Morgan Page made headlines last week when he had the audacity to give The Outfield's cheesy '80s anthem "Your Love" an "EDM facelift." Now the Grammy-nominated and International Dance Music Award-winning DJ has gone one step further and mashed up his Outfield remix with Axwell's "Center of the Universe." The result: guilty-pleasure fun.
Even though Page has now cinched sold-out stadium headliner status, he started out as a lowly coffee grunt (okay, intern) for the Plastic City label while going to college in Vermont. His big turning point happened when Deadmau5 remixed "The Longest Road," the first single off Page's album Elevate. The track blew up, Deadmau5 got a Grammy nom, and Page kicked off his journey towards progressive house hot shot. He's since released two more albums. The last one, In The Air, had that super catchy Tegan and Sarah tune "Body Work" you probably heard eeeeverywhere last year.
Right before he kicks off his biggest tour to date, where he'll be riding a teched-out tour bus to stops like LA's Nokia Theater and Best Buy in New York City, Page chatted with us about getting held up at gunpoint by Brazilian punks, whether DJs care about Grammys, and whether he'd fuck, marry or kill his fellow Grammy nominees.
THUMP: Why did you decide to give The Outfield's "Your Love" an EDM facelift? Do you have precious drunken karaoke memories associated with the track like I do?
Morgan Page: "Your Love" has always been a favorite song of mine that never gets old. I wanted to give it a facelift for 2013, and I knew in my head exactly how I wanted it to sound. No karaoke experiences though!
How much wheeling and dealing did you have to do to get their blessing? Was it really as easy as a simple as, "Hey, can I remix your legendary song" phone call?
There was a lot of back and forth to get the legal stuff cleared but it only took the band a few days to say, "We love it!"
You've bee nominated for two Grammys so far. Do you think Grammy awards are the ultimate honor for DJs? Or do most DJs kind of DGAF?
It's the highest award of achievement for music, so yeah it's a huge honor. I'm certainly not one of those people that's too cool for awards shows.
Skrillex, Kaskade, and Deadmau5. If you had to fuck, marry or kill one of each of these artists, who would get what?
Probably none of those three actions, but I'd have a three-way with all three. A musical three-way.
What's with the secrecy around your upcoming bus tour? Any spoilers on the kind of technology you're planning to harness?
The only thing I can say is it's going to be immersive escapism like you've never seen before, and it's costing an insane amount of money.
You're known as an environmentalist and even blogged about it for the HuffPost. Do you get annoyed by people who think climate change is a myth?
Environmentalist might be a stretch. I'm just a fan of technology and better solutions. Gas cars are old technology that waste three-quarters of the fuel pumped into them. Solar panels on my house make use of energy that would just cook my roof. Why not get inspired by progress? I think people are gradually seeing that climate change is very real. I haven't had any heated arguments with people but a handful of fans are definitely tired of me posting pictures of my Tesla.
But is wastefulness and pollution a big problem for massive festivals like Ultra and EDC? What do you think DJs should do to reduce their carbon footprint and not be pricks to the environment?
The festivals are tricky. I don't really know how they operate beyond the side I see as a DJ, but I see a lot of opportunities for casinos and clubs in places like Vegas to use solar power. You'd be crazy not to make use of the constant sun.
I heard you got held up at gunpoint in Brazil! What's the full story?
My one day without a wingman resulted in me getting held up by two kids from the favela in broad daylight. I managed to talk my way out of it by telling them I was a Canadian DJ.
That's hilarious. Last question: why does the term "EDM" get so much haterade?
I'm pretty sure EDM was invented by the press. To me it's just a bit-size term to help casually lump music styles together and talk about the rise of the music in pop culture.
Stay tuned for Morgan Page's US tour dates, and stream his latest album, In The Air, here.
Michelle Lhooq is growing a kombucha mushroom the size of the Arctic Circle and trying to figure out how to buy Ryan Gosling's panties on Bitcoin. Find her on Twitter at - @MichelleLhooq
