Currently touring through the UK and set to appear at the Secret Garden Party in London, Morganway are a band getting an incredible response to their material for all the right reasons.
Morganway
We got the opportunity to put some questions to the band's vocalist Yves all about their music, touring, plans for the future and more. And you can check out their new EP in full below!
For those who haven't yet heard your music, how best would you describe yourself as an artist?
Melodian redhead - talking the gospel of dirty country-blues-soulful-folk-pop-rock! What we here call the rambling rose of Norfolkana.
Where do you draw inspiration and influence from for your work?
The geography of life, human tradition and transition, and the every day insight into the unknown and known habits of emotional intelligence and native spirit. Basically, life!
How important is creative control for you when it comes to your material?
It depends on which angle my brain chemistry is taking it from. Sometimes I intuit a written tune needs for me to be the key holder of the phrases, notation and arrangement. With Morganway there is a set of keys to unlock it. I will spread it across the table and we'll work with the initial ingredients, elaborate on the seeds of the recipe and dine on it.
Can you tell us a little bit about the creative process behind your new EP?
We laid out a heck of a bundle of songs and decided on these five as our musical gun to fire. 'Ain't It Just' was one of the first songs we collaborated on. I was sleeping on the floor of a friend's flat and started blending some Norwich light and air with a noodle on the dobro. It was a tune echoing melody into the kitchen with a morning coffee. I took it to Callum and our songwriting friend George Nicholson and we expressed it into the straighter and blocked out formula it is today.
Oh jeepers, 'Hearts of Fire' was kicked about a lot, chameleonised and ionised at different points.
'Baby, Let's Run' kept haunting us to emerge it. Callum was like the light sabre-holder for this and Kieran the light-reflecting shield, and it resonates the creative currency of their love for the band.
'Give Me Strength' has a real character, it's fresh and reflects our rootsier sound.
'No Tomorrows' was the rough tough cookie we'd all written together, waiting in the wings for the right moment.
If you could work with anybody in the industry, who would you choose and why?
Anyone who wishes to create. Human or spirit. And if sparks fly, great. If they don't, well thanks for the short ride and sound vibration while it lasted.
You're preparing to tour the UK - what should fans coming to those gigs expect?
A fun, full, impacting and melodius set, with some extra-terrestrial friendly humans on the other side of the instruments just oozing to find out about these folks' lives, there to share the sound. We'll be spreading the love and having a damn good time of it.
Do you have definitive aims or goals for your career going forward?
Take all four directions; north, south, east, west; father sky, mother earth, grandfather sun, grandmother moon, the feather of your soul and let ether marinade itself... Oh, you mean in a nutshell? Continue using the creative soul I was given to make some thunder-loving music.
What would you say are some of your favourite aspects of your career in the industry?
Writing songs and playing live, not just with the band but with strangers and friends I meet on the street, too, syncing up to the web of life and letting the ride happen. Mostly being on the move. It's a career of your life, and expressing it helps others evolve and grow, one hopes.
What else should we expect from you in the coming weeks and months?
A smasher of a band's love for sharing music. Having a blast and rolling around the music scene with a pick, some sticks, gloves in our pockets, saying, 'How you doing?'