What makes a great DJ? It’s a rhetorical question… but the point is, there are many good DJs out there, but every now and then someone grabs attention of your ears in a big way. Someone that has that extra level of polish, and a sound that may draw on others, but is still very unique. 21 year old Tom Morgan, hailing from Glasgow. Scotland, caught my ear with these exact characteristics. Being a self confessed fan of progressive house since Sander Kleinenberg’s ‘Everybody’ breakthrough in 2003, before following Desyn Masiello’s mesmerising blitz over the following years closely, Tom’s sound immediately grabbed my attention. It’s funky, melodic and quite instrumental, and one minute I was grooving along down the gym, the next cruising in the car late at night with tracks melting seamlessly each other. There’s a noticeable intelligence to Tom’s sound.
After buying his first set of decks as the age of 14, Tom surrounded himself completely with dance music, taking the inevitable step from club-goer to DJing and onwards. As is the current trend, Tom personalises his performance by editing the tracks when preparing his sets. It’s like tennis, that great forehand was forged on the back courts, not centre court! Tom’s talent has not gone unnoticed, earning praise from some of the industry’s biggest names, Desyn Masiello having tipped him as “a DJ who’ll break through in 2006” in the DJ Mag poll. He is also part of the outstanding Feedback Bookings agency, which is becoming a real beacon of DJ talent, including Argentinean gems Ricky Ryan and his funky buddy, Lucas Abadi. Whilst he may not quite have reached this status yet, Tom’s profile is on the rise, seeing him play all over the globe in 2006 alongside the likes of Nick Warren and Jody Wisternoff. 2007 sees Tom launching his own label, Discoteca, and entering the studio to produce his own material. ITM has the privilege of an exclusive interview recently, with Tom sharing his thoughts on his career, influences and future plans.
How would you describe your sound, is it progressive house?
Just house in most of its forms really. I don’t like to spend too much time pigeonholing it, but if you were going to, I suppose I am playing quite a lot of stuff just now with proggy overtones. Not prog in the conventional Sasha and Digweed sense, but I think there are definite similarities between my sound and what they were doing a few years ago.
In my mind, I see Sander Kleinenberg’s 2003 sound as a big influence on this sub genre, and it was taken to a new level by Desyn Masiello and more recently, Luke Fair, Ricky Ryan and Lucas Abadi. Is this how you see it and how have these DJs influenced you?
That’s a pretty fair comment, all of them are really good DJs in their own right. As well as the DJs you’ve mentioned, I think my sound also draws influence from the kind of stuff DJs like Sasha and Nigel Dawson were playing back in the late 90s, proper club music with lots of melodies and key changes. I still listen to Dawson’s Renaissance CD now and again, much the same as the first disc of Sasha’s ‘Ibiza Global Underground’, [they’re] both albums that helped shape my musical taste.
I noticed you have a very smooth sound in your recent sets. Is that a conscious effort?
I suppose it is. I try to include as wide a variety of music as possible when I play in an attempt to keep it interesting. I’m all too aware how it comes across if not done well, though, so I’ll do everything within my power to try to keep it from sounding all over the place. That can be anything from mixing harmonically or just spending a bit of extra time preparing for a gig.
I read that you source most of your music via the internet. Is this correct? Also, what’s the key to success – besides many hours searching! – is having great contacts essential?
I pretty much do all my hunting over the internet, although it has to be said that I miss the more personal touch that comes with spending hours trawling through record shops. For my style of music, the shops up here aren’t a patch on some of the ones online so I haven’t bothered going in for quite a while. With regard to contacts, I don’t know about it being essential but it definitely helps to be well connected, especially in this line of work. I’m friendly with a few producers who make music that on the most part I really like, so it often helps to have some of their tracks before they’re signed or released.
Tell the ITM readers about the music scene in your homeland, Scotland. You’ve obviously got some very successful dance cross-over acts like Mylo and Calvin Harris. What about the progressive house style, which Scottish DJs are catching your ear?
There aren’t a great deal that spring to mind, but my favorite would have to be Funk D’Void. As a DJ he’s spot on and his productions tend to be right up my street, especially the stuff as Francois Dubois. I’ve always thought it to be a bit strange that there aren’t more Scottish DJs up there with him and Slam, as there’s definitely a big market for electronic music over here.
