inMusic chats with Matt Morris
Music Editor: Catherine Main
If you haven’t yet heard of Matt Morris, it will not be long before you do. Matt Morris is a rising star being supported by one of the biggest names in the industry, Justin Timberlake. Since his New Mickey Mouse Club days (where he met Justin), Matt has kept busy writing songs for his fellow Musketeer Christina Aguilera and superstar Kelly Clarkson. He has now branched out with his first solo album, entitled ‘When Everything Breaks Open.’ We sat down to chat with the soft spoken Matt Morris while he was in Toronto to discuss his new album and his plans for an upcoming tour.
iM: Why did you call this album, “When Everything Breaks Open”?
MM: I’ve been working my whole life in music and in the arts and it feels for me now, that everything is sort of aligned to create this environment for me to perform on a larger scale than I ever have before. This album is my introduction to the world. The line “when everything breaks open” is a part of the first single “Live Forever”. And in the song, it’s really representative of when things sort of fall apart and explode and then the way we endure through that. That’s what “Live Forever” is really all about – how love endures all those big trials and changes.
iM: You worked with legendary guitarist Charlie Sexton and hit-maker Justin Timberlake on this album, what did you find these 2 artists had in common?
MM: I feel that it was a miraculous pairing and one that most people wouldn’t have put together. I feel that both Charlie and Justin follow their instincts and their instincts are very compatible – they’re different and they bring different skills and influences into the creative process. However, both of them know when to stop – “okay let’s not add anything else to it and make it any more complicated now because what we have works”. From a musical perspective that’s really important and you can really mess things up if you started adding too many ingredients. It’s not much different from cooking – at some point you need to taste it and know that you don’t need to add any more seasoning. Both Justin and Charlie have that sensibility about them.
iM: What song are you most proud of on this record?
MM: I’m proud of “Live Forever”. I’m proud of it because it’s a great single and I’ve written a lot of songs, but you know when you’ve written something and you think that this is something special and going to relate to a lot of people. I’m proud that it’s a song that is not only listenable and memorable, but it’s not just that way on the surface. I’m glad that as my first musical introduction on the radio is something with substance, which is really important to me.
iM: Can you tell us about the meaning behind the song ‘Eternity.’
MM: I wrote “Eternity” while living in a very rural part of Southern Colorado. It was sort of a monastic part of my life. I was disconnected from pop culture, which was a culture I was really immersed in for most of my childhood. The song is probably the most esoteric thing I’ve ever written and complicated as well as long – I’ve heard people joke that the song literally goes on for eternity. I find that some songs need that time for people to fully realize its meaning and to allow the song to tell the story that it means to tell. This song isn’t necessarily a personal song, but it’s an interpersonal, human song.
iM: You’ve written songs for a lot of people including Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson. How do you differentiate from when you’re trying to write for yourself and other people?
MM: When I’m writing with other people, their creativity and influences should normally dictate the creative process. If I’m writing with someone and it’s for their album then they know what their vision is and they know what they’re trying to do, so the song will naturally grow in line with that. When I’m writing for myself, I try to make it very blank slated in my mind. I let the song dictate the process and then sometimes I’ll discover that “wow I love this song and I don’t think I want to sing it but it’s ready for someone”. With a song, much like raising a kid, you may want things for them, but they’re going to be what they’re going to be [laughs]. The best thing you can do is to allow that process to happen naturally. So with a song, this is sort of the same way – you discover at the end of the process “well this is perfect for me and I could sing this song and want to sing this song”.
iM: Coming from The New Mickey Mouse Club, what is the most important thing that you learned from that experience?
MM: I learned that I am capable of living out my life musically. It’s not only something that I can do, but something that I make the choice to do. It takes a lot of work, dedication and patience to have a career in the arts in any way. I learned from it that I was capable of all of this and that it’s the right path for me at this point.
iM: Since Esmee Denters is signed under the same record label as you, is there any chance that you’ll be working with her in the future?
MM: Oh, I don’t know. Esmee doesn’t live in the [United] States and I only see her sporadically, but you never know. I’m excited that there’s such a diverse and creative group on Tennman Records. So I wouldn’t ever rule anything out when it comes to collaborations.
iM: If you could describe Justin Timberlake in three words, what would they be?
MM: If I could describe him in three words they would be: friend, musical-genius (if I can hyphenate those two words), and the boss.
iM: You still live in Denver, so do you think you’ll ever move to L.A. [Los Angeles]?
MM: I wouldn’t doubt that I would leave Colorado at some point. However, I don’t think I’ll ever live permanently in L.A. I’ll probably spend a fair amount of time there in the next few years. I do think about Canada now and then to be honest with you. There’s a really good pace here and feel like the people are really nice. It’s so big and so much to explore with so many different cultures.
iM: What are you touring plans right now?
MM: I can’t answer that question right now about when I’m doing an officially big tour. My hope is sooner rather than later and maybe with all my fans on Twitter, we can start organizing it and see if we can get some support. “Live Forever” is just starting to get played on the radio and July 13th the album will be in stores. So we’ll see what kind of love Canada really has for me because I’ve got a lot of love for Canada.
iM: What instruments besides guitar do you play and what would you like to learn?
MM: Bass is really new, I just picked it up a couple months ago and it’s so much fun. I never played electric guitar, I just played acoustic but everyone was telling me I should try electric. The bass is fun because I feel like I can connect with my drummer in a really great way and get to add body and foundation to the music so I get to really guide that.
iM: What would we be surprised to find on your iPod right now?
MM: Let me think since I’ve got a really packed iPod right now. I think people would be surprised at the diversity since I’ve got a lot of world music, pop, hip hop and a couple country songs. I don’t really listen to music for its genre, but I listen to music that moves me. So people may be surprised by how many different genres move me.
iM: Thanks for taking the time to chat with inMusic.ca!
MM: Thank you.
Transcribed by Melissa Tam.