Rebel of the Month: Josh Morphett
It goes without saying that the creative world is full of unsung heroes, all of whom hold vast amounts of stories and knowledge ready to share with the world.
That’s exactly why our Rebel of the Month series exists – to shine the spotlight on these creatives who make the world go round, give ‘em the chance to tell their stories, and inspire us all with their respective journeys.
For our third edition of the series, we’re taking a look at the musical polymath that is Josh Morphett ✹ If you’re a music fan in Adelaide, you might be across his work as a solo artist or as a member of numerous bands, including the dreamy Lilac Cove.
But if you know anything that Josh has been involved in, it would likely be his Space Jams initiative, which was born out of lockdown and helped to keep the South Australian contemporary music scene chugging along throughout COVID.
This beautiful human scores true rebel status, if you ask us! Read Josh’s inspiring story below.
How did you start your journey to where you are today?
I guess it all started with playing instruments. I started piano when I was six, guitar when I was eight, and sax in high school. I went to a music-specialist high school, which was great for my practical and theoretical knowledge.
I joined a band at that time, which saw some moderate local success and gave me some insight into other aspects of the music industry at a relatively young age, like recording, film clips, touring, and playing big stages. But because of my good academic results I was gently caressed into an engineering degree and subsequently found work in project/program management.
Over those years I was in various bands, but just for fun, not doing anything groundbreaking. But I had a few friends who were on the cover circuit, which I was pretty envious of, and realised that I wanted in on that action. So I snagged more and more cover gigs until I was busy enough to quit my “real job” and call myself a full time musician. Lots of people rag on the cover circuit, but I love it. I just love music.
Original music takes the cake, but it’s all music so it’s all good. Then COVID hit and the music scene got hit hard. At that time live-streaming was becoming a thing. So when musos lost all work (plus many other industries were working from home, or isolating/quarantining), I started live-streaming gigs from home.
I had an idea to do a live-stream music festival, so I asked a bunch of mates and before I knew it I had a 25 artist lineup ready to go in a week, all live-streaming to Instagram from their houses. My partner came up with the name Space Jams. It now exists as a small touring festival, where we take artists to different regional areas and include local acts on the lineup as well.
From my work with Space Jams, I’ve been given opportunities booking lineups with Fleurieu Folk Festival and Beer & BBQ Festival and have recently landed a job at MusicSA as Program Coordinator for Good Music Month coming up in November.
What are you most proud of in your career?
It would have to be making the leap to a full-time music career from the safety net of a secure project management job. I had definitely semi-hung up the boots for music during that part of my life, but taking that step away made me realise how much I wanted it, even just the simple cover circuit.
My biggest fear has always been regretting my professional decisions when I’m old; eg. turning 50, having loads of cash and assets, but having a meaningless career. And don’t get me wrong; the world needs engineers and project managers, but it wasn’t for me. That decision has led me to the various jobs that I’m doing within the music industry now, which is literally a dream.
What's the biggest risk you've taken as a professional?
Space Jams, for sure. But not the early online versions, they were easy to organise and inexpensive. The regional tours and big shows cost a lot more. When you look at it on paper, the margins are so tight. My accountant doesn’t understand it.
It almost feels like a hobby that’s grown and now gotten a bit out of hand, but I love it so much, and it gives back to the community and music industry. And that’s what I tell my accountant, and he shakes his head, turns back to his computer and tells me I owe the tax man heaps of money.
What inspires you to do what you do?
I love bringing joy to people; I love music, I love local music. So when I organise an event, or book a lineup, or play a show, if people are enjoying themselves, I’m so stoked. There’s no higher stoke for me. I’ve had countless moments over the last few years where I’ve just stood there, ecstatic, because I can see everyone around me is having the best time.
You’ve worn a lot of hats across your career, but is there any role that stands out as the most fulfilling?
Hmm, that’s a tough one, because every role serves its purpose, and the next role probably wouldn’t exist without the prior roles. I’ve said ‘role’ too many times.
You know what was fun though; being Billy Corgan in a Smashing Pumpkins tribute show for Fringe. But probably top of the list would be creating Space Jams.
I also love playing in bands though. Also working on Beer & BBQ recently was a bit of a dream-come-true job. The MusicSA work is going to be really fulfilling over the next few months too. All the things. My belly is full.
What advice would you give yourself if you were starting out today?
I feel like I’m always starting out, throwing myself in the deep end of something. So the advice I’d give myself 20 years ago is similar to the advice I’d give myself today: Put yourself out there, take calculated risks, take uncalculated risks and learn to deal with rejection or failure. Work hard, but also work smart (which includes not working sometimes and legitimately switching off).
If you’re in a team (or a band), share the workload – everyone has unique skills, and everybody has the ability to learn. Ooh yeah, on that, always learn and be keen to learn. Be keen, be non-judgemental, be supportive, be kind. I’ve heard a lot of people say you can’t be kind in the music industry – I disagree. Be yourself, be assertive and ask questions if you don’t understand something. If someone else is being a dick, that’s on them, not you – ask the question anyway. If someone doesn’t respond to your email, Josh, they don’t hate you, just send them another email.
Got any life hacks?
I’m huge on simplicity. Simplify everything. Get rid of anything you don’t need; physical stuff, mental stuff, time consuming stuff – anything, then maintain that simplicity. That’s the tough part. You’ll regress sometimes, but that’s fine. Get back on track as soon as you can. A simple life isn’t an easy life, but I reckon it pays back invaluably!
You can get in touch with Josh by shooting him a line at joshuamorphett@gmail.com.
