For the better part of a decade, The Neal Morse Band (NMB) has been synonymous with the “Epic.” From the spiritual pilgrimage of The Similitude of a Dream to the road-trip narrative of The Great Adventure, Neal Morse and company have taken listeners on massive, world-spanning journeys.
But for their latest release, L.I.F.T., the band decided to stop traveling outward and start traveling inward.
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Neal Morse to discuss this shift in direction. In our conversation, Neal revealed that the new album was born not from a pre-written story, but from a collaborative desire to explore the psychological spaces of belonging, despair, and eventually, “living fully alive.”
The Psychology of the Record One of the most striking moments of our chat was discussing the track “Shame About My Shame.” Neal opened up about the inspiration behind the song—a podcast featuring a Christian therapist who admitted to feeling shame about the fact that she was still struggling. It is a raw, meta-psychological concept that sets this album apart from the typical “redemption” arcs we are used to seeing in the genre.
The Future of the “Morseverse” We didn’t just stick to the new record. We also touched on the status of his other supergroups. For fans holding out hope for a Transatlantic reunion or a new Flying Colors record, Neal gave us the honest (if slightly bittersweet) update on where those projects stand today.
Key Topics Covered:
- How the band wrote the heavy track “Hurt People” together in the room.
- The hilarious debate over what the acronym L.I.F.T. actually stands for.
- Neal’s favorite pizza order for the band.
- Details on his upcoming Brother Andrew musical premiering in Houston this April.
Listen to the full interview below:
Below is the full transcript of my conversation with Neal Morse.
Lots of Muzik: Neal, for the last decade, NMB albums have been these massive, world-spanning epics like The Similitude of a Dream or The Great Adventure. L.I.F.T. feels completely different. It feels claustrophobic, intimate, internal. Was this a conscious decision to stop traveling “outward” and start traveling “inward”?
Neal Morse: No, not really. I hadn’t really thought about it that way. That’s interesting. We weren’t sure what we were going to do when we got together at Eric’s place in Tulsa in April. A lot of times it’s that way—we get together and we’re not sure. Sometimes I have more of an idea about what I want to do, but we don’t really talk about it that much before we get together.
On the first day, we didn’t have any songs. We only had themes and instrumental bits. I had an idea that maybe we could try something different, which was to have a kind of outline of a concept. Most of the concepts that I’ve worked on had some kind of a story that you were already working from—whether it was Testimony or Sola Scriptura—a lot of these things already had a storyline that you could follow, like Pilgrim’s Progress for The Similitude of a Dream.
But we didn’t have anything like that. I thought, “What about just making up some kind of an outline with a story arc?” So that’s what I did. I presented it to the band, I think on day two. I said, “I’ve got this idea for a concept. What do you think about this?” And they were all just kind of like, “Well, I don’t know, maybe. Might be cool.” And that’s kind of what I thought too, of course. But I thought, “Well, let’s try it.”
So we started working from that, and that was really what brought about the music and the songs. It was like, okay, so we’re going from belonging in the beginning to a break in belonging and then despair. We have these different spaces that the person in the piece is going through. And of course, I’ve been through those spaces. I still go through those spaces sometimes. We all are on this journey. It’s all very spiritual, I think.
Anyway, I started writing some songs from that in the mornings at the hotel and bringing them in that day. I would just bring in these little sketches and then the band would take them and make them these amazing pieces and put all of their touch on it. We also had a lot of instrumental things that we were working on—Bill had a piano piece that I sang over, and that became part of it. There was other stuff that was written in the room together. So it didn’t happen in just one way, but it was good for me as a writer to have this template, this outline to work from, to know where to go next and what we were doing.
Lots of Muzik: To me, L.I.F.T. feels different. I’ve said this on a music forum I’m part of: this one hits harder on a personal level. I think all the songs are incredible, as are the themes of working through trauma and dealing with shame. It’s heavy stuff, but in a beautiful way. I’m really, really grateful for the work you’ve done here.
Neal Morse: Yeah. Great. Well, I’m so happy.
Lots of Muzik: One thing I wanted to talk about is the psychology of “Shame About My Shame.” I think it’s the eighth track on the record, and it is a track that stood out to me immediately. In Christian rock, we often hear about redemption, but we rarely hear about the “meta-shame”—being ashamed that you are still struggling. It is a very raw psychological concept. Did that lyric come from a specific moment? How did this song come about?
Neal Morse: Well, I was getting some exercise down there in Tulsa as I try to do every other day or so. So I think I was on the elliptical and I was listening to a podcast. It was a Wild at Heart podcast with John Eldredge, and he had guests on the show. One of the guests was a female who was a Christian therapist, and she was talking about her own shame. She said, “I recently discovered that I still had some shame about things that had happened in my life years ago.” And then she said something that really stayed with me. She said, “I thought, after being a Christian and even being a Christian therapist and helping other people, I should not have that shame anymore. So I began to have shame about my shame.”
