Interview: Neal Morse

Interview: January 2026

Ahead of the release of the new Neal Morse Band album L.I.F.T. (review here), Hotel Hobbies spent some very enjoyable time in the company of Neal Morse himself.

Hotel Hobbies: Before we dive into the upcoming Neal Morse Band album, which I really enjoyed writing about, can we look back a little. What first drew you to music and what were some of your earliest influences?

Neal Morse: Well, like everyone else in America, except I was a little younger than most, I saw The Beatles play on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964. I would have been four years old. Actually, I would have been three and a half. Could I possibly remember that? I feel like I do. That was one of my first things but my dad was a music teacher and a choir director, so I was surrounded with a lot of classical music. He taught us to sing classical harmonies when we were very young. My brothers and sisters were older so, he'd probably give me the melody or the simplest parts when I was young. I got used to singing complex harmonies at a very early age and loved it.

The first progressive rock experience was seeing Yes open for Black Sabbath. My brothers were a little older and we all got into the power of rock: Black Sabbath and Grand Funk Railroad were huge at that time - 1971,1972. We went to see Sabbath and this band I'd never heard of, Yes, was opening and it really changed my life because I didn't realise you could have the classical elements, the jazz elements, the three-part, four-part harmony vocals, the power of rock and the fun of pop all in one piece. I got to tell Jon Anderson that which was pretty cool.

Hotel Hobbies: Sabbath and Yes are an interesting combination of bands.

Neal Morse: Well in those days the labels didn't care. Some of the classic stories are Gentle Giant opening for a pop band and also Jimi Hendrix opening for The Monkees. The year after Sabbath, I saw Yes in LA. They were headlining and the next group down was the Edgar Winter Group. And the opening band had just their first hit and they were called the Eagles! So the Eagles were opening for Yes, which is crazy but that’s the way it was in those days.

Hotel Hobbies:  With regards to learning different instruments, which one did you start with?

Neal Morse: Well, being in a musical family, we were all required to learn piano. So I started piano at five. I'm sure my brothers and my sister did too but they didn't really stay with it. I stayed with it longer. Then we all took folk guitar lessons when I was nine. We did a group guitar lesson thing and my dad went too. He dropped out pretty quick because he couldn't keep up with us. There was a lot of healthy competition with my brothers. Can you play this? I can play that better than you and so on. We just loved to jam. A lot of kids would play sports but we would just jam all day, which I fear is a dying art, the jam. Some younger players now are really talented and they write songs and program music but if you start just improvising something, they'll be like, what's that?

I learned to play a little bit of everything because we would trade instruments just to have fun. And that wound up being a big help to me later on when I was writing, particularly progressive rock, because I would know how the bass line should go and I would really be able to play it on a demo too. And even though I was programming drums sometimes, it really helps to know how a drummer would approach something. I learned a lot. I had no idea that it would bear fruit; I hoped it would but I had no idea that's how I would put my kids through college.

Hotel Hobbies: Your musical output over the years is quite astonishing: Spock’s Beard, Transatlantic, Flying Colours, solo projects and more. How have you managed to stay so creatively energised and productive over so long?

Neal Morse: I don't really know. Being a Christian and a generally spiritual guy, I credit it to God. Even before I knew God, I still credit it to God. I was practicing for Morse Fest London, which is in a couple of weeks, and I was practicing an old Spock's Beard tune called Walking on the Wind. I remember writing that like in '94, before The Light album came out in '95. I was already working on material for the second record. I remember where I was and everything. And that's a very spiritual piece. I was getting really moved singing the end of it. We will dance upon the water / We will walk upon the wind. You can hear my longing for heaven, even then - whether you want to call it heaven, whether you want to call it wholeness or whether you want to call it being connected to the universe. It all really means the same thing, which is tapping into the spirit of God. I think that he was there all along, which is something explored on the new album.

