MUSIC: Focusing on the One, An Interview with Cliff Morris of Rooney Entertainment

Focusing on the One

Written by Justin Gaynor

The Irish have often been a hard-working, enterprising group for the most part. In late 2021, I purchased a 1995 Hunter sailboat and with it a slip at Seven Seas Marina in Port Orange, FL. Shortly thereafter, as I was meeting the various folks that work around the marina, I met Cliff Morris. Cliff is one of those guys that will talk with anyone. The type of dude that makes it real easy to become a friend.

Our first adventure started with a motorcycle adventure since one point of common ground for us was that we both ride Indian Scout motorcycles. It wasn’t too long after that that Cliff invited me to his place to have Easter dinner with him, his girlfriend, and his mom. It was at that meal that I learned about Cliff’s passion for music and entrepreneurship.

As I explained to Cliff about Gentleman’s Purpose eMagazine, he agreed to share a little about his musical journey for this month’s edition, so without further delay, let’s here about this gentleman’s journey…

Justin Gaynor: So, Cliff, tell me a little bit about how you even began to get interested in music…

Cliff Morris: So, my dad played corinet when he was younger…it’s a smaller version of a trumpet.

Justin Gaynor: Now, I understand that your dad was a Navy man.

Cliff Morris: A Navy SEAL. My dad always wanted to be a musician. He was okish for being at home. He was phenomenal mechanic, soldier…we didn’t get along very well and so I went after the thing that he wanted to do, but couldn’t quite do it. I originally wanted to play saxophone.

Justin Gaynor: How old were you when that desire to play saxophone came about?

Cliff Morris: 5th grade, elementary school. Was when I had my first real instrument. My parents bough me a clarinet. Because when you are that small, the breath support for an alto saxophone, you need a good amount of breath support. You have to work into it. They bought me a clarinet. I hated it. It sounded like crap. Didn’t want anything to do with it. I did it for about two or three months and I said, “I don’t want to do this.” My grandfather gave me a 1940’s, all silver, Selmer’s alto saxophone. It was in the family for a while. Nobody played. It was just in the family. It’s still sitting in my garage right now. I tried it for a month or two and it just ended up not being my vibe. I picked up my dad’s coronet, half-assed played a couple notes, and I’m like, “Oh, this is fun…”. So my mom bought me a used trumpet. When I went to middle school, I went to Campbell Middle School, I started playing trumpet. So for the three years I was there I was playing trumpet. They have jazz band, concert band, marching band…Campbell is a predominantly black school…and their marching band, at the time, if you’re in the Campbell marching band, they are better than some of the high schools. Jerry Pikett was our band director, and before that he was the band director for Bethune Cookman College, and before that, he was the band director at Alabama. The guy has some frickin’ clout. Also, awesomely, an amazing trumpet player. So, you automatically get some extra instruction, extra tips, an extra push from someone who is above your own instrument. Like, when I eventually went to high school, at Seabreeze, the guy was a Sax player. He knows trumpet, he knows trumpet players, but he doesn’t know the real specific dynamics of how to…he can say, “You’re flat. You’re sharp. You’re bright. You’re dark. You’re tones are bright or dark, but he doesn’t know specifically how to help you adjust or change to fit those things.

Justin Gaynor: Now playing that type of music. Playing brass and things like that. I know that you previously mentioned that one of your favorite genres is Punk Rock. Have you ever experienced playing beyond just in school band, in big band music, like symphonies?

Cliff Morris: Middle School, your sixth grade year, you can be in jazz band, but you’re usually…never is a sixth grader in jazz band. Like, the actual jazz band. I was in the actual jazz band.

Justin Gaynor: So you sort of made the varsity team, first year aye…

Cliff Morris: Yeah, pretty much, by the time I was a freshman in high school, I was first chair. Because of things at home, I focused a lot of time on music.

Justin Gaynor: What vibe was it that just connected you to music? I mean, I know your dad was into it. But, what were you listening to at the time? Who was inspiring to be like, “I want to sound like that!”

Cliff Morris: It’s not even really that. It is, yes and no. One of my biggest influences is actually my grandmother. She was the leader of a choral group. When she was retired. She was a big band singer back in the day. Virginia Rooney. She never did any crazy recordings or anything like that. If you listen to a lot of her recordings, she had the attitude. She had the confidence. She had the voice. You don’t become the leader of a choral group (80 – 100 members) for being the mediocre person. My grandmother and my grandfather got me into big band. A lot of the stuff from the roaring twenties: Gene Krupa, I really got into the Brian Setzer Orchestra.

