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Nancy Guppy Interviews The Cave Singers’ Morgan Henderson
In her debut column, Nancy Guppy chats up one of the city's most versatile musicians.
This article originally appeared in the May 2013 issue of Seattle magazine.
COFFEE DATE: Musician Morgan Henderson, who recently joined Seattle neo-folk rockers The Cave Singers and plays on their new album, Naomi. The band hits the Showbox at the Market this month (5/4; thecavesingers.com).
SCENE: The café at Elliott Bay Book Company, a Wednesday morning in February
MORGAN’S ORDER: A bacon, cheese and spinach omelet
Nancy Guppy: You’ve been in Seattle bands The Blood Brothers, Sharks Keep Moving, Past Lives, Fleet Foxes and now The Cave Singers.
Morgan Henderson: Yep.
NG: I’m guessing you keep moving on because the money keeps getting better.
MH: [laughs] Money hasn’t factored into it, and it was never a design to pop around to bands, but because I like a lot of different kinds of music and like to operate in different types of music, that’s sort of how it’s working out for me.
NG: Have you ever wanted to be the sexy front man? Because you could totally pull it off.
MH: Well, not necessarily, but I’ve always taken a leadership role—a “this is my band” kind of attitude. Not to the exclusion of somebody else’s wants; I just try to take it personally.
NG: Tell me something that nobody knows about you.
MH: These days I’m an addicted runner. Outside of music, that would be the thing I spend most of my energy on.
NG: Do you listen to music when you run?
MH: I can run to music without a meter. The beat is too distracting to me.
NG: Have you experienced an artistic high point?
MH: Yeah, I feel like working on The Cave Singers’ Naomi album has been a high point, because I hadn’t played electric bass since The Blood Brothers and I really missed it. When I was with the Fleet Foxes, I studied and practiced the woodwinds, so having all that information going into playing the bass felt satisfying. Artistically, it felt like a moment.
NG: Finish this sentence: “Morgan Henderson wishes he could…”
MH: I wish I could split into two, so I could have the life I’ve had and have a separate life where I went to college and studied writing and had a track career in high school and college.
NG: Wanna end this by arm wrestling?
MH: Sure. Is this how you’re gonna do all these interviews?
NG: Not if you beat me.
Nancy Guppy showcases all manner of Seattle artists on her television show, Art Zone (seattlechannel.org/artzone)
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