Morgan Saint has been making music for a long time, she released the single “Blazing” 2 weeks ago, and now I get to talk to her and her wife Carley Ridersleeve. I have already interviewed Carley, and now I got them both for a quick banter session.
Jeremy Hinks: Hey Morgan, nice to finally meet you. I’ve interviewed Carley for Instinct and my show, so this is a double whammy for her. So, welcome to Instinct. I was excited to do this interview, I got the single a couple of weeks ago and was glad to do that little blurb about the song.
Morgan Saint: Yes thank you.
JH: Real quick, I see you were at Parsons and you got your degree there?
MS: I did go, and I loved it. I can’t remember the exact dates, are you familiar with the school?
JH: Yeah, I know Keanan Duffty, one of the fashion instructors, and he also teaches at Polimoda in Italy. I’ve had him on Instinct twice.
MS: I didn’t go for fashion. I did illustration, but I do love fashion.
JH: Ok, so the new song, “Blazing” congratulations, it was a great song. Carley are those your backing vocals?
Carley Ridersleeve: Yeah probably, I think on each other’s songs we both are doing backing vocals and ad-libs.
MS: Yes, we are sprinkling each other’s songs.
JH: I was watching the video, seeing the art direction, and I could hear the voice. That’s always nice to hear. So, Carley, you did the art direction for the video?
CR: We did it together. Morgan is a great stylist. I directed the video and we worked with someone to do the CGI.
JH: Ok, so, in the video, how your legs looked, you looked like a fawn.
CR: Yeah, everyone says you looked like a fawn.
JH: So you were pulling in Narnia? That was CGI, did you want to make it look like a fawn? I guess you did in the final product.
MS: Yeah, I’m always into things that make you think. I enjoy things that make people stop and say, “What is that”, or “Why’d they do that”. I think it is always interesting. So we are always aiming for that even in the videos too.
JH: Yeah, Carly’s visuals in her previous work, I love her work, her vision, I thought this was great, just wanted to see where you were going with it. So, the lyrics.
Big white house, with windows to the ceiling
Inside we were bleeding
Sweeping up our feelings (yeah babe)
Wasn’t long before we were burning
Always drew the curtains baby
No one saw us hurting
CR: That was a great lyric Morgan wrote.
JH: Yes, what was steering that, but lemme backup, I got into a disagreement with someone. I called it a dance track, the kind you would hear in the chill room, next to Delerium, and One Dove, Dot Allison, Massive attack sound, and the trippy dreamy stuff. I was told that would not be considered a dance song. To there’s that, but then the subject matter was pretty intense.
MS: I like the chill room in the club, and if I were to be in the club, yeah I would be in the chill room, that totally makes sense with my vibe. This whole album that I’m making with Carley has had a bit of a club undertone, it’s cool that you picked up on that.
CR: Yeah, I’m glad you did too. I feel like the world that the Morgan album is living in, is lightly beachy on the shore in the club, just after the sunset.
JH: And all those lovely blue lights, fit with that too.
MS: Lyrically, it was about an experience that I had gone through in a relationship, that was not working, so that was the inspo behind this song and the lyrics.
JH: I’m gonna want a copy of this record, when it comes out. If the rest of it’s as good as these songs here, I’m looking forward to it. So, in your song “Did You Lose Your Heart”, the visuals were great. Almost like you were paralyzed, or dead.
MS: (Laughing)
JH: Here these lyrics
Want you to know that I’d die for you
Spend my whole life making it up to you
But you’re cold to the touch, no color left on your face
Am I too late?
That’s a bit morbid, isn’t it? Rip my heart out here, and leave it in the freezer.
MS: I wrote it about Carley actually.
JH: If it’s too personal, and beyond my business.
MS: No, we’re an open book, it’s all good.
CR: In a condensed version, we were best friends, and we mutually developed feelings for each other, but we were with other people, and we had expressed to each other that we had feelings. But then I started pulling away, ’cause I was thinking we weren’t ready to be with each other yet.
JH: I remember last time we talked Carley, and you mentioned that you had been through a whirlwind of a relationship. I asked if there was a happy ending, you said “Absolutely”.
CR: Yeah that was our dynamic.
JH: Is this your happy ending?
CR: Yeah this is it.
JH: Great, I love the happy ending.
CR: It was a tornado of emotions, and we’re both artists, so it was dramatic, which is fine. Now we’re together.
JH: When did you two get married?
MS: Two years ago.
JH: Well it’s been 3 years since we’ve talked Carley, but congratulations. I remember our first interview you said that you knew you were gay at sixteen, and you had a supportive family. I showcased that part of the interview back then, and now to see you’re married and happy, and collaborating.
MS: I have another song coming out in a month.
JH: What is it called?
MS: It’s undecided at the moment. We have to warm the room up, we might hit the dance floor at some point.
JH: And Carley, you got a new single coming out shortly, “Bad Things”. So, back when I was bounty hunting, I used a lot of handcuffs, and I see the picture there, Carley, I never had to use that many on anyone, so I’m assuming it was symbolic of something.
CR: Oh yeah, it was a metaphor.
JH: You also had the handcuffs in the video for “Blazing” there Morgan.
MS: Oh you picked up on that one.
JH: Yeah, I got a couple of pairs left, with a bulletproof vest if you want.
MS: We should have called you when we were doing this, we were hunting on eBay.
CR: It was stressful wearing that many pairs, I was screaming.
JH: I’m sorry to bring that up, but it’s all for the art right?
CR: Morgan dropped the keys and we were hunting in the grass for them.
MS: Yeah I found out that a lot of handcuffs have the same key.
CR: Not all of them… About half of them.
MS: We like sprinkling the easter eggs in there.
JH: Yeah you both had them in for your singles. So Carley :
Wiped up your tears when you were wrong.
I made you my everything.
You never gave me anything.
Karma doesn’t miss a thing.
Those are some classic Carley lyrics there.
CR: Sometimes a song is about a situation or a couple’s situations. This was about a couple, different aspects of romantic relationships that I’ve had, work relationships when someone is treating you badly, and in a Karma mood.
JH: Ok, so this is all about me… A tour with both of you on the bill?
MS: Let’s manifest that.
CR: Yeah, we would love to do that one day, if we got the ball rolling at a good speed.
JH: So, live shows in the making? Or wait ’til the album releases?
MS: We’re always thinking ahead. We wanna play tours.
CR: Probably after the release of the full body.
MS: We have a lot of visuals to make and the music to finish up, so we’ll see when the timing’s right it will happen.
JH: I’ll be honest, I would LOVE to see you both live on stage.
MS: Well, we look forward to possibly touring.
JH: Well, ladies, thanks again for the convo, and all the best, congratulations on the new music.
Morgan Saint – Homepage and Instagram
Carley Ridersleeve – Homepage and Instagram
Full interview can be heard at 20 Minute Banter Morgan Saint and Carley Ridersleeve – Sticky Jazz
