SORNE – “I can be a woman in music if you want me to be”
As I was leaving a cafe in Austin during SXSW 2011, some intense drumming drew me in. I decided to be late meeting my friends to see who could make so much noise on a sunny Texas afternoon. I saw a frontman bouncing all over the stage and the two other members of the band perform with a ferocity of unmatched by the other bands I’ve seen all week. I grabbed their album on my way to meet some friends and upon listening, was entranced by the pulsing drums, unusual sounds, textured chanting, and visceral cries of their lead singer. The hypnotic and compelling narrative of the five siblings addressing their suffering, atonement, and redemption is engaging from beginning to end. I still feel that Sorne’s House of Stone is one of the best and most original and underrated albums of 2011, and I really want more people to listen to it.
Fast forward to almost a year-and-a-half later, I see that Sorne is playing at Mercury Lounge, and I cleared all of my plans for the evening to go to the show. The band was setting up some intriguingly lively cutouts of midnight blue children on stage with them, but by the time their first song ended, no one could take their eyes off the stage. Frontman Morgan Sorne was performing with a voracious tenacity, as if he was pouring every ounce of his life and soul into every note he sang and every beat of his drum. Sorne’s relentless energy backed by the pulsing floor toms from drummer Dean Cote and the haunting sounds and samples triggered by Kevin Naquin took everyone’s breath away. In fact, by the time Sorne broke out his acoustic guitar for the heart-wrenching ballad “Coyote,” the whole room was dead silent and completely entranced, which almost never happens at shows. The pureness and immediacy of this performance was like a visual, sonic, and emotional attack that triggered existential contemplation. The raw energy of this show was simply refreshing and unforgettable. A few minutes after recovering from their truly epic set, I sent profanity-laden texts to friends encouraging them to see their other New York shows with me that week. After their final show of the week at the cavernous Brooklyn Bowl, I sat down with them near Prospect Park for a candid chat about their band history and adventures on tour.
Where are you all from and how did you all meet?
Morgan: We’re from all over. I’m originally from Tallahassee.
Kevin: I’m from New Orleans.
Deano: I’m from Rhode Island.
Morgan: We all met in Austin two years ago, give or take. We all came to Austin looking to start something new. I have been working on this record for four years, and a mutual friend introduced me to Dean and I met Kevin at an art show.
Kevin: on Craig’s List.
[laughs]
Morgan: House of Stone has been a work in progress for quite some time. We recorded everything using handmade instruments, my voice, and things found within the house, and these guys have helped bring that show to life live. Since February of last year we’ve worked together to present this to as many people as we can. And it’s been a really exciting ride thus far.
Awesome. How would you describe your sound to be people who have never seen you before?
Morgan: I think a lot of people have used the word “tribal” a lot. I think that speaks to the rhythmic element there.
Dean: I think that our show is very physical and primal.
Kevin: Visceral.
Dean: We’re moving, so that adds. Sonically, it’s not necessarily. It’s also a lot of drum and voice, which I guess is tribal, so I can understand, but
Kevin: And the chanting.
Dean: We talk about the tribal thing and it’s funny
Kevin: When I hear the word “tribal” I think of the electronic terms of tribal, like in the electronic dance music scene, like tribal and jungle. So we try to stay away from the tribal thing.
Dean: I always say “What tribe?” There’s so many tribes in the world. We’re the tribe of Sorne?
Morgan: For me personally in composing it all, it’s more about connecting with a human element, you know? And I think beyond that, if somebody wants to describe it that way, okay. But, you know, it’s more about connecting with universal rhythm or inner rhythm and then hoping that other people can respond to that. And I think that’s happened.
What is the inspiration behind House of Stone, which is this incredible concept album filled with such interesting characters?
Morgan: Initially it was based on people that I knew in my life, and over time those characters became more archetypal, which for me serve as various aspects of the human condition if you will. So the intention is to draw from personal experience but to create story and substance that anyone can relate to, that you can even take and imbue your own ideas. And having a certain level of ambiguity lyrically and also in the narrative that one can create their own story. But I began writing it when I was in high school, so it’s been in my head for quite some time now.
Wow.
Morgan: And the music came over the course of the last four years and producing the work and making visual art. But really I feel like the stories that you hear in the songs draw from a well that we all drink from, so to speak.
The cardboard cutouts of the children with you on stage, how long did that take you to do that?
Morgan: Those pieces are replicas of the originals which were on wood. When I moved to Texas, I had done a show at Florida State Museum of Fine Art where I had 36 different life-sized cutouts on wood painted. And these cutouts would take anywhere from 6 hours to 6 months. Some pieces take longer because they need to sit and marinate for a while. Other pieces come like that. So when I moved to Texas, I brought my portfolio of these works with me to a gallery in Marfa, and they really liked it and wanted me to do a new show for a summer exhibition. And that desert was the inspiration for the coloring of those characters. The hues and everything is as if they were lit by moonlight. If you spend any time in the Southwest, you have this black sky and a full moon and there’s that romantic blue that blankets everything.
What is on the DVD that you have at your merch table?
Morgan: That DVD is a short film that a friend of ours made last year. It’s a short piece that sort of serves as a glimpse into the narrative.
Dean: In the live show, there is a dance troupe that dances with us.
