Elle Evans
At only 20 years-old, emerging songstress MORGAN has already achieved a lot. Signed to Rudimental’s label 'Major Toms’ home to the likes of Anne Marie and Ella Henderson, MORGAN is the next star to roll out.
Coming from a musical background as a young child, it was only inevitable that MORGAN would pursue a career in music. Having recently just come off a years tour with Rudimental as there vocalist, MORGAN has now amassed over 135,000 followers across social media. Treating her supporters with daily covers and mash-ups on Instagram, these have all factored into MORGAN gaining the right recognition. Known for her strong, full and soulful tone she recently released her debut single “My Year” - a song to the people who never believed in her talent, telling them that this is her year! Now ready to take on the music industry in full throttle, it’s looking to be a successful career for the flourishing 20-year old!
We caught up with MORGAN to ask her a few questions…
Tell us a bit more about how you got into singing? Were you raised in a musical family?
I’ve always loved music ever since I was a young child. My dad has always produced music and had a home studio when I was growing up, so I would always be in the studio watching him. I also have a couple of family members who are musicians - Mr. Vegas and Ken Booth (who are both Jamaican artists). I feel as though music is in my blood, it was never forced upon me - I just took it up naturally as a hobby. But I wanted to take it to the next step…I wanted it to become my occupation.
Was there a specific point in which you thought music is what I want to do for a career?
My whole life I’ve wanted to have a music career! There has never been a doubt in my mind and I’ve never had a plan B. I truly believe that if you focus on your plan B, you’re not putting enough into your plan A... and my plan A was music. A lot of people I went to school with would question what I wanted to do, teachers would tell me that it’s unrealistic but I stuck to what I was passionate about. So no, there was never a specific moment when I realised I wanted to be an artist/musician, because it was just always something I wanted to do.
Who did you look too for inspiration musically growing up? Is there a particular album you find yourself going back to?
If I’m honest, I don’t usually listen to albums. But when I wrote my EP, I focused on Rhianna‘s “ANTI” album, as it’s so versatile and it speaks 1000 words. Growing up Rihanna was my inspiration... and still is! I feel like as a woman I can relate to a lot of things that she sings about - her songs have helped me through some difficult times. Also not only as a musician is she inspiring, but as a business woman too. The way she has invested and made sure she has more than one source of income is incredible; and she has kept herself 100 % relevant - even when she hasn’t released music for four years although she did just drop a feature with PartyNextDoor which I love. I think it’s a hint that she’s going to be dropping music soon and I’m really excited!
You are signed to Rudimental’s label Major Toms, was your intention setting out to always be signed? How did this come about?!
I wanted to be recognised - I felt like I was putting so much work into building my social media following - but nobody was seeing my vision of what I wanted to do and how far I wanted to take my music career. Rudimental picked me up at the perfect time - I felt like I was ready. I know I needed to develop my performance skills, songwriting and vocal delivery; but they still picked me up knowing that they would have to help me improve the quality of my craft. I can’t thank them enough and I feel like I’m always growing when I’m around them - they push and test me and make me realise I can do things I never knew I could do. That’s the beauty of what they do.
You have also toured with Rudimental as their vocalist! That must’ve been an amazing experience?!
I feel like touring is unexplainable. The vibe that everybody has is so beautiful - every single person that was on the road with me made me feel at home. They gave me feedback after every show, telling me what I could’ve done better and what I did well. This is how I improved every day and and I can’t thank everybody enough. I feel like I came out of my shell as a person as well as a performer during that 18 month period. Everybody I toured with will hold a strong place in my heart always. I’ve never laughed so much and felt full of life like I do when I'm touring with Rudimental.
Let’s talk about your debut single “My Year”, tell us about how this came about? What was the process behind this like?
I wrote this song with Barney Lister and L Devine. Going into that studio session I knew what I wanted to make, it was just a case of piecing it together and that’s when everybody in the room magically brought it to life. This song is about the people that didn’t believe in me and how I had to block them off because I no longer had time for their negative thoughts and opinions. However, I feel like the song can be interpreted in so many different ways - it could be about a boy or an old friend... anything! The single is also talking about how amazing my past year has been with regards to touring and songwriting - the visualiser gives a clear insight to tour life for me. I'm telling people that this is going to be "my year", because from here onwards, I’m bringing nothing but fire!
What made you decide this was going to be your debut single?
I think the title of the song alone made perfect sense for it to be my debut single. I also feel like this song doesn’t give away too much of my style, because I don’t want to give away too much too soon. I’m a versatile artist and can bring any genre to the table. I don’t want people to expect a sound from me - I want them to be excited for what I am going to do next because they'll never know! That's the beauty of music, you can express yourself through sound and that’s why I love it.
At just 20 years old, you have already achieved so much in such a short space of time! Looking into the future, what’s your overall goal or aim with music?
At 20, I never expected to be touring with a band I grew up listening to, seeing all the countries that we played in, and singing in front of such large crowds. However, I am nowhere near where I need and want to be and I’m always hungry for more. I am so grateful for my position, but now it’s time to take it to the next step. In five years time I want to be a global artist - the aim is to conquer the UK and then the rest of the world. I want to inspire people all over, and I want to have a long lasting music career where people will always remember my name and the music that I made.
I noticed on your socials that you love to post covers! What’s been your favourite cover you’ve done so far?
My favourite cover that I have done, is a mash up. It’s where I combine multiple songs together and make it into one. My favourite one, is the one of me sitting in the car with my yellow coat on (you can find it on my instagram). I start the mash up with the song “Replay” by Iyaz. These mashups are the reason I got recognised. I’ve been doing them for over four years and everybody is so consistent on my page, and shows so much love. I’m so grateful.
What more can we expect to hear from you this year? Have you got a project dropping?
I don’t want to give too much away, but I will be dropping a project. Without going into too much detail - it’s going to be really fun.
Keep up to date with MORGAN via her Instagram here.