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“Walk Alone is a record mainly about love because I love love and relationships.” Walk Alone is the title song to P. J. Morton’s newest album due out on April 6, 2010. He is a Grammy-award winning songwriter and producer. He is an author, “Why Can’t I Sing About Love.” He is a college graduate, completing his degree in three and one-half years. He is the son of Dr. Debra B. Morton and Bishop Paul Morton, Sr. Stevie Wonder is his number one influence as an artist. And, yes, he is a Nerd.
(Interview with Flaimahmy, March 11, 2010)
FM: You were born in New Orleans. Your dad was born in Canada. What cultural influences were most prevalent in your childhood?
PJM: The part of Canada my father was from was really close to the States; he is from Windsor. It’s right by Detroit. It was not like a whole bunch of Canadian culture was prevalent, maybe just some of the things they said. It was mostly New Orleans. My mother was born and raised in New Orleans and she was the one who was always there most of the time. My dad was busy. It was really heavy New Orleanian influence.
FM: Do you believe that you have successfully merged the two worlds of secular and religious music?
PJM: I don’t know if I would call it merged; it’s more I have learned how to balance the two because I never was trying to merge them. I was just trying to get people to understand that there is not that much separation. It depends on the individual. When I’m writing a love song I’m coming from the same place I am if I write a gospel song. It’s the same heart. It’s not necessarily a merge more than an understanding that it’s the same world.
FM: Growing up, you honed your skills as a musician playing and singing in the church. Was it difficult to admit to your parents your interest in music outside of the church?
PJM: Yeah. Initially it was because it started really early for me. I was a songwriter at a very young age and was into Stevie Wonder and got into other things and wanted to write other things so absolutely, initially it was a very hard thing to admit to.
FM: Your parents, Bishop Paul Morton, Sr. and Pastor Debra B. Morton, were they receptive to you playing secular music?
PJM: Yeah, yeah, yeah, very receptive and always very supportive because they knew me as a person. They knew how far I was willing to go. They knew the individual so they were always 100% supportive. They may have asked some questions early on to see where my head was but after they saw what it was for me they always supported me 100%.
FM: I saw that you call yourself a “fly nerd.” (Laughter) Can you tell us why you consider yourself a “fly nerd?”
PJM: That kind of sums me up in the sense of the nerd side of me is the guy who loves gadgets and who loves to learn new things and to read about new things, college graduate, finishing in three and a half years, that type of thing. That’s the nerd side of me. The fly side of me is, I’m very aware of my personal fashion, my personal vibe; that’s not nerdy at all. It was something that I made up and it stuck apparently. (Laughter) But, that sums me up.
FM: You were a smart teenager, working with gospel groups at a young age. How did you get started?
PJM: I got my first song placement as a songwriter when I was fifteen on this group called Men of Standard. They were a well known gospel group. That’s really how I got my start in the business. That was the first professional thing that I did where I actually got paid for my work. The rest is history. That showed me or assured me that I wanted to do music for a living. I was very clear at a very young age. But, when you are that young I guess it’s just based on relationships. I knew the guy in the group; he liked the song and it kind of went from there.
FM: You mentioned Stevie Wonder as having a huge influence on you growing up. I read that you used your allowance to buy Stevie’s albums in chronological order so that you could ”grow with him.” How much impact do you think those albums had on you as a writer?
PJM: A huge impact. There was one point when I first started to write, because when I was buying those records I wasn’t even a songwriter yet. I was just enjoying them as a musician I guess. I just loved the musicality of it. When I did start to write after listening to Stevie for so long a lot of my stuff just sounded like his because I guess innovation comes from imitation. So, at first it was just me wanting to be Stevie and then it kind of turned to me finding myself within that. But, huge. He was the number one influence on me, no question.
FM: Do you think he knows how much of an influence he’s had on you?
PJM: I’m not sure. I’ve met him before. We haven’t been able to talk in depth about it. I’m actually working on some new music and I’m trying to get Stevie involved in it. I’m crossing my fingers and praying that he’ll know one day soon. His radio station in L.A. was actually the first to break my single and play my single so he may be aware. If he is I don’t really know yet.
FM: You were allowed to listen to the Beatles growing up. You’ve stated that as a result you started to appreciate songs in relationship to what songs say to the listener. Would you elaborate?
