Morgan Grace Kibby (born May 3, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and former actress based in Los Angeles, California. She is best known as a member and collaborator of the French
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
group
M83 between 2008 and 2015, contributing to the albums, ''
Saturdays = Youth
''Saturdays = Youth'' is the fifth studio album by French electronic music band M83, released on 11 April 2008 by Virgin Records. The album was produced by Ken Thomas, with co-production by Ewan Pearson and M83 frontman Anthony Gonzalez.
The al ...
'' (2008), ''
Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
''Hurry Up, We're Dreaming'' (stylised as ) is the sixth studio album by French electronic music band M83. The album was released on 18 October 2011, by Naïve Records in France and by Mute Records in the United States. The album was the last ...
'' (2011) and ''
You and the Night'' (2015). During her time in M83, Kibby co-wrote the singles, "
Kim & Jessie
"Kim & Jessie" is a song by French electronic band M83. Written by Anthony and Yann Gonzalez with Morgan Kibby, it was released in July 2008 as the third single from M83's fifth studio album, ''Saturdays = Youth''.
Critical reception
"Kim & Jes ...
, "
Midnight City
"Midnight City" is a song by French electronic music band M83. The track was first released in France on 16 August 2011, as the lead single from the group's sixth studio album, ''Hurry Up, We're Dreaming'' (2011). The song was written by Anth ...
", "
Reunion
Reunion may refer to:
* Class reunion
* Family reunion
Reunion, Réunion, Re-union, Reunions or The Reunion may also refer to:
Places
* Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean
* Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, U ...
" and "
Wait
Wait or WAIT may refer to:
Music
* Wait (musician), British town pipers
Albums and EPs
* ''Wait'' (The Polyphonic Spree EP), by The Polyphonic Spree
* ''Wait'' (Emanuel Nice EP), a 2002 EP released by the band Emanuel Nice
* ''Wait'' (Stee ...
" with core member Anthony Gonzalez.
Between the years of 1999 and 2002, Kibby was an actress in the
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
sitcom ''
100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd
''100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd'' is a television sitcom created for Nickelodeon by Steven H. Berman, Mitchel Katlin, and Nat Bernstein. The series ran for three seasons, premiering on October 16, 1999, and airing its final episode on April 21, 2002 ...
''. Prior to joining M83, she was the frontwoman of
the Romanovs, releasing one studio album in 2005. In 2014, Kibby began recording and releasing material under the moniker White Sea, releasing two studio albums, ''In Cold Blood'' and ''Tropical Odds'', in 2014 and 2017, respectively,
[ Note: see video description.] alongside a soundtrack album to the film, ''Bang Gang'' (2016).
Kibby provided vocals on
The Japanese Popstars
The Japanese Popstars are an Irish electronic group from Northern Ireland consisting of Gary Curran and Gareth Donoghue (with former founding member and keyboardist Declan McLaughlin). Each member has his own alias. The act was nominated for " ...
' "''Figth the night''" in 2011. In 2015, Kibby began collaborating with
Panic! at the Disco
Panic! at the Disco is the solo project of American musician Brendon Urie. It was originally a pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2004 by childhood friends Urie, Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, and Brent Wilson. They recorded their firs ...
in a songwriting and session capacity, contributing to the albums, ''
Death of a Bachelor
''Death of a Bachelor'' is the fifth studio album by Panic! at the Disco, and their first as a solo project, released January 15, 2016 on Fueled by Ramen and DCD2. It is the follow-up to the band's fourth studio album, ''Too Weird to Live, Too R ...
'' (2016), ''
Pray for the Wicked
''Pray for the Wicked'' is the sixth studio album by American pop rock solo project Panic! at the Disco. The album was released on June 22, 2018 on Fueled by Ramen in the US and WEA internationally. It is the follow-up to the band's fifth studio a ...
'' (2018) and ''
Viva Las Vengeance
''Viva Las Vengeance'' is the seventh and final studio album by American pop rock solo project Panic! at the Disco, released on August 19, 2022, through Fueled by Ramen and DCD2 Records. It is their first studio album in 4 years since their 201 ...
'' (2022). In 2019, Kibby contributed keyboards,
moog bass
The Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music, originally conceived as a part of the Constellation series of synthesizers. The initial Taurus I was manufactured from 1975 to 1981; a less popular re ...
and backing vocals to the title track of
Harry Styles
Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...
's second studio album, ''
Fine Line'', and in 2020, she co-wrote and produced the orchestral interludes on
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
's sixth studio album, ''
Chromatica
''Chromatica'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Lady Gaga, released on May 29, 2020, by Interscope Records and subsidiary Streamline. Gaga supervised the production with longtime collaborator BloodPop and a variety of other producer ...
'' (2020), with a 26-piece orchestra.
Biography
Early life
Born in
Utqiagvik,
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
to Charles and Lauri, Kibby grew up in San Francisco where she took vocal training, as well as studied piano and cello in her teens. She also performed as part of the chorus of the San Francisco Opera.
In 2003, Kibby released an EP entitled ''Beggar's Alchemy'', doing vocals, cello, and piano. Soon after the release she began performing with the musicians that would form
The Romanovs, including Dan Rosa and Paul Wiancko.
In 2005, the band released the ''...And the Moon Was Hungry...'' album. For a short time the group were just known as "Morgan" and soon after evolved into "Morgan and the Hidden Hands". In 2007, the band started to re-mix and re-master their first release. New percussion, cello, violin, piano and vocals were added to former tracks as well as two new studio recordings titled "Fever Pitch" and "Mr. Okada". This was the first release with the band operating under their new name: The Romanovs. In 2007, they won a Toronto Independent Music Awards for Best USA Band, but the same year the band when on hiatus while Kibby joined M83.
