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 (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

group formed in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

in the late 1960s. Their music was mostly

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

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 of ...

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 music, country and pop hits "King of the Road (song), Ki ...

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 desc ...

, 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 i ...

) 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'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film, which was produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, is the ninth film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, and features eleven monster ...

, 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 AzerradAzerrad, 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

References

{{Reflist

External links

Sproton Layer

Laurence Miller

Roger Miller

Benjamin Miller

World in Sound
Protopunk groups Hard rock musical groups from Michigan Musical groups disestablished in 1970 Musicians from Ann Arbor, Michigan

Discography

See also

References

External links