Carley Ridersleeve & Morgan Saint – There’s Love in the Liner Notes

Carley Ridersleeve and Morgan Saint have been making a name for themselves as solo artists in NYC’s indie music scene for the past half dozen years, but their journeys have been anything but solitary. This is because Carley and Morgan are partners, both in music, and in life.

The married couple first met in 2017 thanks to having the same manager at the time, and Carley says that after two years of friendship, and sharing their music with each other, “I guess we fell in love through the art a little bit, which sounds cheesy, but yeah.”

Even though as artists they are sonically very different, they play numerous roles behind the scenes for each other, from co-writer, to co-producer, to working on each other’s music videos.

What might be most impressive about all this is that according to Morgan, “We never fight about the music.”

Each of them have been releasing a steady stream of new songs over the past year, with Morgan’s next single, “Kiss,” due out on the 20th, and Carley’s next single, “American Girl,” arriving on the 22nd. Carley is also working on an EP for next year, with Morgan having a project in the works, as well.

I caught up with both Carley and Morgan to find out what they love most about each other’s music, the musical influence they’ve had on each other, and what it’s like working with one’s significant other vs. working with a record label.

Since you’re partners in music, and in life, kick things off by telling everyone your favorite thing about your significant other’s music. 

Carley: I would say that for Morgan’s music what I love most is she’s so good at being dreamy, and ethereal with her music and lyrics, but it’s also so emotional at the same time.

Something else I’ve always admired about Morgan’s music is her ability to pull on her sensitivity, and sing about very emotional topics, and difficult things she’s going through, but she’s able to deliver it in a way that musically feels so light, and dreamy, and approachable. Honestly, that’s how is she is in person-to-person real life interactions, too. She’s genuinely the sweetest human, but has an ocean of depth to her. I’m in love the combination, obviously!

We’re always saying her music is truly like “dance while you cry.” It’s a rare gift to have the ability to blend those two worlds, and I can see how much that resonates with people. It’s cathartic.

Morgan: I feel like Carley’s an amazing musician, and her ability to just know what a song needs in terms of the bones of it is my favorite part of working with her. She has such a great music mind, and I think that’s awesome.

I also love how honest she is in her lyrics, and I love her voice. When I listen to Carley’s voice – I remember thinking this when we first met – there's such a special feeling about it. Maybe it’s just because I love her, but I think it’s relevant for everybody. It’s almost like this haunting, sort of beautiful feeling that I get when I listen to it.

How different is your music now versus when you two first met, and how much of that change do you attribute to your other half? 

Morgan: Oh, that’s a good question.

Carley: I’ve been writing and making stuff like I’m making now my whole life, but I never released any of it. I was releasing the stuff that was more rock leaning, but I had a back catalog, and a lot of what I’m making now is that back catalog.

I think when Morgan and I started really working together she was the first person who saw that side of me, and was like, “That is the best part of you.” I was dying to get it out there, but I didn’t know how to make the shift because I was making such a different style of music beforehand, and it was kind of scary, I guess.

So yeah, I think that her influence really helped me set that free, and accept it.

I don’t know what I was running from.

Morgan: I think what’s great about our dynamic is we can be mirrors for each other. I’m hearing her talk, I’m hearing her share the music that she likes, songs that are favorites of hers, and (I’m) just trying to take that all in and spit it back out to her in a way like, “I think you’re wanting to make this,” and then she’s like, “Oh my God, yeah!”

It’s fun, and she (also) does that for me, so it’s a cool process, don’t you think?

Carley: Yeah. How do you feel like your music has changed?

Morgan: I wouldn’t say my music has had as dramatic of a shift in terms of genre. I feel like I’ve always leaned more synth heavy in terms of my knowledge. I do play the guitar, and I enjoy it, but I’ve played the piano more, and I think the synth lends itself to that kind of sound design, but Carley’s amazing at the guitar, and brings that more organic element into things that I’ve been working on with her. It’s exciting for me because I’ve always wanted to include that. Having Carley here to kind of be like, “Hey, maybe we should throw this acoustic guitar in here,” and I’m like, “OK, yeah, that’s cool,” and it creates something that is different for me that I love.

Unlike working with any other artist, working with your wife means you really have to take their feelings into consideration, so what are some of the intricacies of contributing to, and possibly even giving constructive criticism about, a significant other’s work? 

Morgan: Oh, that’s a heavy question.

