Mixed feelings: Storm Queen vocalist Morgan Geist says he’s happy about the remix success, but feels a little left out about its popularity compared to his original.


By Geoffrey Rowlands


It’s more than a year since Storm Queen’s single, Look Right Through, was first released. The track proved highly popular in dance clubs around the world but was never regarded as particularly chart-friendly. A recent remix by Marc ‘M.K.’ Kinchen changed things dramatically. The song has shot straight to number one on the UK chart.
“It’s great to have this success,” smiled Storm Queen, real name Morgan Geist. “But I feel slightly removed from everything in that M.K.’s remix is getting all the attention rather than my original version. It feels strange really because it’s my song but Marc crafted it in such a way as to make it accessible to a much wider audience of people who are not pure dance music fans.”
Now 40, Morgan has been creating dance tracks since the mid-1990s. Most of his releases have been solo projects but he is best known as one half of the retro-house outfit Metro Area.

“I grew up in Wayne, New Jersey, which isn’t exactly the epicentre of East Coast dance music. In fact, I didn’t have any great interest in dance tracks when I was young. It wasn’t until I was at Oberlin College in Ohio that I really got into dance. I used to drive about three hours to this club in the middle of nowhere to hear sets by famous DJs from the Detroit music scene such as Derrick May and Juan Atkins.
“These guys were a big influence on my early work. I followed the Detroit techno tradition of mechanical sounds. I thought nothing was better than an 808 drum machine. It was only after forming Metro Area with Darshan (Jesrani) that I began exploring more organic sounds.”
Morgan and Darshan’s Metro Area records attracted enormous critical acclaim. The popularity of their EPs and albums meant they were never short of work. As so often with dance music partnerships though, the boys created as many solo tracks as Metro Area material.
“This is the nature of dance music. We each have our particular fields of interest as solo artists so we make specialist tracks in these genres in addition to our collaborations as Metro Area.”
This desire to develop more personal songs led Morgan to release his first material under the Storm Queen moniker in 2011. But club acclaim did not translate into mainstream chart success until Marc Kinchen worked his magic on Look Right Through.
“I couldn’t be happier about the song doing so well. I’m not one of those dance music artists who see their work as being tainted if it is remixed by someone else or achieves mainstream success. I used to be. Darshan and I were really pure about our music. We turned down numerous requests to use Metro Area stuff in advertising campaigns. But things have changed. I’ve realised the value of compromising, at least to some extent.”
Morgan now has a refreshing attitude to his music.
“I’d never make some stupid commercial track just for the money. But I realise I’m not the most skilled musician. It’s not like I’m writing classical or orchestral pieces. I’m lucky to earn a good living creating the kind of music I love. I just want to keep making the best possible dance tracks. If more mainstream success does come along, I’ll regard it as a very welcome bonus.”



in
brief

McBusted

There is interesting news for fans of McFly and Busted. The two teen appeal bands have decided to join forces as a six-piece supergroup McBusted.
Their collaboration came about after the bands teamed up during McFly’s tenth anniversary concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall last September. They performed Busted’s hits, Year 3000 and Air Hostess, along with McFly’s Shine A Light.
“We enjoyed ourselves so much and the fan response was so enthusiastic that it gave us the idea of turning the two bands into one,” smiled Busted’s Matt Willis. “The reaction was way beyond anything we could have imagined so the concept of becoming McBusted made perfect sense.”
Some Busted fans will be disappointed by the absence of original frontman Charlie Simpson. He quit the band to form Fightstar in 2004, is currently working on solo material and has expressed no intention of becoming involved with McBusted.
The combined band have scheduled a UK tour for next spring. In addition to McFly and Busted hits, they expect to be playing new songs created by McBusted.

Eminem

Eminem has set a new UK album chart record for American artists.
The rap megastar’s latest album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, stormed straight to number one. In so doing, it became his seventh consecutive UK chart-topper and made him the first US-born artist to achieve this feat.
Whatever joy Eminem gained from setting the new mark was offset by news of a fire at his childhood home in Detroit. Although the modest two-storey house was boarded up and unoccupied, extensive damage was caused after it was mysteriously set alight.
The house is depicted on the covers of both the original Marshall Mathers LP and the new album.

A Perfect Circle

It was 2004 when American alternative rockers A Perfect Circle released their third studio album. Since then, no new material has been issued by the band.
This changed today with the release of their greatest hits album, Three Sixty, which contains one new song, By and Down. The track can be heard at www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvISM-n9700.
Available next week is A Perfect Circle Live: Featuring Stone and Echo. This limited edition box set sees the band performing their three albums, Mer de Noms, Thirteenth Step and eMOTIVe, on consecutive nights during their 2010 concert tour. A bonus CD of A Perfect Circle’s August 11, 2011, performance at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre is also included in the package.
Sadly, physical copies were sold out on pre-release orders but the box set can be purchased as a digital download.

Stukenberg

Stukenberg have been making a name for themselves over the past few years. Their debut album, Mountain of Pieces, was released in 2008. But a revolving door of musicians around founder member David Stukenberg, allied to his apparent reluctance to give serious interviews, has hindered the band’s progress.
Despite this, the quality of their songs has given Stukenberg a growing fanbase, which now have a new album, Novella, to enjoy. The video for lead single, No Home, can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYcymtuIIQo. New single, Hero, is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co89CDRi1O8.

La Luz

La Luz had a dream come true when the Seattle-based all-girl surf-rock quartet landed the support slot on Of Montreal’s North American concert tour.
The dream became a nightmare when their van was rear ended by a large truck. Thankfully, the girls were not badly hurt but their vehicle, instruments and merchandise were totally destroyed.
To help them purchase a new van and instruments, their record label, Suicide Squeeze, is taking no profits from the band’s Brainwash EP. The two tracks can be heard and downloaded at (no www.) suicidesqueeze.bandcamp.com/album/brainwash.
Their 2012 five-song EP, Damp Face, is posted at (no www.) laluz.bandcamp.com/.