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Morgan: an interview
Reported by Ben Cooper
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Submitted 07-12-05 22:41
It’s another typical post-clubbing Sunday afternoon — spent in a pub, winding down after a night out. Well, trying to. Following a rare London appearance at Frantic’s More event, I grabbed the chance to get an interview with a man who is, without doubt, one of the North’s most exciting new DJs — Morgan. What makes this task infinitely easier is the discovery that despite his rapidly rising profile, Morgan appears one of the most down to earth guys you could hope to meet and the instantly appealing cheeky charisma he displays behind the decks is just as evident when not on DJ duty. The catch with this of course is that the informative interview I had planned threatens to revert into the usual foolish Sunday banter. Best I conjure up some intelligent questions quickly….
Hi. Great set at your first Frantic gig and, I believe, first visit to London’s infamous mecca of hard dance. Did it live up to expectations?
Thanks. I was a bit nervous to be honest. I’ve not been to SE One before and don’t know London or the scene down here that well so I wasn’t too sure what to expect, especially from the crowd.
What’s the verdict then?
It turned out to be a great night. Definitely a different crowd from the clubs in the North but everyone was really sound and the atmosphere was mint. Lots of good music and all types of people getting down and enjoying themselves.
It must be great to be playing at big nights like Frantic and GoodGreef on a regular basis now, but how did you get into the whole hard dance scene? Where did it all start?
I was doing music at uni and got used to mixing bits of house and trance on my mate’s decks. The end of my first year was the original summer of love. We started going to ‘Crasher every weekend and would go on to Area 51 afterwards, but it was at the post-Crasher Insomniacz events where I caught the hard house bug and it all started from there really, going to Insomniacz, Sinergy, and of course Sunny D whenever possible. I started buying vinyl and putting in lots of hours practice on the decks.
You’ve obviously got a lot of fond memories from those early years but there’s not a hint of trance in the stuff you’re playing now. It’s quite a unique sound. How would you best describe it?
Ummm… I don’t know it’s kind of like… (pauses then laughs) Aargh, genres!
Those of us who’ve seen you play up north recognise your eagerness to push the whole techy thing when that was just coming through a while ago, but now you seemed to have moved on a fair bit, for example your sound seems a lot more involving, not so minimal.
There’s definitely more than a touch of techno in there, but yeah you’re spot on there. I think maybe the best way to put it is that it’s got lots of different elements to it. I’d like to think it keeps the energy from hard house, maybe a touch slower. Busy percussion and driving, electro influenced baselines. Does that sound about right?
Well put. We here you’ve been getting really busy on the production front lately too. How’s that going?
Busy isn’t the word! It’s been pretty hectic getting the Toasted Recordings label set up but it definitely paid off and I was so pleased to see the first release (‘Incoming’) do so well. Now that’s up and running it’s good to be able to concentrate on putting some serious studio time in. I’ve got a few more wicked releases lined up and ready to go over the coming months including some collaborations which will hopefully go down really well. I’m also looking forward to seeing some of my tunes getting released on other labels like Neonate and Stealth in the near future.
You’ve made a name for yourself by always pushing new sounds. Has it been hard to get accepted for doing this?
It has been difficult in the past, especially when you’re playing stuff that people are a bit unfamiliar with, but things need to move forward. I’d like to think there’s a real funky element running through the stuff I’m playing and producing at the moment. I love it. I think it’s more accessible too and it seems to be going down really well on the dancefloors.
Do you think that people are generally open to more diverse stuff at the moment?
Definitely. I think people are open to music from all different genres these days. It’s mint to see all kinds of music coming together. Just look at clubs like Frantic and GoodGreef up North where we get breaks, quality house, and filthy hard house, all under one roof — people love it. I think it’s the same with tunes in general. Producers on the scene are taking on board sounds from all different genres and there’s some really interesting stuff kicking about at the moment.