Hotel Hobbies: Before we talk about some specifics of the new Neal Morse Band album, beyond their obvious musical talents, what does each member bring when you are all working together?

Neal Morse: Wow, so, so much! Randy would be like the rock. He’s very consistent, always laying down something very solid. In the sessions, he brings some great riffs. He doesn't write a lot of songs, usually. Sometimes he'll have some great lyrical ideas and he brings enthusiasm to the band and to the sessions. He's really, really into it and that's important.

Mike also is very enthusiastic. When he likes an idea and we're all not sure and you’re trying to write an album in seven days, you have to just make decisions sometimes. Mike's the guy who says try it this way, try this arrangement, try this verse. He will write it on the whiteboard. And who's going to say that won't fulfil his sonic fantasy, even once? He tells us to not mess with success and I trust him so much. He has been proven right so many times over the years. He brings so much more than his drumming but his drumming is astounding. He only needed a day and a half to cut the whole album. That's how good he is and how fast he goes. He remembers all the music that we've just been working on for a week and he plays it perfectly. He's also an amazing producer and has such a musical mind.

Eric Gillette is not of this earth. Wherever he's from, he's from a place where everything they do is excellent, the top of the top. He made us dinner one night and it was a gourmet meal, I swear to God. He could play all the keyboards on the album. He can play all the instruments at a five star level. He's playing drums at Morse Fest in London because Mike's busy with Dream Theater. His singing voice is also amazing. He's actually hysterically funny and he's a great dancer. Eric's just like phenomenal at everything.

Bill Hubauer is a pillar in the house, a strong tower. He brings a quiet strength and he is tremendously creative. He is a great friend. He’s one of the guys that helps me when it comes to techie stuff. Bill is somebody that is just really smart and very capable. I will very often call him when I need help and he'll always help me. He always takes time for his friends and his one of the greatest creative minds that I've ever worked with.

Photo credit: Nick Magnuson

Hotel Hobbies: The release of L.I.F.T. is not that far away now. Do you still look forward to album releases as much as you did all those years ago?

Neal Morse: Yes, amazingly so. I feel the same as when I was a kid. I feel the same about music. I'm so excited for people to hear L.I.F.T. I think it's an album full of miracles, about miracles. I can't wait to play it. I think it's going to be a real mountaintop kind of life-changing, unforgettable thing. I don't think that's because of me. I think that's because of the band, the Lord and all the things that happen in the spaces you cannot really design.

Hotel Hobbies: I really enjoyed listening to and reviewing the album and it is one of the most in-depth reviews I have ever written. There is so much to the music and the narrative. I know due to the time constraints, you had an idea you pitched to the band that helped the creative juices flow a little more. Was there a particular thing that inspired the narrative?

Neal Morse: Just a few days before we went down to Tulsa to record at Eric's, I was thinking about the album and I thought, I wonder if it would be good to have an outline of some kind. I think that's a little bit of the influence of a musical that I've written that I've been working with the musical director. A lot of times, we'll outline the story and the characters and sometimes we need a song for this person to sing to this person about a particular subject. We need a duet for these people to sing about this. And it just helps me as a writer to know what I'm writing about. For this album, it is quite a common story arc for a spiritual concept album. You start off belonging - like in the piece The Water from the first Spock's Beard album. You start off belonging to something, you get hurt and disappointed and you withdraw from people and isolate yourself. That’s something that many of us are prone to do, especially in this day and age. You withdraw and suffer despair. Then you are reaching out. God comes to help you and then you are in this beautiful place and God reconnects you with community. Then you realise this was the thing you were searching for all the time.

