Recently tipped by one of his heroes, Desyn Masiello, as one to watch this year, Tom Morgan’s similar style of deep and soulful tech house has been gaining him new fans from Bogota to Budapest. His burgeoning international reputation is driven by a passion for finding the best new music, something which a day job running the label Discoteca with
Dana Bergquist, balErik, Somnus Corp and Luke Fair makes all the easier.
We tracked him down, ahead of a weekend of gigs in New York and DC, to ask a few questions…
How and when were you first infected by dance music?
I suppose to a degree it wasn’t a conscious decision, more just a gradual realisation that I was spending more and more of my money and spare time on stuff relating to music and the like. I can’t remember a specific point in time where I decided that being a DJ was definitely my career path of choice, although it was becoming more and more evident, the more time I took off university to go playing around the world. It was a night in Edinburgh called Progression that really shaped my sound though: seeing DJs like Danny Howells, Desyn Masiello, Luke Fair, Lee Burridge and Deep Dish on a monthly basis opened my eyes to the whole scene, as I was a pretty naive 15 year old at the time.
What have you got in store for the coming months?
I've got quite a lot coming up as it happens, most of which relates to our Alternative Route project. We're relaunching the label, with a series of compilation CDs that myself, Desyn Masiello, balErik, Dory, Lucas Abadi and Add2Basket are working on, with the intention of placing the emphasis on artistic vision, rather than just churning them out - as many do - for self promotion or to make a quick penny. Basically, a similar concept to the Hed Kandi brand, with a different musical and artistic direction, where we hope the end result is greater than the sum of the parts. Alongside this, we've got a weekly radio show and will be doing regular parties across the world: enough to keep us busy for the foreseeable future. As far as production goes, I'm working on quite a few original tracks with Urban Breathe from France at the minute, and have just finished a remix for BEB Records that should be out next month.
What's new with your label?
I think we're in the strongest position to date, with some names on board that we've been trying to get for a while. For a start, we've got a fantastic remix by one of my all-time favourite producers, Djinxx - who's been coaxed out of retirement - that has been causing a bit of a stir on promo. We've also got stuff from Saalim, YOSA, Alex Dolby & Giorgio Roma and a really cool track from Add2Basket, who's really refined his sound lately. On the parties front, we're doing quite a few this summer. Luke Fair and I will be doing three in two days, later this month: a boat in New York, followed by the Sullivan Room and then Washington DC the night after. We had a really successful boat party at the WMC in Miami a few months ago, which we're looking to build on this year.
What can we expect from one of your sets?
That's quite a hard one to pin down. I try to listen to next to everything on Juno and Beatport on a weekly basis, as I was brought up under the premise that a DJ should have and play the best music available. So anything from downtempo to techno, just as long as there's something about it that grabs me.
If you weren’t a DJ, what would you be?
Good question. I was doing Engineering and Architecture at Uni so probably something pertaining to that, although it wasn't something I was particularly passionate about. It's pretty difficult to picture myself doing something along those lines for a profession as I spend a ridiculous amount of time on music every day, so much so that I'd be at a massive loose end without it: borderline OCD behaviour.
Which other producers and DJs and artists do you really rate?
The two DJs that really stand out are Desyn Masiello and Danny Howells: both as a DJ and producer. I don't think I've ever been disappointed when seeing them play and, safe to say, that I probably wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for them. As far as producers go, we could be here all day listing them. Guys that are doing it for me just now include Vince Watson, MANIK, The Revenge, Peter Horrevorts, John Daly, Mic Newman and Alex Dolby & Giorgio Roma, among many others.
What do you do with a weekend off?
Whenever possible, I'd get back to Scotland to see Dunfermline play. As you can probably imagine though, it's not easy when living in London. That aside, I try to get out to as many clubs as possible; you're pretty much spoilt for choice down south, although not for much longer by the looks of things.
www.djtommorgan.com
www.discotecamusic.com
www.alternativerouterecordings.co.uk
www.facebook.com/djtommorgan
www.twitter.com/djtommorgan
Podcast -
http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/the-tom-morgan-podcast/id362926134