You wouldn’t agree then that there is a danger of killing the scene with too many producers and an excessive influx of different tunes. We certainly don’t seem to get anthems or classics like we used to.
Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but the way I see it, the more tunes the better. As long as DJs keep playing quality tunes, variety keeps things interesting and how can that be a bad thing?
Whose tunes are grabbing your attention at the moment?
There’s loads of good producers out there right now, but Mark Maitland, Sam Townend, Chris Hoff, and Colin Barratt spring to mind as those who are really on my wavelength. Not forgetting Paul Maddox, of course. He really knows his stuff and is great to work with in the studio as well as churning out some mint remixes and tunes himself.
And DJs, is there anyone in particular that you admire?
You’ve got to admire people like Andy Farley who can make their mixing look effortless and sound just so right whatever they’re playing. Eddie Halliwell stands out for his unbelievable scratching and technical ability. I’ve also got a lot of respect for (Andy) Whitby who I’ve had the pleasure of playing alongside many a time in the past and who’s always impressed me. But to be honest with you, I’ve got just as much respect for a lot of the up and coming DJs that are coming through right now as I have for the more established DJs in the scene.
Do you think it’s harder to break through as DJ now as it was back when the whole hard dance scene was getting started and at its commercial peak?
I couldn’t really say cos I don’t know how hard it was back then but I’m sure it was tough too. It’s taken me a lot of hard work to get to this stage and I’m sure it’s exactly the same for everyone else. All the top DJs deserve to be where they’ve got too.
You’ve gained great admiration for your busy mixing style, bouncing about behind the decks and splicing tunes together using a lot of cutting up and a healthy dose of effects. Is that something you’ve really worked on as a trademark?
I always try and give 150% behind the decks to interact with and entertain the crowd. That’s what its all about. It’s not something that I really consciously try and do but it comes naturally when I’m really enjoying myself during my sets. As for the mixing, when I got my first DJM mixer, I really enjoyed practising those little tricks and as I got more and more confident doing this it seemed a natural way to mix tunes together. Everyone’s got their own style but cutting up and using effects suits me and think it helps give a different sound to my sets. It also seems to really suit the percussion and baseline driven stuff that I play.
We’ve heard you blend all sorts of stuff into your sets from the odd Michael Jackson tune to Grange Hill. Does that always go down well?
Yeah, generally it goes down a treat. I try not to overdo it or anything, but the odd surprise can help make a set an extra bit special.
When you’re not playing the hard stuff, what other types of music do you have on your stereo?
Dance music wise a bit of fat electro house is always good and I really enjoy playing the odd set. Otherwise I’m well into my indie/rock stuff — The Arctic Monkeys are really doing it for me at the moment. Zane Low often gets a bit of airtime at home in the evening too.
It’s Sunday afternoon, if you weren’t doing your DJ thing what would you be up to right now?
Morgan: Probably just chilling out, maybe playing guitar a bit or watching some ‘quality’ television like ‘I’m a Celebrity’…
I reckon if you head off now you might just get back in time to watch it. Quickly then, Are there any imminent gigs we should know about?
I’ll be playing at GoodGreef NW with Ilogik and Lashes this weekend, then I’ll be at my Manchester residencies for the rest of the month. One I’m really looking forward to is Early Doors’ Boxing Day party at Sankey’s Soap in Manchester.
Can we look forward to seeing you in London again soon?
Hopefully I’ll be playing down in the South a lot more next year. I’ve got bookings lined up with Storm, and Frantic have said that they’ll have me back again so yeah, hopefully it should be a more regular thing for 2006.
We look forward to it. Thanks for your time.
No worries mate, it’s been a pleasure.
Check out Toasted Recordings at www.toastedrecordings.co.uk You’ll soon be able to download a copy of Morgan’s latest ‘Urban Funk Cut n Fx Mix’ from the site.
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Other Features By Ben Cooper:
Leeds' New Breed
Tidy @ Magna 7 - Reviewed!
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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