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Interview with
morgen

(26th August 2022)

Interview with Samantha Meuleman

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Photo – Genevieve Andrews

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Sam – You’ve got a new single Hammock coming out on August 25. I’ve listened to it and I t’s so cool. It’s got such an awesome sound. I love that it plays on this sort of happy/sad concept where the music is upbeat, but then when you actually listen to the lyrics, it kind of flips it on its head a little bit. Could you tell us about the inspiration for the song and the writing process?
morgen – Yeah, absolutely. So I had just gone through my first breakup ever. Which was not fun at all, let me tell you. It was really funny, because when I wrote the song, I was in this really weird place, because my ex, so we had like, there’s this girl that was kind of like, in our lives as like a couple. Like we weren’t polyamorous, but she was like, my girlfriend was always talking about her. She was like, Oh my God, my friend from yoga class, she’s so beautiful, I want you guys to meet and I was like, Okay, that sounds great. And so she ended up like, we ended up all hanging out and I was like, okay. I know that my ex didn’t have feelings for her. But like, there was definitely some chemistry. And then I was like, Okay. I broke up with her for a multitude of reasons. Um, and then she started dating that girl two weeks after we broke up and I was just like ohhhh. So I wrote that song. I wrote Hammock pretty much from like a place of like, utter pettiness, just complete and utter just like, I’m not mad, and I’m not sad, like FU like, I’m totally fine. I’m literally so okay, like, can’t you tell? Um, and so I think that was where I like originally wrote the song from, but it was really fun. The writing process, I wrote it with two of my really good friends. We just all hung out and like bitched for so long, and then they were like, alright, let’s write this song. And then it was pretty simple. It was a pretty easy writing process, because I was writing with two of my homies, but yeah, I mean, that’s the backstory. It was a wack time for me as this like, I don’t even know, just coming out of a relationship. It was just really strange.

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Hammock

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Sam – Yeah, I bet. I love that you’re so open as well with how it came about. Are you nervous at all about putting that out there? That’s something so personal.
morgen – Yeah, I mean, it’s very personal, but she’s a she’s a great person. I have no hard feelings. I know it’s been difficult for her personally, just because it’s a song and like, whatever. But the thing is, is we’ve had many conversations about it. We’re pretty chill. You know, we’ve talked a lot about  the song. And we’ve gotten to a place where we can both see each other’s I think we’ve gotten to a place I’m still like, we’ll see. But, um, we’ll see what happens when the song drops, but I think we’re in a good place. But yeah, it’s really terrifying. It’s like, I think it’s probably the most scared I’ve ever been releasing a song just because I’m worried that it might be more problematic just on a personal side. But I think it’ll be fine. I mean that’s just music in general, I think it’s like, you’re not going to make everybody happy all the time. Because you do end up writing about these personal experiences, which many people take offense from. But you can’t take away art. That’s just the name of the game. So I don’t know, I think it’s a learning experience for sure, but it’s terrifying.

Sam – I think I think a big positive to that, and you said many people can take offense, yes, but so many people can find it relatable. And it might help them through a breakup that they’re going through and things like that. Have you had experiences where you’ve had your audience say, I just saw relate to that song, thank you, and things like that?
morgen – For sure. I think not as much with this song yet, but yet with my other songs, for sure. I’ve had lots of fans DM me and just basically be like, Hey, thank you so much, I really appreciate your song because it helped me through X, Y, and Z. And yeah, I mean, there’s been multiple occasions, fans telling me how they feel about the song and how it’s helped them through certain situations. I’m hoping that Hammock is, if anything, just like a good breakup song. I just want it to be that song that you can blast and just scream. There’s this one part in the song where I go, we need to break up, and in my live shows, I’d just have the crowd scream ‘we need to break up.’ Which has just been so fun and entertaining and also, like, low key really helpful. It just literally just and outlet, like, all the bad negative energy. But yeah, I hope that people if anything, just like, I don’t even care if you relate to it as long as it helps you a little bit through a breakup like, I’m chilling. I mean, I also had never heard a song where, I mean, it’s hard, because it’s like a really challenging position, I don’t know, I don’t hear a lot of songs about being not mad and not sad and like, not depressed. I was, like, really petty. But you know what, pettiness is real and people don’t talk about it enough. It’s like, the low key version of revenge for sure. And it’s rough. But, I’m excited. I’m excited for it to come out.

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Photo – Aidan Schechter

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Sam – I’m sure everyone’s gonna love it. So the whole sound of the song, the production of Hammock, who did you work with on the sound?
morgen – Yeah, um, so my two friends, Matias Mora and Carrie Singer, were the writers and producers on that song. And we just all hung out. I think it was the first song we had ever written together actually. And it was so fun. I love them so much. I literally hung out with them a few days ago. They’re just the coolest human beings. We’ve gone through so much together. I mean, they’ve listened to so many of my problems and helped me through this particular relationship so much, especially recently. But I mean, I get it because the song is coming out. But yeah, they were phenomenal, like Matias Mora and Carrie Singer are like two of the best musicians I’ve ever met. They both went to USC together, I think, and so that’s how they met, but they’re wonderful. It was a super easy writing process. So those were the two humans and they were great.