It’s the most amazing thing to work, and make art with, your partner. I mean, it’s like a dream, but of course it comes with intricacies that are sometimes hard. We’re both managing creating two totally different worlds, sonically and visually, for each of us, so time-wise that’s tough. That can be challenging for us, wouldn’t you say?

Carley: Yeah. The work-life balance is impossibly hard, and that’s the worst thing about it, but the best thing is I know Morgan so well, and she knows me so well, sometimes I can almost see something that you’re trying to say, or do, before you even get it. I think that’s definitely a pro, but it’s a tough thing, it’s definitely not for everyone. It’s a very intense relationship to have, to be married, and then be working together on two separate projects, but doing everything together in those projects.

On the flip side of that, while an A&R, or producer might try to get what they want out of you, suggestions from your significant other probably have a different feel to them, right? 

Morgan: Yeah, 100%, because really what we both do for each other is try to hear what the other person’s saying, or showing.

Of course, sometimes we’ll have creative ideas for each other, and we’ll inspire each other in that way, but ultimately I think we’re both just trying to create a space where Carley can be her most honest self, and I can be my most honest self, and we can just support that vision. That’s the goal.

But I agree with you, it’s helpful not to feel like there’s an outside voice that’s just coming from maybe a strictly like, “What do we think is going to work this year,” and, “Does this match what’s out there right now?”

Carley: We’ve both struggled with that in the past.

I think that was such an attractive thing about doing it this way, and I also think the pandemic gave us space to be like, “Oh, wait, maybe we should consider this.” Then after the pandemic we started doing this fully together.

But that was definitely a big thing that we both struggled with in the past, having people dictating what we were making that wasn’t the direction we wanted to go in sometimes.

Morgan: Yeah, I think a lot of those conversations, like you said, with our labels, whoever it may be, a lot of times … it felt like a big disconnect between actually making the music, and then these opinions that I was hearing. It was hard for me to sometimes just make the art, and not be suffocated by all the noise in-between.

Just working her and I, we still have that great sounding board, but we also have that space. I feel like when you’re making music it’s all about getting to a place where you can just, like, coast, and see what comes out of it, and we’ve now been able to have that room to really do it. So I feel like ultimately you’re creating the most pure kind of product at the end of the day, because there is less noise in the middle.

With how much you work together, has the idea of a full collaborative project ever been brought up? 

Carley: Yeah. We always laugh about this, our projects right now are basically like we have two bands that we’re making, (and) we’re equally involved in both. That’s been really fun, but I do think in the future we would like to make something technically together, like both of us singing. It’s on our mind, even in our songs we’re both singing in the background in a lot of them.

Morgan: Yeah. Just in terms of the production, the writing, it’s really both of us, so I think of Carley’s music like it’s as close to me as my own.

We really are a band almost making two projects at the same time.

How different do you think it would sound if you two did combine on a full project together? 

Morgan: I don’t know. I mean, we really want to, so it’s on our radar, even if it’s just a song at first, but I don’t know what it would sound like. I feel like it could be really cool.

Carley: I can already hear it.

Morgan: I feel like I hear it, too, and I’m dying to make it, but we’re both just getting some bodies of work out individually.

Carley: We’ve thought about like a little song or two sprinkled in.

Morgan: Then when we’re old ladies we’ll just sing together all around town.

Speaking of singing together all around town, do you have any shows coming up where you share bills together? 

Morgan: We don’t yet, but that would be fun one day. We’ve talked about that, too.

Carley: Definitely down the line.

Finally, you’ve been together in some way, shape, or form for seven years. Give all the people out there one piece of relationship advice. 

Morgan: Carley was in another relationship when we first met. When she got out of that relationship, I was in a relationship, so we had these intense feelings for each other, but really kept it at a friend level.

That led to us really having time to genuinely be friends without the pressure of the romantic aspect. I think since we do have such a strong connection, it gave us a little space to breathe, and get to know each other really well, and trust each other.

It’s actually a beautiful thing to be friends first.

Carley: I think it was really nice, and I cherish that time because I think it really allowed us to understand each other without any expectations, or pressures of going on a date.

We were just hanging out, and loving each other’s company, both wanting something more the whole time, and eventually it happened.

But yeah, definitely be friends with someone.

For more Carley Ridersleeve, and Morgan Saint, check out carleyridersleeve.komi.io, and morgansaint.komi.io.