Flying Colors are back with the follow-up to their 2012 eponymous debut album, Flying Colors. The new album is entitled Second Nature and is one of 2014’s can’t miss releases. The band are currently on tour in support of this outstanding release, and Metal Exiles had the opportunity to catch up with the band’s visionary keyboardist/vocalist and lyricist, Neal Morse. The new album, the supporting tour of North America, as well as an inside look into the man’s role within the band were all discussed. Neal is one of prog rock’s finest, a true icon who always channels his talents and focus to serve a higher purpose.
An interview with Neal Morse of Flying Colors
By John Knowles
Metal Exiles: Neal, thanks in advance for your time. I want to start off by asking you what songs off of Second Nature have been the most fun for you guys to rehearse and what have you been looking forward to playing live the most?
Neal: I love “Open Up Your Eyes,” the first track. It’s got the most to it. I love the words, you know that last part? “Carve my name in the Tree of Life.” I think as I’ve gotten older I’ve become a little more lyric oriented. The words are really important to me, so the songs like “Peaceful Harbor” or “Open Up Your Eyes” are my favorites mainly because of the words. But the music is great too. “One Love Forever” has really gelled during rehearsal. We kind of did a different arrangement with it for this tour with some acoustic guitar a vocal changes. And the old stuff feels great too. Songs like “The Storm” and “Kayla” are really powerful.
Metal Exiles: What are your proudest moments on this record?
Neal: That I managed to actually play the end of “Open Up Your Eyes.” I think how we wrote that was Mike just played some insane drum ending thing and then Steve added the notes later, so they don’t really make any sense, and Steve knows that.
Metal Exiles: You’re referring to musically it doesn’t really make sense?
Neal: Yeah, not really (hums ending part). It’s just crazy. It’s really fast. So I spent a lot of time just practicing that little section that I think goes by in about 20 seconds. So one of my proudest moments is accomplishing that on the record, it was pretty tough. And I love the way “Peaceful Harbor” came out, it’s one of my personal favorites, the gospel choir and all that. But it’s all good, there are so many good moments. And “Cosmic Symphony” has a bunch of great moments. I think the end of that, the “Pound For Pound” part is possibly one of my favorite Casey sections, it’s just one of the best things he’s ever done. So I hope people get really in to it.
Metal Exiles: It’s clear to me from each listen that you guys did an amazing job pulling this off, and that’s not even taking into account the constraints you had as far as time and locations. What would be your ideal writing and recording situation if there were no limits to produce a record?
Neal: Oh man. No limits? I would love, if there were no limits and I could take my family...in a perfect world where my son could put college on hold, we would all camp out at Peter Gabriel’s studio in England for like 3 months and make the album from beginning to end together with the whole team together and the engineer and everything. I think that would be great if one could possibly conjure up the time and money to do such a thing.
Metal Exiles: What’s your vision for this band? What would you hope to see this band achieve?
Neal: Honestly, my life as a Christian is the most important thing to me so I’m not as interested in what we might accomplish musically or financially or in the charts as I am with what we might accomplish spiritually. My hope is that we would all grow closer to the Lord. That would be the greatest thing for me.
Metal Exiles: I think you can hear that in the music. Throughout both albums there’s very clear themes of love, peace, and growth, things like that that I and other believers really identify with. Is that something that you make a conscious effort to put in your lyrics or is that just a natural outgrowth of your worldview?
Neal: Well, it’s a natural outgrowth of my worldview and who I am and a natural outgrowth of what I am interested in saying. As the Bible says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth sings too, so we sing about what matters the most to us, and that matters the most to me. But I’m not the only lyricist, Casey is as well, and he’s a Christian as well. But we’re all different, and we all have different expressions of God’s love, and so his expression is different than mine and the things he goes through and has gone through are different than the things I’ve gone through. So it’s not like it’s a cookie-cutter thing. If you listen to Casey’s lyrics they’re very interesting and different, but I think we’re always trying to move towards Heaven essentially. Recently I was joking with him that even our tougher sounding songs have lyrics that are often super positive. Like in the middle of “Shoulda Coulda Woulda” the lyrics are “I wake in the morning and walk in the sunlight, never again no regrets.” The vibe is all tough, and the lyrics are pretty cool. It’s a big part of this project.
Metal Exiles: Given the all-star roster of this band, has Flying Colors given you any opportunities that your previous projects haven’t?
Neal: Yeah, sure! To play with Steve Morse and Dave LaRue, man. And Casey McPherson! But yes, to write for another voice is great. My voice is constrained with certain things, and his isn’t. His voice may have other constraints but you know, we all have our strengths and limitations but it’s great to be able to write with Casey for his voice. The whole project is totally different, really. It’s unique as any relationship, it’s unique as the people themselves.
Metal Exiles: Have there been any unique tour stops that this band has provided for you that differ from previous projects?
Neal: I think even the last tour was mostly places I’ve played before. We did play a different place in Cologne than I’d ever played before at this cool theater. But it’s a lot of the same circuit that I have played previously.
Metal Exiles: Looking at your creative role in Flying Colors, how does this band compare to your solo material? Again just kind of looking at it on a creative scale.
