Back on stage

Nashville-based artist morgxn will play The Foundry on Nov. 5. Image | Nolan Knight

Nashville-based artist morgxn recently debuted the music video for his new single “Don’t Think About It,” which depicts a spin on the typical gender reveal party. The track – a collaboration with Grammy-nominated producer and songwriter Jenn DeCliveo – is from his EP “MERIDIAN: vol 2.” The EP is the highly anticipated follow up to “MERIDIAN: vol 1.” 

You can see morgxn live and in person Nov. 5 at The Foundry at The Fillmore with Smallpools. Tickets and info are available at thefillmorephilly.com.

Nashville-born Morgan Isaac Karr, best known as morgxn, released his debut album “vital” in 2018 that included the hit lead single “home” featuring Walk The Moon. The track was a Top 10 Alternative Radio hit, landing on the Billboard Alternative Songs Chart and Billboard Rock Airplay Chart. He has toured extensively with the likes of X Ambassadors, Phoebe Ryan, Miike Snow, Skylar Grey and more, and has played festivals worldwide, including Lollapalooza, Firefly and Hangout. 

PW recently caught up with morgxn to talk about the new music and concerts.

Let’s go back to the beginning. When did you first become interested in music? Who were some of your earliest influences?

It’s hard to separate when my interest in music became wanting to pursue music. I’m still just a person who loves crafting songs and I spend a lot of time turning journal entries into sparks of melodies and lyrics. I grew up in Nashville, but not around the industry. My parents were not involved in music, but my grandfather loved to sing. His father was a vaudeville singer, but loved the bottle too much so I think he never was encouraged to keep singing because his father’s life was so hard. But all my life he loved listening to me sing or play the piano. It was really high school though where I discovered Stevie Wonder and Luther Vandross – just these soulful song troubadours – that I felt some kind of shift. 

What inspires you to make music? 

Pain. Loss. Joy. And the pursuit of making sense of it all. 

Talk a little about your new music video and single “Don’t Think About It.” How did it come together? How did you come up with a song about gender reveal parties?

I often treat the music video process as an entirely different creation. The songwriting happened at the beginning of 2020. January, I believe. Long before (to me) I was aware of what 2020 would become. 

I met Jenn Decilveo and it was more talking than creating. But all of a sudden we had a song that poured out. I was struggling to get my old label to let me release music and felt like I was just stuck in this stronghold, wanting to continue but also losing the fight to keep it going. The song came out of that impulse, but when I was getting ready to make a video for the song, I was in a different place. a year of being independent and having some of the biggest success I’d ever had – the song became a mantra of all the ways I can get stuck in my head and all the ways society tries to keep you in a box to “maintain decency”. 

I had met this cake designer on the internet, and his literal cake art made my brain start turning with how I could make a music video with his work. At first, I thought about being a groomsmen at a gay wedding, but while everyone is falling in love with the love – I was falling in love with cake. But then I was like “what is three minutes of me eating a cake – that’s not a music video.. that’s just depression.” It wasn’t until I met the director, Neta Ben Ezra, that we connected the dots and started talking about the absurdity of gender reveal parties. And that’s how the idea was really formed. 

Nashville’s morgxn recently debuted the music video for his new single ‘Don’t Think About It,’ which depicts a spin on the typical gender reveal party. Image | Emma Mead

That track is from your upcoming EP “MERIDIAN: vol 2.” Talk a little about the songs on the EP. How will people be able to get it?

It will be a streaming only project for now. I’ll be playing the songs live on tour. The project was never an intentional project … it was really the result of the music that kept me going during the pandemic. It was what kept me going when I couldn’t find my hope or my sense of belonging. BURDEN, CITADEL, THE WAY IT WAS, DON’T THINK ABOUT IT, BROKEN PEOPLE / it kind of writes itself. This is how I picked up the pieces. 

You’ve toured a lot in the past, and I’m guessing the pandemic threw a wrench into that. How does it feel to be back on stage before live audiences? What will your fans see when they show up at The Foundry at The Fillmore on Nov. 5?

I have been trying to put it into words but performers and artists – we had a kind of lifeline stripped from us. While many people had their lives turned upside down, I’m lucky to have found new ways to connect. “Working from home” looked really different to a lot of people. While I loved the chances to go live and create a sense of community online – nothing replaces the vibration of being together. I described it like putting a fish back in water. There is something so essential about gathering. I tried to keep my spirits up, but I’ll be honest – some days were very hard. I’m looking forward to all the ways we will be together again and reminding each other of our shared humanity. That feels important to me

What’s ahead for you after the tour wraps up? More new music?

More tours in 2022. More music – some really special collaborations coming. Reading books and settling into my new home in Nashville. 

What are the best ways for your fans to stay current with what you’re doing?

Online and through my Discord.

  • Eugene Zenyatta was raised on old-time Memphis 'rasslin' and strongly prefers the company of dogs to people. His greatest heartbreak came in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic.

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