I think the band were pretty ambivalent about it at first because it was just a few bullet points. I don't know if I mentioned it on day one. I didn't want to dominate the proceedings; I wanted to see where the band wanted to go. I think I remember feeling we didn't have very many days. So, the first day we just kind of tried a bunch of instrumental stuff that didn't amount to very much. There were some cool bits but I thought, wow, if we're going to make a record and write this thing in seven days, we better move this thing along. So, I think I mentioned it on the morning of day two and I just started getting up in the morning and writing songs from it. I've been through all of those spaces, every single space on this record. If you think about the track Shame About My Shame, it is about being ashamed about not being further along in life. I just started writing songs and I felt like the Lord gave me / us just enough. It was like the manna in the wilderness, if you're familiar with that concept in the Bible, where God just gives them just enough food for that day. If you store it up, it'll mould and you can't eat it. So, it's just enough for that day, which is kind of a scary thing. It was kind of a hair-raising game, for me anyway. The whole time, I'm trying to just trust God.

Hotel Hobbies: To talk about some tracks in more depth, the opening song, Beginning, has very few lyrics and is mainly a sweeping instrumental that sets the tone. It is quite a celebratory piece in a way.

Neal Morse: It’s the very beginning of something that Bill had written. He sent a lot of piano pieces before we got together. I kind of forgot about it but then somehow, he brought it to my attention and it came back to my mind . I think we came up with a kind of A Day In The Life crescendo that leads into the big theme. It’s a great progressive rock intro to an epic album, which is what we were looking for. I hadn't thought about it being celebratory but I can definitely feel that.

Hotel Hobbies: In complete contrast, there is the song Hurt People, one of my favourites on the album. It is so angst-ridden and emotionally charged. It is a real turning point in the narrative.

Neal Morse: That one was written in the room. We were messing around but we were working on the instrumental before it. Then Bill and Eric came in with this heavy riff and then Mike and Eric start doing their crazy thing. I said that’s where the vocals should come in. It didn’t really thrive and come alive for me until I heard Eric’s vocals on it and also his amazing guitar solo.

Hotel Hobbies:  It is certainly one of the standout moments. Maybe because it is so different but it is an essential part of the story you're trying to tell.

Neal Morse: Definitely. We all get hurt. Some people get severely hurt when they're young and usually by people that were hurt. It's all about the wounded heart, you know, which we all have to some degree. I think that's why everyone can relate to a lot of these things because no matter what you believe, we have the same kind of experiences.

Hotel Hobbies: There is some beautiful interplay between vulnerability and hope across the album such as on I Still Belong.

Neal Morse: Yes! It was a group thing. I had a little sketch of the I Still Belong song and I played it on acoustic guitar in the room and thankfully, they liked it. A band can also kill good ideas if they want to. They liked it and we started to work on it . We changed the bridge and had the idea for the full band to come in. It felt really good and dramatic. You're on this adventure together when you're creating it. There is a motif that Bill wrote when he was fifteen years old. Isn't that crazy? He said he just had in the back of his mind all this time waiting for the right place to use it and it’s used in lots of different places so he's pretty chuffed about that.

Hotel Hobbies: The album is full of subtle touches. At the end of Fully Alive Pt.2, for example, you go back to the aggression of Hurt People. It feels to me like even the change for good in life is not always instant and perfect. You have ups and downs before you reach true happiness represented by the final track. Those little touches keep the humanity of the story alive.

Neal Morse: Yeah, I always like to point that out. The journey is not a simple one. It's not a perfect one. I heard somebody say once that God doesn't make anything that's in a straight line. Everything has curves. There is not river that just goes dead straight; it curves and meanders. So, I am so glad you appreciated that. When you're writing these things, you're trying to find the right balance between darkness and light. You try to keep some tension in there because I think it makes it more beautiful somehow.

Hotel Hobbies: There are also some lovely short instrumental passages like Gravity’s Grip or Contemplation. They give a chance for moments of reflection.

Neal Morse:  It's interesting because we've never really done it quite like we did it on this one with those little passages. I can't explain why or how; it just kind of happened in the room.

Hotel Hobbies: I know you also love the mixing on the album by Rich Mouser. There is a wonderful live feel to the album. You obviously have a strong relationship with him and trust him to bring out the best in the band.

