything from pop to more obscure artists and also things like Japanese drumming.”

Miller notes Mann wanted an anthemic piece of music that could summarize the journey of the main protagonist, but ultimately Miller says, “what’s unique about it is this mixture of Japanese with American rock of the late-70s and early-80s.”

It’s been a fascinating working relationship that has seen Miller and Mann collaborate on everything from the acclaimed, short-lived HBO drama Luck to the blockbuster that earned Will Smith his very first Oscar nomination — Ali.

In fact, as Hollywood-sounding as those projects are, the story about how Mann and Miller met sounds like its own Hollywood storyline.

Before he moved to Halifax, Miller lived in California where he was a musicology student at UCLA, paying his way by working in a popular book, music and video store.

One day, Michael Mann walked in the door — not that Miller knew it.

“He came into the store and I could tell by his dress and how he carried himself that he was somebody, but I didn’t know who he was,” laughs Miller. He advised the would-be director on some music and offered his services as an aspiring musicologist. “(Then) he left the building and the guy from the video department ran over to me and said, ‘do you have any idea who that was?’”

Weeks later, Miller received a phone call from Michael Mann’s office and he was soon hired to consult on what would become the 1995 hit movie, Heat.

“Heat (was) a great honour because it gets brought up over and over — not only as a great heist movie — but the soundtrack just keeps on getting referenced even now.”

Although Miller moved to Halifax with his wife and children in 2003, he has still managed to maintain his working relationship with Michael Mann, even as he has launched his own company with partner Robyn Traill.

“It’s one-stop shopping for directors and producers for all their music needs, so to speak,” he says about MillerTraill Screen Music, adding since beginning the business, he has only been encouraged by the support from the local film community.

“Everybody here is easy to work with and very accommodating,” says Miller. “(But) we really want to get more work here in Halifax. There’s a lot going on here with foreign productions from the USA and even Britain, and there’s some wonderful talent up here.”

For more info about Jeffrey Miller, visit his company website.