That really stayed with me. I think I wrote it down. When I got back to the hotel, I just started singing it. And then I said, “Fear about my fear.” I just started to explore it. I just had four lines and a few chords, and I brought it to the band, and the band turned it into what you hear on the record.
Lots of Muzik: That’s nice. Let’s talk about “Hurt People,” because lyrically “Hurt People” deals with generational trauma and the cycle of pain. But musically, how did the band approach that? Did Mike or Eric or Bill or Randy push for a more dissonant or aggressive sound to match the lyrical darkness? Or how did this song come about?
Neal Morse: I believe that song was written in the room. Eric, Mike, and Randy were playing some pretty heavy riffs, and we were working on the instrumental piece before it, which also had some figure Bill brought in. Then we were playing around with that. I remember thinking, “Well, maybe we should just stop and Eric can sing something here.”
When we got to the place where we thought we needed a chorus, I think Eric started playing those chords, and I just started singing over it randomly. Sometimes things come out of your mouth that are like, “Oh, that’s interesting.” I had heard that phrase “hurt people hurt people” somewhere in my past. I just started singing it over that. I don’t even know if I knew how that was going to fit in the concept at that time, but I think we all recognized that was kind of a cool thing. So yeah, we just wrote that together in the room. It was pretty miraculous.
Lots of Muzik: I was going to ask—did you already have lyrics to this song, or was it something that came after?
Neal Morse: Well, a lot of times when we’re writing, we’ll have the main line, maybe like, “Shame about my shame” or “Hurt people, they hurt people.” We didn’t have any lyrics for the verse, but we had a melody and mock lyrics. I knew in my mind kind of what the lyrics were going to be, but no, I wrote the lyrics later.
Lots of Muzik: We know NMB is a democracy now. With a story this personal—that deals with childhood wounds and family separation—was it harder to let the other guys touch the songwriting, or did they help shape the narrative?
Neal Morse: It all just kind of flowed. I would get these song ideas in the morning, sketch them out sometimes with lyrics, and bring them in. Then we’d play around with it and figure out how it fit. A lot of things we work on together on a concept album is the flow—the pacing and the flow, and how everything kind of fits together. Those guys are just so good at that. Mike particularly is so good at arranging and capturing a good flow on an album like that. So yeah, we just worked on it together and it just flowed right up until the very end of our time together.
We were able to accomplish this whole thing, really writing it in seven days and then doing drums for two days. So we had nine days together all in all.
Lots of Muzik: Neal, I’m a member of the online Dream Theater forum, and some of us have been joking about the album title meaning. Some said “Life in Future Times,” others “Live in Future Times.” Randy George mentioned in an interview that the meaning is intentionally vague and “whatever the listener wants it to be.” So do you have a secret meaning for the album title, or is it really as Randy said?
Neal Morse: No, it’s like Randy said. I thought it’d be more interesting to let people make up their own rather than to say what it is. It just makes it kind of fun. So Randy’s is “Life in Fun Times,” and mine is “Light Illuminating Far-Reaching Transformation.”
Lots of Muzik: Nice. Neal, we absolutely love the studio documentaries and commentary tracks that you guys are known for. Can we expect a full band commentary track or a deep dive documentary for L.I.F.T.? Something similar to what you did for The Similitude of a Dream, maybe on a Zoom call or YouTube live? We would love to hear your thoughts on L.I.F.T..
Neal Morse: That’s a great idea, man. Yeah, that’s a great idea. We’ll have to figure out… The problem is getting us all together. We’d have to do it on Zoom or something. But I mean, that’s a really good idea. We will talk about that. There’s gotta be a way.
Lots of Muzik: Well, are there any plans for you guys to tour? I know Mike is busy with Dream Theater, but I don’t know what the plans are for NMB and the touring plans.
Neal Morse: Yeah, we don’t have any plans right now. We’re working on it and I’m sure we’re going to do something. I just don’t know what it is yet. I’m sure we’ll make an announcement as soon as we know.
Lots of Muzik: Neal, are there any plans to get together with Flying Colors anytime soon? What are the plans there? I know that Casey is dealing with a lot with his daughter’s health issues, but I wanted to ask—what’s the status of the band right now?
Neal Morse: Yeah, no, we’re on hold for now. Casey is dealing with his daughter’s illness. We’ll have to see down the road. We all love each other and I hope to do something with them in the future. I love those guys.
Lots of Muzik: Well, that leads me to my next question, and it’s almost in the same vein. I want to ask you about Transatlantic. What’s the status of the band? Are there any plans to get together soon?
Neal Morse: Yeah, that’s also on hold and we’ll have to just wait and see.
Lots of Muzik: Okay. Let’s change the subject a bit here, and let’s go with a fun one to cleanse the palate. If you have to make one pizza order to feed the NMB band, what are you ordering to make everyone happy? And what is your personal favorite?
Neal Morse: Oh, if I had to pick one… I like the Mike Special.