M83
Kibby provided
keys and arrangements for M83 on their fifth full-length release, ''
Saturdays = Youth
''Saturdays = Youth'' is the fifth studio album by French electronic music band M83, released on 11 April 2008 by Virgin Records. The album was produced by Ken Thomas, with co-production by Ewan Pearson and M83 frontman Anthony Gonzalez.
The al ...
'', and co-wrote the songs "Kim & Jessie", "Up!", "Too Late" and "Skin of the Night". Subsequently, she toured with the band throughout Australia, Europe and the United States in 2008. She continued to tour with M83 in 2009 as they opened for
Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill.
The band's early music was a blend of Southern rock and gar ...
in the UK,
The Killers
The Killers are an American rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingd ...
on their US tour and for some dates of
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting).
Depeche ...
's
Tour of the Universe
Tour of the Universe was a Space Shuttle simulation ride located in the basement level of the CN Tower. Operating between 1985 and 1992, it was the world's first flight simulator ride.
The ride was the idea of Moses Znaimer and designed by SimEx. ...
. In 2011, Kibby contributed to M83's sixth full-length album ''
Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
''Hurry Up, We're Dreaming'' (stylised as ) is the sixth studio album by French electronic music band M83. The album was released on 18 October 2011, by Naïve Records in France and by Mute Records in the United States. The album was the last ...
''; providing vocals, keyboards and arrangements. She co-wrote the songs "Intro", "
Midnight City
"Midnight City" is a song by French electronic music band M83. The track was first released in France on 16 August 2011, as the lead single from the group's sixth studio album, ''Hurry Up, We're Dreaming'' (2011). The song was written by Anth ...
", and "Reunion". On collaborating with Anthony Gonzalez, she stated, "I take a lot of inspiration from watching him work and working with him."
In December 2015, it was revealed that Kibby was no longer part of M83.
White Sea
Kibby has embarked on a solo project since touring with M83, called White Sea, which is a translation of her name.
Her first track, a remix of
Solid Gold's "Synchronize", first appeared on her MySpace. A second track titled "Overdrawn" was released to her MySpace in March, revealing a new musical direction for Kibby. On September 30, a new track, "Mountaineer", became available for free download on the
RCRD LBL
RCRD LBL was a website for free, curated, and legal MP3 downloads from emergent artists.
RCRD LBL was launched in 2007 by Josh Deutsch, Peter Rojas
Peter Rojas (born March 18, 1975) is the co-founder of technology blogs Gizmodo and Engadget, a ...
website. An EP, ''This Frontier'', was released on October 5, 2010, which she later described as 'a little scattered. Lots of disco references for the guitars. Still all layered with big, thick, '70s and '80s synths'.
Since the release of ''This Frontier'', Kibby focused on remixing tracks for other artists and developing her style. The self-produced ''In Cold Blood'', Kibby's first full-length album, was released in May 2014 via Crush Music and Songs Publishing,
and features songs co-written with
Greg Kurstin
Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs t ...
and
Mark Ronson
Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...
.
She described it as a break-up record where she "had to express myself through my music. It was the only way to purge myself of this extreme grief and loss".
The album was toured as support to The Naked and Famous.
After ''In Cold Blood'' she has released a series of singles under a new maxim to share music freely with her fans, without the need for EPs or albums. Upon the release of the fourth of these singles, "Arcadia" (2016), she announced she would be releasing these singles with accompanying video components, starting with "Arcadia".
She also composed the soundtrack for Eva Husson's ''
Bang Gang
Bang Gang is a downtempo band from Iceland founded by songwriter and producer Barði Jóhannsson (see also Lady & Bird). The band was formed in 1996, in Barði’s hometown of Reykjavík. Bang Gang were initially a surf band but it moved into ...
'' in 2016
and featured on
Big Data
Though used sometimes loosely partly because of a lack of formal definition, the interpretation that seems to best describe Big data is the one associated with large body of information that we could not comprehend when used only in smaller am ...
's song, "The Business of Emotion" (2015).
Discography
Albums
*''...And the Moon Was Hungry...'' (2007) as The Romanovs
*''
Saturdays = Youth
''Saturdays = Youth'' is the fifth studio album by French electronic music band M83, released on 11 April 2008 by Virgin Records. The album was produced by Ken Thomas, with co-production by Ewan Pearson and M83 frontman Anthony Gonzalez.
The al ...
'' (2008) with M83
*''
Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
''Hurry Up, We're Dreaming'' (stylised as ) is the sixth studio album by French electronic music band M83. The album was released on 18 October 2011, by Naïve Records in France and by Mute Records in the United States. The album was the last ...
'' (2011) with M83
*''In Cold Blood'' (2014) as White Sea
*''Tropical Odds'' (2017) as White Sea
EPs
*''Beggar's Alchemy'' (2003)
*''...And the Moon Was Hungry...'' (2004/2005) as The Romanovs
*''This Frontier'' (2010) as White Sea
Singles
* "Stay Young, Get Stoned" (2015)
* "Never a Woman" (2015)
* "Gangster No. 1" (2015)
* "Arcadia" (2016)
* "Bloodline" (2016)
* "Secret" (2016)
* "Ellipses" (2016)
* "Yesterday" (2016)
* "Bloodmoon" (2016)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kibby, Morgan
Living people
1984 births
Musicians from Los Angeles
American women in electronic music
Singer-songwriters from California
People from Utqiagvik, Alaska
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women