Phobias Q & A: V Pages
Grammy award winning producer Dom Morley has worked with some of the biggest names in music including Amy Winehouse, Adele, Mick Jagger, and Sting, but it’s his recently released debut EP that’s currently turning heads. His solo project V Pages, inspired in name by Victoria Page (a character from the 1948 film ‘The Red Shoes’), sees Morley juggle pop sensibilities with absorbing experimental electronic soundscapes. We asked the highly-acclaimed producer how he’d cope dealing with spine-tingling scenarios and the inspiration behind his debut EP ‘After The Storm’.
Would you rather lie in a box with a million little spiders or a million shards of glass?
Definitely, shards of glass. Some of my best friends are spiders (coming from the UK they’re not a lethal threat, we all hang out and drink beer together) but a million of them crawling all over me would be a liberty.
Would you rather swim in the ocean at night knowing there were no sharks or swim in the ocean during the day in shark infested waters?
Depends on the sharks. If it’s just reef sharks then daytime is cool. I scuba-dived with reef sharks once and they were 100 per cent chill. If it’s Great Whites then my years of Jaws-watching training kicks in and I’ll take the night swim.
Would you rather scratch your nails on a chalkboard or chew on aluminium foil?
Chew the foil, mostly because I’ve never done it before and will embrace a new experience with open arms. I’ve done nails on a chalkboard though and f*ck that sh*t.
Would you rather have someone breathe in your ear or chew really loudly in your ear for eternity?
Breathe in my ear. Always the breath, never the chew.
What’s worse, your fear of heights or your fear of the dark?
I once climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which was quite nerve-wracking (mostly because of the whole leaning thing), and I once sat in the absolute dark near Uluru. Just as they turned out the lights something massive landed on my neck and bit me, and in my panic I decided that this was unquestionably fatal. So I guess I prefer heights…
Would you rather know you had a house full of rats or a house full of cockroaches?
Rats! My Room 101 is that scene in ‘Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom’ in the “bug tunnel“. I’d take the sweet release of death over a house full of cockroaches!
What do you think trypophobia is and what would be your way to cope with it?
Without Googling I don’t have the first clue, fear of triangles/hipsters/alt-J? Ok, now I’ve Googled, it’s a “fear of closely packed holes”. That’s a good one. I think I’d go with immersion therapy and sleep on a giant sponge.
For uninitiated, how do you describe V Pages sound?
It’s the sound of big synths, here’s my studio, but also sometimes guitars and vocals doing something widescreen, beautiful and cinematic.
We’re loving ‘After The Storm’, what’s the inspiration behind the EP?
I started with the simple idea of “what would The Verve’s ‘Storm In Heaven’ sound like if it were made now instead of in 1993?”. Obviously it evolved as it progressed and is probably now quite a stretch for another ‘Verve fan, but to me it feels the same as ‘Storm In Heaven’ does, but sounds more like 2016.
Lastly, what are three things people should know about your debut EP ‘After The Storm’?
- Electronic.
- Organic.
- Out now.
