John Morgan

John Morgan is a Vancouver staple, just like rain except that you wish he never go away because who else would make you dance to the best progressive and tech house beats?

Ive never ever been to a website where the equipment is displayed with such pride. At Unit 187 you have an organizational chart showing everything you use (including vocals) and at Rephlux Labs you have a bunch of photos plus a list. Why is it important to you to have such a variety of instruments? What would you recommend for someone who is just starting out? What do you take with yourself when you tour? How anal are you about people touching your gear?

Ive been making electronic music for close to 20 years now so the equipment does eventually add up. I guess with keyboards, most of them make surprisingly different sounds, so having several different types gives you more variety. Years ago this was more important, but now one good keyboard can cover a lot of different sounds. For someone just starting out, Id recommend a fast computer and some good software like Reason, along with a good set of speakers - that would get you quite far. Im not anal about my gear at all - most of its pretty trashed from use and abuse. I used to throw my vintage Korg around on stage before I knew it was worth anything... I actually havent toured in about 6 years - Unit:187 has been asked to several times recently, but Tod and I are pretty busy with Film work (Tod) and videogames (Me) that its quite tough to fit a live band / tour into our schedules.

Do you mix regularly with three turntables?

I used to - before CDJs, 3 turntables were way cool - you could put an Acapella or drum track like Ritchie Hawtins Musik on the 3rd deck and do cool stuff. Now that CDJs are way more popular, 3 decks are pretty obsolete - Ill be selling my 3rd 1200 soon to make room for a CDJ-1000.

Listening to the clips on your websites its either house or industrial. Do you produce other styles?

I produce lots of breakbeat and drum and bass stuff for videogames... those tracks seem to work much better in that medium - for some reason, house music doesnt work at all in videogames - strange isnt it.

Anger Management (Bitstream dream mix) definitely has some trance to it. How is it taken by the industrial crowd.

The Industrial crowd is totally hip to trance. Theres a whole genre called ebm and dance-floor industrial thats very trance related - Funker Vogt is a band who recently remixed some Unit:187 songs in this style - kinda like 2000 era Nitzerebb.

Are there any similarities between both music scenes?

For sure - I dont go out to the Goth & Industrial nights much, but they have DJs with people dancing at clubs and getting into the music they like... its basically the same thing, only everyone wears black and has a dog collar on, which can be pretty cool in its own way - I draw the line at capes however.

Are there people that scoff at the fact that you make both industrial and house music because they have such different sounds?

Not at all. Most people are amazed by it - its hard to be creative and be diverse. After all its still all just electronic music. Vancouvers house music scene is built on some of the foundations laid by bands such as Skinny Puppy and Frontline Assembly.

How stoked were you when you found out a Unit 187 song was going to be used for The Sopranos?

The Sopranos is a cool show, so it was neat to have a small bit to do with it - Unit:187s music is so heavy and dark that it often gets used in film and television for scenes where people are getting killed or bad stuff is happening. Recently, though, some of our music has been used for the lab scenes on NCIS. Theres a Goth chic called Abby that runs the lab and on the show shes got our music playing in the background.

The pop-up for Unit 187 is very striking. Who produced it?

Im actually not even sure - I think his link is on the pop-up. It was sent over to us by a fan from Germany, and its so cool we decided to use it for the site. Basically we got it about the same time Bush was invading Iraq, and I though the Thall shall not Kill sentiment was pretty relevant. I really like the controversial nature of the site - it does make you think.

Who are your current influences for industrial?

Mostly oldschool influences like Chemlab, Diatribe, Frontline Assembly, Skinny Puppy, and Godflesh. The new Decree album by Chris Petersons band is amazing!

Youve toured extensively around the world and you still have decided to base yourself in Vancouver. Does Vancouver have something to offer that you were unable to find elsewhere in the world?

Vancouver is an amazing city - lots of diversity and really strong group of open-minded creative people. Lots of cool stuff going on with computers and media, so for Canada thats offering quite a bit. My entire family and all my friends are from Vancouver, so that does make it easier to stay here. New York or San Francisco would be interesting cities to live in, but I enjoy just visiting when I can for now.

How does your day job compliment your night job?

For sure - everything I do at work and in my studio after hours revolves around electronic music, so they compliment each other quite a bit. Its always a learning process with electronic music, so the crossover between videogames and dance music is huge.

Did you go to Nutta Butta?

I didnt go, but I still for sure have the flyer and remember around the time when it was - it was definitely the early days of raves in Vancouver and I went to lots of them and did live PA at several with a 909, tb303 and an old korg Monopoly....

When was the last time you took a school bus to a rave?

The last school bus I took to a rave was in 1996 going to Never Never Land. Not even sure why... I guess at that time it was cool and fun to be part of the masses...

Do you think the party scene will collapse under its own weight and there will be a reemergence of more intimate and affordable events?

Ive heard that question before! There will always be a party scene, and there will always be dance music as long as people continue to dance and have fun. Probably for the better those things kinda got too big and expensive because it just forces the scene and the music back underground where it should be - thats where creativity is once again cultivated. As for expensive party tickets - I think people know better than to pay insane money for parties that cant deliver - its always the small intimate events that are more memorable.

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