After first hearing one of Morso's earliest tracks on Soundcloud, Trellick Tower (named aptly after the some-what renowned tower block in London, famed for its grazed concrete and brutalist architecture, designed by Ernő Goldfinger), I instantly fell in love. The withering, ambient drones confluencing with the reverb soaked, analogue synths and muted, walking drums resulted in a piece so wonderful, that it would probably make burial cry. ( I'll link you to some of his stuff at the bottom)
Last week I was lucky enough to sit down with this young London producer to talk about the story behind his alias, the influence of the web upon his music, his views about the instillment of underground house into the mainstream and who you should be listening to right now.
Last week I was lucky enough to sit down with this young London producer to talk about the story behind his alias, the influence of the web upon his music, his views about the instillment of underground house into the mainstream and who you should be listening to right now.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you’re from and the music you create?:
My name is Tom, I’m 16, I’m from South London and I make music electronically.
Where did the name Morsø come about ? :
Kind of a shit story, I was lying on my sofa trying to think of something to call myself and my eyes rested upon this little wood-burning stove in my living room that had morsø written on it, and sooo.....
What artists ( in its broadest sense) would you say have influenced you?:
Well I guess the breakthrough moment for me musically was when I was about 13/14 and discovered early Shlohmo and Mount Kimbie work, it made me discover a whole new world of music that I loved but hardly knew existed but I fell in love with it and that was when I started to attempt to produce my own shit. It’s also impossible to mention the vast amount of music I was exposed to as a young kid, my mum grew up in Kenya so there was always things like really guitar driven rhythmic and melodic Malian music (like Tinariwen + Salif Keita) and also really textural stuff like Ladysmith Black Mambazo playing around the house when I was growing up.
How would you say that the web (Soundcloud) has influenced you and your style?:
Well I don’t know whether Soundcloud itself has influenced me but definitely the connections I’ve made and music I’ve discovered on there has. It’s a pretty great platform, I wouldn’t be where I am today, musically speaking, without it. I’ve met a lot of talented and inspiring people on there, so yeah it’s has definitely helped me a lot.
Why do think you started uploading music to the web?:
Well I remember the first thing I uploaded was this shitty mix I made and I think I just Put it on there because I just discovered loads of music that I was excited about and wanted to share it. It was really bad but somehow I just slowly started gaining listens so I thought I might put one of my own compositions up and then it’s just evolved from there.
What was the first record you bought?:
Ummmmm – it was the Busted album....... (It's cool mine was Mcfly)
Who should we be listening to right now?:
Well I’ve been listening to loads of Minimalism, like Steve Reich’s Octet and also a really beautiful series of videos of Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker dancing to his Phase compositions been watching a lot as well. Peter Michael Hamel has a great half-hour organ composition called Organum, as well as his piano composition Transpersonal. Holly Herndon’s new album is fucking great, as is Basinski’s Cascade.
What are you reading right now?:
The Story of Art by E.H Gombrich and Minimum by John Pawson.
Being in London, I was wondering what are your favorite galleries/ venues in London?:
Carroll/Fletcher gallery has some great shows, as does the ICA and the Lisson.
What are your views on the instilment of underground dance into the mainstream?:
Well I guess it’s a cycle - nothing to worry about at all. Like everything else in the world music is in a constant state of flux, there will always be an underground.
What would be your three desert island disks and why?:
William Basinski – Disintegration Loop 1 This seems like a good record to put on during the last hour of my life. Merzbow – Woodpecker No. 1 A good blast of this will make sure I’m dead Aphex Twin – Lichen.
DUDE THANK YOU
MUSIC BY MORSØ:
My name is Tom, I’m 16, I’m from South London and I make music electronically.
Where did the name Morsø come about ? :
Kind of a shit story, I was lying on my sofa trying to think of something to call myself and my eyes rested upon this little wood-burning stove in my living room that had morsø written on it, and sooo.....
What artists ( in its broadest sense) would you say have influenced you?:
Well I guess the breakthrough moment for me musically was when I was about 13/14 and discovered early Shlohmo and Mount Kimbie work, it made me discover a whole new world of music that I loved but hardly knew existed but I fell in love with it and that was when I started to attempt to produce my own shit. It’s also impossible to mention the vast amount of music I was exposed to as a young kid, my mum grew up in Kenya so there was always things like really guitar driven rhythmic and melodic Malian music (like Tinariwen + Salif Keita) and also really textural stuff like Ladysmith Black Mambazo playing around the house when I was growing up.
How would you say that the web (Soundcloud) has influenced you and your style?:
Well I don’t know whether Soundcloud itself has influenced me but definitely the connections I’ve made and music I’ve discovered on there has. It’s a pretty great platform, I wouldn’t be where I am today, musically speaking, without it. I’ve met a lot of talented and inspiring people on there, so yeah it’s has definitely helped me a lot.
Why do think you started uploading music to the web?:
Well I remember the first thing I uploaded was this shitty mix I made and I think I just Put it on there because I just discovered loads of music that I was excited about and wanted to share it. It was really bad but somehow I just slowly started gaining listens so I thought I might put one of my own compositions up and then it’s just evolved from there.
What was the first record you bought?:
Ummmmm – it was the Busted album....... (It's cool mine was Mcfly)
Who should we be listening to right now?:
Well I’ve been listening to loads of Minimalism, like Steve Reich’s Octet and also a really beautiful series of videos of Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker dancing to his Phase compositions been watching a lot as well. Peter Michael Hamel has a great half-hour organ composition called Organum, as well as his piano composition Transpersonal. Holly Herndon’s new album is fucking great, as is Basinski’s Cascade.
What are you reading right now?:
The Story of Art by E.H Gombrich and Minimum by John Pawson.
Being in London, I was wondering what are your favorite galleries/ venues in London?:
Carroll/Fletcher gallery has some great shows, as does the ICA and the Lisson.
What are your views on the instilment of underground dance into the mainstream?:
Well I guess it’s a cycle - nothing to worry about at all. Like everything else in the world music is in a constant state of flux, there will always be an underground.
What would be your three desert island disks and why?:
William Basinski – Disintegration Loop 1 This seems like a good record to put on during the last hour of my life. Merzbow – Woodpecker No. 1 A good blast of this will make sure I’m dead Aphex Twin – Lichen.
DUDE THANK YOU
MUSIC BY MORSØ:
