Nick[MBC] - First of all, Morgan, please introduce yourself and tell us how you started as a musician.
Morgan Foster - I was given the name Morgan Mackenzie Foster by my parents on the morning of September 20th, 1991 in a town called Walnut Creek, CA, which is in the East Bay Area, roughly twenty minutes east of San Francisco. I've loved music for as long as I can remember. My adoration may or may not have started with an obsession with boy bands such as The Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and Boyz II Men. I shall not confirm that statement for obvious reasons, and I'll say no more about that thought. What I will admit to is that without my brother Matt, who is an extremely talented musician (check out First To Leave, and his solo work as well), I would most likely know nothing about what many people, myself included, would consider good music. I would be exposed to bands like Saves The Day and The Get Up Kids subconsciously through him. Almost every band/artist I listen to now was shown to me by my brother, which I'm thankful for. So as I matured and began listening to said bands on my own accord I would already kind of know their songs in the back of my head, and it was just a natural thing for me to continue listening to them because I loved it. You could say music was engraved in me as a child. My mom had an awesome vintage guitar from when she was young which I would play around with because I wanted to be like Matt. My family has always been very supportive of my wanting to be a musician. I never really took guitar lessons or anything, I'd just mess around, ask my brother about certain things, or try to learn chords from the internet.
MBC - What are your main influences, musically?
Morgan - Oh man, so many. I'm fond of many types of tunes. I could go on and on and on about my favorite music, but that's not the question, so I'll have to save that for another time. As for artists that directly influence the music I make, the first one that comes to mind is Elliott Smith/Heatmiser. Back when I was maybe 14, my brother showed me Either/Or and that was the only thing I cared about for a while. Elliott was the first artist I heard that made me think, "Wow. This guy is absolutely unbelievable! How does I think of this stuff? I want to do what he's doing." Other musicians that I'm crazy about and make me want to write songs would be... Rocky Votolato, matt pond PA, The New Amsterdams, The Weakerthans, Wilco/Jeff Tweedy, Wintersleep, Maritime/The Promise Ring, Damien Jurado, Attack In Black, M. Ward/She & Him, Matt Costa, Jets To Brazil, The City On Film, and I've been really into Feist and Laura Gibson lately, I'm listening to Feist right now, and I have been all day. I love her. It's hard for me to make lists like this because I have so many influences that affect me much in the same way.
MBC - You are from Pleasant Hill, California, right? What do you think about it, about your local scene? Is it a good place to be a musician in?
Morgan - I'm actually from Walnut Creek, California, which neighbors Pleasant Hill, it's pretty much the same place though. I love it here, even if it is a little boring at times. However, we're close enough to Berkeley/Oakland and San Francisco where the music scene is much more alive, which makes it a great place to be because it's not as expensive on our side of the hill, and we can go over there to see all the cool shows. Eventually, I plan to live in Berkeley and be happy and awesome.
MBC - A lot of people know you as a good friend of The Story So Far. With which bands are you in good relations too?
Morgan - Yes, my good friends in The Story So Far have helped me very much by allowing me to do a split with them, taking me on tour, and showing my music to their fans. I am very appreciative of that. They're my best friends so it makes it easy for us to do stuff together and not make such a big deal out of it. We're just kids trying to have as much fun as possible and stay young as long as possible, as are many others are, I'm sure. Although I have a good amount of friends in sweet bands, TSSF is really the only band that I would say I have a strong relationship with.
MBC - Your two works, with Kevin Geyer and with The Story So Far, sound very interesting and at the same time every song differs from each other. I think that you are searching the best sound. How soon do you think we will be hearing your new material and what will it be like?
Morgan - Well, you are definitely right with your assumption. I'm still attempting to make a diagnosis on what I want my songs to sound like. I'm sure I'll have it figured out soon enough, I don't think my songs are all too different. Every artist does a bit of awkward swimming before they are comfortable in their waters. I'm currently in the process of recording what I hope to be a full length, but I'm not totally sure what will come of it. I have something like 15 songs that I'm experimenting with. It's hard to say what it will be like because the songs haven't been fully developed just yet, but I'll have a few strictly acoustic songs, and others with electric guitar, drums, bass, and maybe piano or something. If I had to compare what I want the album to be to anything, I would say Rocky Votolato's True Devotion. Again, that's just what I would like it to be, whereas it will most likely sound much different because I'm not Rocky.
MBC - By the way, what are your interests besides music?
Morgan - I've been skateboarding as long as I've been into music, and I've been taking photographs for almost as long. I'd really like to shoot for Thrasher or something. I've been drawing with a pen a lot lately too, I just love anything that could be considered art. I also really enjoy meeting people and having conversations that most people these days would not like to be a part of. Being weird is awesome. Larry David is extremely interesting to me, I want to hang out with him all the time. I believe, unquestionably, that Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm are the greatest shows ever. I would place a basket of puppies in a river with violent rapids if I could have a regular role on Curb.
MBC - What do you think about your live acoustic shows? What do you feel when you are on stage and all people’s attention is on you?
Morgan - Um, I've only played one acoustic show, and I think it went terribly. I was a nervous wreck with everyone concentrated on me. I'll have to work on that. As most people know, it is substantially different to play a show being a band and play a show being by yourself with these incredibly personal songs of yours. That's why I am now trying to write lyrics that are a lot less intimate on the surface, and allow the listener to make a special connection for themselves. I greatly admire performers that are comfortable on stage, because it really isn't that big of deal, I just need to be killing inhibition... soon enough.
MBC - And what about touring? Do you have any tour plans for future?
Morgan - I would love to tour. I don't have any plans to do so in the near future. As I mentioned in the previous question, I need to become a better live performer before any touring can happen. I'll be filling in for Kelen on bass in The Story So Far's upcoming Fall US tour, so anyone could come out to one of their shows and check up on how well I'm doing up on stage. Hopefully that will help with my minor anxiety.
MBC - What are your thoughts about playing in the band?
Morgan - I'm not quite sure what you mean by "the band". If you mean "a band", I would love to be in a band. Bands are fun. I want to be in Wilco, I think that would be tremendously wonderful.
MBC - Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Anything you’d like to tell people checking out your music or anyone reading this?
Morgan - You're Welcome. Nope, what I've got is enough for now. Thanks so much for the interview! I enjoy these things. Keep in touch.
