Updated on: 12/9/02

"Roger writes complicated music - they learn it, they internalize it, and then they play it like they're playing 'Louie Louie'." (Russ Gershon, founder of The Either Orchestra: All Things Considered, Aug.2001).




"INVENTION BOX", the most recent Binary System CD, was released May 22, 2001, on Atavistic. Available at HMV, Tower, hep indies, etc.

Invention Box opens up with a deconstruction of "The Sound of Music". Besides the Binary System duo, guests play standup bass, musical saw, shawm, voice, and Roger adds electric guitar, organ, and cornet.
(See below review from allaboutjazz.com)

The Atavistic label carries the Live Mission of Burma video (along w/many other videos) and has many interesting artists on CD (Ken Vandermark 5, Lee Randaldo, Glenn Branca, Lydia Lunch, etc.). See Atavistic web site at: http://atavistic.com/

See also Discography for further releases and ordering info.

See below for reviews of Binary System CDs and shows.

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Roger Miller (piano/prepared piano/vocals) formed The Binary System with drummer Larry Dersch The group has three CDs (see discography), and performs in the New England area and along the East Coast. On top of its generally unorthodox sound, the Binary System has recently added Miller's vocals to the mix. Besides Miller originals, they cover Missy Eliott's "Scream" and the Silver Apples' "Oscillations".


"A genre-shredding unit." The Boston Globe. Feb. 2000.

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"allaboutjazz.com", Aug.2001

Invention Box Binary System ( atavistic) By Nils Jacobson

"For Binary System, rhythm and melody are so tightly intertwined that they become one. Keyboard player Roger Miller offers a pulsing, throbbing counterpoint to drummer Larry Dersch's insistent beats. Yet he also manages to achieve a rare balance with forward-looking, constantly evolving, thematic development. Based on Invention Box, it's clear that these two players have spent enough time together to develop a signature musical voice and speak as one.
The musical range of Invention Box spans diverse territory. At times the duo draws from free jazz (as on the loosely metallic piece "Texas"); at others it explores progressive improvised rock a la Can (as on "Rogue Wave"). The counter-intuitive ways Binary System connect different sounds offers plenty of intrigue and fascination. But somehow, with just two voices, they manage to travel from rock to funk to jazz (and back) without any unneccessary stops along the way. The greater organizing force on Invention Box defines itself quite early on as the beat. Occasional hiccups (performed in perfect synchrony) leave no doubt that portions of this music are clearly pre-arranaged. Yet frequent periods of discovery and evolution also establish a prime role for improvisation. Binary System offers a unique approach to groove-based improv on Invention Box--far enough off the beaten track to offer general interest, yet so thoroughly rooted in its rhythmic foundations that listeners will never find themselves lost in its swirl."



From the Epicenter (CD) Nov.1999. atavistic117

Chicago Reader, May 2000:

"Though you wouldn't describe "From the Epicenter" as rock, it comes closer than Miller's previous piano-based work... Dersch is a sensitive but aggressive player who keeps a big, thick, Branca-esque love of the brutal groove stowed in his bag of tricks - not always on top, but always within reach."

Washington Post. Dec. 1999:

Weekend's Best:"In The Binary System, Miller plays ambitiously experimental piano along with Larry Dersch's drums - challenging stuff, worth a listen."

The Boston Globe, Dec. 1999:

"Two musicians rarely fit together more sympathetically than pianist Roger Miller and drummer Larry Dersch on "From the Epicenter", a mix of contemporary classical composition, rock grooves, and free-jazz improvisation."

Carbon 14, Jan. 2000:

"Structured compositions played with all the virtuosity required, and skin-of-your-teeth clink and clanking improvs that manage to be both wild and structured sounding at the same time!! It's a crunching steamroller of subtlety, a hard-rocking gamelan eschewing electric Marshall punch in favor of shadowed explorations of the piano's inner mysterium! Bravo, Gentlemen!"



The Binary System Live at the Idea Room (CD) Aug. 25,1997 SST 349.
Recorded on three consecutive nights in October of '96 in Long Beach, CA.

Boston Globe, Sept.'97:

"This is local rock innovator Roger Miller's first live album since Mission of Burma's 1983 swan song - and oddly shares that band's organic power, despite his use of grand piano instead of electric guitar. His duo arrangements with drummer Larry Dersch mine the structure of classical music as well as rock, with the freeness of jazz if not the freedom... The empathy between Miller and Dersch is striking, from their nip-and-tuck accents in "The Fish, He Laughs at his Own Commands" to the warped tango slant of "Machete Hacker's Boogie-Woogie." Miller clearly has a sense of humor. However, when he rounds out the set by attaching bolts and alligator clips to the piano strings, it's not to heighten chaos, but to add marimba and wind-chime tones."

Boss Improv, Oct.'97:

"The Binary System, Miller's new duo, has a record out now on SST, "Live at the Idea Room." Get this record. Live, Miller's piano playing is rollicking and out of control. He opened with several pieces for which the piano - a baby grand - was outfitted with various clamps, rattles and other effects. It sounded, by turns, like a music box, a player piano, a string bass and your everyday piano. He and Dersch, formerly of the Concussion Ensemble, are brilliant together, playing stopgap breaks with precision and bouncing off each other's inventiveness. They were amazing, the neatest thing I've heard in a while."

The Noise, Oct.'97:

"Highly creative classical tribal jazzy experimental intense ambient punk garage jam would sum it up quite nicely, for those who prefer the catagorical approach."

Alternative Press, Dec.97:

"It's been a long way from Roger Miller's tenure with Mission of Burma to his brave new duets with percussionist Larry Dersch at the Idea Room. With everything from a cover of Sun Ra's "Moon Dance" to his own deranged compositions, Miller appears emboldened by his latest avant-garde opportunity. ...Drummer Larry Dersch is an intuitive accompanist, anticipating Miller's tonal lunges and speed-ridden parries with a noble racket all his own. ... The results of their Idea Room sessions are challenging and unpredictable."

New Sounds, Aug.98:

"The Binary System is a journey in musical surrealism."



Boston Underbelly Compilation. (CD) Sublingual SLR001, Spring 1998.
1 track, an improvisation from the Idea Room Sessions. CD features Boston, CT, and NYC avant-garde artists.

Boston Phoenix, July 98

"Very welcome is a lengthy improv from the Binary System, the piano/drums duo of Roger Miller and Larry Dersch, who find room for both their rock and their avant tendencies."

Musings, UK:

"The outstanding Binary System...Their playing is dark, rhythmic and sometimes repetitive, Roger Miller attacking his piano interior with ceaseless inventiveness while Larry Dersch unhurriedly rolls out the beats with a set of mallets. One of the highlights of this compilation, and let's hope there's a new album in the pipeline."




Japanese Rumba - a Yakuza compilation.(CD)
1 track, an improvisation live at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA, in fall 1997. Other artists include Sonic Youth, Loren MazzaCane Connors, Azusa Plane, etc.