Neal: It’s really different. On the solo material I write a lot of it myself. It’s somewhat collaborative when I get with the other guys. This new Neal Morse Band album that I’ve been working on is really different because that was totally collaborative, as collaborative as Flying Colors. And that’s really different. Mainly you have to get used to taking a back seat on things sometimes. You’re only going to be able to lead so much of it, and for me it’s all about feeling that this is where God wants me to be. So if God wants me to be there then I have to learn how to be there. So I feel like he’s coaching me, which is a great learning process.
Metal Exiles: Who or what inspires you these days as a musician and songwriter?
Neal: Mainly the love of God through Jesus Christ. Other things though too. Life things, my family, my wife, nature, I’m inspired by a lot of things. I also like to write about darker things too sometimes that get into the nature of man, the cruelty, because I think it makes the light brighter.
Metal Exiles: What about other musicians? What’s on your iPod these days?
Neal: I’ve been checking out John Mayer. I really like his acoustic albums, Paradise Valley, and Born and Raised. I’ve been listening to those around the house, and really digging it. I’d like to go for a vibe like that maybe on my next solo/songwriter outing. I’m just kind of in that place. I’m in a place of really enjoying a lot of nice music, the kind of music to hang out by. A bit more on the mellow side. It’s kind of what I find myself attracted to. My Songs From November solo album is a little bit like that. So that’s what I’ve been listening to.
Metal Exiles: Did you happen to see John’s Ice Bucket Challenge? He’s a seriously talented guy.
Neal: I did! It was very cool, very inspiring.
Metal Exiles: What should fans be expecting from you in the near future besides the new Neal Morse Band album?
Neal: After this tour there’s MorseFest. In Nashville in my home church we’re putting on a weekend of concerts, and activities and events. We’re gonna do the entire Testimony I album, which has never been done. And then there’s VIP meet/greet, an acoustic concert just for the inner circle and a bunch of other cool stuff. So that’s in November on the 14th and 15th. After that I’m going to take a little time off I think and we’ll see what next year holds.
Metal Exiles: To close this out, I recently interviewed Casey and I asked him about the origins of my favorite track from you guys, “Kayla.” He explained the origins and the story, but he said you were the one who actually suggested the name Kayla once the “Daylight” theme was left. Why that name?
Neal: I just thought it sang well. I really just thought it sounded good and sang well. I wasn’t thinking of any particular person. I just kept singing that chorus and Daylight didn’t work for me. Somehow Kayla did. And I don’t have any real reason why. It ended up being kind of a romantic, spiritual love song kind of thing.
Metal Exiles: Cool, man. I love it. Well, Neal it was a great pleasure to get to chat with you, and I wish you guys all the best on this tour and tonight’s performance.
Neal: Great to meet you. Enjoy the show!
Flying Colors Official Site
Buy Second Nature here.
An interview with Neal Morse of Flying Colors
By John Knowles
Metal Exiles: Neal, thanks in advance for your time. I want to start off by asking you what songs off of Second Nature have been the most fun for you guys to rehearse and what have you been looking forward to playing live the most?
Neal: I love “Open Up Your Eyes,” the first track. It’s got the most to it. I love the words, you know that last part? “Carve my name in the Tree of Life.” I think as I’ve gotten older I’ve become a little more lyric oriented. The words are really important to me, so the songs like “Peaceful Harbor” or “Open Up Your Eyes” are my favorites mainly because of the words. But the music is great too. “One Love Forever” has really gelled during rehearsal. We kind of did a different arrangement with it for this tour with some acoustic guitar a vocal changes. And the old stuff feels great too. Songs like “The Storm” and “Kayla” are really powerful.
Metal Exiles: What are your proudest moments on this record?
Neal: That I managed to actually play the end of “Open Up Your Eyes.” I think how we wrote that was Mike just played some insane drum ending thing and then Steve added the notes later, so they don’t really make any sense, and Steve knows that.
Metal Exiles: You’re referring to musically it doesn’t really make sense?
Neal: Yeah, not really (hums ending part). It’s just crazy. It’s really fast. So I spent a lot of time just practicing that little section that I think goes by in about 20 seconds. So one of my proudest moments is accomplishing that on the record, it was pretty tough. And I love the way “Peaceful Harbor” came out, it’s one of my personal favorites, the gospel choir and all that. But it’s all good, there are so many good moments. And “Cosmic Symphony” has a bunch of great moments. I think the end of that, the “Pound For Pound” part is possibly one of my favorite Casey sections, it’s just one of the best things he’s ever done. So I hope people get really in to it.
Metal Exiles: It’s clear to me from each listen that you guys did an amazing job pulling this off, and that’s not even taking into account the constraints you had as far as time and locations. What would be your ideal writing and recording situation if there were no limits to produce a record?
Neal: Oh man. No limits? I would love, if there were no limits and I could take my family...in a perfect world where my son could put college on hold, we would all camp out at Peter Gabriel’s studio in England for like 3 months and make the album from beginning to end together with the whole team together and the engineer and everything. I think that would be great if one could possibly conjure up the time and money to do such a thing.
