Neal’s Faith

George Heron: Where you Christened / Baptised as a child?

Neal Morse: No I wasn’t.

GH: So you didn’t have a religious family?

NM: Not at all. My parents used to go to church before I was born, a Methodist church in California. My Dad was a choir conductor and my mum was a helper. That is where they met. But by the time I was growing up, they had become disillusioned with the church. So, I wasn’t raised to go to church and wasn’t raised with any religious beliefs at all. But if anything, the culture that I was in – the 70s hippy culture – Jesus was frowned upon and the bible was seen to be false and wrong.

GH: Were there any people in your younger life who were possible role models?

NM: There was my sister, who was a Christian but moved to San Francisco. I didn’t have much contact with her, only really seeing her over the holidays. So, I never really had any role models when I was younger. It wasn’t until I came into the church in the late 30s. I got a lot of role models then.

GH: So, the impression that I get from the "Testimony" album is that meeting your wife was a catalyst to finding your faith.

NM: Well, it was really the church. She was raised in a Pentecostal church in California. At some point, the pastor felt that they should move for whatever reason. So, the whole parish moved all the way to Nashville, a congregation of some 300 families. When I came to Nashville, after feeling so down and out in LA, I met my wife and started going to church. But I was what my friend Mark Leniger (Saxophone on testimony) a “Creaster”. So, I was a good husband going to Christmas eve mass and I started to feel something. Something like physically even, as if from the Holy Ghost, in my body and in my spirit. I had no idea what to make of it. I was like, “What is this?” This is what I guessed the congregation were getting all excited about when they were jumping around and dancing. The lord began to woo me with the spirit. After many of the things that the lord did for me, especially the healing of my daughter and after a couple more years, I began to dedicate my life to God. It’s taken me a while to fully surrender it all and I’ve never felt better.

GH: What kind of Christianity are you affiliated with?

NM: I go to a non-denomination Pentecostal church.

GH: Are there any views you agree or disagree with in the Pentecostal faith?

NM: I think there are a lot of types of Pentecostal churches. And they have their own disagreements with each other. I just try to follow the bible.

GH: Is there any parts of the bible you disagree with?

NM: I believe that the bible is the word of God. Where the issues come in is down to individual interpretation. I don’t like to promote anything that divides the Christian faith as it says in the book of Ephesians, “endeavour to keep the unity of the faith”. This unity must be brought about by love. One the greatest things God gave us was Charity and if we don’t have either love or charity then its all for nought.

GH: On a lighter note, one of the funniest things I have ever seen is your kids dancing to "Tarkus" (by Emerson, Lake and Palmer). Are there any other progressive classics that your kids like to dance to?

NM: I think that’s pretty much it. We got that from my brother Al. They dance more to the chipmunks than anything else. I'll have to see if I can get them to dance to "Close to the Edge" or something (laughs)

Or "Metropolis Part 1" (Dream Theater) (both laugh)

Neal’s Music

GH: You left Spock’s Beard just after the release of "Snow". I think, as do a lot of people, that it is the best Spock’s Beard album. Do you feel that you have neglected the "Snow" material?

NM: Funny you should mention that as I have just done an acoustic show in Michigan. I played to a couple of friends before that gig and there were a few people asking me to do some numbers from "Snow". I couldn’t remember them. I could remember some of the choruses and verses but not a whole song. So on the drive up I asked my wife to drive while I learn a few songs from "Snow". I came up with an acoustic medley, "Made Alive", "Stranger in a Strange Land", a little bit of "Love Beyond Words", "Open Wide the Flood Gates" and a little bit of "Carrie" and then finally "Wind at My Back".

GH: I love it in "“Wind at My Back" when Nick reaches those high notes.

NM: Yeah, ain’t that great? I really enjoy that part myself.

GH: What are you favourite artists on the Progressive scene at the moment?

NM: I like the Flower Kings a lot. I like some Marillion stuff too. IZZ are another band that I really like, as are The Tangent.

GH: What artist would you like to collaborate with in the future?

NM: I'd love to collaborate with Peter Gabriel. I don't think that will happen though.

