Interview with Morgan Agren
ragazzi: Your new record is a live album with all new tracks just without "Guardian Witch" what is now "Guardian Pitch". Don't you play the songs from your other albums live?
Morgan: Not at the moment, we only do new material now, with the exception of "Banned Again" which is from an older album (The Music Or The money?...) But we did play the other older material live before.
ragazzi: On the back cover of "Live" are the names of three keyboardists. I think, Mats Öberg is the leading keyboardist, what do the others make?
Morgan: Eric Karlsson and Robert Elofsson plays a lot of stuff too, there is plenty of sounds that needs extra hands.
ragazzi: The songs of "Live" are longer than previous one. Are that all improvisations what is making the tracks so long? Or are all songs composed from beginning to end?
Morgan: When we play live we usually stretch out more, that is one thing, but our new material might be longer in time too
ragazzi: The guitar is not a leading instrument. Why do you have an guitarist in the band? Why not Fredrik Thordendal, you have played sooner with? You both, Mats and Morgan have played on the album of Jimmy Agren too. And Jimmy on yours. The easy way to have an guitarist? Jimmy is, I think, a blues guitarist...
Morgan: Blues guitarist?! -Well, that's why!! Why we use Jimmy?! -because that we like the way he plays off course. I like the "contrast" that Jimmy brings to the our band both as a musician and as a person. His background is Angus and Malcom Young, Ry Cooder and Beefheart, who all are more or less blues based. Zappa's guitar playing was bluesy too, and that was great, as well as Denny Walley and Johnny Guitar Watsson, they all added their raw cool bluesy thing into Franks sometimes complex music. But talking about Jimmy, he is just a great guy. Also, his own albums is in my opinion the absolute best available today in that field of music, no doubt. His music is a little bit like Ry Cooder meets AC/DC, or Beefheartish if you like, but he definitely has his own thing going. Anyway, the Guitar in the Mats/Morgan Band is however less in the front then the keyboards and the drums, that is true.
ragazzi: On "Trends and other Diseases" Fredrik Thordendal was playing a very heavy guitar. On all later albums there are not that heavy guitars. Why not?
Morgan: "Why" we do stuff is because that we like it, so if there is a guitar there it is for no other reason then that we like it there, and if it is gone, it is for the same reason. You don't necessarily want to do record same things over and over too.. Understand? Fredrik (who also is a really lovely guy, a close friend, and an absolute master of his thing) was just a guest on Trends And Other Diseases, it was an idea I got that I wanted to do, so we did it.
ragazzi: The songs of "Live" sounds a lot like jazzy progressive from the Seventies, more than on all previous albums. Do you wanna play this kind of music today although it's not modern? "Ta Ned Trasan" sounds like a more avant garde version of old Wigwam or another scandinavian progressive bands out of the Seventies. Sometimes I hear funk. The sooner albums more avant rock and not this kind of progressive rock. Is that what you want?
Morgan: That question is very easy to answer: We want to play music that we like, period, whatever it calls, understand? I don't care what it calls, if it is modern or not, I am only interested in feeding my own mind with music that I like, nothing else. We don't have meetings were we discuss what musical direction we should choose, like "so what direction should we try this year guys?" we just play what we like, and that's it. But what we like can change too. I mean, I have other things in my mind that I want to play today that wasn't in my mind just a couple of years ago. It is hard to file music, but to me it is just meanless to file it. If I play music for a friend who's first respond will be "What do you call this music?" -That is so boring, almost like the music just passes by whithout any real reaction , you only wondered what it calls.... To me music is something that needs no questions, understanding or explaination, either it grabs you, or it will not. And all those groups that used to be filed under "progressive" usually gives me the creeps anyway, I don't like it so often. What about "Wigwam"! what is that??! -never heard of.
ragazzi: Nevertheless you have a sound of your own. There's a lot of jazz harmonies in the keyboard solos. See it as a whole - not easy music. Do you have a fan base? Do you sell your albums successful?
Morgan: Yes, we have a fan base. No, we don't sell much albums. But that is mainly because that we don't have any backup from a decent label, we do everything by ourselves, and that is not so easy... We need help... But I am sure that there is plenty of people that would love our CD's, the problem is just how to make them know that we exist at all!
ragazzi: You playing the drums very hard, very complex with an own technique. On ÑLiveì your drums played harder than sooner. Is there a change in your drumming? Which drummers are your influences?
Morgan: I don't really play harder today then before, you might think that our live album is more intense then then our earlier albums though, that might be true. When it comes to drummers, my favorite drummers are still the same guys: Christian Vander, Narada Michael Walden, Gary Husband, Tony Williams, Bill Bruford, Terry Bozzio, Ronald Shannon Jacksson, Elven Jones etc. Although there is a long time ago since I lost interest in listening just to the drums. The drums are not essential for me when I listen to music. If I listen to XTC or even Univers Zero, the drums are not the main thing there, the compositions are. There is A LOT of music were there is drums are all over but were the compositions is really weak, almost like that the compositions are not even that important....
ragazzi: In some parts, especially in "Guardian Pitch" the keyboard sound is in the solo at the end a bit like solo passages from the Prog Metal band Dream Theater. Do you know that band and what you think about them?
Morgan: Well, if I can be honest I must say that I really don't like them. I have not heard all of their stuff, maybe too little to even judge, but the stuff I heard I really didn't like at all. To me it sounded like "cheap" fusion music combined with the sounds of 80's heavy metal...
ragazzi: Mats and you are playing together since years. How has that begun?
