We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful MIchael Morgan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with MIchael below.

Hi MIchael, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

Embrace my many crazy passions as I really figured out what I loved. Making music, performing, and just music in general being very much in that forefront. For my first local show, with my “first” real band; we played at a church that I happened to also book. They without helped run the door, bought food/drinks for concessions, and ran concessions. That really meant a lot to say the least, especially looking back on it now.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Michael Morgan. I am the vocalist for the post-hardcore band Havens. We are a hard-hitting, emotionally driven outfit based out of Oak Forest, IL.

Even from a young age, music has always struck a special chord with me. Some of my earliest memories are music related. When I was roughly 5 or so I received an electric toy guitar and microphone for Christmas. I jammed and sang absolute nonsense for everyone at that Christmas party. I can confirm this due to the lovely home video I come across from time to time of it. Haha! My Uncle Rich was heavily involved in those early music related memories. He really showed me what passion was within music. I really admired the fact that every time you caught him with his acoustic; it didn’t matter if it was just a few of the family members hanging out or in front of a huge crowd of people, he’d play his absolute heart out each and every time. It truly didn’t matter the occasion. He is also the person who gave me my first real microphone. I guess you can say that’s where my story really started.

Now, just because I received a microphone as a gift, that didn’t mean I could consider myself a vocalist. Being a vocalist was something I really had to work at. Growing up, I was told I wasn’t much of a singer. Surprise, surprise. Talk about a confidence killer. But finding “heavy music” and “screaming” was a game changer for me. I spent so many hours watching youtube tutorials on how to properly scream. Even more hours on learning how to actually do it! Some time later, I finally fronted my first band during my senior year of high school. We played some shows, recorded some songs, and then eventually ended. That cycle repeated on throughout the years with a couple of other bands. Needless to say, I learned a lot along the way and I am very grateful for the opportunities it has given me. It was also the confidence builder that I very much needed.

That confidence allowed me to step outside my comfort zone in my most former band, Polarities. I felt stagnate with just “screaming.” That fact really pushed me to want to learn how to sing. Because I started off as a screamer, learning how to sing too wasn’t the easiest transition. But thankfully through the support and patience of my band mates at the time, I eventually found myself as a clean vocalist as well.

Unfortunately, after some time Polarities had reached its end. Around that same time frame my sister was also in the process of dying from cancer. Shortly after her death, I was fortunate enough to have Tom Minogue assist me in writing the instrumentals for a track in her memory. Once that idea was brought to life, I tracked vocals with my favorite engineer Sam Henderson of Always Be Genius Recording Studio. From there, Havens was born.

Shortly after the release of “If Only” one of my best friends Mark Graham, who also played bass in Polarities, took over guitar and back up vocal duties. Slowly but surely the rest of the line up fell into place. An EP and several releases later; we are in the process of preparing for the release of new track that I think will hit home for a lot of people.

With that being said, I am proud of everything that I’ve been apart of musically for their own reasons. However, I believe that “If Only” and this unreleased track that I previously mentioned are definitely the tracks I am most proud of due to how personal those tracks are to me. At the end of that day though, I really hope for those who listen to Havens just find a way to relate with our music.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Those who know me best would likely agree that I am a known over thinker. With that being said, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist / creative is that feeling of accomplishment once the ending product has been reached. Throughout the process of getting to that point; whether it’s getting ready for an upcoming live event, writing, or leading up to studio time, etc.. I am constantly looking at and challenging what could be better. However, at the end of it all, I always find myself being very happy. I recently was in tears listening to an unreleased Havens track in my car as I drove to my day job. Haha!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

It’s an outlet for me that I am very passionate about. I need it like life needs water. Writing melodies, lyrics, and recording brings out my creative side. While playing live shows or simply jamming in practice spot with my band mates brings out that angst that’s been building up throughout the week. Not to mention all the behind the scene stuff that goes on that I am also passionate about. I enjoy handling most of those managerial tasks that comes with being in an independent band. I also take care of most of design work for Havens, along with Honey Hill Naturals.

Contact Info:

• Website: LinkTree.com/WeAreHavens
• Instagram: Instagram.com/WeAreHavens
• Facebook: Facebook.com/WeAreHavens
• Twitter: Twitter.com/WeAreHavens
• Youtube: Youtube.com/WeAreHavens

Image Credits
Rob Haberman Chris Tracy Jessica Morgan