Our Get To Know feature artist today has one foot in Sydney, one foot in London; no surprise then that Ryan Morgan has chosen to shoot elements of his new music video in both cities.
With the release of said single ‘Time Machine’ now just days away, we Get To Know Ryan in our latest feature.
01. Name : Ryan Morgan.
02. Where are you based? Sydney, Australia is home but I’m in London often creating music.
03. How did you get your start in music? I remember getting my first music production software in high school called fruity loops and started making beats. I became addicted instantly. With the beats it was natural that lyrics and melodies had to follow and I started writing songs with my sister. We initially fought over who got which songs but eventually figured out we worked really well together and featured on each another’s tracks. Eventually we saved some money and invested in a home studio so we could get all our ideas recorded.
I was always singing from a young age, but I would say that once I realised I could write and produce, it was then I became completely devoted.
04. Give us five words to best describe you as an artist. Independent, Devoted, Dark, Smooth, Dynamic.
05. Tell us a little bit about your sound and how it developed. My sound is dark pop/R&B with electro influences. It includes ’90s inspired vocals where I focus on variations of tones and dynamics. I try to tell a story and capture a feeling with my sound and lyrics.
06. Who have been your musical influences? My artistic influences include Usher, Aaliyah, Prince and Michael Jackson. Vocally I was inspired by Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.
07. What are your favourite songs of all time? ‘End Of The Road’ by Boyz II Men, ‘Unbreak My Heart’ by Toni Braxton, ‘Closer’ by Neyo, ‘Slow Jam’ By Usher, ‘Dance Like We’re Making Love’ by Ciara, ‘Saving All My Love For You’ by Whitney Houston.
08. What was the first album you bought? ‘My Way’ by Usher.
09. Give us a little fun fact about yourself that people might not know. I’m currently on a six pack diet!
10. What would your chosen career be if music wasn’t an option? I would have loved to be a foreign correspondent or possibly in another creative field like film production.
11. What’s the best advice you’ve been given in your career? While in New York I worked with a lady who had worked through the Motown era with artists such as Diana Ross. She advised me to find my blueprint and opened my eyes to the fact that every artist has a blueprint. This is when an artist bases their career on a previously successful artist. eg. Michael Jackson is Chris Brown’s Blueprint and Madonna is Lady Gaga’s. Since then, I redefined my artistry on this concept.
12. Tell us about your latest release. ‘Time Machine’ is a retro inspired track about a different kind of love, adventurous. In the track I sing about taking my love back to 1969 via my time machine. The song draws on pop, dance and R&B influences and the music video (above) was shot across two of my favourite cities; Sydney and London. I worked with some great talent on this one including mix engineer Paul Gatehouse and mastering engineer Tony Dixon who have worked on international No.1s and really got the track sounding like how I imagined.
‘Time Machine’ will be released online from the 15th of August and features my sister Liya Morgan.
13. What do your future plans involve? I’m currently focusing on my upcoming EP scheduled for release later this year and am also in the studio recording the follow up releases. The next few singles are really going to to show you my entrenched R&B roots with a darker sound and concepts. Can’t wait to share these ones with you guys!
14. Where can our audience catch you live? I’ll be announcing gigs via my website shortly but in the meantime you can catch snippets of live vocals via my instagram.
WEBSITE : www.ryanmorganofficial.com
FACEBOOK : www.facebook.com/ryanmorganmusic
TWITTER : www.twitter.com/ryanmorganworld
INSTAGRAM : www.instagram.com/ryanmorganmusic
SOUNDCLOUD : www.soundcloud.com/ryanmorganofficial