About Matt Morton
Hometown
Columbus, OH, United States
Born
1977
Genre
Soundtrack
Originally known as a founding member of the funk-influenced roots rock band the Shantee, Columbus, Ohio-based Matt Morton would go on to receive greater acclaim for his tense, dramatic film scores, such as 2019's Apollo 11.
Morton started playing guitar when he was nine years old and gradually learned several other instruments, including piano, drums, mandolin, banjo, and cello. In 1995, he co-founded the Shantee, playing lead guitar and singing for the feel-good rock band. The Shantee built up a loyal regional following, becoming a fixture of the Ohio music scene and opening for national acts such as George Clinton, Blues Traveler, the Neville Brothers, and Widespread Panic. The group played their final concert in December of 2004, subsequently releasing the performance as a DVD.
After the Shantee's breakup, Morton dedicated his time to composing music for films, advertisements, and art exhibitions. His first feature-length scores were for the drama Scaring the Fish and the documentary Beauty of the Fight, both from 2008. He later received acclaim for his earthy score for the Emmy-winning 2014 documentary Dinosaur 13. After writing music for The Last Steps (2016), a short film about the Apollo 17 mission which launched in 1972, Morton was asked to compose music for the full-length documentary Apollo 11. Morton created the music using a variety of synthesizers and effects that existed at the time of the mission in 1969, including the Moog IIIc modular synthesizer and the Mellotron, in addition to a full orchestra. The film won a Special Jury Award for Editing at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and Morton's score was released by Milan. Morton also composed a piece titled "The Godfather of It All" for a 2020 documentary about Bob Moog titled Electronic Voyager, for which he served as an executive producer. ~ Paul Simpson
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