It's six am here in Boston and I am at my desk sipping on my first cup of coffee. On the other end of the phone is one Mr. Morgan Page. He's in the middle of a studio session in Los Angeles and has stopped in the middle of his work to grant me this interview. After a couple more sips, I get down to business. Page tells me how he grew up in a log cabin in Vermont. I learn that around the age of 15 he started to dig his heels into production work, and that a few years after that he joined the team over at the local university radio station. During the last part of his high school years, he joined the Plastic City team as an intern. He joined Rick Salzer there and tech house was infused into his being. He became obsessed with making music for people who had a passion for it, then purchased a sampler called an Akai MPC2000 and started to build his personal studio from the ground up. What came after that was a solid start to an outstanding career as a producer/DJ. He has several remixes and original productions under his belt and the future is looking good. He has worked with labels like Bedrock and SAW. This is Morgan Page, and this is what he has to say.
Jon Viera: So tell us, where did it all start for you?
Morgan Page: I started DJing first in college radio while still a high school
student. I did a weekly show for about 5 years on various stations
(WRUV and WERS) until transitioning to playing out at clubs.
JV: Did anyone influence you or did you find your own sound by yourself?
Morgan Page: Hearing WRUV in Burlington as a teenager got me into electronic
music; The Chemical Brothers and Photek were my first forays into
electronic music. But later, as I got more into it, it was the sound
of Terry Lee Brown Jr and The Timewriter that changed everything and
got me really motivated to make music.
JV: Didn't you start DJ'ing at WRUV?
Morgan Page: Yes, it was WRUV 90.1 FM in Burlington, Vermont (at the University
of Vermont).
JV: Would you mind telling us what your first gig was like?
Morgan Page: Definitely. My first gig was actually a live PA @ The Phoenix
Landing in Cambridge, Mass. I hauled in an MPC2000, an EMU E6400
sampler, and played a bunch of remixes and original songs live. I'll
never forget the sound of hearing my own kick drums getting blasted
through that sound system, and the crowd reaction. I kind of did a
double take, like - "who's song is this?" because it sounded so
different played loud.
JV: Not to pigeonhole you, but can you describe your sound?
Morgan Page: It changes every year. But right now it's electro-house. One thing
I always aim for is big punchy drums and melodies that stick in your
head. If the song doesn't touch any emotions, it doesn't leave the
studio.