Metal Exiles: What’s your vision for this band? What would you hope to see this band achieve?
Neal: Honestly, my life as a Christian is the most important thing to me so I’m not as interested in what we might accomplish musically or financially or in the charts as I am with what we might accomplish spiritually. My hope is that we would all grow closer to the Lord. That would be the greatest thing for me.
Metal Exiles: I think you can hear that in the music. Throughout both albums there’s very clear themes of love, peace, and growth, things like that that I and other believers really identify with. Is that something that you make a conscious effort to put in your lyrics or is that just a natural outgrowth of your worldview?
Neal: Well, it’s a natural outgrowth of my worldview and who I am and a natural outgrowth of what I am interested in saying. As the Bible says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth sings too, so we sing about what matters the most to us, and that matters the most to me. But I’m not the only lyricist, Casey is as well, and he’s a Christian as well. But we’re all different, and we all have different expressions of God’s love, and so his expression is different than mine and the things he goes through and has gone through are different than the things I’ve gone through. So it’s not like it’s a cookie-cutter thing. If you listen to Casey’s lyrics they’re very interesting and different, but I think we’re always trying to move towards Heaven essentially. Recently I was joking with him that even our tougher sounding songs have lyrics that are often super positive. Like in the middle of “Shoulda Coulda Woulda” the lyrics are “I wake in the morning and walk in the sunlight, never again no regrets.” The vibe is all tough, and the lyrics are pretty cool. It’s a big part of this project.
Metal Exiles: Given the all-star roster of this band, has Flying Colors given you any opportunities that your previous projects haven’t?
Neal: Yeah, sure! To play with Steve Morse and Dave LaRue, man. And Casey McPherson! But yes, to write for another voice is great. My voice is constrained with certain things, and his isn’t. His voice may have other constraints but you know, we all have our strengths and limitations but it’s great to be able to write with Casey for his voice. The whole project is totally different, really. It’s unique as any relationship, it’s unique as the people themselves.
Metal Exiles: Have there been any unique tour stops that this band has provided for you that differ from previous projects?
Neal: I think even the last tour was mostly places I’ve played before. We did play a different place in Cologne than I’d ever played before at this cool theater. But it’s a lot of the same circuit that I have played previously.
Metal Exiles: Looking at your creative role in Flying Colors, how does this band compare to your solo material? Again just kind of looking at it on a creative scale.
Neal: It’s really different. On the solo material I write a lot of it myself. It’s somewhat collaborative when I get with the other guys. This new Neal Morse Band album that I’ve been working on is really different because that was totally collaborative, as collaborative as Flying Colors. And that’s really different. Mainly you have to get used to taking a back seat on things sometimes. You’re only going to be able to lead so much of it, and for me it’s all about feeling that this is where God wants me to be. So if God wants me to be there then I have to learn how to be there. So I feel like he’s coaching me, which is a great learning process.
Metal Exiles: Who or what inspires you these days as a musician and songwriter?
Neal: Mainly the love of God through Jesus Christ. Other things though too. Life things, my family, my wife, nature, I’m inspired by a lot of things. I also like to write about darker things too sometimes that get into the nature of man, the cruelty, because I think it makes the light brighter.
Metal Exiles: What about other musicians? What’s on your iPod these days?
Neal: I’ve been checking out John Mayer. I really like his acoustic albums, Paradise Valley, and Born and Raised. I’ve been listening to those around the house, and really digging it. I’d like to go for a vibe like that maybe on my next solo/songwriter outing. I’m just kind of in that place. I’m in a place of really enjoying a lot of nice music, the kind of music to hang out by. A bit more on the mellow side. It’s kind of what I find myself attracted to. My Songs From November solo album is a little bit like that. So that’s what I’ve been listening to.
Metal Exiles: Did you happen to see John’s Ice Bucket Challenge? He’s a seriously talented guy.
Neal: I did! It was very cool, very inspiring.
Metal Exiles: What should fans be expecting from you in the near future besides the new Neal Morse Band album?
Neal: After this tour there’s MorseFest. In Nashville in my home church we’re putting on a weekend of concerts, and activities and events. We’re gonna do the entire Testimony I album, which has never been done. And then there’s VIP meet/greet, an acoustic concert just for the inner circle and a bunch of other cool stuff. So that’s in November on the 14th and 15th. After that I’m going to take a little time off I think and we’ll see what next year holds.
Metal Exiles: To close this out, I recently interviewed Casey and I asked him about the origins of my favorite track from you guys, “Kayla.” He explained the origins and the story, but he said you were the one who actually suggested the name Kayla once the “Daylight” theme was left. Why that name?
Neal: I just thought it sang well. I really just thought it sounded good and sang well. I wasn’t thinking of any particular person. I just kept singing that chorus and Daylight didn’t work for me. Somehow Kayla did. And I don’t have any real reason why. It ended up being kind of a romantic, spiritual love song kind of thing.
Metal Exiles: Cool, man. I love it. Well, Neal it was a great pleasure to get to chat with you, and I wish you guys all the best on this tour and tonight’s performance.
Neal: Great to meet you. Enjoy the show!
Flying Colors Official Site
Buy Second Nature here.