Billy Morrison is a rock n’ roll survivor. He has built a career playing with people like Billy Idol and The Cult and his radio show with his friend Ozzy Osbourne. Now, he is stepping into the spotlight himself. Morrison just released a solo record called The Morrison Project which features a little help from his friends. Billy recently took some time to talk about the record and his long career.
Please press the PLAY icon for the MisplacedStraws Billy Morrison interview –
On why now is the right time to release a solo record – That’s funny. I’ve done so much press over the last month and that’s the first time anyone’s asked me that question. And it’s a good question. Timing was not part of the decision process. I truly believe in the universe. The universe is in charge here. I think we just do what the universe presents us. The clever person does what the universe presents in front of you. Well, we were all presented with COVID. So locked up for a couple of years in a house that has a recording studio and I’m a musician, I’m going to make music. So at the end of all that, the universe presented me with a couple of great business partners that wanted to put that music out.
So timing, there was no great life plan. Look, my career is being the guy that plays guitar for the guy. So I’m not used to being the guy. There was no great master plan to be that guy or to have a solo career. Having said that the success of the album, and I mean, I woke up this morning to a text that said, “You’re number four on Billboard”. Now that’s mind-blowing to me. So I’m not negating it. I’m going to enjoy the ride. Let me tell you, we’ve only just started. There’s three or four more singles, great videos. We’re just holding off because “Crack Cocaine” is just doing this. That’s what you do. If you’ve got a hit, you just hang on. We’re just getting started. So I will ride this. But there was no great master plan. So I find myself navigating through art shows, Billy Idol tours, a movie, and oh, and by the way, I’m in the charts as well. It’s kind of this thing that’s happening.
On if songs were written with the special guests in mind – It’s another good question there. I got to reassure anyone watching this. There is no master plan in my world. I go where the energy is and the energy once I had cohesively chosen these pieces of music. Let’s say I had pieces of music, not complete songs. I, first of all, sang on the six that felt right for me. Those are the six that are on the album that I sing when it came to song number seven, whatever that was. I can’t remember. It didn’t feel right for me on that particular song. I always want to serve the song, not my ego. So now I’ve got a piece of music that sounds fantastic, but it’s very clear to me that Al Jourgensen should be singing this one or Linda Perry should be seeing this one. Again, I didn’t set out, I didn’t say to myself, “How many famous people can I get on this album?” I didn’t do that.
These are all people. We didn’t go through management or agents. These are my friends. Close friends that I work with for years, some of them many decades. So it was a natural progression when I came across whatever song number seven was.” I don’t feel comfortable singing this. This sounds like it should be sung by Al Jourgensen”. Pick the phone up, call Al. He’s a wonderful guy. He said yes. Same with Daryl. Same with Linda. Same with Idol. Same with Corey Taylor. All of it was organic. I just woke up one morning with 12 songs and went, “Oh my God. This actually sounds really good”.
On how the album came to sound like a true record, not a collection of singles – That’s a really good question. That was where the real work started. It’s very easy, at least for me, to call Al Jourgensen or Corey Taylor or Linda Perry and go “Sing on that”. To make it sound like a cohesive album, that’s why it’s a Billy Morrison album. The songwriting is mine, there’s a lot of co-writes, but the overarching songwriting is mine, the production is mine. The mix, Barry Pointer mixed this record and I can’t thank him enough for listening to me. He didn’t mix this in what he wanted. He mixed this with my instructions and right from the word go, I said, “Barry, we’ve got a metal song, we’ve got a punk song, we’ve got a piano ballad, and we got a hip hop song. They’re all on the same record. It needs to sound like me”. We worked together. That was the hardest part of the whole process is bringing it all cohesively, and it makes me really happy to hear people say it sounds like a cohesive album because it is.
Also, the emotional thread, the emotional honesty. That’s all mine. A lot of the lyrics are mine, even “Mr. Dream” or “Chasing Shadows”. They’re my lyrics. They just were sung by other people. So, I believe that a combination of not knowing I was making an album, because if you know you’re making an album, you’re thinking, “Album. I need three singles. I need an arc”. I wasn’t doing that. So that gave me the freedom to be honest. Because I wasn’t thinking about making a record and then cohesively that is bound to happen. If the captain of the ship is me on every song and in every phase from the mix into the master and all of that, and I produced the whole thing.
