Q: Hi! I’m so excited to be interviewing you. The entire production of “Goodbye” touched my soul! I want to know about the songwriting process because you can produce a song, but to produce one and impact a listener emotionally takes talent, and you did it! How?
MORGAN97: The song “Goodbye” is part of my self-titled EP called “Morgan97 Vol.1,” which is available on all streaming platforms. The song genuinely took a couple of minutes to complete; in this way, I brainstormed the theme right away, which is the chorus “Goodbye.” Then, after that, the hard work comes when you try to make the verses in conjunction with the chorus.
Normally when I write an emotional, a love song or a sensitive topic, I like to balance it off by mentioning both parties who are in love to make sure I don’t end up favouring a particular side, I like to play it neutral. I am not married yet’ I am 27 years [old] by the way, so my perspective is somewhat not that biased yet, so I like to mention the wrongs and the rights of both parties equally.
The main reference of the song, and especially the chorus itself, was a manifestation of how I wanted to put across a message about the people I have lost in my life by being naive and not paying special attention to the ones who have been around me. Sometimes we look for attention from the wrong people. We normally dont notice the effort of the ones who have us at heart until we lose them, we never see them come but we always watch them go.
So, in a nutshell, as human beings, we really need to remind each other how we need each other in all facets of life. I would lastly like to mention that the song is a collaborative effort with an amazing female vocalist here in my home town Chegutu, called Ku-J. She jumped on my song, to give it more flesh with her rifts and runs, you can hear her clearly just at the end of the song, the outro melody of the song.
Q: What was your favorite part about working on “Goodbye”?
MORGAN97:
Personally, my favourite part of the song “Goodbye” was the pre-chorus, which goes:
“Our anniversary is around the corner, but you acting like you don’t care / I’ve got real big plans for you ever since we dived in, we got a lot of downs baby that’s why you distracted / why you wanna give up on me like moving on is that easy.“
This piece is very special to me, especially for those in shaky relationships. It shouldn’t be that easy to move on if you have given yourself to another person. That piece of you you have given to your partner shouldn’t be that easy to just watch it tear off or slip away that easily. The melody, for me, was incredible. I think at first, I just started off by humming the tune, but it took a while because I was imagining a breakdown of a romantic relationship on the day of celebrating an anniversary. So, for me, again, that’s the part of the song I love the most.
Q: How did your country Zimbabwe influence “Goodbye”?
MORGAN97: Well, the influence of my country on the song is very strong because a lot of times, hearing through the grapevine sometimes of cause and through first-hand sources, a lot of times a romantic relationship normally goes wrong when one starts to grow envious eyes towards other people’s relationships or affairs. It’s like you end up destroying your own relationship by wanting to destroy another person’s relationship.
Here in Zimbabwe, unfortunately, a relationship can end in petty issues, like a girl can be snatched away from you because you can’t afford a certain lifestyle she wants. Sometimes, it’s because of a genuine mistake, but a mistake doesn’t mean you would have stopped loving that person. But most of the time, it’s just the devil’s eyes, just wanting what you don’t have because you think it’s better and not realising that what you already have is God-given, that’s most of the time.
Q: What message did you want to convey with “Goodbye”
MORGAN97: …falling in love is very complex and takes a lot of effort, time, and energy. So when you finally fall in love, the bond built between the two shouldn’t be broken as easily as many people think it should, without any proper justification, unless the love was just a fling from the beginning.
Most of the time, we need to recognise the problem first before we [make] strong decisions; we can end up having tonnes of relationships without finding our soul mate just because we don’t know the root cause of why our previous relationships got messed up. So, you might be the problem, if so, work on it together as a team not individually. Individually, you might be too casual and lenient on yourself, so the love should remain intact while fixing where ever needs fixing.
Q: What sets “Goodbye” apart from your other releases?
MORGAN97: The song is just simply cool, calm, emotional and sensitive, with an aim to convey a message of wanting to restore someone in a shaky or uncertain relationship. Restoration is mainly spiritual because the spirit needs immediate healing as it carries all the good and bad memories, the trauma experienced, the disappointments, the abuse endured and a lot of aspects that are psychological which are looked down upon by a lot of people. If those psychological problems don’t get fixed, the problem will keep recurring until one gives up on life or love itself.
So my message was to enlighten others that love is an ever-growing flower without an end, we keep learning [from] each other when we are in a relationship until death do us part, there is NO special type of love or formula to love, its unnecessary pressure to have a goal of having a perfect relationship, the downs are a lot sharper than the ups, but we keep helping each other. That’s why it’s important to get into a relationship with a friend more than love at first sight although love at first sight can be developed into a friendship. Romantic love is sustained and healed wholistically, mainly by unconditional understanding and unconditional tolerance.
Q: Talk to me about what inspired you to pursue music.
MORGAN97: Well, that’s a tricky question, but I have always been a music lover from a very tender age. I used to sing part-time with my mom at church. Music these days is very condensed, It’s so condensed that you might barely get attention on digital platforms. It’s very hard to hit the market; you need a lot of resources, which I might not have sometimes individually I am so independent that it costs a lot to make things happen.
But I love music, I consider myself an average vocalist who can convey an impactful message, which leaves one wanting to make a change. My inspiration comes from my imagination of my personal experience sometimes and just pure creativity. I haven’t reached where I want to be, so I really feel there is so much room to improve and write much more influential and emotional songs, whether it’s romantic songs, religious songs or just purely creative songs, as long as I put across a positive message.
Q: How would you describe yourself as an artist?
MORGAN97: I would describe myself as a purely creative artist who is willing to learn music as a whole. I don’t have a special taste in music because it all depends on the timing of the message I want to portray. I am fascinated by all genres, but I choose the mood in which the songs need to be sung so that they can be quickly relatable.
For one to understand where I am coming from and where I am going, I think one needs to go listen to a couple of songs I have released on my EP so that you can relate to the message and styles I use in my songs, I also have Roots Reggae songs, a Pop song and a dancehall song on all streaming channels.
Q: Of all the music you’ve released, which one is your favorite and
why?
MORGAN97: So far, my favourite release is not one, but personally, I can say they are three songs. One is “Goodbye,” which I featured Ku-J and mixed by PJ Major, produced by PieperBeats, “Mr Reggea Music,” and “Faith,” which I featured an amazing vocalist named Missile, who also has music on all platforms. I like “Goodbye” because it’s calm and can be easily relatable. For “Mr Reggea Music,” I think it’s the vocals I did and the instrumental too, produced by a talented producer called Luther Sekelani based here in Chegutu.
For “Faith” featuring Missile, I think it’s the message, too, which I kept universal and straightforward. The production of “Faith” done by Zero53Music is also based in Chegutu. The team of producers here in Chegutu is amazing, even though we have bigger names of producers and audio engineers in Zimbabwe who produce good songs.
Interviewed by Taylor Berry
