British singer, songwriter, and guitarist Billy Morrison was probably best known for playing rhythm in Billy Idol‘s band prior to notching up a #1 single with the late Ozzy Osbourne. A radio host for SiriusXM, he’s also had his paintings exhibited internationally. Despite which, the six minute documentary film Who The F%@K Is Billy Morrison? best explains the man.
Two years back, Morrison delivered The Morrison Project, his third solo album, featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Steve Stevens, and a deluxe edition featuring a bonus track collaboration with Osbourne followed a year later. He followed that this year with Hollow, which like its predecessor is vocally split between himself and guest singers, and is available via TLG/ZOID as distributed by the Virgin Music Group.
Hollow is also proof of how Morrison has developed as a strong and confident lead guitarist.
“I think it was only a matter of time before I somewhat graduated as a guitar player into the category known as lead guitarist. Basically playing so much guitar for so many years, it was a natural learning curve for me. I would never stand next to any of the greats, but I can clearly play what’s needed in my own music, and that would be primarily due to the encouragement and belief of Steve Stevens, who has always allowed me to stretch in the Billy Idol band. I also gravitate to the kind of lead and solos that are musical, not necessarily a thousand notes a second. So that helps!”
Right now, Billy Morrison isn’t holding anything back, as his latest single, ‘Take Me As I Am’, reveals. The video was directed by photographer Jane Stuart, who’s been pivotal to the Morrison visual aesthetic over the course of two albums, and filmed throughout Los Angeles where the singer/guitarist lives. The video powerfully underlines the personal chaos and desperation that he’s singing about. His longtime friend, musician Franky Perez, is seen performing with two showgirl dancers.
Discussing ‘Take Me As I Am’, Morrison said: “Life is a hell of a journey and we are all fallible beings, but we all have the capacity for change. ‘Take Me As I Am’ examines both the concept of change and growth as a human being, and the idea of arriving at a place of acceptance for one another. I believe that as long as we are aware of our faults, and we strive to be a better person tomorrow, then acceptance is one of the most healing attributes we can offer the world. And not understanding the power of judgement can be extremely damaging to others. Having been judged for one thing or another my whole life, finding those people that literally ‘take me as I am’, that accept me for who I am, and allow mistakes to be part of a learning process, is a wonderful feeling.”
Save for drums, Morrison played all the instruments on ‘Take Me As I Am’, and commenting on the recording process he said: “Imagine if Stone Temple Pilots had a torrid affair with Oasis, while hanging out at a party thrown by The Cult and watching an Alice In Chains documentary. I don’t really think too hard about the mindset when writing and recording a song, and especially with ‘Take Me As I Am’ it was more a feeling, a vibe. And having the luxury and the ability to play all the instruments just makes it quicker to be honest. I don’t have to sit and argue if it should be E minor or C sharp, hahaha! I just do what I feel, what I hear in my head. Even with the drums, I don’t play the finished thing, I leave that to the professionals… In this case, it’s Erik Eldenius on the kit… But Erik would be the first to tell you that I programme exactly what I want to hear from the drums, down to the individual hits, velocities, etc. Drum programming is something I really enjoy, so I spend many hours dialling in the drums and then ask the drummers to play exactly what I wrote!”
Regarding the video he continued: “I have had a photographer, Jane Stuart, working with me throughout both album cycles (the previous album, The Morrison Project, and the new album, Hollow) and her aesthetic and ability to portray me in a way that others fail to capture drew me in.
“When it came time for the video for ‘Take Me As I Am’, I asked her if she would consider making her directorial debut for me and she said yes! I literally just said, ‘I have a yellow Lamborghini I want to use, and I’d like to have a black eye in this video,’ and left her to make sense of that within the track. And what a video she came up with, from creative concept to technical execution. She knew what she wanted. The colour palette is very specific and the story captures the essence of the lyrics perfectly: A fallible man, learning from mistakes, and trying to make sense of his own shortcomings. The team she put together was fantastic and Jane knocked this one out of the park.”
‘Take Me As I Am’ is rooted in heavy, angst-fuelled ’90s rock, and you can watch the video below.
The album’s third single was ‘Never Gonna Change’, a fiery pop punk anthem of alienation and rebellion featuring The Offspring‘s Dexter Holland on vocals. The lyric video for this one was designed by Mike Savage.
“‘Never Gonna Change’ is one of those perfect pop punk slices of rebellion that hopefully spans a couple of generational gaps,” said Morrison. “Teenagers will always feel the same, misunderstood, and Dexter has been one of the most vital voices of teenage angst and rebellion since The Offspring hit the world running in 1984. So when I finished writing this track with Los Angeles-based songwriter, Jacob Bunton, it was clear we wanted Dexter to be the voice of the track.
“Dexter and I recently performed together in Royal Machines [Morrison‘s side project], so I dropped him a text and he loved the idea. Thanks to the miracle of modern technology, he was able to record his tracks in the middle of an Offspring tour, and Barry Pointer mixed it all into the killer track we have here.”
Holland himself said: “Billy Morrison has a great track record and is a good guy so when he sent me ‘Never Gonna Change’ for a collab, it was an immediate ‘I’m in.’ The song is just the right amount of angst, rebellion and fun. A summer banger if you ask me.”
“The days of a black screen with white text for a lyric video are way behind us, and Mike Savage is creating killer, story-driven lyric videos which fit this track perfectly,” said Morrison. “It’s an easy, fun way to put some appropriate visuals to the song and get the lyrics out there. Mike did a great job on this one.”
Title track ‘Hollow’ was the single before that, and an autobiographical song, highlighted by Morrison‘s deeply felt vocals and sweeping lead guitar runs. Mike Savage again directed its lyric video, one that traced Morrison‘s previously unhinged life.
“The title track to my new album was inspired by the life that I led when I was homeless and addicted to heroin,” said Morrison. “Begging for money on the streets and being the guy that people crossed the street from, I would watch people’s faces as they walked towards me, gradually realising they had to walk past me and being disgusted at how dirty I was, or that I was begging for change. That leaves an indelible mark on your soul and the song is about slowly crawling out of that hollow life.”
‘Becoming’ started the run of singles, and featured Sully Erna of Godsmack and Grammy Award winner Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme. It reached #19 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart and marked Morrison‘s third Top 20 rock track overall. This one had a video directed by Ivo Raza.
The Hollow album is available now.