So, all of my friends involved, Steve Stevens, Eric Eldenius, Jeordie (White) from Manson’s band. They all had a hand in helping my vision. I couldn’t have done it alone, but ultimately that’s the cohesiveness that you hear. As an aside, if you think about the old Led Zeppelin albums and the old Black Sabbath albums and albums where bands were left alone to make a record. There’s cohesiveness right there. Back in the 70s and the early 80s, bands were left alone to record their vision, no matter what it was. Somewhere along the line, the A& R guy started having musical input, and that’s the kiss of death. I’ve been lucky enough. Well, my deal was done after the record was finished. I basically went, “Here’s this record. Here’s the imaging. Here’s the cover. Here’s the videos even if you want it, it’s yours”. Luckily TLG and Virgin, they wanted it.
On if he enjoys the process of making videos – I love it. I love it. Now, I’ve had some great people work on the videos. One of the things that’s been lost with modern technology is the video because everyone puts a video out, but a lot of them are lyric videos where you can have someone just generate a visual background and the art of the video has been lost.
Now, what I will say, we don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars budget. But my videos are showing people what you can do on a small budget with the right people. Also a producer, I’m executive producer on everything, it all goes through me from budgets to putting it all together. I’m fortunate enough to have a girlfriend that is incredible on the visual side. So she comes up with these concepts and I take them and hone them into something that we can actually afford because concepts are normally million-dollar concepts and you gotta make them for 20 grand. But then we hire the right people and Ivo Raza who directed “Crack Cocaine” and “It’s Come To This” and Devin Szell who directed “Drowning”. Both were directors that understood the concept of cinematic video on cheeseburger money.
I will say this too, as well, Jeff. My label wants to make a video for every track on the album. They stand behind this video thing. So right now we’ve already made videos for “Just Like a Movie” with DMC, “Incite the Watch”, Corey Taylor and Steve Vai, and “Chasing Shadows”. This is again, this is just the start of a very long trajectory with this album, going singles, going to radio and stuff like that.
On if he ever thought “Crack Cocaine” would be such a big hit – Honestly, not in my wildest imagination would Billy Morrison’s name be on the Billboard top five, even with Ozzy. We’re having one of those moments that songwriters and artists talk about it is a moment and I appreciate it for what it is. It’s a moment that’s granted to us by the universe. The song came about. We didn’t sit down to craft this wonderful piece of music. It was me and Steve (Stevens) messing around on detuned guitars. We came up with this riff that was undeniably Ozzy. As luck would have it, Ozzy is my best friend, so I’ve got him on speed dial.
As luck would have it, Oz is the nicest guy in the world. So he comes round, there’s the three of us. We don’t know we’re making a record. We’re just hanging out, no egos. He looks up he goes “I put you down and pick you up again like crack cocaine”, and we’re like, “That’s the lyric sing it”, and then he sings it. That’s how this has happened. Everything else has been a combination of the generosity of the Osbournes. Sharon, once she heard the song, she said, “Billy, Ozzy will make a video, he’ll do the press, he’ll get behind it”, and obviously the weight of Ozzy Osbourne behind something is important, but the label as well, TLG is my label, TLG Zoid and Virgin, they know a hit song when they hear it, so now we’re going to radio in a big way. So everyone involved Is responsible for the success of “Crack Cocaine”, but it started with one of those sparks that the universe threw down and we just managed to catch it and go, “Oh, shit”.
On the role of art and music in his life – Look around me. I’m surrounded by art. My whole life is art in one form or another. I credit art and creativity with the reason that I’m not doing 25 to life. I’ve done many interviews where I’ve spoken about my past. I’m 29 years clean, but I was a heroin addict. I was a crack head. I was on the streets and I was a bad man. Art and creativity are one of the main reasons why I’m not doing that now. Having, having the ability to channel…look, everyone feels stuff. You can’t lock everyone away in a global pandemic with riots and financial collapse and misinformation from the TV 24/7. You can’t do that to the world without having feelings of anxiety, depression, trauma, PTSD, mistrust in the powers that be. We all felt that, I’m lucky enough to have outlets.
That is my outlet. So art, music and creativity in general gives me somewhere to put that power. That anxiety and that trauma that isn’t directed at another human being that isn’t directed at the world in general. You have the Capital being stormed by a bunch of people that quite frankly just felt the same as I did. Anxiety, trauma, fear. Those are natural human feelings. I have the luxury of being able to put them down in an album or on a canvas or in a movie or whatever creative outlet. That’s what that means to me.
