Local psych-pop artist Captain Morris has spent the better part of the last few years crafting an album, titled Interviewee. At the age of 18, he has had to balance being a musician with being a student at Park High School, but what’s more impressive? He composed, recorded, mixed and mastered the entire album by himself, from the comfort of his own bedroom. With its densely packed compositions, playful lyrics and huge production, Interviewee is an album you should be sure to check out.

How would you describe your live shows?

“I try to look at my live set as a standalone work in and of itself. I’m weary of bands that just get up on stage and play their songs. I think shows should serve as a means for a performer and audience to interact. I’m also in a strange situation because while the musical components of my act are triggered by electronics, my music isn’t necessarily what you’d consider “electronic,” at least not in the EDM sense. A lot of electronic musicians these days have the luxury of relying on the beat driven nature of their music and flashy synchronized light shows to engage an audience, but I don’t have those luxuries. Taking those ideas into consideration, I’ve put together a live show where audience members become part of the performance by coming up on stage to manipulate projections, as well as acting out absurdist scenarios—the name of the show is, ‘The Captain Morris Scenario Show’. I’ve found that to be successful when it comes to engaging an audience and bringing a new excitement to the music in a live situation.”

What motifs and themes did you touch on throughout the album?

“I don’t make a conscious effort to write about specific things when I write a song. I like it more if the song comes from a place instead. That being said, there are some lyrical themes that run throughout the album. There’s a lot to do with pets. My dog died when I was making the album so that pops up a couple times. I think there’s a recurring theme of uncertainty that runs throughout; lyrics about being unsure of yourself when it comes to relationships with other people, both romantic and not.”

With the exception of “Clock Hits Zero”, you generally stick to simple diction, is this intentional? 

“It’s not really an intentional thing. A lot of the lyrics on the album swing from being relatively literal to fairly abstract, but I tend not to get too caught up with word choice. My writing process is different than a lot of other peoples’ in that I write as I record. I don’t have a full song’s worth of lyrics written before I get on the microphone. That being said, my lyrics aren’t so much stream of consciousness. They’re just more off-the-cuff than it may seem.”

The Doo-Wop, Animal Collective and Talking Heads influences are clear, but what is an influence you have that might not be so obvious? 

“It’s hard to say. I was recently listening to a lot of songs I used to like when I was a young kid and I realized how much of an influence they’ve been. Just little things like certain bass fills or drum parts. I’ll hear something I haven’t listened to in 10 years and be like, ‘oh that’s where the idea for that melody came from.’ It’s difficult to give specific examples though … definitely some older big band stuff. Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, stuff like that.”

What benefits have you enjoyed as a result of working out of a home studio?

“I know where everything is and what it does. For me that’s a huge deal. I’ve worked in ‘real’ studios on ‘real’ mixing consoles and it’s always been a bit of a headache. But with my studio I’m familiar with all my gear to the point that I feel like I can really push it to its limit in terms of its capability. It’s also in my house which means that if I ever have an idea, I can record it instantly (I always have my microphones set up for those cases).”

Are there any plans to tour in the near future?

“I was planning on touring summer 2017 but I’m not sure if it’ll work out. Stay tuned though.”

What Captain Morris projects should we be looking for in the future? Without disclosing too much, what can you tell us about them?

“More music and more videos. I’ve been writing a bunch of upbeat merengue style tunes recently. I’m also about to start a dollar tracking service on my website, www.captainmorris.com, so I’ve been stamping money (turns out it’s legal). It’s kind of like the bills that have ‘Where’s George’ stamped on them but it says, ‘Captain Morris was here,’ So keep your eyes out for that.”

At the age of eighteen, Captain Morris certainly has a bright future ahead of him, and Interviewee is quite an accomplishment for such a young musician. You can listen to it on Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp and Apple Music, or you can pick up a hard copy and check for live show listings on his website www.captainmorris.com.