Sam – I’d love to talk about your single Mom Jeans as well which is out now. Where did the idea come from for that song?
morgen – Oh my god that came from mostly just like, my hatred towards people’s opinions of me. I was just so annoyed. It was also like, right after I had broken up as well. It was a really weird time. I was just in this place of like, sort of an I don’t give a fuck sort of phase, but also in like this, I care too much about people’s opinions so F everybody, you know what I mean? And so I feel like I kind of just went into the writing process just, not even caring if the song was good. Just kind of wanting to get like this anger, not even anger, but like, frustration out. And so I kind of just word vomited and had fun writing it and like, didn’t even think that much about it. I’m just sort of, really just, bleh all over the page. And then it kind of just was super easy. We kind of just wrote it and I think it went through one revision and then it just like sat for a little bit. And then I was like, Okay, I want to release this, but I didn’t know if it was gonna catch on. And then I started promoting it on Instagram and TikTok, and then it kind of like, did its thing and kind of blew up a little bit. And I was like, oh my god, wow, people like the song like, what a concept. Like, this is just my word vomit. Wow. This is just me being angry. Um, but yeah, that was really awesome, and super cool. But that was kind of the process of writing that song was just like, complete and utter chaos and just morgen just spitting.

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Mom Jeans

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Sam – That’s awesome. I love the music video. It’s just so bright and vibrant. Who came up with the ideas for all the visuals.
morgen – So I originally had, I mean, I had come up with a lot of the concepts. So I’ve worked with this guy, Jack Simon, who was the director, he’s one of my friends. He and I worked together. We sat down and I basically just told him everything that I wanted, which was crazy colors, super trippy. Basically, the concept was like my brain but on steroids, basically just like up the volume and up all the saturation literally, everything. The colors. I actually have the carpet from the video in my bedroom. That’s the poster from the music video right there. Um, so yeah, just like a lot of just crazy stuff happening. But yeah, that was kind of the the thought was like, morgen’s brain, morgen’s bedroom, just like, crazy. It was really funny, because we had a lot of the same ideas which was really great, because working with other creatives can be really challenging sometimes. But it was super easy working with him because we were both on the same page where I was just like, I want utter chaos. And he was like, great, let’s do crazy. But yeah, that was basically it. Like, the whole concept was just me being like, I want to go crazy, I want to like, barf colors, and all that fun stuff.

Sam – That’s really, really cool. So one last question. What has been a career highlight for you so far?
morgen – I actually I feel like I have a couple of those. I definitely think one of the biggest things for me was getting played on Elton John’s radio station. That was crazy. He said my name and spelled it out and I was like That was crazy. And then honestly, career highlight for me was, was also having like all these people, these young kids like DMing me saying, like, I helped with their body dysmorphia, or like, eating disorders. And this one girl in particular, I remember specifically, I actually have it screenshotted. I’ve had multiple, like DMS like this, but it was super sweet. It was recent. And she said, Hey, like, I’ve never gone out. And this was like a 30 year old woman, or like someone who was like a fully grown woman. And she had DM me and she was like, Hey, I’ve never gone out in a two piece bathing suit before ever in my entire life, because I’ve never had the confidence to and today I did because of your song. And I literally just like that hits so hard for me. So I just cried because I know the struggle and I’ve been there myself and I’m still there. I’m still struggling. I’m still like working through shit. But that was definitely a career highlight for me was with that DM and many others just like it so yeah, and Elton John, but yeah.

Sam – Wow that speaks to the power of how relatable your songs are. Thank you so much for for chatting with us today. It’s been awesome.
morgen – Thank you so much for having me. Seriously. I really appreciate it.

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Press Release 26th August 2022 (below)

morgen
drops another taste
of new music
‘HAMMOCK’
– out now!

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About ‘Hammock’:

Welcome to the story of a kid who has no idea how to break up with somebody.

About morgen:

After spending her early teenage years desperately seeking to find her place in a world that was mostly upside down, 18-year-old morgen is now fully embracing the chaos that accompanies the challenges of becoming an adult. A member of the pandemic-era teenage generation, morgen’s ‘sweet 16’ years were full of lonely self-discovery, perfectly chronicled in her debut EP, UNACCOMPANIED MINOR.

Recently turning 18 and moving out of her lockdown family home for the brave new independent world of LA life is overwhelming, to say the least – yet she’s happier than she’s ever been. As she says, “growing up is not as terrifying as people make it out to be, all you have to do is pretend you know what you’re doing and you’re halfway there.”

morgen has always leaned into the unconventional, favouring home-schooling over a traditional education and the local arts scene over her community’s affinity for sports. Living on the creative edge comes naturally, morgen states “I’ve just been that person my whole life always choosing music over everything I do.”

Growing up in a musical household, morgen was schooled in a healthy dose of iconic artists. The influence of artists like Led Zeppelin, Billie Holiday, Carole King and Amy Winehouse permeated her upbringing. Barely a toddler, she began playing music, and by five years old, she was singing in her dad’s band. At six, she entered the realm of musical theatre. Now, she’s a black belt who also teaches karate. And she hasn’t slowed down since.

The singer-songwriter’s first EP was supported by Spotify, Apple, Billboard, and more. Bouncy single ‘Fine By Me’ was on the Triple J most-played list for over 2 months, and hit the top 100 radio charts in Australia. Elton John shared both ‘Odd One Out’ and ‘3D’ on his Apple Music radio show, a moment morgen says “a spiritually enlightening experience– probably one of the greatest day moments of my life to date.” 

And now, morgen’s gearing up to release her second EP with newfound confidence. ‘Mom Jeans’ – morgen’s first single of 2022, is a rallying call for wearing what you want. morgen asks the world to “stop telling me what to wear!” and her fans agree. morgen’s videos teasing ‘Mom Jeans’ have already been viewed over 4 million times, skyrocketing her following on Instagram and fans are responding by sharing their own outfits using the song. As for morgen, she’s got her first fit picked out, and she’s “in my baby blue mom jeans and a baggy shirt cuz I don’t feel like me in a mini skirt.”

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Photo – Aidan Schechter

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AMNPLIFY – DB