On how he hooked up with Billy Idol and Steve Stevens – Well, Steve was a guest with, I have this band Royal Machines, which is, it’s kind of crazy. Josh (Freese) is the drummer and he’s in the Foos now and (Chris) Chaney is the bass player and he’s in AC/DC and I’m in Billy Idol and (Dave) Navarro’s in Jane’s Addiction who are back now. So it’s kind of this all-star band that’s so much fun. Steve Stevens got up with us a couple of times because he lived in LA at the time and musicians know each other. Well, me and Steve hit it off and Steve was wonderful enough.
Billy Idol had been on a hiatus about 15 years ago and him and Steve were getting back together. The big reformation here’s Billy Idol in all his iconic glory. Steve said to Billy, “We need to be a two-guitar band where the second guitar player plays a role”, and he said, “I’ve got the guy”. Billy, to his credit, he said, “Yeah, let’s do it”. Then suddenly there I am learning “Rebel Yell” and “White Wedding” and standing on a stage with one of the greatest guitar players the world’s ever known, feeling so intimidated. But having the balls to push through that intimidation and Steve’s always encouraged me. He’ll say, “Play this”. And I’m like,” dude, I can’t play that.” And he’ll go, “Yes, you can”. So, you better step up your game if you’re going to be in a band with Steve Stevens.
On his relationship with Ozzy – It’s a non-musical based relationship. I have to be fair there. It’s two best friends from the day we met each other. We have laughed, cry laughing our way through nearly three decades. I understand Ozzy like not many people do, and he understands me like not many people do. So the Osbournes, even the kids. They’re my family. They are my family. When shit hits the fan in my life, it’s their house I drive to. When shit hits the fan in their life, which is sometimes quite often it’s me that gets the call. I am honored and grateful that it’s me that gets the call because I have a love for that family that transcends anything else.
So that’s that relationship. Look, clearly, we’re both professional musicians, so over the last 30 years that we’ve known each other, yes, we’ve talked about music together, and we meet in the middle on many occasions, and we’ve recorded and written together, but it’s not a primary. I’m not sitting there trying to write the next Ozzy Osbourne album. When things feel right, it’s not the first track I’ve put out with Ozzy. But when things feel right, it happens. And I’m good. I’m good with that.
On Ozzy’s plans for his Rock Hall induction – One of the reasons that I’m still his best friend and I’m In the inner circle of that family is that when I’m asked questions like that, I go,” I have no idea you have to ask Ozzy.” That was a good attempt… I was there at the induction ceremony when I think Sabbath got inducted and the Sex Pistols and the Sex Pistols were a no-show and they stood up and read that note from Johnny Rotten and only me and Ozzy stood up at the end of the note because it was slagging off the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Me and Ozzy stood up. Then we looked around and everyone’s looking at us like “How dare they?”
On if he would tour behind The Morrison Project – So it’s not about time. It’s about how does it work? I’ve been saying “no” categorically. No, but recently I’ve been saying “maybe”. It’s about how it’s going to work. Do they want to hear me sing “Crack Cocaine”? Because Ozzy’s not going on tour. But can I do a gig without doing “Crack Cocaine”? Seeing as that’s a hit song, I don’t quite know how it would work, conceptually yes. Conceptually there’s a tour in my head that could be 10 or 12 shows. That’s it from LA to New York, small venues, maybe the odd guest appearance. DMC lives in New York. He could do the New York show. Billy Idol lives in LA. We fly Al out to Chicago cause that’s where he’s from. But you can’t sell a tour based on maybe someone’s going to show up at this gig. So, what you’ve got is Billy Morrison singing songs from The Morrison Project and my other two solo albums. I don’t know if people, I mean, comment below or whatever. If there is a demand, then maybe.
On plans for the year – If you saw my calendar, I promise you, you would go wild. My calendar has no days off until the end of January. There’s two art shows in New York, one in Toronto. There is a full Canadian tour with Billy Idol. There is a full tour with Billy Idol that I’m not going to mention, but it’s not America because they haven’t announced it and I don’t want to be the guy to drop them in the bucket, but that’s another five or six-week tour. I’ve got that movie that I said I’m going to do. Then right in the middle of that, there is a solo album that’s charting and craziness. So, and a potential tour. So my calendar is one day at a time. I woke up this morning, I had six interviews, you’re one of them. And when the interviews are done, I get to eat. That’s how I live my life.