Matthew Morgan

Interview With Matthew Morgan

SBS:  Hello and welcome to ya!  It’s always best to start off with some kind of introduction to who you are and what kind of music you make, isn’t it?  Tell us a bit about yourself & the history of your music, and give the people out there reading a couple of concrete reasons as to why they should be listening!

Matthew Morgan:  Hi there!  I’m a singer-songwriter originally from Chicago and now based in Columbus, OH.  I’ve been releasing music, touring, and living a musical life for over twenty years.  I guess my sound would be called Indie/Folk/Americana, but I have so many influences I don’t really try to define anything.  I try to be very real and honest in my songs.  I love human connection and the idea of mutual exchange of ideas and energy.

SBS:  While we’re still getting to know you and quite possibly introducing you to these pages of ours, what would you say is the newest and/or most exciting thing you’ve got going on with your music right now?  Is there anything you’ve been working on that just got released, or something happening behind the scenes that you haven’t mentioned yet?  What should your fans be looking forward to this year?

Matthew Morgan:  I’ve been recording songs with a production team in Columbus called Moonlight Audio with the idea of completing another full-length album and releasing it on vinyl.  I’ve mostly been releasing singles for the past two years and I think it’s time to make another record.  I think a lot of folks are ready to get off the digital content wheel and go back to something a bit more tangible.  I know I am and if you’re reading this now and you share similar feelings…I got you!

SBS:  So far to-date, what do you feel like is the song of yours that listeners respond to the most?  Do you feel like you knew they’d like it when you first created it, or was it just another song to you at the time?  Sometimes it takes a few spins and a bit of time before we realize how special a song truly is.  What is it about this particular track that you feel people connect to?  If someone was to ask you to play one of your songs to get them interested in your music, would you choose the same one that listeners seem to enjoy the most, or would you risk it and choose something different from your catalog instead?

Matthew Morgan:  My song that has received the most traction recently is called “Me, You, and Camus.”  ‘Camus’ is a bit of a throwback song that combines fingerstyle guitar with 70s vintage analog synths.  Lyrically, it kind of plays off of the writings of Albert Camus and his philosophy of absurdism; something I was reading at the time.  I’m not really a love song kind of writer and when I do write them they’re never just straightforward lovey-dovey stuff…that’s just not something I’m comfortable with.  We also released a very 70s looking lyrics video for the song.  I never know if anyone is going to like anything I do, but most of the time I’m very pleasantly surprised by the positive reactions I receive.  I think this song is nostalgic for anyone who grew up in the pre-internet era, like I did.

SBS:  Is there a concert you’ve been to that…maybe it was the best you’ve seen, maybe it wasn’t, but it was a completely unforgettable moment in time that you might not even see from the same band or artist again if you saw them play in the future?  Know what I mean?  Like, maybe a band you saw was touring a certain album and they never played those songs again…or like, maybe an artist climbed up the frame of the stage like Eddie Vedder did, and of course he’s probably not doin’ that now as an older dude…there are countless examples of amazing shows from the artists & bands we love most that we will never see happen twice.  Tell us all the details you can remember about an unforgettable show you saw, and why you don’t think that if you saw that same artist/band today that it could all happen again.

Matthew Morgan:  Last year my friend, Bob got tickets to go see the Outlaw Music Fest with both Willie Nelson & Sons and Bob Dylan headlining.  That was the main reason for going, but on that particular show at Blossom Music Center in OH the act that absolutely blew me away was Nathaniel Rateliff and the Nightsweats.  Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it; the entire production, how he engaged with the audience and his band was incredibly thoughtful and the musicianship was out of this world.  It was like part rock concert/part OG southern revival.  I learned a lot about the importance of engaging with your audience just from watching this performance.

SBS:  I’ve heard it said many times that it’s harder to write a song in a happy mood than to write one when you’re feeling down.  Of course, for some folks, the opposite is just as true…I guess maybe that’s a reflection of who we are on the inside perhaps?  From YOUR perspective, what’s the particular emotion you associate with the most, or connect to the strongest when you’re creating your music?  How does it play a role in what you write & why do you feel like that specific emotion gets the best songs out of you?

Matthew Morgan:  I love this question.  I’ve spent most of my music career being labeled as a “sad sack” folk singer.  I’m not saying that’s untrue, but I have always just resonated with artists who write heartfelt, emotionally open songs.  I’ve always been envious of those artists who are naturally able to inject comedy and humor into their songs because it doesn’t come naturally to me.  However, in the last year I’ve finally written some tunes that show my more humorous side (yes, I can be funny!) and I’m really proud of them.  One song that has been released is called “When I Have The Time” and I filmed a music video for it that shows myself as an adult running away from home.  The video got some laughs and was even an official selection for a film festival in Cleveland, OH.

SBS:  Let’s ask ya this…would you rather create a massive hit song that the whole world knows and sings along with, or risk toiling in obscurity for the length of your career to fully keep your artistic integrity intact?  Is it really that much better to be one of those artists or bands that are only known for one song, or is it better to build a whole catalog you can proudly stand behind that might not be known at all?  One-hit wonders tend to get judged pretty harshly and are often crushed under the weight of constantly trying to find that second hit – but the flipside of that coin is the right hit song can be so financially lucrative that it can often be enough to build a whole career around.  Still…I have to wonder whether or not that would suck all the joy right outta the craft…maybe it’s really better to have no hits than one hit – what do you think you’d prefer and why?  Do you feel like creating a hit song is truly crucial to a music career?  If it’s not, what’s the alternative?  Can you still have a career without really becoming known?

