5 takeaways from Kailee Morgue’s Artist Friendly interview
Kailee Morgue is on the rise. Having finished a tour with Maggie Lindemann earlier this year, she’s been steadily gaining momentum as an artist to know. You may recognize her YouTube covers of Tigers Jaw’s “Spirit Desire,” Gwen Stefani’s “Cool,” and Sublime’s “Boss D.J” or discovered her vulnerable debut album, Girl Next Door, at the end of last year. Horror fans may know her from “In My Head,” the Scream VI song she made with Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda. When she connects with Joel Madden on the latest episode of Artist Friendly, they dive into her recent influences, their shared religious upbringing, and building a career that’s meant to last.
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Before you dig into the new episode, we rounded up takeaways from their conversation. Check them out below.
Morgue used to practice witchcraft
Despite growing up in a religious family, Morgue started practicing witchcraft when she was 17. Though she stopped a year-and-a-half ago, she still views divination as a “body response,” not a trend. Morgue even admits that lately, she’s been experiencing an “existential crisis between good and evil” even though she was raised in an “open and loving” household. “I don’t think there’s this list of things you can’t do and there’s consequences. Everyone’s relationship with God is individual to them. At the root of everything, whatever you put out and project into the world is what you get back,” she urges.
Her music sounds different after returning from tour
During the new episode, Morgue says she’s been making “different music” since getting off the road, pulling inspiration from the Cure, the Smashing Pumpkins, and Mazzy Star. “It’s just cool getting that perspective on tour sometimes and seeing how the crowd reacts,” she points out. However, she’s most drawn to the bittersweet juxtaposition of happy-sad music. “I never write a sad song that sounds sad. I definitely walk the line of writing stuff that sounds bittersweet, and that Smashing Pumpkins album [Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness] is gold in that aspect,” Morgue says.
She’s meant to create music
Though it’s still early in her career, Morgue possesses a vision and the passion to see it through. “I don’t fold easily, and I won’t do shit that I don’t want to do,” she asserts. Morgue also knows that it’s far more important to say no when the vibes aren’t right, even if it means it takes longer to achieve her goals. “We’re begging people to care and begging for people to see it how we see it. I have no idea what I would do if I didn’t do music. I just can’t fathom [it],” she says.
She used to be a choir kid
At the beginning of the episode, Morgue reveals that she’s a choir kid at heart, having participated in the ensemble for a decade. Though she received solos throughout her time in the extracurricular, she wasn’t an obvious candidate for a career in music because of her soft-spoken nature. Morgue also shares that performing onstage felt like a “totally different game” once she got signed because she was so used to singing in a group setting. “It felt so scary to me to be onstage by myself,” she admits.
Morgue is building a legacy
Whether you’ve been a longtime fan of her delicate YouTube covers or recently discovered her music through her 2022 debut album, Girl Next Door, Morgue is maintaining a career that’s built to last. “I think I’ve built something that I feel proud of and that I feel is the way I would’ve always done it in all these other scenarios and hypothetical timelines,” she tells Madden. It also helps that her music is forthright and genuine, forging instant connection. “I can’t not be me, and I feel like that shows through my music. I’m very much oversharing. I like that I can’t hide it and can’t be any other way,” Morgue explains.