Neal Morse: Oh, totally. I guess we didn't really do it any differently than any other record we've done, as far as the way we recorded it, except we recorded it at Eric's. We were playing the music together in the room so I'm glad it feels like a live band. That's a great thing to hear. As far as what Rich brings, I liken it to, when I was a kid and used to like to look for precious rocks on the beach. Sometimes you'd find this rock and think, is that an agate? Maybe it's an agate. I'm not sure. It looks kind of cool. Maybe it's a piece of glass, maybe it's nothing but it might be something. So you take it to the rock polisher and he polishes it all up and it's at that moment you can see what it is. That's the way I feel with the albums. I don't really know what these albums are until Rich is done. It's amazing what he brings.

Hotel Hobbies: You have got so much talent within the band and also some strong personalities. Have there ever been moments, over time, where you have had creative disagreements or when you are not all on the same page about things?

Neal Morse: Oh yeah, sure. We didn't have very many during this. I think I brought in something for just before the Carry You Again part of the album. They weren't into it. I was a little disappointed but I think I might have gone, yeah, I guess it isn't good enough. I don't think it's strong enough. Let's see what tomorrow brings. Then I brought in Carry You Again the next day and I still didn't like it. Sometimes you'll write something and then you play it for people and they start playing with you and grooving and trying different things. Sometimes that has made me love things. We've had some sharp disagreements before but not really on this one.

Hotel Hobbies: I suppose that is the thing about any band or project where you're working with multiple people. Sometimes you have to trust them, put your ego aside and say, actually, your way is better.

Neal Morse: Oh yeah. You learn that over time. I'm still learning that. When to speak; when to challenge. Sometimes, I am praying silently during session and I ask God if I should put my two cents in here or put my foot down there. It's a great, great, great challenge. It's like a marriage. Collaborating is the best thing in the world when it's working and one of the hardest things in the world when you disagree.

Hotel Hobbies: When you have had a really intense creative period and you want to step back and relax yourself, what sort of music do you listen to?

Neal Morse: I listen to a lot of classical music and jazz. My wife likes to listen to mellow pop music like Jack Johnson and John Mayer. I enjoy that too. When we're chilling, a lot of times we'll put on Jack Johnson, Pandora radio and it feels good, easy stuff. I think I work on a lot of difficult music and so sometimes when I'm chilling, I just want to relax; I'll put on music that's simpler. I also, when I want to relax, listen to certain Miles Davis albums. If Sherry's not here and I want to put something on in the house, who knows what it could be. It could be The Beatles second album or Chopin. What else did I put on recently? I listened to Tommy by The Who recently. I hadn’t listened to that in years. I'll just look through my vinyl collection and pull something out and go, hey, let's check this out.

Hotel Hobbies: You have collaborated with so many people, is there someone you would love to work with or somebody you have spoken to about doing something but never got around to?

Neal Morse: I've talked to a few different people about collaborating that I haven't gotten around to. I don’t know if I want to reveal who just yet. There are also the crazy dream people like Paul McCartney or Peter Gabriel. I just try to trust the Lord that he'll put the right people in my path.

Hotel Hobbies: To round things off, when people have had a chance to listen to L.I.F.T. and to dissect it, what do you hope they take away from the experience?

Neal Morse: Oh, well, first of all, I recommend that they listen to it as one piece. I don't think it pieces out well. It's a full journey. I hope that they go on the journey and that they'll be really inspired and it'll help heal the human soul.

Hotel Hobbies: That is a great way to think about it. It has been a pleasure to speak with you after following many of your projects. I really enjoyed writing about the album so good luck with it when it finally comes out. I am sure it will go down very well.

Neal Morse: Thanks a lot, man. I appreciate it. I'm glad we could talk today.

Hotel Hobbies: Thank you. Take care.

Neal Morse: God bless and hope to talk to you again sometime.