Morphiction stops by the ROX-TV universe to kick around some music, a little background, and much more.
Welcome back to the ROX-TV website. As always, we enjoy giving the Indie scene some shine and are proud to celebrate the music. For the returning readers, it’s always good to have you on board and to the people who just drifted in for the first time, please make yourselves comfortable. Tonight we will be talking with Morphiction about their new release for Halloween, a little deep dive into their background, and a host of other cool shit. So bust out a bottle, fire up a balloon, get the blunt ready…and enjoy the interview. If everything is in place then lets get to it…
Can you please let the ROX-TV readers know where Morphiction is repping tonight?
We are split between Kalamazoo (Morbit) and Grand Rapids (SuperFiction). So ultimately we’re repping West and SW Michigan!
Your music has been described as dark and melodic, with a paranormal twist. Do you agree with that description? Why?
Yes, and it continues to evolve. Our music has historically had a dark feel, dark topic matter, and we always inject some level of harmonics to keep things interesting; either in the hooks, within the verses, or in a bridge or something. A lot of people have told us we are melodic rap. The paranormal part comes from the topic matter as we frequently write about ghosts, afterlife, and the Halloween EPs are loaded with everything paranormal. We also try to continuously evolve and did a lot of experimental stuff on our last two releases “Tonight’s Selection” and “Alternate Visions”, and even brighter sounding tracks with some of the newest stuff in the works.
For people just getting turned onto your music, can you tell the readers how the group formed up?
We had a mutual connection who was managing Morbit’s group DrastiKill and SuperFiction as a solo artist. We met at a label meeting for that sometime around 2004. Soon after that we did our first track called “Absinthe Minded” as a collaboration between DrastiKill and SuperFiction.
Once the group came together, how long did it take to start recording material? Can you talk about the very first song you did together?
We had a small collective of artists in and around Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo that were recording things and doing underground shows. We did random tracks in those circles for a couple of years until 2007 when Morbit sent SF a demo of a track called “Haunted Club”. We both recorded in our home studios, e-mailing the track back & forth until it was literally finished in a single day. We’ve since released: four full-length albums, one collective of 28 unreleased songs, and three EPs (two of which are the Halloween EPs parts I & II)
You released “The Halloween EP” a year ago, almost down to the day. As you know I’m a big fan of Halloween influenced music. Can you talk about that first EP release? How long did it take to come together? What can readers and fans expect when they hear it?
We’re also huge fans of Halloween influenced music! After talking for years about dropping a Halloween song, we finally did it in Summer 2020, early-Covid era. The song is called “Released” and then we couldn’t stop writing more. The whole EP took us six weeks. We went back and forth by e-mail and got together for a few music nights to work on content & planning.
The beats have an underlying haunted feel with trap elements in the drums & synth, distorted leads and riffs that we felt were reminiscent of horror movies; plus some melodic storytelling (Check out “Outside the Gates”). (Morbit does most of the group’s beat production and is also known as Soundsin Productions). Topic matter ranges from things like nightmares and decorations that come to life and escaping from an insane asylum under the cover of Halloween.
More exciting though, is the second installment of “The Halloween EP part 2” which you guys just dropped on September 23rd. How long did it take to put this EP together? What was the recording process like?
Thank you, we are pumped about this one. We started it in mid-June with a song called “Aliens on Halloween”, and just like our last Halloween EP, the songs just kept coming to life. We have a lot of fun making our music. Here’s what our creative process and studio time looks like on just about everything we put out: As you’ve probably drawn by now, there are two of us: Morbit and SuperFiction. Morbit is lyrics & recording, mixing, mastering and production.
For the first part, he uses Cubase (and is also a fluent ProTools user), and for beat production he uses Reason. His ears are the equivalent of a wine enthusiast tasting and pairing fine wines & cheeses. He uses a list of plug-ins in the aforementioned software that is about 50 deep and ever-changing as he tests new stuff all the time. SuperFiction is lyrics, recording, “light production*”, graphics & creative. He uses Logic Pro X, and a host of plugins.
*”What is “light production?” After years of training & guidance from Morbit, SF now holds the responsibility and challenge of at least fully producing one single song on each record we put out, ha! But he’s getting better! As far as the song ideas, we both originate them by creating a concept, recording a first verse, hook , bridge, etc and then e-mail them to each other with open parts to fill in. We kick them back and forth until they’re done. Morbit handles all final mixing and mastering of the projects while SF works out the graphics before we ship them to the digital outlets. We have periodic music nights where we usually drink beer and shoot footage for video and graphics ideas.
Morphiction is dropping releases pretty often and that is vital in growing the base and getting people introduced to your music. What are your plans in the near future? Will you be doing any live shows to support “The Halloween EP Part 2” or are you guys getting right back into the studio?
We are planning to drop EPs throughout 2022, and we would like to start doing live shows. We love the Michigan underground and would like to connect with similar artists on the East side of the state and do some stuff. If you or anybody out there knows somebody or can point us in the right direction, we’d love to connect!
It’s been a minute but back in our earliest iteration we played live sets at Wickedstock 2010 and were part of the opening acts for ICPs Bang! Pow! Boom! Tour when it rolled through Grand Rapids at the Orbit Room.
How has the pandemic affected your work? Has the time been beneficial or a curse?
The time has been beneficial. Our processes are streamlined, we’ve cut out so much clutter of things that didn’t really matter in life’s daily hustle, and we’ve grown to have a deeper appreciation of our craft of music and the connection we have with it. People need it, we need it, and the culture & sub-cultures that it provides as well.
What does the rest of the year and beyond look like for Morphiction?
EPs, live shows, continuous creative evolution, and more Halloween EPs. We feel that our Halloween music that we’ve dropped for the last two years is the best stuff we’ve ever made, so we’d like to do that indefinitely or as long as we are capable.
Where can the readers and fans buy your music or find it?
Spotify, Apple Music, and basically all the digital platforms.
Follow us on IG @morphiction
Shout outs: This is where you get to shout out anyone you want. Who is Morphiction shouting out tonight?
A shout-out to you, Mike Shepard, for interviewing us. And for the depth you put into your writing about underground music here in Michigan, present and past. And the artists that have shaped us the most: ICP, Twiztid, Esham, Dayton Family, and this list could go on and on; a giant shout-out to the entire wicked underground. And finally: the voices in our heads, the ghosts in the attic, and the beer in the fridge.
I’m afraid that’s all the time we have this evening, but I’d like to thank Morphiction for stopping by and chilling with the ROX-TV crew. We enjoyed the interview and hope that the readers give these guys a listen. If your into Halloween inspired music, which I most certainly am, please check out their latest album “The Halloween EP Part 2” today. We will be keeping an eye out for Morphiction and can’t wait to see what they get up to in the coming months. Until we meet again…
Signing Off,
Mike Shepard
ROX-TV Head Writer
kidvicious810 on IG