Matthew Morgan:  I’m definitely not in the one hit wonder camp, but I would like to find a nice middle ground.  Maybe have one or two songs that catch enough of a buzz that I can create a nice middle-of-the-road situation where I can sustain touring on smaller stages and festivals around the US.  I definitely don’t ever want to be an artist that is too large to really connect with people at shows, or make their own decisions about what they create.

It’s definitely become harder to do this.  I’m aware of the situation with mid-level venues closing down and ticket prices being out of the reach of many fans.  I hope we can find a way back to this being a viable option for both artists and fans.

SBS:  Alright.  Personal taste.  It’s a weird thing right?  Impossible to predict, isn’t it?  We always talk about A-sides and B-sides when it comes to making music, and I like to believe that albums are generally put together with the artist or band bringing their best (theoretically, the A-sides) to an official release.  But once a song has been put out there into the world, it takes on all kinds of different meanings to every set of individual ears listening, doesn’t it?  For example – I’ve heard plenty of songs on what are considered to be B-side albums, or second songs that came along with a single that I might like even more than an A-side.  On the same side of that coin, just about every artist and band I know of tends to like certain songs they release much more than the ones their fans respond to the most.  So…I guess the question is…is there really such a thing as an A-side or a B-side to begin with?  What’s the point in worrying too much if everyone out there will draw to their own conclusions about what they like anyhow?  Should we just put absolutely everything we make out there online & let people be the judge?  When we label something as an A-side or a B-side, doesn’t that somewhat limit the listener’s objective ability to assess how they feel about a song on their own?  Who really decides what’s an A-side or a B?

Matthew Morgan:  I think there are songs that have more of a hook, or an “angle” if you will that makes them more marketable for the business people who actually make the money.  So, to me, labeling something with an “A” side, or a “B” side is about wealthy people in suits figuring out how to get the most return on an investment.  From an artist’s standpoint I do not like sharing music with a pre-conceived notion about how a song will be perceived before it’s even released.  Many of my favorite songs are not the “A” side, or “singles” from an album.  But, in the current era where artists are encouraged to release singles instead of albums it feels like our options are more limited than ever.  I wish I had a more positive perspective on this one.

SBS:  Who’s someone you would be able to pinpoint as an influence on your music, or who you are as an artist, that even your fan-base might not have expected?  How has that person affected the way you make your music, and do you really feel like the influence ends up showing up in your sound, or not?  Maybe it’s something they said, maybe it’s something they did, maybe it’s something they accomplished that you hope to as well someday…maybe they’re simply iconic, or have become legendary.  Tell us why this particular inspiration matters to you & how they made an impact on how you view the art of music.

Matthew Morgan:  I would have to say, Elliott Smith.  Not that I sound like him in any way, but he was the first person that allowed me to see that a vulnerable, anti-rock star guy with a guitar can record incredible music right from his bedroom and it can reach people in an indescribable way.  I didn’t grow up somewhere where it felt like being a singer songwriter was even a possibility, so I never considered it until I discovered Elliott’s music and started reading about him.

SBS:  I’m going with a motto of being unafraid to fail this year, because I think even though I’ve failed in so many things that I’ve tried, maybe I still haven’t failed enough to have learned to not be so afraid of it yet, you know what I mean?  We can learn so much by failing…by trying different things…by stretching outside of our comfort zones – and heck, we don’t even know if we can find success at all unless we’re really willing to see what we’re capable of, right?  So let’s ask you this – what do you consider to be your biggest failure with your music to-date, and ultimately, how did that experience actually end up helping you later on?  What did you learn from whatever mistake you made & how did it assist your evolution?

Matthew Morgan:  My biggest failure was taking so long to have the courage to be vulnerable and show people my truest self.  I have always been a shy person around large groups of people.  I’m fine one-on-one, but in a group I get anxious.  I spent years suffering silently from near debilitating stage fright, but something shifted about ten years ago.  I went through a couple major losses in my personal life and I think it showed me that I could overcome anything and I stopped worrying so much about what other people think.  Gradually, I’ve become pretty comfortable being on stage and now I even have people comment that one of their favorite parts of my live show is the banter between songs with the audience.  It’s taken a long time to get to this point!

SBS:  As I always like to remind people participating in our interviews, there is no such thing as an interview that has ever covered everything that someone would want to talk about, this one included.  We cover that here at sleepingbagstudios by offering you the ‘open floor’ at the end…a space where you can talk about anything else you want to.  You can mention anything we didn’t bring up.  You can talk politics if you want to.  You can swear.  You can tell us which websites we should go to in order to listen to your music.  You can tell us your favorite movie if you like.  Heck, you can full-on repeat yourself and say something you’ve already said if you feel so inclined – it’s YOUR space to say whatever YOU would want to say to the people out there, completely free of our influence on the conversation…all I suggest is that you take it for a ride and make good use out of it.  Thank you so much for talkin’ tunes with us!!!

Matthew Morgan:  Oh noo!  Unlimited freedom of expression with no guardrails?  LOL!  I guess the thing that worries me the most is the co-opting of our individual freedom of expression by the tech industry and social media, especially now with the looming takeover of generative AI.  It’s not just an opinion, or a feeling as there is now measurable evidence that as the economy grows, our quality of life is shrinking.  It feels like we are watching humanity get smaller in real time!  But, what are we left with if we lose our humanity?  This isn’t just about a bitter, older songwriter reminiscing on the good old days…this is about everything we touch and feel and the connections we make within our community.  I certainly don’t see anyone scrolling their way through Instagram toward happiness.

Find out more about Matthew Morgan from his official website at:  https://matthewmorganmusic.com

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