INTERVIEW : GRAMPS MORGAN
Interview by : Cyril le Tallec
Pictures by : DR
on Tuesday, November 03rd 2009 - 9 738 views
Gramps Morgan, the baritone of Morgan Heritage, makes his solo debut and opens his heart to us with this first album, "2 sides of my heart", whose second volume is already in preparation. He talks to us about the album, about family (he finally announces the third instalment in the Morgan Heritage & Friends series), and about his many projects.
Reggaefrance / You were on tour last month in the United States with John Legend and India Arie; what do you take away from it?
Gramps Morgan / It was a fabulous experience. John Legend and India Arie are the level above in our industry, whether in terms of professionalism or performance... In every register: production, diligence and interviews, but also the food, the hotels... Their whole organisation is an example to follow. Of course, I learned a lot with Morgan Heritage and that was a real lesson, but this was another one, at another level... I tried to retain as much as possible from this tour in order to bring it to reggae.
What are the differences from a Morgan Heritage tour?
Even with Morgan Heritage, we still have things to learn: we must always improve in terms of professionalism and practise our music daily. It's like when you're employed at Burger King, for example, there are basic rules to respect: arrive on time, wear your uniform and be polite to your customers... It's the same when we go on stage, we have to fulfil our obligations as a reggae band representing Jamaican music around the world. The experience I gained on the John Legend & India Arie tour can't be limited to Morgan Heritage, it has to serve the whole reggae fraternity. I have to use it and tell Busy Signal or Luciano that this is how it should be done, go and see Bounty Killer and tell him to clean up his lyrics.
I want to retain the best of what they do and learn from them, because they themselves took from our culture and learned. Jazmine Sullivan was at the top of the Billboard with a reggae song, John Legend has two reggae tracks on his latest album, there was No Doubt and many others. So when we all come together, each learning from the other, it will be simply phenomenal! I sang with John and India at Madison Square Garden last 13 August and it was historic. Already the week before, I was playing with Buju Banton at the same place for the Buju Banton & Friends concert, with Burning Spear, Shabba Ranks, Queen Ifrica and Tony Rebel. The following week, I went back to an even bigger venue for the date with John Legend and India Arie, and my friend Buju Banton was invited by John to sing: when he came on stage, it was simply incredible... The New York crowd rose to its feet and it went crazy, that's when I saw that reggae is alive, and Buju got the biggest "forward" of the night. It was so incredible that the New York Times wrote about it the next day: Gramps Morgan and Buju Banton took part in this historic date...
How did you meet India Arie?
One of my musicians was organising a small jam session near Atlanta and I was in the area because I had to go and do another date the next day in a nearby city. When I got there, India Arie was there too! She welcomed me with open arms, calling me Gramps. She said to me: "I love your voice so much, and your song 23rd psalm with Buju Banton, I listen to it every morning when I wake up." And then I realised the power of our music: you never know and you can't predict the reach of a little song recorded in Kingston. In the end, it travels the world! She then said to me: "I want you on my album" and I couldn't believe it. A few months later, I was on tour in the United States and the phone rang, it was her! She said I need you for the next two weeks, my engineer will be there and we're going to record some tracks. She started playing Chocolate (featuring Music Soulchild on India Arie's album, editor's note) and she wanted me to sing on it. But I wasn't feeling it, so she suggested another one and started playing I need your therapy. That's when I said: "that's a hit, that's the full-of-love, joyful track I want to sing on". Universal then authorised me to do a reggae remix of Therapy and both versions are available on my solo album "2 sides of my heart".
 Parfois, on voit des artistes rentrer sur l’île avec plein de bijoux et de vêtements de luxe alors qu’ils n’ont même pas de toit au dessus de leurs têtes 
Speaking of which, can you tell us more about that album?
I chose this title to evoke two facets of my personality, musical and emotional. Musically, when you look at the purple on the album sleeve, it represents the preacher side of my music, because I like to unify and bring together people who would not normally work together. Like when I brought Bounty Killer to our festival, East Fest in Jamaica: we showed a side of his personality that Jamaicans weren't used to seeing, we favoured his "Poor people governor" side rather than the "Warlord" one. So, that's the part that represents Rastafari, loyalty, humility and peace. The other colour, green, represents joy, fun and dancing, and I think that will be the main direction of the next volume. The first volume is in a "roots rockers" tradition with "roots and culture" songs and "lovers rock", the next volume will be more country and R'n'B oriented and will come out next year. I've always wanted to express certain themes in my music: in Where has mama gone, I pay tribute to my mother who passed away in 1998, and I had the opportunity to finish this song that was close to my heart. I also wanted to do a cover of one of my father's tracks that I'm particularly fond of, called Hold on. I really dug deep into my heart to make this record.
