Blending vintage Americana with elements of British folk and alternative rock, Morganway are a British six-piece who borrow from a wide net of influences.
On their third full-length album, Kill The Silence, they’re sounding bigger and better than ever, thanks to more six-string input from singer SJ Mortimer, whose rhythmic strums provide the perfect bedrock to her husband Kieran Morgan’s inspired fretwork.
This new dynamic between the pair is most evident on new tracks such as Feels Like Letting Go and I Feel The Rain, which could very well be anthems in the making.
Get Back To Where You Once Belonged
Inspired by the spontaneous creativity of The Beatles, a lot of the new tracks were only half complete when the band arrived at the studio. This led to fast decision-making and more impromptu collaboration.
“We wanted to capture our live sound and energy,” says SJ. “We were working off each other just to see what came out without pressure. You can really hear the room on these recordings, which makes it extra special.”
“We’d been watching the Get Back documentary,” adds Kieran. “I was inspired by how a lot of these amazing songs started off in the studio, where a member of the band would show the others an idea and two hours later they’d have a finished recording.”
Go Your Own Way
“I was brought up on classic rock like Queen and Bon Jovi,” says SJ. “I also love Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles. Those are my main influences, as well as modern stuff like Haim and boygenius.
“Those bands made me want to play guitar and figure out my own sound. Sometimes I laugh because we’re too rock for country and we’re too country for rock!”
“This band is a melting pot,” agrees Kieran. “It’s a bit rock, a bit folk, a bit Americana, a bit country. It depends on what song you fall on. I love the Eagles and Tom Petty. My biggest influence is John Frusciante, which is why my solos are typically quite fuzzy and minimalist in structure.”
Double Trouble
The two guitarists add their own sonic contributions to the mix and stand out from one another by using contrasting gear and approaches.
“It’s nice to play the same part slightly differently using alternative tunings or different positions to create depth,” continues SJ.
“It’s that ’70s retro thing The Rolling Stones were doing – using two guitars to make one part bigger. It’s not like The Strokes, where there are two distinct parts. We’re aiming to sound more like one-and-a-half players than two!”
“SJ prefers the sound of a Strat, so she sticks with her PRS Silver Sky,” reveals Kieran. “My background is more Teles, and my PRS Vela S2 falls somewhere in between a Gretsch and a Tele. I want one guitar that can do everything. The combination of SJ’s single coils through a Mesa/Boogie and my fat humbuckers with a Twin seems to work well for us.”
A lot of the acoustic on the album was recorded with SJ’s Koa Series Taylor, which she says has a beautiful sound that’s bright and soft at the same time.
“I’ve had her since I was 16 and she still sounds great,” SJ explains. “I think there’s a lot of acoustic on our albums because most of the songs start out that way. Even if we go electric, we try to keep that original sound in the mix.”
Country Fair
In 2023, the group were invited to perform at Fairport Convention’s Cropredy Convention, which – as well as being recorded and released – remains their favourite gig to date. “That was the best show of our lives,” Kieran recalls. “It was so lovely to get an opportunity like that, playing to 20,000 people. We were floating our way through it.”
“Afterwards, Fairport told us there was a special energy to our set,” adds SJ. “Our fiddle player Nicole [Terry] ended up having a jam with their fiddle player a few months later. But we’ll always play to our strengths: when we supported Skunk Anansie, we played our heaviest songs; with Fairport, it was all about the folk vibes.”
Standout track: Feels Like Letting Go
For fans of: Haim, Fleetwood Mac, Fairport Convention
- Kill the Silence is out now via Earache Records.
- This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.
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