Christian Morrissey, !K7 Music

💭 Thoughts on Charli XCX’s Brat rollout campaign, Love Injection, and his signature D.S. & Durga scent.

Christian Morrissey is the Sync Licensing and North American Label Manager at !K7 Music.  A dedicated music lover who has always sought to help evangelize independent music, he’s discovered many artists due to movie soundtracks, TV shows, video games, et al. Once he found out you could help those independent artists make money by placing their songs in anything with a video component to help them continue to make left-of-center music? He was hooked.

🤫 Current focus

One thing I’m currently working on that I’m excited about? I can’t talk about it yet but listen to the airwaves…

📚 Raving by McKenzie Wark

I just finished Raving by McKenzie Wark, which was brilliant. Amazing insight into the clubbing community - a true focus on the concept of community - and an incredible encapsulation of the current / ongoing zeitgeist of “going out.” Dancing has always helped me heal, have fun, not be bored when I don’t know what to do at a party, and actually pay attention to the decisions of artists who create music specifically made for movement. Wark captures that perfectly.

🍽️ Mantra of the moment

“Don’t Put It Down, Put It Away” - this stems from just cleaning up (e.g. don’t leave a dish in the sink when you can put it in the dishwasher), but I’ve found it incredibly helpful in my career too; if you see an email you need to respond to, just do it now instead of putting it off for later. Your life, psyche, and apartment will be far less cluttered.

📡 Love Injection (aka Paul Raffaele and Barbie Bertish) 

Without a doubt the best in the biz. They really just have the best taste ever, truly. They understand music and the industry in the most positive, self-aware way that actually reminds me why I’m in love with music in all its forms as well. Every Saturday morning we cast their show from The Lot Radio while having coffee, literally “the best part of waking up.” Plus they’re incredibly prodigious in so many mediums it’s outrageously inspiring; their zine always highlights the most talented and influential musicians, from past to present. Sometimes I read it and a few weeks later realize they predicted the future like a weather forecast. Also, for what it’s worth, they’re maybe the sweetest people I’ve ever met. 

💿 Charli XCX’s rollout campaign for Brat

Charli XCX’s rollout for Brat is one of the most brilliant campaigns in recent memory. I mean, it’s been perfect. Who cares about the song of the summer when we have a clear winner for artist of the summer? She partnered with Eckhaus Latta, the coolest clothing brand out there these days, for her “360” video, teased each single perfectly in advance of the album drop to make everyone horny for the whole LP, made amazing music videos (yes, I am one of the ones who literally screamed when I saw Chloe Sevigny step out of that car), and then doubled down by rereleasing with a self-aware album title for the deluxe version? It’s a master class.   

🏳️‍🌈 “House music played with a passion that is second to none”

One thing I’m looking forward to most later this month would have to be Octo Octa and Eris Drew at Knockdown Center for Pride on June 30th. I first saw them at a 7am set at P-Bar in Berghain years ago and it was the first time I heard The Mother Beat, which is more of a concept rather than an actual BPM or auditory feature. It really is only felt through the body and soul in connection on the dancefloor - I know that might sound spacey or pretentious but it took me over 30 years to feel it and when it really, truly hits, you know. Their sets are literally unmissable.

🎶 Portable cassette players

My partner gifted me a great portable cassette player last year (shout out Turntable Lab) and it’s really helped me delve back into the medium. After a recent party where a friend accidentally dosed me with what was only supposed to be “only a quarter tab,” I stayed up all night listening to every one of my cassettes and really started appreciating the texture of the tapes: the dissonant hiss starting and finishing an album / mix, the texture it adds to the music, the utilitarian nature and accessibility of the system itself, which lets burgeoning musicians or field recorders release anything relatively cheaply. Plus considering the pain and cost of pressing vinyl, I love that more and more artists are releasing physicals this way. Eris Drew’s latest mix only on cassette (Raving Disco Breaks Vol. II - Rock The House) is a particular favorite lately :)

💨 D.S. & Durga’s “I Don’t Know What”

This is my signature scent, a reminder that fragrance is an enigmatic necessity for memory, and from a practical standpoint, is a great base layer for any other scent you want to layer on top of it. 

🍋 Eating a whole lemon

Have you ever eaten a whole lemon? Rind, pith, seeds, the whole thing. It is actually quite delicious, terrible for your teeth, and unnerving in a way that reminds you of your own existence and presence of self. 

Follow Christian on Instagram & Linkedin and check out !K7 Music here.

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