Where was your album mixed and mastered?
I went to have the album mastered in Fort Lauderdale (Florida) with Michael Fuller, an engineer who mixes a lot of hip-hop and rock. I mixed it myself with the person who mixed India Arie's album, his name is Dru Castro. When I heard his work on India Arie's album, I thought it would be good to have him mix my project. I asked him if he had ever mixed a reggae album, he said no, so I suggested he try. In the studio, it was simply incredible, I was dazzled. After recording a few tracks and the project's featurings, I was at Buju Banton's studio to record our collaboration, then I recorded One in a million at Big Yard. I wasn't in Jamaica all the time, but while I was there, I concentrated on my music, rather than doing the rounds of the studios and recording on every riddim. I didn't want that, because, for example, the Grammy committee first looks at whether your album is full of singles. Me, I wanted an album with songs that people don't know; I didn't want a compilation with only "juggling" riddims.
You've just set up your own production company, Dada Son Entertainment; what are your plans?
The first project I developed was Irie Love's maxi. I wanted to do a marketing test, because if you look closely, the majors sign an artist and sometimes take 7 or 8 years before releasing their first record, so Irie Love is still in development. It came out on Gideon Music but I took care of it because I was managing her at the time. As for my label Dada Son Entertainment, I'm going to release films, books and sign artists from all over the Caribbean: in fact, I'm looking for a French artist to sign. I'm going to write a book about my 25 years of career because I have a lot of experience to share! When a man reaches 25, it's time to wake up, to leave his childish side behind and become a man; when you're 50, normally you've been blessed by life; when you're 75, you get honoured. Whether as Morgan Heritage or as Gramps, we still have an enormous amount to accomplish and plenty of music to come.
What was your feeling when you held your album in your hands?
I said to myself: "I did it." I finished the writing, composed the music, mixed and mastered it, and what's more, we're putting it out independently, on my own label, Dada Son Entertainment, which is a sub-label of Gideon Music, just like Gideon Soldier, Mojo's label, or S.I.A Entertainment, Una's label. It's first and foremost a business; it isn't about being independent to shine alone, it's about being strong all together: that's my father's vision.
To silence the rumours, is Morgan Heritage still a family affair?
Yes, at no point did we think of a split. Morgan Heritage is five of Denroy Morgan's 30 children, LMS is three other children. We make music first and foremost for fun and we want to create a surprise: if we come with a group album, Reggaefrance for example will say "oh, yet another Morgan Heritage album" and won't want to endorse that. So we owe it to you to surprise you. I sometimes read things like "Morgan Heritage has split up, it's no longer a family affair". How could we make it not a family affair: it always will be. We try to offer different avenues. Every time we came to Europe, we would say to Mojo in Germany or Peetah in Italy: "I want to hear solo tracks from you". In fact, it's really to satisfy our fans' ears and it isn't a question of independence. Even though we're signed to Vp Records, we have our own recording studio at home and we depend on nobody: our father taught us the importance of being self-sufficient and of working with other musicians. It's really not out of a concern for independence or fame that we go solo, otherwise it would be ego and that isn't part of the family genes.
What do you take away from what he taught you?
The love of God, that's the best teaching I've had. To take my music seriously and always look after my wife and children well, to stay as close as possible to one's family. For music, he advised me to always practise, again and again, and to keep an eye on everything coming out in music, listen to and analyse new sounds, know the artists of the moment. When we were young, Peetah and I would save our lunch money to go and buy tapes and new releases on cassette and 45s.
What does your father think of your career and your music?
He laughs every day and asks me to send him more music (laughs). If it's not me, he calls Mojo, Peetah or Una and asks them for new tracks. He is very happy and very proud of our success; it's his dream come true: he has children who formed a reggae band that travels the world, spreading a positive message and trying to change the world through their music. When he came up with the idea of each of us going off on solo projects - because it was his idea - I recognised my father's musical genius. He's different: 30 children and still standing and strong... He's still here and alive to see what's going on and to show his feelings by enjoying the music. We are very happy to see him content and proud of us, to see him living his dream through his children. He is full of happiness right now.
Do you think you'll tour with your father?
Yes, definitely. Our father, LMS and Morgan Heritage touring the world soon! Before that, we're going to release a new Morgan Heritage studio album, then Morgan Heritage & Friends volume 3, which will come out as a collector's edition. As I said earlier, we're only just getting started, I'm still young and I keep training: as long as we have our health, there will be plenty more good music to come.
