INTERVIEW: Morganway Discuss The Release Of Their Brand New Album “Kill The Silence”!

Highly acclaimed Americana-Rock group Morganway recently returned with their brand-new album “Kill The Silence”!

Recorded live over four intense days at Foel Studios in Wales (fueled by ‘probably four bottles of whiskey and almost no sleep’ according to guitarist Kieran Morgan), the album showcases the band’s Americana roots, yet there is now a rockier grit to their sound, while their trademark gorgeous harmonies and melodic lines are still ever-present as they set out to channel the spirit of Woodstock. Thematically, the band address the struggle of independent musicians, but they also manage to find life’s bright spots and celebrate them by playing loud.

Alongside the release of their latest album, Morganway have their biggest UK headline tour in front of them with a variety of dates taking place in April.

SJ Mortimer, Callum Morgan and Nicole J Terry from Morganway have kindly taken the time to chat with Fierce & Fabulous Revolution regarding the release of their latest album and you can find the full interview below.

Hey Morganway, thank you for this interview. Can you introduce yourselves to anyone unfamiliar with your music?

SJ: We are a six-piece Americana Rock Indie band from East Anglia. Playing live is our very core as a band and what we adore! We’re a genre melting pot like most bands, we like to blend our different musical influences when we write together and record in the studio. When we play live we let go and go wild, and we have a damn good time doing it!

What does Morganway mean to you & what is it like to be part of such an incredible group of talented individuals?

NJT: Morganway to me is like hitting the jackpot. Not only is it a sound I love, but we have all helped create it and we all feel ownership of it. It’s literally the dream of being in a band with your best friends. Over the years we have all worked hard to develop an attitude of openness, sometimes it can be hard to put the ego aside and not be stubborn, sometimes you can be so convinced something has to be a certain way but then if you just manage to get over yourself a bit you can feel completely different 5 minutes later! Making sure everyone feels heard and feel like they’re contributing seems to be the key to us making our best music.

How would you currently describe your musical style?

NJT: We keep asking people at gigs ‘please can you tell us what we are so that we may please the algorithm overlords?’ and we hear everything from Celtic Americana to Country Rock and often just ‘GREAT!’ which is pleasing. We can’t deny the Fleetwood Mac comparisons, why would we! I’d say it’s not so far from a ‘3 chords and the truth’ situation, I think we make a big impact from fairly simple ingredients, I’m the worst person probably to answer with musical influences but I can say whatever we’re putting out there is 100% pure unfiltered straight from our hearts and that sounds good to me.

You recently released your album “Kill The Silence”. What inspired the creation of the album?

CM: We were given the opportunity to make this record from a grant from the PRS For Music Open Fund, so in many ways, the inspiration began there. We’re very grateful to PRS and its support to independent musicians like us. With that in place we all felt inspired to make a rawer record than our previous two. We didn’t want to do many overdubs and we wanted everything to be recorded live, at least as the blueprint. We wanted bleed, imperfections; we wanted to try and capture what people experience at our shows. We were also inspired by an interview with Brandi Carlisle where she talked about the magic of recording a song when the arrangement is still being discovered. Many of the songs we recorded were brand, brand new, so this was the prime opportunity to discover them in the studio together and that really excited us.

What would you consider to be some of the messages behind the songs featured on the album?

SJ: The title track ‘Kill The Silence’ is our cry for climate awareness and change; something we’re passionate about and trying to put into action in our own way with this album campaign. A leading theme throughout the album is being an independent band in the music industry today and the struggles, truth, beauty, fun and hard times that come along with it.

What are some of your favourite songs to feature on the album?

NJT: I love Surrender. It’s fragile and powerful at the same time and it does something to me. Usually makes me cry actually so I should probably get over that before we have to play it live. I also love I Feel the Rain because I feel at home in that song, SJ and I get to be witches for 4 minutes and it is excellent for the soul.

Are there any songs not included on the album, which we could see released at a later date?

SJ: We recorded 15 songs live at Foel Studios, and there’s 12 tracks on this album… so maybe!

What does this album mean to you?

NJT: When I think of this album I think of Welsh mountains and stars through a multicoloured sparkling whisky haze and the peace in your soul that comes from making something you are genuinely proud of. On the less romantic side it’s a badge of honour for the sheer hard work and dedication it takes to put out a record. Making the music is the tip of the iceberg.

What message would you like listeners to take from the album?

CM: That’s an interesting question. To unpack it, I think of the first and last track of the album as companion pieces. Choosing a life of music is exhilarating, we don’t want the show to end, the highs can be impossibly high… but it’s hard. “Don’t Turn The Lights On Yet” is, in many ways, about the rush and the reasons why we do this. “We Sing” is the cost of that. There’s an honesty in the bittersweet and this album is at times quite revealing. In some ways it’s about the nature of being in Morganway and in a broader sense, being a musician. Revealing that experience in all its beauty and hardships is key to the message of this record. I guess that message is something like: do what you love, love what you do, pursue it in any way you can, but be honest and know it won’t come without a cost.

Finally, is there a message that you would like to share with the readers of Fierce & Fabulous Revolution?

SJ: Thanks for reading! We hope you like our new album ‘Kill The Silence’ – it’s been 2 years in the making and we put our blood, sweat, tears and hearts into it. If you’re an independent artist like us – keep up the fight against the algorithm – we got this!! Creativity wins.

You can check out “Kill The Silence” on Spotify below or via more platforms here. Alongside the album, you can also found out more about the upcoming UK tour here.