Morgans Story
Morgan Simpson a 17 year-old drummer from Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire. Morgan’s talent was first discovered at home. Aged one he was clapping in time with the beat of music.
Morgan began playing the drums at the age of two. Like many drummers, he started off playing on pots and pans. He was drumming everywhere he went, even tapping tables with pens. At the age of 2, Morgan’s uncle put him behind a full size drum kit and Morgan began to play a simple beat. His mother and father where amazed and dumbfounded by his talent. When Morgan reached the age of 3 he was given a toy drum kit for his birthday. Within a week or two the drum kit was completely and utterly battered.
The next year he was given another drum kit, this time for Christmas but the same thing happened. As the toy drum kits didn’t work so well, at the age of five, his mother and father decided to get him a 5-piece drum kit that was suitable for his advanced playing ability. He loved it and played the drum kit 24/7! Two years later at the age of seven, Morgan got a 5-piece Mapex kit that lasted A LOT longer than his toy kits. At ten years old he had the opportunity to play at the ‘Rhythms of the World’ music festival that has an attendance of approximately 30,000 people. He has become a regular feature at this annual event.
At the age of 12 Morgan entered Young Drummer of the Year 2011 (YDOTY) and he managed to reach the top 10. The final took place in Leamington Spa and the 10 finalists had to perform 3 pieces. A 2 minute drum solo, a song which the finalists are given 3-4 weeks before to learn and a song which is played to them 3 times on the day. The final also involves having a chat with the judging panel. He didn’t win but gained great confidence and experience in this great event. The next year Morgan entered and reached the final. As a result of this achievement, Morgan gained endorsements from Liberty Drums and Soultone Cymbals.
2012 continued to be a successful year for Morgan has was soon to appear on national television. Morgan was nominated in the “Rising Music Star” category at the Nickelodeon Fruit Shoot Skills Awards. This was a great experience for him and he was able to perform a 2-minute solo on live television on a program, which was being watched by thousands. In the summer of that same year (2012) Morgan entered for a Rockschool grade 8 exam and after lots of hard work came out with a distinction earning a percentage of 89%. In October of 2012 he was given the opportunity by Mike Dolbear to support Aaron Spears at his Birmingham clinic whilst he was on a tour of the UK. Aaron Spears still to this day is one of Morgan’s biggest drumming influence and this was an experience that will stay with him for the rest of his life.
In 2013 Morgan hosted his first drum clinic in his hometown at Letchworth Drum Studios, which is where is drum covers are recorded. He shared some of his techniques and experiences with young drummers around his age and even adults who were much older than him. It was a great start to the year as 2014 saw Morgan awarded the title of Young Drummer of the Year, on his third attempt. After Morgan’s winning performance Karl Brazil (Take That, Robbie Williams) was quoted saying, “Morgan is what I would call ‘ready’. His ability, confidence and technical approach was amazing. The audience reaction said it all and he was so calm when we spoke to him. He has chops, and he can groove, he has it all.” Norbert Saemann from Meinl Cymbals echoed these sentiments: “It was a difficult decision, but of the 10 players, Morgan was the most complete. He played for a drum competition, which is what this is, and he was the best, but the choice was very hard indeed – they are all excellent players.”
Soon after Morgan’s triumph, he released a series of drum covers, which were to become viral. “Rather Be” by Clean Bandit has over 209,000 views and “Happy” by Pharrell Williams has over 164,000 views. In March 2014 as a result of Morgan’s triumph he had the opportunity to support the well-known sTOrk drummer Thomas Lang. This was a great experience for Morgan as he was able to have a chat with Thomas and get an insight into the drumming industry. In July of that year Morgan became a part of the Vater family and earned an endorsement of their products.
In June of 2015 completed his 5 years of school and finished his GCSEs. After school Morgan wanted to pursue music as a career. In September of that year Morgan began attending The BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology. Previous students have attended include Amy Winehouse, Adele and Jessie J. Here Morgan is learning about all aspects of music like Music Theory, Pop Music, Songwriting and Recording etc.
Morgan has a YouTube Channel (MorganGSimpson) with a total 988,000 video views with new people discovering his covers everyday. Morgan has experience in doing recording studio work. His first project was on his mother’s EP ‘Free’ where he played drums, cajon and percussion.
Morgan comes from a talented family of musicians. His mother, Elaine, is a singer and vocal coach; his father, Kevin, is a guitarist and guitar teacher and his sister; Lauren, is a singer and bass guitarist
References:
Liberty Drums
Meinl Cymbals
Evans
Vater
Tuner Fish Lug Locks.
https://www.youtube.com/user/MorganGSimpsonDrums