GH: Well, you never know…

NM: I really would like to work with Phil Keaggy again. An incredible guitar player who plays a lot of the solos in the new album I have coming out ("One" November 2nd).

GH: How did it feel having to share creative control with Randy George (Testimony) and Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater).?

NM: It felt great. We pretty much agreed on everything. I was guided by prayer to surrender control and it went fine. Mike had some great ideas about cutting and pasting certain tracks and Randy wrote a lot of lyrics for the songs and is a great lyricist.

GH: A lot of the songs from "Testimony" feel to me that they are proper hymns, like "To Feel Him" and "I Am Willing". They seem to have a bit of God in them.

NM: I'm glad you can feel that. I think that God has helped me to make music all along. I feel that God and Jesus take a hands-on approach with my music and I feel blessed when I am singing them songs. When I sing about the glory of God and Jesus I feel so good. I noticed during the concert I did on Saturday night that it was going OK, I was going through a lot of old stuff and every one seemed happy to be there and I do like the old stuff. But when I got to the "Testimony" material and when I got to the stuff about the Lord, that’s when I really came alive in my heart.

GH: Do you feel that God is running through you even more after the making of “ONE”?

NM: I don’t know. I feel the Lord was with me just as much in both "Testimony" and "One". Both were very emotional albums for me to make. I hope this emotion transfers well onto the albums.

GH: In terms of technique, are there any musical themes that feel really good when you are playing them?

NM: I’d have to say any theme in "Testimony", especially "God's Theme".

GH: Do you practice playing every day?

NM: I don’t really practice unless I have a gig coming up. I usually just tend to sit around and play. I like to play and sing with my kids. Actually, "Mystery Train" from the first Transatlantic album was written whilst I was playing with my kids. The piano is an instrument that I love to play, so I don’t practice – I play a lot.

GH: You are a producer for a lot of your albums, either Spock's or solo. Do you have a fixed style or is it individual to each album?

NM: Well it always is a challenge to figure out how to do it. What I used to do was record a demo and then re-record the tracks for the band. But that meant doing a lot of my stuff twice and I found it hard to re-capture the same inspiration. You come across a syndrome that Kerry Livgren (Kansas) calls "Demo Love" (laughs). A lot of the stuff from Spock's is stuff I’ve added to direct from the demo. For example, I use vocals from the demo as I can never do it as good afterwards. You’ve gotta get that performance and try and fit it on there. In fact, the first vocal from "The Light" is taken from an 8-track demo. I tried to do that on Testimony, using the demo, but the problem with that is you can’t change the tempo. I feel some parts in Testimony are too slow. Whereas with “ONE”, we could punch in a new tempo before recording on-the-go, so we got the best of both worlds. It gives the tracks more of a live energy.

GH: Even though you are becoming more of a Christian artist, you are still progressive. Do you feel that the best is yet to come and that you can still progress at this time?

NMK: I know the best is yet to come. All this creativity is a gift from God. But you never know if it will all dry up and God may call me out of it. I look at my whole life as a gift from Him. Whatever achievements I make, I give Him the glory. I don’t know what’ll happen next but I know it will be great. I'm not as focussed on the music anymore, I'm more focused on Him.

GH: But wouldn't it break your heart if God told you to abandon music, when it has been your life?

NM: I don't think that God works that way. He gives gifts and desires but He won’t take them away permanently. He might take them away for a period but then resurrect them bringing them back in a different way. Whatever He does is always good in the end. We need to go through whatever God wants us to go through to purify us. They call it a "Walk with the Faith" as you only know what you need know at the given time and you can’t look too far ahead. I didn’t know I was going to do anymore music when I left Spock’s Beard. I didn’t know how I was gonna make a living, but it’s turned out incredible. Way better than I ever could have imagined. If we put our trust in him we can exceed any expectations. I didn’t think I had anything left after "Snow". Then "Testimony" and “One” came along – a creative explosion.

THE END

Check out the samples of Neal’s new album "One” to be released on November 2nd, InsideOut Music. They illustrate this creative explosion very effectively.