We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Adrian L. Miller and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Adrian, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
Originally hailing from St. Louis, I have always been an advent fan of music being raised on primarily the soul records that my aunts and uncles would play and dance to along with my cousins along with the trinkets and records my dad sold at his record store. All of this sensibility attracted me to want to hear the next best thing that was entertaining all of them, I would listen to the radio for countless hours at a time and get lost.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Oh so you want me to give away the secret sauce? I will not be telling you the template for success of management because everyday we are doing a better job at being the best at it. What I will say is the art of music is a gift and for us to work alongside some of the best creators takes a special interest group to do so. I have enjoyed learning this business from some of the top people that do it, namely, Ricardo Frazer, Ernie Singleton, Graham Armstrong, Paul Stewart, Steven Rifkind, Mike Ross, Amanda Dennie, Benny Madina and Clarance Avant.

For anyone to tackle this business at the same level of interest as what I have spent 30 years accumulating, I challenge you to get a mentor that will spend time with you and show you what not to do, and how it do it in a way that fits your personality.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Having been raised in LA and living off the same street, I’ll take you on a journey from Western by the airport to Los Feliz. I would walk around the corner as a ten year old boy on my way to Jesse Owens Park and I would stop by “Bertha’s Soul Food” which is now called Dulans. We would go towards Inglewood and find ourselves in the village at the Miracle Theatre. We would hang out with my boy, Owen, before Hannibal Buress would do a live taping for his comedy show. I may have to walk two blocks West to Stevie Wonder’s Radio Station, KJLH, for an in-studio performance by October London or Mereba. Can’t forget my boys who like to smoke cigars and going by Drobe Cigar Lounge or I could cross all the way over to LA Louisanne and make sure we don’t miss the best shrimp po boy sandwhich in the city. Unfortunately, in the same centre, the shaved ice company just shut down so you won’t be getting one of those any time soon. But, you can go across the street and get your clippers fixed at the clipper emporium, or try one of the famous hill top coffee choices, compliments of our girl, Issa Rae from her show, Insecure. What people don’t know is I’ve been giving her music for her shows since Awkward Black Girl on Youtube. Shoutout to Issa! Furthering up North, we have to take a trip through Leimert Park, grabbing a coffee with Chace or hitting the museum, maybe even copping a latest t-shirt to celebrate the neighborhood at Sole Folks.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The book, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, was an unbelievable light awakening that really took our story from a level of comfort to so much change. It was bewildering. I understand life to have everything yet none of anything we want but everything we deserve. It’s an excellent read, it’s just very lengthy, it has over 400 pages, it’s just not for the faint of heart. I am wildly down for a book club as well.

Shoutout LA shoutouts:

● Damon “TWIN” Nomad
● Fabian Fade
● MC O Orlando
● Lamar Lmac
● Kevin “DangerBoy”
● K Max
● Buky

Website: https://xyion.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adrian_miller

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianlmiller

Twitter: https://x.com/adrianmiller

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@poweredbyxyion

Image Credits
Personal Photo Image credit: Photo by Phillip Hamer

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.