Morgan: There’s this gal Stephanie Chavez who I met last year. She did choreography for this entire show. To really get closer to the grand vision, which is to create an immersive experience with the visual, the performance, and the musical. It’s a 90-minute long performance of the album and a few extra pieces and it’s set within an installation of the visual art. It was filmed in San Antonio last year.
What is the craziest thing to happen to you guys on tour?
Dean: This tour is called “The You Only Die Once” Tour.
[Laughs]
Dean: A lot of–
Kevin: Crying and bleeding.
Dean and Kevin: The “You Only Die Once, Crying and Bleeding, Kevin’s Way or the Highway” Tour.
[Laughs]
Morgan: We did some California stuff and we did these festivals out there and some pretty intense people that really was an incredible experience.
Dean: Played in a dust storm…
Morgan: We played in a desert at 4am with the sun coming up. No sense of reality.
Dean: Haha you asked for one thing and we gave you a bunch!
What the most memorable event from all this time on the road this last year?
Morgan: One of the coolest things for me personally was this show at a convent turned art colony in San Francisco. This guy totally made us feel at home. He goes by the name Michelangelo.
Dean; He is like Michelangelo reincarnate.
Kevin: That’s my theory.
[laughs]
Morgan: This building is incredible. The rooftop overlooks the Bay Area and then they have a chapel with a piano in it, and then a rectory. And we did three sets – we did a set on the roof, which was like the show you saw last night. And then we did a set where I played some of the piano songs in the chapel. And then we did an afterparty set in the rectory…essentially an acoustic set where we had people singing the parts in harmony, and it was just beautiful. I mean the spirit there. Everybody was there, everybody was open.
Dean: We’ve been starting to do that. We did it at the last show when the rain came. In Austin, we said “let’s do what we did in San Francisco.” We went inside and did an acoustic and everyone started singing. We coached the audience. People played the big drum
That sounds like so much fun!
Morgan: The participatory element really speaks to…it’s inviting people can know that this is something to be a part of because it’s a very powerful thing.
What has been your favorite city or show on tour? Would it be San Francisco?
Kevin: Brooklyn!
Dean: Brooklyn.
Haha nice. I’m developing a food app for touring bands. What would you recommend?
Kevin: Hillside Farmacy in Austin.
Dean: It’s my sister’s place.
Nice. What’s coming up next for you guys? For the rest of 2012 and beyond.
Kevin: We’re going to be on the road pretty much til the end of the year. We’re taking a little break next month and then through December just be on the road everywhere.
Sweet. Any plans for recording a new album any time soon?
Morgan: So when I did all this, there was quite a bit of material that has yet to be released. At this point, it’s just deciding the most appropriate way to put it out. There’s a couple of ideas that I’ve had in terms of releasing the rest of it in chapter form, where each record is a chapter, or perhaps putting out a second record that sort of further
Dean: Would you like Sorne to record a record?
Kevin: The chapters would be through each of the individual characters.
Morgan: For each character there’s a different record. That was the initially concept in doing this, but it also might be nice to put out another record that is a compilation of those characters’ songs.
Dean: It could be like family reunion.
Morgan: Right. But that’ll be 2013.
Dean: But we’re looking to continue to book tours. If anyone wants us to come to their home town…
Kevin: Make sure you let everyone know we’re DIY – we do everything ourselves. We print our own shirts, we drive our own van, we load in our own gear…
Dean: We make our own posters…
Everything about you guys from your live show to your album to your artwork is just so interesting and fascinating. I can’t wait to write about you guys!
Dean: We are all really family-oriented people in our own right and together we’re like brothers. We look out for each other and we’re working hard together and having lots of fun…in moderation. Mostly they keep me..[laughs]
Morgan: He has a leash. It’s in the van.
Kevin: We didn’t think it’d be appropriate for the shots if we had him on his leash. We’ll put it on as soon as we leave.
Dean: It’s like a little kid harness.
[laughs]
Nasa: Can you guys tell us about your jewelry and accessories? Like did you make them or do they have a story?
Dean: I was asking for a medallion, like a strong, masculine medallion to wear, especially when we’re doing this, like something to keep me strong as we go. So my cousin got me this for $5 at the Salvation Army and I put it on and was like “I really like this.” Months went by and months went by and people were like “what is this? what is that?” and I was like “I don’t know…I just like it” and wouldn’t ever take it off. So finally, after a year of feeling like a fool for having no story, I looked up the name on eBay, and this thing was like $1200. And I was like “$1200?!” and I kept reading and it turns out it’s like a human tuning fork, and I think the copper and the way it’s designed is supposed to resonate and vibrate with your energy. It’s cured people’s fibromyalgia, arthritis, depression, all these things. I’d read all these reviews and testomonies and was like “wow.” So now I haven’t taken it off since and probably won’t.
Morgan: We have friend Charlie Bird-Wolf and she has a company called Savagesouls Vintage and she’s been gracious enough to loan us some pieces and has helped me with some wardrobe things so we want to give her our love. I didn’t bring a lot of the stuff she did for me personally ‘cause I didn’t want to mess it up but she’s done some beautiful pieces. She does wardrobe design and consultation.
Watch Morgan perform ‘Coyote’ for us in Brooklyn.
http://www.sorne.com/
https://www.facebook.com/sornemusic
https://twitter.com/sorneofficial
Story / Interview: Rebecca An
Photos: Nasa Hadizadeh
Post Production: Zaneta Brown