To silence the rumours, is Morgan Heritage still a family affair?
Yes, at no point did we think about splitting up. Morgan Heritage is five of Denroy Morgan's 30 children, and LMS is another three. Above all, we make music to have fun and we want to create surprise: if we came with a group album, Reggaefrance for example would say “oh, yet another Morgan Heritage album” and would not want to endorse that. So we owe it to you to surprise you. Sometimes I read “Morgan Heritage have split up, it's no longer a family affair”. How could we make it not a family affair: it always will be. We try to offer different avenues. Every time we came to Europe, we would tell Mojo in Germany or Peetah in Italy: “I want to hear solo tracks from you”. In truth, it's really to satisfy our fans' ears and it's not a question of independence. Even though we're signed to VP Records, we have our own recording studio at home and we depend on nobody: our father taught us the importance of being self-reliant and of working with other musicians. It's really not out of a concern for independence or fame that we go solo, otherwise it would be ego, and that's not part of the family genes.
What do you make of Jamaican music today? Dancehall seems to have taken over from “one drop”.
As you know, people are going through hard times and want to escape reality and have fun; they don't want to hear “if you think the judgement starts, so much to come” or “so much troubles in the world”: they suffer enough hardship and bullying every day, they'd rather hear “put up your hand now, jump up and dance”. I understand that, but at the same time it destroys the youth, which is why I support the Jamaican government banning bad lyrics on radio and TV. You can play what you like in a club because you won't find children there. Everybody likes sex; some keep it at home and others go to the “strip club”; some things are meant for adults and others for children. As for broadcasting and reaching a younger audience, it has to be regulated: some things can't be hidden from children because they find them on their own, money takes them straight there. We need to find a way to bring some morality to the broadcasting of certain explicit content: you can't watch a video or listen to a song that tells you to grab a girl to dance with her big backside!
Reggae music is alive and dancehall is a little sister; good artists have come out of it: Shabba Ranks, Buju Banton, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Mavado, Vybz Kartel and Shaggy. Great stars have emerged! Vybz Kartel is my favourite deejay, he's really very strong on lyrics. I don't always agree with what he says but his technique is simply incredible. Dancehall has done its job but reggae remains the father, the origin, the roots. It's still alive: look at Burning Spear or Toots, they still tour all over the world and they don't do dancehall. Often, when foreigners come to Jamaica and hear dancehall everywhere, when they go home they think reggae boils down to dancehall. You go to the United States or Europe, you still see Burning Spear or Toots, Ziggy Marley plays loads of dates but doesn't do dancehall. Roots is still alive; foreigners who visit our island and go to “Weddy Weddy” or “Passa Passa” dance at a party and think the Jamaican music industry boils down to that, but no: it's a party, so it has to be lively, but you can't reduce the Jamaican industry to a few artists who go to parties and light a fire for a few seconds to establish their notoriety. That's not it. There are some songs that don't get past the airport at Harbour View, they go nowhere, but it remains pleasant music, and Jamaica is full of talented artists: sometimes it frightens me to see the number of tracks produced on our little island. I should say that I now have my own radio show called Gramps Morgan Show on www.daflavaradio.com, a three-hour programme. Buju Banton also has a show on the same station and I think we're going to have a lot of fun, so don't hesitate to join us and listen to our podcasts.
What do you think of young artists' stage performances today?
The problem is that some artists, as soon as they get played on Irie FM, think they're ready, ready to go and get a visa at the French or Italian embassy (laughs)! They're already on tour, but it's only a small sound system tour. When they arrive, they do the best they can and sometimes put on a convincing show, but you can't cheat the audience. So they'll have a first experience, they'll get a taste of it and it may be a bit rough (laughs). Artists also have their responsibilities: sometimes you see artists coming back to the island with loads of jewellery and designer clothes when they don't even have a roof over their heads. Some have luxury German cars and pay rent; they have no business sense. That's why some young people from the ghetto want to become deejays so they can buy the same car as Bounty, Mavado or Buju. But they don't know what it costs and how much work it involves. Someone like Beenie Man works hard, Buju sweats in his shoes, night after night, it's hard work. You can't stop some of them trying to put on a show: you can fool people once but you can't fool them all the time, that's what our prophet Bob Marley said! Nowadays, they try to fool the international audience with Jamaican “popcorn” artists: they make Jamaican pop the way Britney Spears or T-Pain do in the United States, but roots is very much alive.
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