Bio

“When Nick Millevoi plays the guitar, it's like a rocket darting skyward between clouds.” —NPR Music

Nick Millevoi is a guitarist and composer whose personal sound reflects the full history of electric guitar music, from early rock & roll and surf music through noise and the avant-garde. With his band, Desertion Trio, Nick has released four full-length albums on the Cuneiform, Long Song, and Shhpuma/Clean Feed labels, which have been called “potently surreal” (Rolling Stone), “a nonstop instrumental thrill-ride” (Aquarium Drunkard), and “supremely weird desert noir” (Noisey). His most recent releases are Digital Reaction, featuring guests that include Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Lushlife, and Jason Nazary, and The Sounds of Grassy Sound with Ron Stabinsky, featuring a guest performance by the Meat Puppets.

Nick’s extensive discography includes everything from solo experimental 12-string guitar recordings to chamber ensemble readings of his Streets of Philadelphia songbook, plus five albums as co-leader of brutal-prog trio Many Arms—including two on John Zorn’s Tzadik label—whose extreme sound was described by Pitchfork as “music that seeks the sun by exploding toward it.” He has recorded with Chris Forsyth & the Solar Motel Band, Moppa Elliott, Dead Neanderthals, and Deveykus and collaborated with artists such as John Zorn, Nels Cline, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Toshimaru Nakamura, Jamie Saft, and Fugazi’s Joe Lally. As a touring artist, Nick has performed at venues and festivals throughout North America and Europe and has been featured in broadcasts on NPR’s Jazz Night in America and Tiny Desk Concerts, and BBC Radio 3. 

As a longtime educator focused on the guitar, improvisation, and composition, Nick has been a guest in workshops and classes at institutions such as the University of Pennsylvania, Rowan University, Bennington College, Temple University, the University of Illinois, and Eastern University. He has received funding from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, the American Composer’s Forum, and the Foundation for Contemporary Art. 

Nick’s writing has appeared in publications including Acoustic Guitar, Fretboard Journal, Reverb.com, In Tune Monthly, and Premier Guitar, where he is the senior editor.