By: Katelyn Norris
Young music makers always dream of making it big and creating Hollywood connections, but for Joe Morgan his dream has always been a little different.
Morgan is a junior Music Tech major at Bellarmine University. He said he has been creating music since the seventh grade.
“[I started] learning piano when I was younger and I didn’t really like it then but then I started creating music on GarageBand on my dad’s iPad,” Morgan said. “I liked it a little bit and then I tried it on the computer [and] from there I just kept making music and my passion for it kept growing.”
Morgan said while he grew up listening to various genres of music spanning multiple decades, he found that it didn’t directly inspire any of his music. He said while this fostered his love of music what actually inspires his work is the exploration of the art.
He said he enjoys Spotify deep dives to find new and exciting starting musicians. For him, discovering small artists is a way to open his world to new sounds as well as supporting fellow artists.
“I think it’s the variety of music is what inspires me to make music. With all the different influences that I can pull from, I feel like it creates an even more unique piece of music just with all the different influences,” Morgan said. “I’m at the point in my career where I no longer want to create one specific genre of music so I want to make everything I can.”
Senior Taylor Marden said she has always been an avid lover of Morgan’s music. She said she has big hopes for him and wants him to succeed in musical endeavors.
“I get very excited when Joe releases a new tune or song,” Marden said. “I think he brings a fresh perspective to music in a very saturated market.”
Marden additionally said Morgan always manages to light up a room and his music is no different. She said his music always has a nice feel to it.
“I think Joe blends the line of Indie pop and an authentic D.J. I think he would laugh to hear me say that, but Joe blends sounds together to create a feeling,” Marden said.
Morgan said his ideal job would be to a producer for a couple of small artists and to grow with them. He said he feels that his music can be more genuine if he gets to work with smaller artists.
“Hopefully, I can find other artists who I feel have the potential and to work with them and then help them they’re also starting from the bottom. We can grow together and with me being in the background because I don’t necessarily want the attention.”
Conor Waldman, a professor in the music department, said he has seen Joe grow as a musician and as a student over the past few years. He said Joe has always been a professional and it shocked him the first time he heard Morgan’s music as he did not expect to hear that caliber of music from a first-year.
“I don’t think Joe has had trouble finding his sound, but I do think it’s easy to get locked into certain musical habits,” Waldman said. “Joe has demonstrated that he can approach new methods and styles of music without compromising the quality of his work.”
Waldman also said he believe Joe is a multifaceted musician who is always striving to be a better musician.
“I truly enjoy his music. It’s simultaneously dark and beautiful. He has a great ear, and the sound design he uses in his music is very well-crafted,” Waldman said. “Many people have trouble finding thier ‘sound’. Joe has definitely found his sound.”
Morgan said he is very proud of the music he has put out and he is even happier with the content he releasees on his Instagram as well. He loves being a small artist in that way, he said he enjoys being able to interact directly with people who enjoy his music.
“When you’re that small you have time to reply to every single comment in every single direct message at all,” Morgan said. “And that’s really good because then you can really establish that connection with your fanbase and that is what makes people become fans.”
Morgan said he is worried by COVID’s impact of the live music industry and hopes that it resurfaces soon. He said he worries music could become his part-time job as opposed to his full-time passion.
“With the music industry being so strange right now like 90% of small venues are shutting down like forever and Spotify is taking more money from artists now. The worry I have is that being a musician or an artist isn’t going to be a sustainable career just because of the money,” Morgan said.
However, Morgan said he is working on completing his degree at BU and learning everything he can in his classes to help him become a better artist.
“I can still apply to my career you know so I’ve taken music theory which will help me with making music because it helps me know how to make music and then I’m taking like jazz harmony a lot of jazz theory can be applied to regular music. I’m still learning a lot that I can apply to making my music right now and in the future,” Morgan said.