LILY MORRIS
HAILS FROM WALBUNJA/BRAIDWOOD, NEW SOUTH WALES PLAYS SOLO SOUNDS LIKE TWANGY, SLOW-BURNING INDIE SEEPED IN PERSONALITY LATEST DROP SLEEPING IN (EP OUT NOW INDEPENDENTLY)
How did you first discover the guitar?
My dad had an old Sigma acoustic and this mysterious ‘70s Les Paul clone with built-in effects and the wrong neck, which he’d strum sometimes. My older brother was really into guitar, so as not to intrude on his passion I learned bass for the school band. I got bored of the Bb scale and Henri Mancini so I’d hide and teach myself stuff on guitar at lunch and after school. The first song I learnt was ‘A New England’ from dad’s vintage Billy Bragg songbook. That book had a lot to do with my love for songwriting. My first guitar was a disassembled Squier Jagmaster that had been badly repainted metallic red – it was in a box at the local tip. Dad brought it home and made me build it myself.
What’s your current go-to?
I just fixed a guitar I built, which I’m enjoying playing again. It’s an earthy pink colour and has a Filter’tron in the neck, which sounds delightful. I also recently got a ’70s Harmony thing for cheap, it’s small and the neck feels great. I’ve been playing slide stuff on it. So fun!
What inspires you as a guitarist?
I love tension and dissonance and guitarists with a lot of expression. I go to heaps of shows and am always soaking stuff up (I saw Snowy Band last night and now he’s my favourite guitarist). My list of influences would be huge, but right now I’m really digging Jeff Tweedy’s solo stuff. I love the dynamics and the cutting solos over acoustic backdrops. I’ve also been going through a bit of a Hand Habits phase lately. Meg Duffy shreds but also writes the most lush chord progressions and layers parts perfectly. They’re sound is distinctive but understated and there’s always something new to find in the layers.
Are you much of a gear nerd?
During lockdown I started collecting pedals and built my first board. It’s small but jam-packed and fits in an old laptop case. I’ve got some nice pedals on it but the one I use most, I bought for $30 on eBay. It’s a Pure Sky overdrive by Caline. It’s a cheap, generic clone of something and by no means ‘cool’ or quality, but it sounds great and it’s a leave-on now. At my family home there’s a 1969 Princeton that dad found in a pile at the tip. It doesn’t get used much but I love when I go home and get to play it. I recorded my EP Sleeping In with it. Hopefully one day it’ll be mine!
Do you have any ‘white whales’?
Pretty much anything built in Japan in the ‘70s. Especially if it has a Bigsby on it. I’d also love a nice old acoustic.
What would your signature model look like?
My dream guitar changes all the time, but I guess that’s the good thing about building them: I can just design and make them myself (with limits of course). To keep it simple though, off the top of my head, my signature guitar might be a red, thinline Tele with a Filter’tron in the neck, wide-range humbucker in the bridge, a maple fretboard, an off-white pickguard and a half-ashtray bridge.
What advice would you give your past self?
Do whatever you want and break all the rules. Technical ability doesn’t always equate to interesting or fun. And to contrast that, learn more chords, embrace silence and dynamics, and pay attention in theory lessons because knowing what you’re doing can also be cool. Just focus on what is exciting for you, because that’s the point, right? You don’t have to prove anything to anyone.
If you could jam with any guitarist, dead or alive, who would it be?
I want to jam with everyone and anyone, all the time. Do you wanna jam?