PJM: If you listen to the Beatles music, the way they told stories, they kind of went through the back door. They didn’t really just come and say it real simple. Conceptually and musically they were simple. I just loved the way that they wrote. My mother was a big Beatles fan and they were huge when she was in college. I think as a kid to see how it affected my mother, when she would tell me the stories of their music, I saw how words in music could influence somebody and how it could make somebody happy. I think at that point that’s when I knew music was going to play a big part in my life and that I wanted to be able to affect people the same way that their music did . That was a start in my journey because that was pre-Stevie; it was very early on. I was a young kid when I got onto the Beatles.
FM: Other influences were Prince, James Brown, Sting and James Taylor. Is there a common thread to these artists that attracts you or is it their differences?
PJM: There is a common thread in, I’d say my top five, which are Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, James Taylor, the Beatles and probably Sting and Prince. That’s the top six. The thread, which I didn’t find out until later, I’ve always been drawn to musicians who were songwriters because that was my past. I was just a musician playing for other artists and began to write songs out of that. I think that’s what drew me to them. Stevie was a keyboard player. These guys can be players. stand alone, outside of the writing and the performing. James Taylor could be somebody’s guitar player, Prince could. Donny Hathaway could be somebody’s keyboard player. So I think that’s what I identified with even before I realized it.
FM: You’ve worked with India Arie, Monica and L. L. Cool J and so many others. How do you decide which artists you will work with?
PJM: It depends. I go by individuals, I guess. A lot of that, like Monica and Jagged Edge and L.L., was when I was working under Jermaine Dupri so I didn’t have a lot of choice in who I was working with at that point. But, when people came to me for songs, I just know what I’m inspired with most of the time. The further along in my career I’ve been able to make more choices because, of course, early on I had to make money choices. I had to work to eat. Now I can just do what I love to do and who I want to work with specifically. Now it’s just really about what I’m inspired by basically.
FM: Tell us about your new album, Walk Alone.
PJM: Walk Alone is a record mainly about love because I love love and relationships. I always want to talk about them. It’s always something new you can talk about in relationships. Something different from my previous records is I did mix more synthetic; I experimented with more keyboards this time around even drum machines and what not, different from my total live music aspects that I’ve usually done. I colloborated on a couple of songs with producer Warryn Campbell who did some beats with me. It’s just a good record. It’s a musical record. It’s different. The reason I titled it Walk Alone besides it being a song on the album called Walk Alone is I felt like I’ve chosen my own path and kind of stuck to that. I decided not to play the game a long time ago and to go with my heart and do what I love. I’ve continued to do that musically and otherwise. It really speaks to that. It doesn’t sound like anything that’s out.
FM: This is Fly Mommy Magazine and you are the Fly Nerd. Can you tell me what you think about Fly Mommies?
PJM: I love it…I love it. I got married a year and a half ago and one of my biggest concerns before I got married was, was I going to lose my “fly.” I was worried that I was going to lose my flag at some point because it seems I was just going to turn into the married guy with the kids and what not. But, I’ve tried to recreate that definition of and that look of being married and having that life and having kids. More power to you because I believe that’s what it is. You don’t have to lose your “fly” because you are a mommy and you don’t have to lose your “fly” because you are married or you don’t have to lose your “fly” because you do this and do that. It’s all about you keeping your “fly” inside. I can feel it.
FM: Well, congratulations on getting married. I didn’t know.
PJM: Oh yeah. Thank you.
FM: So are you a “Fly Daddy” yet?
PJM: I’m a “Fly Daddy.” I’ve been raising my son, who’s actually my wife’s son. I’ve been raising him since he was a kid; he knows me as daddy. So, yeah I’m definitely a “Fly Daddy.”
FM: Congratulations. I have to interview you again as a “Fly Daddy.”
PJM: There it is. Hey, we’ll do that.
FM: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
PJM: Nah, that’s it. Just support this record, April 6 please. That’s it. We just hope to focus on this music. I’ll be getting on the road. You can check me out, www.PJMortononline.com for whatever information you need.
http://clutchmagonline.com/lifeculture/feature/pj-morton-the-revenge-of-the-fly-nerd/
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