Volume 04, Number 08
Music
Japan beckons British Artist with Musical Freedom
By Danielle Tate-Stratton
Sitting backstage at Super Deluxe in Nishi Azabu, Morgan Fisher is relaxed and friendly as he prepares to kick off Morgan's Organ vol. 37. Each month, the former Mott the Hoople (MTH) keyboardist brings a variety of keyboards, organs, and other instruments to Super Deluxe and delights audiences with impromptu concerts that are never the same twice.
Morgan Fisher grew up in England listening to his parents' favorites as a child, Frank Sinatra and the French chanteuses of the day. His parents did not play music, but there was an old piano in the house that, like most curious kids, Morgan started experimenting with at the age of six. He received formal piano training from the ages of ten to fourteen, but is self-taught otherwise, eventually learning to play his favorite rock songs by ear.
From there, Morgan began playing in bands, and success came fast. A band he had previously played with, The Love Affair, had a number one hit while he was still in high school. This was a bittersweet moment for Morgan, as his parents had made him quit the band to finish high school just six months before they went to the top of the charts. Following his graduation, he rejoined the band–-they were happy to have him back after playing with an average keyboard player—a stroke of luck that seems to typify his career. As Morgan says, "I've had a lot of luck over the years. I'm not a hustler and I can't imagine having to be one of those musicians constantly knocking on doors. I've been spoiled and I'm lucky. Over the years a lot of doors have opened for me."
In the mid 70's, Fisher joined Mott The Hoople, (named after an obscure character in Willard Maus' eponymous novel) whose hit All the Young Dudes is now considered a classic. Successful in Britain and America, MTH toured stateside in 1974. "America in the 70s for an Englishman was very exciting—it was big and glamorous, and we were meeting weird and wonderful people all over the place." Morgan recalls one such character, Sly Stone (of the seminal punk group Sly and the Family Stone), at the Rainbow Bar in LA. Every night, Stone would be in the parking lot picking a fight with a new person, his huge security guard standing behind him to scare anyone away from taking the bait. It became a running joke with the band to see who Sly was going to antagonize each night.
Following MTH, Morgan took a conscious break from the music industry for about three years to travel "as a real person, because on tour you really only see airports and hotel rooms." During this break, his friend Brian May, guitarist for Queen, invited him to play with them on their European tour in 1982. After the tour, Fisher traveled on and visited Japan in 1985, where he has remained ever since!
Before his move here, Fisher was living in LA, and wanted something different. Having always been interested in Japanese things, Morgan's interest was piqued further when, on a MTH tour in the US, he found an album of Bach music played on a koto. He came to Tokyo with his then girlfriend, who stayed for six months before heading home. Morgan, who had fallen in love with the city, decided to stay.
A large part of the reason he stayed was because of music: "I was surprised when I got here that people knew of my music, not the MTH music, but other stuff that I'd put out on an indie label in America. I was asked if I'd do a gig, but I had no equipment or anything, so I started out with a few gigs just on the piano, and I really liked it...for the first time, I was doing onstage what I had previously done privately—that's what Japan gave me."
In Japan, Morgan has found the freedom to explore his art, both musically and visually. Always interested in photography, he began to experiment with macro: detailed photos he says follow a very Japanese approach. Additionally, Morgan has discovered a technique he refers to as "painting with light." His abstract, colorful images are projected as he plays in Super Deluxe, and are in turns fluid, dynamic, and graceful.
Morgan continues to experiment with the visual arts, which he says are more inspiring to him than music. For him, "it's because I don't know how to do it (visual art), and I don't want to know how…there's more freedom in visual art; music has too many rules and regulations. I think that's so good (the lack of rules). That's what I try and do here (when he plays at Super Deluxe), like a guy with a white canvas and paints and nothing planned. Every time I play here I have different instruments which are like a different palate of sounds."
Morgan's improvised concert is fascinating. During the first set, his photographs are projected on the wall behind him; during the second, old black and white movies from the early 20th century play in the background. On the night that I watch, Morgan incorporates the theme of one of the movies into his set, singing lyrics improvised to compliment the film. It's this kind of spontaneity that makes each Morgan's Organ evening completely unique.
So what's next for Morgan Fisher? The successful musician plans to take things one step at a time—developing his photography more and the occasional collaboration with other musicians, such as the one he did recently with the Delta Sax Quartet, are in the works. One constant is the monthly improv gig at Super Deluxe. At just ¥1,000 including a free mp3 download, it's well worth it!
www.morgan-fisher.com