Satellite Interview with Steven McMorran

Could you briefly describe how you guys came together? I have heard that it is almost a magical story....

McMorran: Well, I had never sung by myself for the most part, so Mitch and Josh were both individually surprised to realize that I was writing these songs for me.  They both reached out about making a band around them, which means there was a bit of a love triangle going.  BUT it really got started when we all three got together to start building the songs in the studio.  Erik came along about a year later when we wanted to change up our liveshow, but then he ended up helping us be nice to each other again. He's a magician.

You guys have a full-length album coming out very soon, how did you arrive on the track list for the album? Some of the songs date back a number of years (i.e. "Say The Words" and "Ring The Bells").

M: We look at Calling Birds as our first record.  We spent time making the first half and then decided to release it as an EP (Ring The Bells EP) just to see what would happen.  We used the money we made from it to keep building the rest of it.  Once we were done, we looked around for the best way to show it to as many people as possible. 

How does the writing process normally pan out for you guys? Do you have a specific writing process?

M: For this record it was largely me bringing in songs I'd written at my coffee table instead of sleeping.    A lot of times Josh showed me an idea and let me sit with it for a long time until I brought it back to him a little more developed. The bottom line is we're just trying to find that thing we connect with. For me it's the lyrics and the melody, so I get specific about that. But there's a heartbeat to this stuff, and it doesn't have to be found until it wants to be found.  We're at the mercy of it to some degree.

I am specifically interested in "Turning On My Own" and "'Till I Return," and what originally motivated these two songs?

M: Thank you! "Turning On My Own" is a double meaning. I was trying to admit how wreckless I felt at the time. I was spinning off into whatever I wanted the band to be, and at the same time trying to keep the life I'd made in tact; trying not to burn it down. That's the war of the heart.
"Till I Return" is about men going to war, but like way way back before electricity. Men used to leave behind their families to go walk around the earth, fight wars they had nothing to do with, see things they'd never forget, lose people they'd never get back, and pray they'd see their sons and daughters before they grew up.  I started thinking about that for some reason and tried to write a song I'd sing if I were there. 

Was there a specific song on the record that blew you away, with how much it developed from the time it was written to the final recorded product?

M: "Brooklyn" came along and kept turning into something more. I showed Josh and Mitch the first draft of it, and they told me it needed a third line in the chorus. By the time I wrote that "stubborn fool" line I was listening to Josh come up with the slide part. That was a turning point for us too.  We had had to start over on the second half of the record, because we listened to what we'd made first and didn't like it.  So we scratched the songs and started with new ones. "Brooklyn" was the first one we worked on next and I think it helped us see where we were headed.

What would you like for listeners to take away from Calling Birds after listening to it?

M: I hope people connect with what the songs are about, and how they were intended to say something honest during all this time it took to make them. 

Where does the title of the album Calling Birds come from?

M: Birds are the first thing you hear reminding you the sun's coming up.  I hope this album is something that helps get people through the night.

Steven, I have seen you perform  by yourself a couple of times now, and you have always delivered a passionate and entertaining performance. I am curious who you look up to in terms of stage presence and live performance?

M: I look up to Dylan, Tom Waits, Thom Yorke, Cash, Willie Nelson, Fiona Apple, Ryan Adams, Springsteen, and anyone else who gives me the impression they don't care whether I like it or not. They don't "perform." It looks more like a glimpse at who they are, and if so, my opinion doesn't matter. I'd never led a band until Satellite. The biggest difference with this is that I'm not trying to execute something flawlessly on stage, I'm trying to get enough out so I don't burn down the rest of me.  

Steven, do you happen to recall the moment or period when you realized that you had a unique and powerful voice?

M: I knew how much I loved singing from age 5. I knew it mattered to someone the moment it felt like the air got sucked out of the room at Molly Malone's after singing like that for the first time. I don't really know how to answer the question though because it's kind of loaded with the idea that I think it's powerful.  I'm along for the ride way more than I'm convinced it's powerful.

How did you guys get hooked up with Sony Music's Descendant Records? What attracted you guys to them?

M: JAY.  He's been a friend for years and I knew he'd been keeping up with the record's progress.  Eventually he reached out and told me about Descendant and then made an offer. It was as natural a step as breathing air and looked exactly like what we'd set out to do: finish the record and put in the hands of someone we trusted to put it out into the world. 

How did you guys get hooked up with TWLOHA, and how was the Heavy and Light Tour?

M: Heavy and Light was great! TWLOHA and Jamie have been friends of ours for a long time too. He and I knew each other before the EP released, but he was pretty surprised by how much he felt towards it. One day he emailed me a blog he'd written about Ring The Bells, and I couldn't believe how genuinely kind it was. We've been doing shows together ever since. Being a part of the conversation they shed light on is a pretty humbling thing.

Any advice for new artists/bands starting out?

M: Be you. There's only one of you. Even if you don't like you right now. You might be surprised at how many people get it.

What do you guys have coming up? Touring?

M: Well I'm playing three shows through NC, SC, and AL coming up first.  Then meeting the band at SXSW. Then we all head up to the Northeast (Boston, Philly, NYC, and more) for the Lisa Loeb dates.  That's just March.

Perfect day, you are driving in your car with the windows down, what are you listening to?
right now? 

M: The song "Talk Show Host."

Following an acoustic performance in Atlanta, Steven McMorran, frontman of the pop\rock band Satellite, performed a number of powerful songs for a handful of fans in the parking garage of the Vinyl. In this video, McMorran plays a song called "Brooklyn," off Satellite's record Calling Birds.

