INTERVIEW: MORGXN Flies His Freak Flag Over the Heartland
Indie pop artist MORGXN brings his Nashville roots with him wherever he goes -- and we talk about how he's always flown his freak flag no matter what.
MORGXN takes his approach to queer country to heart: a Nashville native who was told he'd never make it, the indie pop singer's new EP HEARTLAND: PART I (out July 4th) interrogates those assumptions. From New York to LA and back home, MORGXN has never hidden who he is, as he explains below. The EP was written and recorded on the Tennessee farm he shares with his husband – the warmth and healing nature of which encapsulate the EP. In our interview, MORGXN dives into the obstacles and healing spaces he's entered as a queer music maker in Nashville.
How do you feel your coming out journey plays into your music?
You know at this point i feel like my coming out journey happens every June when it’s like – oh yah the death threats ramp up on my social media and i make a recommitment to boldly being myself no matter the political environment. I never set out to have a platform through music. I just sang what was in my heart because it was better than being trapped inside. So its all kind of intertwined - the joy and the trauma - through music. I’m spending a lot of time now trying to unpack and untangle things and see what happens in the process. A lot of that is what is captured in this album.
How do you feel your queer identity ties into your performance style or music?
I am not just my sexuality when i sing. But i cannot separate who i am from the music and the message. When i first thought about moving back home to nashville in 2011 a manager told me i’d never make it music as an openly gay person here.. So rather than trying to play a game and hide a part of me to get ahead.. I have always waved my freak flag. I think my music has greatly evolved since 2011 as i’d hope any human would evolve over time.. And i think you can hear whatever you want to hear in my music… but i know that i am who i am and will always be that way out loud.
HEARTLAND has so much of you in it. How were you able to access that space in yourself?
Marry a therapist. But for real… the pandemic forced a lot of us to slow down in really uncomfortable ways. I think i’m just still processing the ricochet of a lot of that and touched some really hard places in the process.
You collaborated with Katie Pruitt on "TALK ABOUT IT." How did you pick the team you brought into the studio?
Well the song came first and it was just me and katie in a room making a song. The sonics were following the thread i’d been on with the album and katie had worked with dan agee and it was a publisher named Bob Squance who helped to set up the session to bring the song to life.
Where are some places you’ve found joy within the country/Americana world?
I feel like the joy is self made. I think hosting this small town pride on our farm and having Fancy Hagood, Katie Pruitt, Melody Walker, Jess Nolan, Crystal Rose, JB Somers, Fretland.... All singing boldly and proudly for this small town’s pride.. That is where joy lived for me
What words of advice do you have for anyone who is questioning their own identity right now?
Don’t rush. Don’t do it for someone else. Do it for yourself. Every day. Coming out is a process not a destination.
