Morgan Page has certainly come a long way from his native Vermont. He has garnered wide acclaim with a streak of grammy nominations and has also added four International Dance Music Award nominations to his kitty, including 2012’s, “Best American DJ (North America)” alongside Skrillex, Deadmau5 and Kaskade.
His style is distinct. He builds his own space in the middle of the pop and electro spheres sonically. Touting club anthems with the right dose of indie and pop flourishes, Page creates a danceable, diverse, and deep collection of songs when it comes to his releases and exhibits the same concoction of sounds even through his live shows. “I want people to play it over and over again”, says Page. “I want them to sing these songs back to me when I’m playing live. I want to make music that lasts”.
Hit past the break now to read up on what he had to tell us about his life, upcoming tracks and India as a future hub for dance music now!
TBB: Hey Morgan, we are thebanginbeats.com and its a pleasure to be interviewing you. To begin, we learned that close to the age of 15, you had already started to immerse yourself into production work. At such a young age what motivated and inspired you to take to making music as a career?
Morgan Page: I was a fan of Electronic music and I just started pursuing my interests. One thing lead to another, and before I knew it, I started working in college radio in my home state of Vermont as a high school student. The local station at University of Vermont didn’t require their DJs to be students, so I took advantage of that opportunity. I later continued in radio at Emerson College in Boston, and eventually started to play out in clubs because I wanted an audience I could see.
TBB: How do you feel that DJing and production has evolved over the last few years owing to technological and other advancements?
Morgan Page: I see more of the same focus on artists and people getting excited about performances, rather than just built in crowds of people loyal to the clubs. It’s changed so much to an artist driven industry. The whole push to bigger stage setups is exciting, and also expensive!
TBB: Do you reckon there’s a need for a change in today’s dance music industry? If given the chance, what would you choose to change?
Morgan Page: DJs with egos. We’ve got enough of them.
TBB: How would you describe your sound? Do you make a conscious effort to make sure that it’s continuously evolving?
Morgan Page: I’m known for my vocals – and really concentrating on quality songwriting with substance. Melodies are really important.
TBB: Having just concluded your tour of India, do you reckon as a country we have the potential to become a global hub for dance music? Which city would you say gave you a night you will definitely remember for a while?
Morgan Page: There is so much potential in India, it’s amazing. There is no doubt that India WILL become a global hub. I believe social media technologies played a big part in what has helped dance music prosper in the US, and I see the same thing happening here.
TBB: What is the craziest request you have ever received from someone in the crowd whilst DJing?
Morgan Page: In Puerto Rico, someone asked me to play Samba.
TBB: If not a producer, what do you reckon you would have taken up as a career?
Morgan Page: My early interests were graphic design and technology. I still really like good design and photography.
TBB: What are your views on new avenues like Spotify entering into the dance music market? Do you reckon they enable the artist to make his music garner a wide listenership?
Morgan Page: Recently I’ve gotten into using Spotify to start my day and change my mood. I’m always waking up in some random city in a hotel – and something feels empty until I realize I haven’t heard music in hours. I think these days it’s easier to find good music even with the amount of oversaturation. The tools are finally empowering people to take music into their own hands and shape their tastes. Before it was more about hype and marketing budgets (which is still part of it, unfortunately).
TBB: Could you give us a peak into your studio setup? What softwares, plugins and hardware equipment do you use to produce?
Morgan Page: I use Pro Tools and Ableton Live. My favorite plugins are Sound Toys, Waves vintage bundle, and Izotope plugins like Ozone 4 and Alloy.
TBB: Who in your opinion are the best up-and-coming producers / artists at the moment?
Morgan Page: There are so many new guys coming out, it’s crazy. On my Morgan Page Presents tour in N. America, I’ll be championing a few up-and-coming acts that I think deserve some extra attention.
TBB: Could you tell us about any upcoming releases, remixes or collaborations you’re currently working on?
Morgan Page: My new single is called, “Your Love” and it features the 80’s band, The Outfield. After that, I will a have a couple other singles as well as a mix compilation called, “Morgan Page Presents” that will be a companion piece to my tour.
TBB: Since we are thebanginbeats.com, we have to ask you our traditional question; what are your top 3 #bangin tracks?
Morgan Page: TJR – “What’s Up Suckaz” [Rising], Morgan Page – Your Love feat. The Outfield [Nettwerk] and Carnage & Tony Junior – “Michael Jordan” [Dim Mak]
TBB: To round things up, any final words for your fans here in India?
Morgan Page: Thank you for all of your support. I can’t wait to come back. Also, be sure to get my free weekly mix at www.soundcloud.com/morganpage.
TBB: Thank you so much for taking time out and speaking with us. We are thebanginbeats.com. It’s been an absolute pleasure!
Morgan Page: Thank YOU!
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Interview by Aditya Seth
Thanks to Submerge & White Fox
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