For the latest on Satellite, please visit : www.Facebook.com/SATELLITEmusic

Satellite Interview with Steven McMorran (vocals/bass)

While many guys hide behind the fallacy that they only watch One Tree Hill for it's amazing taste in music, I do not. The music that is chosen for each episode does in fact enhance the emotions tied to each individual scene, but stands alone just as well. During this current season, I was introduced to a song called "Ring the Bells," by a fairly new group by the name of Satellite. I was immediately drawn to the vocalist's honest lyrics and soulful sound. Steven McMorran (vocalist) began writing "Satellite" songs a couple of years ago, without the intent of others hearing them. Steven then joined up with Mitch Allan,writer/producer and former lead vocalist/guitarist of SR-71, Josh Dunahoo (guitarist) and  Justin Glasco (drums) to create Satellite. Check out their debut EP, Ring The Bells EP and visit their site http://www.satellite-music.com/fr_home.cfm.

This project seems to be fairly new, can you briefly describe the story behind how it began? With you and Mitch Allan correct?

I wrote Ring The Bells in late '08. Say The Words was next. I honestly expected no one wanted to hear them. Something about them felt relieving but a little too honest. Whatever it was, I didn't want them lumped in with other songs I'd written. At songwriter's night that Mitch was hosting at a bar in LA, I played one of the songs, and at the end of it there was just silence and a lot of shocked expressions. People were moved, and I was surprised in a way. I did it again the next week and then Mitch (a long time friend and cowriter) asked if I wanted to start a band. The goal was to just see what happens. We asked Josh into it, and He and Mitch started taking it to another level musically. Glasco was the last piece of the puzzle and the glue that holds us together. Collectively, we feel like we've made a ship we'd be proud to go down with. That's a nice feeling. It's a nice thing to be able to say.
In July you released the "Ring the Bells Ep," were the songs on this album written specifically for the Ep? Had you been working on them, prior to the band?
Say The Words, Ring The Bells, and Saving Us Tonight, were all just songs I had written prior. Once the EP discussion started happening, we finished it out with the Silhouette, Turning On My Own and What You Need.
The song "Ring the Bells" seems incredibly personal. Is there a story/specific inspiration behind it?
It's about my friend who was in the middle of a divorce. I just felt so bad for them. They did things the way they were told, and ten years later they were calling it quits. He was pretty confused and she was becoming venomous. It was strange because, the song came out in about 2 hours, which NEVER happens for me. I didn't really intend on writing about it. It just happened and I went with it.
Is there a full length in the works?
YES. It's gonna be wrapping up in July. It will have Oh Carry On on it, as well as 3-4 others we're excited about.
I absolutely love your music video for "Say the Words," how did that come together? Did you come up with the concept yourselves?
Walter May, the director, is a friend of Josh and mine. He heard the song and asked me to read a treatment he made. The focal point was chaos going on around the lead, but everyone is wearing the censors. I loved how it tied into the meaning of the song. There's a million ways we sabotage ourselves. Their names and identities are secondary to the fact that we allow ourselves to put up with them. That's the heart of it. The rest was just making sure that the theme was overtly reckless, rather then overtly sexual. I'm not too worried either way, but I get the impression a lot of people don't like the video. Like it's too confusing… but whatever, we tried. We still love it.
How does the writing process pan out for you guys?
Well so far it's been mostly me in my living room after midnight. That's changing though. As we were finishing up the EP, Josh and I wrote Turning On My Own. It just kind of turned into that phrase and we loved the double meaning it had. What You Need was the three of us (pre-Glasco). We are starting to fall into certain roles as we progress and I think I'll always be in charge of melody and lyrics, and Mitch will always be the scientist making the pieces fit together. No matter how the songs arrive, we are all trying to form the sound; it's us as a band and we are trying to define it as Satellite.
Can you tell me a little bit about the recording process behind the Ring the Bells Ep?
I love that we had all the time we needed for development. Bands don't get enough of that anymore. We stole a few hours a day and got together at Mitch's place, and each time we got there with fresh ears, and no timer. I think we cut vocals on Say The Words at least 3 times before we felt like it was perfect. Today that's a luxury. The whole record went like that.
With such emotionally driven lyrics, do you find it difficult to perform them live sometimes?
It can be difficult, but mostly it feels very relieving. At first it feels like showing up to school without your pants on, but always gets better.
Who would you say are some of your biggest musical influences?
It's hard to say. I love Dylan's lyrics and grew up with the pop sensibilities of Paul Simon James Taylor, and Peter Gabriel. Radiohead, and Coldplay are somehow always on the recently played list, and leaving out Nirvana and Rage Against The Machine would be wrong. As a writer, I hope to be a Dylan or a Springsteen, but only in the sense that they were able to describe emotion so well. That's why songs can feel like friends; they describe what you're feeling, and that alone can remind you you're part of a bigger story.
What about influences as far as live performances, anyone you may have drawn from?
I think, as a band, we aim for the great bands we grew up buying tickets to see. Stuff like REM, the Cranberries, Radiohead, Coldplay, U2… to modern shows like that of Kings Of Leon and Muse. I'm becoming a big fan of Grizzly Bear and the way they interact with their songs. I can't say we are trying to be any of these bands, but I know I identify with the way every one of these lead singers means what they're saying. If that comes across, then the performance is doing it's job. All things have to serve the connection we feel towards the songs.
Perfect day, you are driving in your car with the windows down, what are you listening to?
Probably Ryan Adams' "Heartbreaker" album.
What is next for you guys? Touring?
We have a lot of plans, including SXSW in March. Touring is a big part of next year. In the mean time we are making the rest of the LP and trying to keep the momentum going with the tv/film placements.