Lots of Muzik: What’s that?
Neal Morse: Oh man, what is it? You’ll have to ask him. I forget. I always like it though. It’s like, I think it’s two meats, maybe sausage, pepperoni, onion, and black olive. It’s always good. You know, if we get a bunch of different pizzas, I’ll take a bite of this one and that one, and I’ll go, “Well, I like this one the best.” And Mike will say, “Oh yeah, that’s the Mike Special.”
Lots of Muzik: Nice. Neal, you play a lot of different keys, but which specific instrument—Hammond, Grand Piano, Synths, etc.—do you feel is your absolute home base where you express yourself best?
Neal Morse: Probably Grand Piano. That’s where I like to be. If I had to pick any one instrument, it would be the Grand Piano.
Lots of Muzik: Okay. So, not as Neal Morse the musician, but as a music fan, what are some of your favorite albums from the last five years from any genre? What is Neal Morse listening to at the moment?
Neal Morse: Oh, well, I listen to a lot of older stuff. I listen to Miles Davis albums from the ’50s and recordings of Chopin. And I listen to a lot of different things from the last five years. Probably John Mayer‘s The Search for Everything—I really like that, it’s a great pop album. I really enjoy a Spanish prog group called Cheeto’s Magazine.
Lots of Muzik: Okay. Yeah.
Neal Morse: And I really enjoyed the latest Flower Kings record. And I really like Frost* — Life in the Wires.
Lots of Muzik: Oh, that’s… yeah. That is a great one.
Neal Morse: That’s great stuff. Since I work with music, most of the stuff that I’m looking at in my iTunes song list is stuff that I’m working on, like the God’s Smuggler / Brother Andrew material. So a lot of the stuff is my own stuff that I’m working on. I find myself listening to a lot of light jazz when I’m traveling, just easier listening sort of things. I’m sure I’m forgetting things that I should be saying.
Lots of Muzik: No problem. Neal, you were working on a musical. What’s the status of that?
Neal Morse: Yeah, that’s the Brother Andrew musical. It’s a piece for musical theater.
Lots of Muzik: How is that going?
Neal Morse: It is going well. It is opening at The George Theater in Houston from April 1st through April 26th. Full cast, full orchestra. It’s going to be amazing.
Lots of Muzik: Are you singing on that one?
Neal Morse: No, no. It’s got a full young cast. Jason Hart is the musical director—he’s been a keyboard player for Camel and Renaissance. Jason Hart is an amazing musician, and he’s the musical director on it.
Lots of Muzik: Are there any plans to release a Blu-Ray, a DVD, or something of the musical in the future?
Neal Morse: We’re talking about that. There are a lot of rules with theaters and actors—they have something called SAG, the Actors Union, and they have a lot of rules about that. But I’m trying to see if we can do like a livestream or something that people can buy tickets to, so it can help offset the cost for the theater and people from all over the world can experience it without having to go to Houston. So I’m working on that.
Lots of Muzik: Yeah, I was thinking that maybe, I don’t know, night one Morsefest?
Neal Morse: Oh yeah. Wouldn’t that be amazing? That would be amazing.
Lots of Muzik: Talking about Morsefest, what are the plans for that?
Neal Morse: Well, we’re working on it. We’re trying to schedule one for later this year. I’m just still waiting on everybody’s schedules to get worked out. I’ll let you know, man. We’ll announce it soon.
Lots of Muzik: Neal, anything that you want to say to your fans that we haven’t touched on in this interview, or any message that you want to give about L.I.F.T.?
Neal Morse: Oh, well, yeah. I hope that you love the new record. I hope that you all buy it and listen to it all the way through several times. And I hope that it’s a great part of your life. We want music to become part of us, and I hope and pray that L.I.F.T. will become that for you.
Lots of Muzik: Awesome. And any message that you want to give to your Venezuelan fans? I’m in Venezuela right now, by the way.
Neal Morse: Okay. Yeah. Well, we love you. Venezuela, come on! I hope things are good for you now. If they’re not, I hope they get better. And I’m praying for you and your country. May the Lord bless you, and I hope you enjoy this album.
Lots of Muzik: Amen. Well, Neal, thank you very much. It was a pleasure talking to you, and I hope to catch you on the road.
Neal Morse: Alright, brother. Thank you, man. I’ll talk to you soon.
Lots of Muzik: Thank you. Bye-Bye.
Pre-order L.I.F.T. here: https://nmb.lnk.to/L.I.F.T.-Album
The full track-listing is as follows:
1.Beginning 06:48
2.Fully Alive 05:02
3.I Still Belong 03:32
4.Gravity’s Grip 02:03
5.Hurt People 08:05
6.The Great Withdrawal 05:08
7.Contemplation 02:20
8.Shame About My Shame 05:50
9.Reaching 07:32
10.Carry You Again 05:02
11.Shattered Barricade 01:25
12.Fully Alive Part 2 06:18
13.Love All Along 11:18
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