046: Blake Morgan
Good morning! This is Play It Like It's Music, I'm Trevor. Thanks for listening.
On Wednesday, July 1st of 2020 music is not content, it's connection.
I did it, folks. I sold my drum machine.
My beloved MPC 1000 went off to a lucky buyer in Texas this week and I now have much more breathing room around here in the studio, both architecturally and musically.
I don't know, something about having one of those things around made me feel so much pressure, it's like a hyper click track. Some people need their music to feel super clocked in, I get that. There's also the magic of sampling and chopping, but I'm not one of the people who work that way. There are some real geniuses out there doing the beatmaking thing, but am I going to compete with that? Hell no. I had my fun with it, now it's someone else's turn.
Over here it's back to making my cello music.
Which is going great! Thanks for asking. The album is coming along nicely, and the thing that usually happens around this time in the process for me (when it's mostly all written but I still haven't recorded one single note) is happening again too. Basically, I start hearing three, four albums ahead in the future. My brain starts tempting me with future projects that haven't even been conceived yet. It can be a distraction but mostly it's a motivator. That little voice saying, "PSST... keep going, and you'll get to do these other things!"
[photo credit: Taylor Ballantyne]
So glad to have music in my life.
Glad to have you listening to this show, incredibly lucky to be living in a time where I can just make something like this and bring it to you each week. Our conversation with today's guest is going to touch on some things that I find incredibly painful to talk about, yet unavoidable. It's the money thing, and Blake Morgan is a powerful voice of reason in a way that gives me hope that even if things don't look like they'll be changing any time soon, at least I'm not crazy and/or alone in thinking them.
Blake is the originator of the #irespectmusic hashtag. He's also a pretty damn good musician, singer and producer. He's a friend, collaborator and has a wild collection of stories to share on the pod today.
Now let me level with you, I go back and forth on how exactly to proceed in this life project we like to call "music". I can't tell you how many times I've tried to quit it altogether in frustration, but it won't let me go. It's love, that's all there is to it. I've stopped trying to quit now, but there are mean forces out there at every turn trying to make you feel unworthy, or ashamed to even try to make a noise of your own. They come back again and again, but the one which never goes away is the eternal thorn of trying to make a living in music.
Blake is a lifer, and as an entrepreneurial type he took charge of his career at an early stage by starting his own label. As the owner of his work and that of other artists, he takes his responsibility seriously. To represent and protect the work of those who trust him with their art. And in the early days of streaming, he didn't like what he saw on those royalty statements. He took things into his own hands, and you'll hear him describe how that went down for him.
[photo credit: PicOwner620 / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
All of us out here owe a major debt of gratitude to Blake Morgan for calling out the new naked Emperor which is the cabal of streaming services, big radio and the major labels which have hijacked our core source of income for barely a pittance. He's a voice of sanity in this uncertain and threatening landscape, and it's time we heard what he has to say. Strap in, let's meet Blake.
Press PLAY above to hear my conversation with Blake Morgan.
Thanks for listening to Play It Like It’s Music. Thanks so much to Blake Morgan for spending some very generous time with us. You can find him and follow him on all the socials @TheBlakeMorgan.
If you like this show, please tell a friend:
Follow me on social media @trevorexter and talk to me on there if you have thoughts about the show.
We're all contending with a mutating professional landscape, jacked revenue streams, a catastrophic global pandemic and plenty of other noise out in the culture.
But you gotta keep playing.
We don't draw any lines here between scenes or styles.
As always, thank you for listening and remember to play it like its music.
You can check out my music on bandcamp and other places. It’s all at my website, trevorexter.com. Sign the mailing list on substack to get this show sent right to you the very moment it comes out. Consider hiring me to score your piece, do some cello, teach you lessons, produce your show or back you up onstage.
Music is a beautiful thing and it makes the world go round.
Big love to your ears.
Trevor
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Hear songs: the “Trevor Exter Playlist” on Spotify
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