The recent compilation album “Waves: The Sound of Ocean Beach,” produced by local music booster Chuck Schiele, has yielded dividends for all involved. Not only has it focused attention on the local community: it has also served as a spotlight for the participating performers. One act making a particularly noticeable splash is John Miller and The Payback, who perform at Dream Street on Friday, July 31. Besides mere geographic proximity, according to Schiele, Miller would have been a natural for the album regardless. “He’s originally from the East Coast but he sounds like California,” he said. “Miller’s music perfectly captures the feel of Ocean Beach, whether it’s the energy of a summer’s day or the slight tinge of introspection one can get on the occasional rainy afternoon.” Schiele said “Waves” is currently not available online but added it will be soon. In the meantime, the album can be found for $10 at area retailers such as Cow Records, 5029 Newport Ave., and at the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association office, 1868 Bacon St., Suite A. Miller arrived in San Diego from his native Pennsylvania in 2003 via a brief stint in New York. “It was appearing I was going to get laid off from my job and I had some friends living in California,” Miller said. “It was an easy decision that job hunting near the beach was better than job hunting from my fourth-floor walk-up in Brooklyn. “Bassist Dave Swendsen had been planning to join me in NYC, so I said, ‘How about San Diego?’  He said, ‘Anywhere, as long as come September, we’re not living in Pittsburgh!’  So we headed across country.” Miller initially found his key musical partner, guitarist Ryan Vernazza, through Craigslist, when he put together his initial band, the short-lived Johnny Different. “I was handling all of the guitar duties and I’ve never considered myself much of a lead guitar player,” Miller said. “So during the last year of JD, I decided that if we got an actual ‘lead guitarist,’ we’d improve the band significantly.  We placed an ad and Ryan was the first person to come in. “Afterward, I wanted to call the other guys we lined up and tell them that we filled the position,” he said. “The other guys in the band convinced me to still audition the other guitarists lined up — and they were good — but Ryan just set the bar too high. He quickly joined up.” When that group folded, Miller and Vernazza began playing as an acoustic duo. The pair gigged for six months, and after receiving a 2008 San Diego Music Award nomination for Best Acoustic Performer, the pair decided to fill out the sound for a series of new recordings. “We had always thought we’d like to get a new band together but we weren’t in a rush,” Miller said. “I asked a couple friends of mine (Swendsen and drummer Leo Zugner) if they’d be interested in recording sessions.  After laying down the tracks we realized that we were having a good time, liked the music and the way we all worked together and decided to become a band.” Ironically, finding the right band name ended up taking longer than forming the band itself. “That’s probably the most difficult thing a band goes through, coming up with a band name,” Miller said. It took three months for the musicians to settle on John Miller and The Payback. “It had been suggested that I use my name in the band name for continuity’s sake and because we were only recording songs that I wrote,” Miller said. “I battled back and forth with this because honestly, I’m just not that big-headed. All three of those guys had a large role in the arrangement of the tunes, so I wanted them to have an identity too.” Miller said he is not clear on what the direct inspiration for the name is, but it was an instant success with his fellow players. “The name came to me one day at work,” Miller said. “I’m assuming that James Brown’s song ‘The Payback’ had recently played on my iPod, but I don’t really remember.  I e-mailed it to the band and they all replied, ‘Yeah!’ No other ideas or modified version of the idea. Just, ‘Yeah!’ So it stuck.” Miller said he is thrilled with the results of his East Coast move, but he is specially happy with his new home in Ocean Beach. “It’s a fantastic place,” Miller said. “Music is in the air here as much as the salt. Plus, the support that bands and musicians get from the community is amazing.” Though he’s played all the area’s major venues, including the Casbah and House of Blues, he prefers more homegrown events. “The weekly [Ocean Beach] Farmers Market and annual street fair are hands down my two favorite gigs I’ve ever played,” Miller said. “The atmosphere is unique and it always stands out in my mind. It may be a farmers market and a slightly informal street show, but the community’s love of music keeps bringing me back, as often as I can, to the corner of Bacon Street and Newport Avenue on Wednesday evenings,” Miller said.  John Miller and The Payback perform on Friday, July 31 at Dream Street, 2228 Bacon St., at 9 p.m. The show is for those 21 and up. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/johnmillermusic.