Diandra Interviews Morgxn: Making Music That Is Human and Humane
When it comes to standing up for what you believe in, it should be a natural move because what you believe in forms your nature. The idea of who we are or should be is in constant motion in our minds, especially when we enter the magical world of DATING!!!!!!!!! (lol!) For Morgxn, his songs are self-reflections on his humanity and how that transfers into how he sees himself versus the growing number of eyes that are analyzing his “star.” Beginning the interview with a “Hey Jude” rendition and a pull from his tarots, the interview was already going to be unique. With the Water card pulled, symbol for emotional honesty, Morgxn looked on how he has formed his path as an artist, human being, and a member of society.
Diandra: As someone that promotes unity, love, and harmony, do you truly believe EVERYONE can be apart of achieving this, especially in our current world?
Morgxn: I believe music can heal people and unite people. In response to your direct question, do I believe everyone can be in love: no. There has to be discourse and conversation on the difficult things we need to move through. Actually, the song I was just singing, “Hey Jude,” has the line “Take a sad song and make it better.” There is so much about the world that is falling apart and can be very much hard to hold. My music is me trying to “hold” and “carry the weight.”
Diandra: So what about those that refuse to let go of hate and see everyone as equal?
Morgxn: Well, isn’t working towards unity a noble pursuit in itself? Whether you get there or not? Isn’t believing in hope, hopeful in itself? Whether you have hope everyday or not?
Me: Woah…. Wisdom!
Morgxn: I’m not somebody that everything is roses all the time and peachy. That is not in music, but isn’t the pursuit hopeful in itself. If you look at the world, there are people that have far less than America has, and you see them the happiest. They have different things they value, and, in America, it can feel hard because you are not “achieving enough” or you do not “have enough.” I think, sometimes, what we choose to focus on builds our scared, distraught mentality.
morgxn – home ft. WALK THE MOON
Diandra: So then how do you define happiness?
Morgxn: OoOooOoOo…. When I was 12 years old, I ran away from home. I was young. I didn’t go far. I didn’t have a cellphone, and I knew I was not going to go far. I was just miserable and wanted to scare my parents so I ran as far as I could and hid in a ditch. Then, when it got dark, I went back, and my mom had printed out this poem on how happiness is not a destination, it is a journey. I think I would define, then, happiness as the journey, including the darkness. Happiness is, in spite of the darkness, I smile.
Diandra: So, I am curious then, what do you feel about “cancel culture” and how hateful people can, at times, have more access to a powerful, public platform than someone ostracized for their race or gender identity?
Morgxn: Hmm…. There are, definitely, people that need to be cancelled. Donald Trump: Cancel! Mitch McConnell: Major Cancelled! Now, let’s talk about Monica Lewinski, and how she has become a real light on how internet shame and bullying is a real problem. In that moment, she was a woman and not the president and it was totally unfair. I think people were so quick to cancel her back then and that is a problem. Sometimes, it is the women, people of color, the queers, and the minorities whom are so quick to be on the receiving end of being cancelled, when we should be cancelling F**KING Mitch McConnell.
Diandra: Well, the reason I asked that question is because I feel like your music is about redemption, and the realization that you can be a good person that needs to be better.
Morgxn: I love that. I am not a perfect person, and I never will or want to be. I am beautiful and messy and whole. I think that we can all aspire to be better people. An activist, Adam Eli, he said something like, “I won’t stop fighting until all queers are safe.” I am am a white, cis-male queer person and there is privilege in that, but there are tons of queer people that do not have that privilege. Does that mean that everyone in the queer community is going to be safe tomorrow? No. Yet, there is value in fighting for every person to be safe whether they are like you or not.
morgxn – carry the weight (official video)
Diandra: I feel like when it comes to queer artists and how they are covered, sexuality is something we are talking about now because we weren’t talking about it before. We are doing it, in hopes, that one day it isn’t something that needs to be mentioned or discusses, but is, automatically, accepted and respected. With that in mind, how do you feel about media or journalists that call you a “queer artist;” introducing you or framing your sound according to your sexuality?
Morgxn: Wow….hmmm…. interesting… I think of myself as an artist, and, honestly, owning that is…(he pauses again and ponders)…. I wish people talked about how many day jobs I had (he smiles). How many no’s I received and I kept doing my art because it was, honestly, keeping me alive. So to say I am an artist is to acknowledge my journey. It is like you say, “We talk about it because we didn’t talk about it, in hopes, that we do not need to talk about it.” So I would challenge those people by asking them, “What about my art is queer?” What about my art is art?” and “Is their a difference?” I am making my art and I happen to be queer. I happen to love men and make art. To describe my art as “queer” says more about them than me. It is their choice to place the label, and I truly hate labels. Identity politics is just that: identity politics. I want people to just hear the words and the messages.
morgxn – blue ft. Nicholas Petricca
Diandra: So, going off of that, what was your most memorable day job?
Morgxn: Good segway! (he laughs) Ummm… I worked at this bar in Tennessee. The bar I worked in was connected to a hotel, and this person went in and asked me what vodkas we had. As a consummate, I had memorized and listed all that we had: from top shelf to well. Then, he asked me, “So what are the well brands?” And I was like, “I don’t know… the cheaper ones.” If you need to know the well brands, it is because you are not ordering top shelf. He then laid into me and he was like, “How do you not know about the well vodkas?” I quit that night because I cared too much about what he said to me and did not care about the vodkas. I was doing the job to make money for school.
Diandra: You have said you have written songs, like “A New Way” to kind of sift through the fears you have about your rising success. What about success is so scary to you?
Morgxn: I have an ingrained fear that I do not deserve good things. Self-sabotage is at the tip of my tongue, sometimes. Rather than pretending that, with success, makes me not human anymore, I went the opposite way. I wanted to acknowledge my humanity, my anxiety. I did not get into music because I wanted to “get into music,” I wanted express myself.
I care very deeply about the words I put into the universe. “A New Way” is a way for me to acknowledge that I don’t know where I go from here, but I know I will move forward. I have always been attracted to artists that created art about their personal struggles with their art. I look to greats like Prince, who said he was always two projects ahead of what was going to be commercially successful. I think my project can be that way, and their is something great and maddening about that. Ultimately, I do believe I am a vessel channeling the human condition, especially my own condition, through the music. I do not see myself as a god. I am beautifully human.
Diandra: So what do you feel music has taught you is your greatest strength and weakness?
Morgxn: My greatest strength is how deeply I care. My greatest weakness is how deeply I care. I would be lying if I didn’t say that the hate I received, both in person or online, did not send tremors down my spine about past traumas. My friend recently posted a quote about to be careful about letting your intuition get confused with your past traumas. The voice of intuition can sound a little like your voice of past trauma. There is a part of me that, when I receive hate, I have to acknowledge it. I have to let it move through me, hurt me, and then recognize their hate says more about them than me.
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