New England’s doom and sludge maestros Morne have announced the 4th edition of their annual concert series Coming Of Winter for December 9th, at the Middle East. Joining them will be KYOTY, Phantom Glue, and Chrome Over Brass.
,You can purchase tickets for the often sold out show at this link here:
Morne members Milosz Gassan and Billy Knockenhauer commented to Ghost Cult’s Hillarie Jason about the annual show, their reluctance to play too often live and what the show means to them.
Milosz Gassan:
“I have been playing in active touring bands, for over 20 years. I don’t feel any urgency to force anything or rush anything. Morne does things on our own schedule and I like the band to live in a shadow in some way. Music has been a major part of pretty much my whole life and I treat it with respect and loyalty. I base a lot of things in my life on simplicity. Basic, stripped down, straight to the core stuff and the band operates like that. The more established we get, the less we have to depend on others and this is how we like to be. We have our circle of friends who we trust and who have been with us for a long time and we can count on them. We took a lot of our operations into our own hands in past years and left a lot of things behind. That makes us comfortable but also challenges and motivates us to push forward no matter what’s happening. Good or bad. This thing isn’t easy and no one ever said it would or should be. The music industry, or music scene, is a pretty steep hill and I feel the faster you are trying to run up that hill, the bigger the chances are that you will trip and fall down. The music scene can be oversaturated with bands that want to be like one another, just do the same one thing. Music styles can have a lot of different faces, different personalities, the key is not to lose that personality. To me it’s like with people, be humble but stand your ground at the same time, do your thing and not what others do. It’s very important to me to stay fresh and have fun while being serious about our craft. Running around in circles and looking for something that may never happen is what makes this whole thing look faceless. Booking our own local show gives us the opportunity to do it exactly the way we want it to be approached. We try to control this as much as we can when we are on the road too. We deal with people we want to deal with, at the place we want to deal with them. We invited another group of great acts to join us this year and we are looking forward to closing this year and transitioning to the next one in great company. We witnessed another year and another year we leave behind with new light ahead and new experiences.”
Billy Knockenhauer
“December 9th will be the 4th installment of an event that we hope to keep growing every year. The past 3 shows have been a great experience – our friends and new acquaintances and sharing a stage, a diverse group of musicians that are part of our local scenes. We put a lot of thought into selecting the bands every year and this will be yet another punishing night of dark, heavy music.
I’ve been a part of Morne going on 7 years now, relocating from NYC to Boston after months of weekly commutes to practice. Being a fan before I joined the band, it was truly inspiring to become a part of the inner sanctum after the departure of Morne’s first drummer. I had been moved very deeply by this band, from the first time I heard the split with Warprayer, and I still am. It was heavy, brooding, atmospheric and repetitive, parts that seemed to breathe. One of the most remarkable aspects of Morne to me is the simplicity we try to present without being too boring. There’s a fine line between too little and too much and we try to ride that line without feeling like we’re dragging our feet. We try to place emphasis on the fusion of sounds to create something singular, something powerful, something that resonates in us. We operate very much like this in general, not just in our songwriting, but how we present ourselves and function as a unit. No gimmicks or tricks… Everything is deliberate. We share a vision and while we each sometimes have different approaches, we end up at the same place at the end of the process. We try to invite acts we think share this vision in their own ways. Authentic, devoted, and self motivated artists true to their own, not just riding a wave of what’s trendy or easy.”
