Meet Morning Trips, an Alternative Pop band from Florida who have recently released the music video for their single, ‘Follow the Blind’. The band find themselves deeply influenced by modern-day events and chaotic, resolving textures. Their latest single, however, steps back and is instead inspired by 80’s gloss with a tinge of 90’s lo-fi visuals.
Looking back, what were some of your earliest entries into music appreciation? And music production?
The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance was the first album I ever bought with my own money when I was like 9 or 10. From there, that was my entry into guitar music and I dove into Alternative Rock / Pop Punk scene, bands like Jimmy Eat World and blink-182 who were all about energy and hooks.
High school brought forth bands like U2, Radiohead, and Muse which really drove a love and appreciation for pedal effects like reverbs and modulation, but artists like The 1975, Flume, and Tourist piqued my interest in creating music laptop centric music, rather than a guitar and paper.
Take us through your songwriting process. Are there any particular steps you take when putting music together?
Every song is a little different. Our early works were largely written by myself but as we get more familiar with our sound, the whole process has become very collaborative. Generally, the songs start out on a laptop first, usually arranged out with each part and some soundscapes. When we get into our rehearsal space and we can play with our drummer, it really changes some of the dynamics of the song, and everybody fills in their own way, quite naturally, around the core thesis of the original idea’s.
What gets your creative juices flowing?
During the COVID times, I definitely try to “practice” creativity. I’ve been attempting to sit and write everyday, even when there is no “inspiration” – just creativity for the sake of creativity. It can spark a trail of even more ideas once you get over the initial hump. We are really inspired by a large assortment of music, so it isn’t hard to get us excited to create.
As a musician, it becomes apparent that there is a huge difference between the art and the business. Is there anything about the music scene that you would personally change?
I sometime struggle with the reliance of algorithms and different challenges social media brings. I’ve noticed sometimes it can distract from the “music” aspect of the music business, and sometimes be a false representation of perceived worth and skill of an artist. I’ve said to myself though, you can’t live in the easiest, most productive time to make music and connections, and not fully embrace everything that encompasses it. Whether you think it is good or bad. Social media and algorithms have in a way, changed my life, but sometimes I feel like artists, especially independent artists, can get obsessive over the numbers rather than the art. It’s good to have goals and target numbers though if that is what you’re trying to do.
Studio work and music creation or performing and interacting with a live audience, which do you prefer?
That is impossible to answer because you really can’t have one without the other. If there was no studio work, there would be no songs to play live to interact with. If there is no audience to interact with, well then you just have a lot of songs sitting on a laptop. Which could be your thing. They both bring intoxicating feelings so I feel I would be doing one an injustice by answering that.
What is the most memorable response you have had to your music?
We were recently featured in our local newspaper for our new single and music video – “Follow the Blind” – so receiving congratulatory sentiments from folks you haven’t heard from in ages was cool. We always seem to get the “you guys have an interesting/cool vibe” at our live shows, across different cities we have played in too, so it is good to see how we feel about our music resonate with others.
We also had a synth-pop song that we played live that people were moshing to. That was intense for me because it was a SYNTH POP song.
What’s on your current playlist?
Charli XCX – “I finally understand”
Rina Sawayama – “XS”
Brian Eno – “Taking Tiger Mountain”
Nico – “These Days”
Yo La Tengo – “Madeline”
LCD Soundsystem – “Home”
Caroline Polacheck – “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings”
Florence and The Machine – “Dog Days Are Over”
Frank Ocean – “Super Rich Kids”
Jon Hopkins – “We Disappear”
Suicide – “Ghost Rider”
Breakdown the news for us: what can we expect from you in the near future?
We are planning our 2nd single and video of the year for middle of July, two more songs around September or October, and one more to cap off 2020. We are also planning a few live videos in between the wait for live music to return and planting the seeds of recording our first EP.
Famous last words?
If you like romantic comedies starring Robots, you will have to check out our latest single, “Follow the Blind” – #thepopumbrella
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