And the local clubbing scene, is it healthy?
The scene in Glasgow’s a bit stale just now, to be honest, certainly when it comes to house music anyway. There’s always been a pretty healthy market for techno, but as far as house goes there isn’t a great deal. You’ve got Colours and Subculture, who are bringing some quality DJs on a regular basis, but aside from that, there isn’t much in the way of good smaller nights. I do think it’ll pick up, it just seems to be in a bit of a lull.
I see your one of the youngest upcoming DJs on the world scene. What’s it like traveling so much? Do you get any grief when traveling due to your age?
I love it. The last year’s been something else. I was getting a bit of hassle from my Uni due to the amount of time I was missing, but after deciding to take a leave of absence I think it’s worked out nicely for all parties concerned. I get to listen to music all day and they don’t have to put up with my half-arsed attempts at Civil Engineering! I haven’t had any problems due to my age, only thing has really been the state of my passport. The Brazilians didn’t take too kindly to it and if it hadn’t been for Hernan Cerbello and his limited grasp of Portuguese I would have been on the first plane back to Scotland!
Do you have any plans or wishes for a future CD compilation release?
I’d love to do a CD, but I think the question is more who’d be willing to give me one? Who knows, maybe a few years down the line with the label, but it’s not something I’ve ever really thought about.
A lot of DJs, like say Desyn Masiello or Luke Fair, seem to change their sound when moving from a live or promo set to an official CD release. They tend to be more serious in sound. Do you agree, and is this how you would tackle your own CD?
I think the most important aspect is longevity. I’d want people to come back and listen to it a year down the line and still see it as pretty fresh. A lot of the more straight up clubby stuff can be relatively disposable and lose appeal after a couple of months, so I’d try to avoid that and keep it a bit more subtle. A perfect example for me is the way the first discs of their respective Balance albums were put together, both using quite a few older, more obscure tracks that most people missed. Also, the first disc of Howells’ Miami GU is another one that, despite being at least a year old, is hardly off the CD player at home.
How is you new label Discoteca Music going, any gem releases coming up? Also, is it really competitive between other labels when sourcing and signing great tracks?
It’s starting to come together really nicely, actually. We spent a lot of time faffing about, but after a bit more effort from everyone we’re nearly ready for our first release. After Emjae’s ‘Discoplex EP’, we’ve got a track by Emjae and Somnus Corp that’s been doing the business for me lately, with a really big remix by Electrobios and Johan from Fine Taste, two young producers I think will do really well for themselves. After that we’ll probably release the tune by Dana and Rollo with a more driving remix from Norwegian Bjorn Kaarud. It can sometimes be a bit tricky to get some of the better tracks as a digital only label, as there’s a bit more money comes from releasing on vinyl. In the current climate producers aren’t making nearly as much from their tracks than in recent years, so it’s understandable that they’re often looking to make as much as possible. If all else fails I suppose we can always just release any old gash by Dana or Somnus. We’re also launching a monthly podcast in conjunction with electronicgroove.com.
Do you have any plans for touring Australia in the future? Have you been here before?
I’ve never been before but it’s definitely high on the list as I’ve only heard favorable reports from anyone that has. I have a couple of mates that lived in Australia for a year who loved it, and I know Ricky [Ryan] was pretty impressed with the scene on his recent tour, so if the opportunity cropped up I certainly wouldn’t say no.
Outside electronic music, what do you listen to?
That depends on the mood I’m in but I tend to listen to quite a wide variety of stuff after a heavy weekend or when I need a break from the kind of stuff I’d play in a club. Artists such as Honeyroot, Nor Elle, Marsen Jules and Peter Benisch usually figure quite prominently. As far as the more chilled stuff goes, anything by Global Communication, Jonn Serrie or most of Cliff Martinez’s film scores, ‘Solaris’ in particular.
For more info on Tom check out his MySpace page HERE, and his label Discoteca Music’s page HERE.
Lady Liquid says...
Gret mix from Tom, delivering the goods as usual :)
Lady Liquid says...
Great interview Stuey, you never run out of things to ask, takes me back to the night we were chatting with Luke Fair at Platinum where you had him talking for hours. Very entertaining stuff :)