By Jorge Hernandez
Morgan Geist would gladly sell you Coca Cola or tampons—or just about anything, actually. (Apple, hello?) But just ’cause he’s willing to sell worldwide wares, don’t call him a sell-out. “That’s not selling out. Selling out is when you lower your musical standards first. But if you make something that later gets picked up, that’s just good work.” The aesthete who once contemptuously threatened to produce his next album on a hacked iPhone admits, “I’ve definitely mellowed a lot. But there are limits, of course. If McCain wanted to use ‘Most of All’ in his campaign, I’d say ‘No.’”
One couldn’t blame anyone for taking “Most of All” or any other Geist track as an anthem. As part of Metro Area and collaborations with Phil Owusu, Erlend Oye and Junior Boys’ Jeremy Greenspan, Morgan has produced definitive slices of top-shelf ‘nu-disco’—smart, nuanced, melodic dance music like 2002’s instant classic “Miura,” from their self-titled debut. You’d think the critical praise heaped upon him and Metro Area would go to his shiny bald head, but no. “If you must call me anything, call me a pop artist. I think that’s what every musician wants. Hip-hop, rock, whatever—you want your music to be heard. It’s not pop unless a lot of people love it.”
On a perfect August Saturday at the Environ party at PS1, a lot of foxy hipsters are lovin’ it. “It’s like church out here,” I hear someone exclaim on the dancefloor. A scan on YouTube will reveal there was a whole lotta handclapping happening one subway stop from Manhattan.
In between Metro Area’s bookend DJ sets, Kelley Polar’s band, including live strings, covers a couple of disco classics: El Coco’s “Cocomotion” and Metro Area’s “Atmosphrique.” Cheering at the tribute are members of Morgan’s multi-layered family—his dad, siblings, cousins. “That’s some tall praise,” I say. Morgan, wearing a loose T-shirt branded “Whitest Man Alive,” smiles and nods. We chat briefly about the crowd, Polar, Danny Wang and Geist’s own new CD Double Night Time, which features Greenspan on a couple of tracks, including the incandescent single “The Shore.” When he excuses himself to return to his family, we agree to reconnect.
A few nights later we’re on the phone discussing the upcoming Metro Area set for the Fabric mix series, when another call beeps in. Morgan’s girlfriend, it seems, has found one of the rare cab drivers in New York who doesn’t know where he’s going. “They’re lost, eight blocks away from here. I’ll probably have to get the door soon.”
“Here” is one of the two neighborhoods in the Queens borough where the New Jersey native and ambassador for New York disco lives and works. “You know the bar in Goodfellas, that’s in this building. It’s a social club. I drop in there to pick up packages and keys.” For added ambiance, the studio walls are covered with photos of pop stars past, including Marky Mark. “The guy who owns the studio did a lot of Top 40 work back in the day. Most famously he produced Snow, the Canadian rapper. It sounds cheesy, but…” he trails off.
Not so long ago, when Erlend Oye came to work on “Ghost Trains,” things were slightly different. “In my old apartment, there were three feet between the gear and the bed. So it’s gotten a little better, but it’s a lot of work. I still walk a lot of stuff to the post office myself. One of the good things about Double Night Time is that it got me excited about making music again. If you concentrate on just the business, like all the licensing for the Fabric mix, it wears you down.” When the phone beeps again, Morgan offers to continue after answering the door. But it’s late, so I decline. The producer and musician once described as austere, and even bitter, yells into the speakerphone from across the room, “Feel free to call back…”