Morgan: In 1981 when I was 14 years old, I received a very important telephone call. The call came from a lady that was organizing a concert in a little village outside Umeå (Sweden). He play the piano, but didn't have anyone to play with! She told me that she knew about me, that I might be the right one for Mats, same musical taste maybe, AND same age! Mats had problems to find people close to his age, with any interest whatsoever in playing the music that Mats liked, (strange, huh?) You see, Mats was listening to Miles Davis before he could even walk! As well as Mahavishnu Orchestra and Frank Zappa etc. I know that Mats even forced his parents to buy him the latest Earth Wind & Fire record once, otherwise he would jump up and down the stairs at home She was seven. Anyhow, even if I hadn't really developed that kind of behavior while growing up, my favorite music wasn't what my friends were listening too either; I liked Buddy Rich Big Band, Louie Bellson Big Band, Wasa Express etc. So, the lady that called was right, we did have a lot in common, we even wound up being THE Musical partners for light years to come ! I told her I was interested in playing with Mats, and a few days later Me and Mats met at the place. Mats walked towards me with his dad, and looked like he was seven years old, or less. We shock hands and started to discuss what to play, this was only about two hours before our show, so we obviously had to play covers. Mats asked me 'Do you know Frank Zappa ?' I said, - ' I guess I can do "Bobby Brown" without any rehearsal, now we had one song !' Mats continued 'Do you know Stevie Wonder ?' I said, 'I know this song "Master Blaster", do you know that one ?' (Stupid question) Mats: 'Yes I do !' He just knew almost everything already then, at age 10S Mats continued: 'Beatles ?' Me: ' I can do "Help".' We were only suppose to play about 20 min, so we had enough with material. When we started to play, I watched Mats in complete disbelief, I mean, he was TEN years old! But he played unbelievable, and sang the lyrics with perfect pronunciation, sounding like "Jacksson Five" on crack ! After we finished, my dad was almost in tears. Mats daddy was also really amazed and said something like, 'maybe you should' you could, I mean, meet and play together some more !? We have a Drum set in our basement..' So we have spent time doing music all the way since then. I could tell stuff about Mats for another 500 pages, but I'll just say that he is one of the most amazing musicians ever lived. He really is. I rate my meeting with Mats as one of the biggest gifts and most important of my life.
ragazzi: Mats is playing a very impulsive, technique keyboard. Is he having a job beside the music or is the music his only business?
Morgan: Only music
ragazzi: Same question to you: your drumming is one of the complexest, ownest I have heard in the rock scene. Do you having a job beside the music or is the music all what you do?
Morgan: Thank you! Music is all I do. I teach drums once a week too, but that's all
ragazzi: Mats was making a very good solo album with GUBB. Do you plan to make a solo album too?
Morgan: I am working on project that I will call "Le Batterie". It is a solo project but just not titled with my own name. It will be an album with a lot of "drum beats" hypnotic intensive drums. Not so much regular compositions maybe, in terms of themes and melodies, mainly just beats and sounds. I have been working with a computer on and off for more then a year, and I have a big bunch of cool stuff in there that needs to be taken care off soon.
ragazzi: How do you compose your music? A lot of session work? How do comes your both ideas together to one sound, one music?
Morgan: I usually use my old Emax II sampler and a old sequencer. I program stuff there. Then when I have made up the parts I'll give them to the guys in the band, who will make my programming into working music, way way better then what the programmed stuff sounds like!!
ragazzi: A question from the Zappa-Fanzine "Arf-Dossier": How was it 1988 with your work with FZ? How is that come into being?
Morgan: For complete full story, with most details, go to www.morganagren.com
ragazzi: What are your first footsteps into music?
Morgan: My dad had a band when I grew up! They were my first idols, and an very inspiring thing for me while growing up! They called "Rolf Lennartz" My first drum hero, except from the drummer in my dads band, was Buddy Rich!
ragazzi: What is your inspiration, your influences and how has changed it the years?
Morgan: hmm big subject... A lot of things changes, the way you look at music, what in music that turns you on etc.. All that changes, but some things never change too!
ragazzi: Which music do you hear?
Morgan: That changes too. I always come back to Zappa and Beefheart, even if it can be long periods when I don't listen to them at all. Last couple of months I have enjoyed listening to "Apple Venus" by XTC, great album! "Chaosphere" by Meshuggah, some old Jan Garbarek albums. My brothers album "Glass Finger Ghost". Tom Waits "Bone Machine". And an album with this group called Back Door! Univers Zero "Heat Wave" and "1001 centigrades" by Magma etc.. But I don't listen to albums so much today like I use to do, that period is gone, maybe I would like too, but our own stuff takes most of my time.
ragazzi: Can we see you playing live in europe?
Morgan: I wish you could! We need an evil manager and a booking agency, do you know anyone?
ragazzi: What are your future plans?
Morgan: We might release a Mats/Morgan 20 years anniversary Live DVD!! We had a 20 years anniversary in Stockholm 27+28th February this year, and it was recorded with multi cameras and 24 track digital audio,. It was probably the best 2 gigs we have ever done, so... well see, I will start to check the material soon!! But, more overall I am planning / hoping to be able continue doing what I am already doing, which is sometimes hard since it doesn't always bring so much money into the pocket. But my plans are to play music that I like. And remember what Charles Ives said : if your music goes "ta-ta" for money, bad for you, bad for music.



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