Justin Gaynor: So, you’re in high school band. What major musicians are influencing your style at this point…

Cliff Morris: The Beach Boys, a lot of big band stuff, the Birds. When I was going through my own personal changes, I went to this youth group at United Brethren in Christ, and they had a teenage club, called “The Well”. You know, I’m Catholic, and Catholic Church music is…very…you don’t wake up in the morning and you’re like, “You know what, I wanna hear, a Catholic quire. It’s beautiful for Christmas, beautiful for Easter…I don’t want to clean my house to it, I don’t want to go skateboarding to it, I don’t want to listen to it in my car…but it was “The Well” that changed things for me. I listened to some Punk Rock…Green Day, some old Blink 182, which is pop-Punk, obviously the Ramones, the Clash…but what really drove me into the culture, and it’s still now my favorite band Five Iron Frenzy, which is a Christian Ska band. They are…ridiculous…they’re funny, it’s still Christian based, they still have their message, but they also know how to have fun, and bring it lightheartedly into someone’s mind. So, if you’re not Christian at all, you could still listen to a bunch of their songs and understand that it’s great music, it’s fun, and if you’re in the direction of… you want to have more of Christ in your life, they have it. I mean, they’re THAT band. Then you listen to the crossover bands like Paramore and POD.

Justin Gaynor: I’m a fan of POD. POD does some stuff with Matisyahu and Matisyahu has really moved me to look into my faith a lot more, and he’s not even a Christian, he’s a Jewish guy.

Cliff Morris: Yeah, he’s a Jewish guy. Honestly, when Matisyahu first came out that was like, I honestly was super stoked, because you know how like Adam Sandler wrote the Chanukkah song. Before the Chanukkah song, what other Jewish song do you know that is popular, besides like a wedding song. What songs are out there that are mainstream? There’s tons of Christian songs.

Justin Gaynor: I love Matisyahu, listen to his music all the time. Live at Stubb’s…

Cliff Morris: So, this is one of the biggest problems that I’ve had with a lot of music. This is my favorite band: Five Iron Frenzy. If you listen to their live albums, it is 100% different from their recorded albums. And they’ve gotten significantly better their last album…has the same energy…I’m sure someone said I’m glad you guys are playing the music like you play it live.

Justin Gaynor: I imagine that when you are performing before thousands of people versus being in a little room with a couple people turning dials, it’s a huge difference, mentally speaking…

Cliff Morris: The irony is that it is significantly more difficult to get up in front of a group of 10 people, 50 people, 100 people, 200 people, than it is to get in front of 250 thousand.

Justin Gaynor: Really, and why is that?

Cliff Morris: When you are, and I’ve done all of that, I’ve played in front of 250 thousand, and in front of 5 people…all 5 of those people, and if they are not 100% into it, it hurts your heart. It affects you. If you’re playing in front of 250 thousand people… everyone… it doesn’t matter what you’re doing…they’re having fun regardless. It’s not 5 people looking at you. You’re not focusing on one person. Until you’re like, Dave Grohl, where you are constantly playing stadiums and stuff. All it is, they’re excited, you’re excited…They are past that level, when you look out…all you see is a wave of people. It’s a blur of people. So, no one is focused on you. Once you get past that level, then it’s the…O, now I notice your sign, or the little kid, or the girl that’s been singing my song the whole time. Come on up on stage! I’m gonna make this even more special. It makes your show more special because you’re showing your audience, “I actually care.” It’s showing the entire crowd that you are down to earth, that you are approachable…

…and that is the most significant thing that I learned from my time interviewing Cliff Morris. We need to follow our passions and get to be the best we can be at our individual callings, but the more and more people that we have the opportunity to bless with our giftings…we have to push through the level of just seeing waves of people wanting something from us…to where we can still take hold of the opportunities to positively influence that one individual in the crowd and make them feel special and loved.

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Gear

The Briefcase

Written by Justin Gaynor

It was always a tell. When your money is on the line, you are always looking for any indication that some significant variable may shift that requires a wise response. It was called the Greenspan Briefcase Indicator.

When I was a young man, working for a large financial firm, Alan Greenspan was the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Occasionally, this body gatheres together to determine important matters regarding the economy. Well, when attempting to predict whether or not their meeting had resulted in the decision to raise or lower interest rates, the eagle eyes of traders, investors, and talking heads would be focused on this one man’s briefcase. Is it thick enough to indicate a half point rate increase? Maybe only a quarter point?

It was sheer lunacy, never-the-less, that man’s briefcase was likely the single most observed gentleman’s accessory on the planet. When I had started my internship with the financial firm that I was with, I received a beautiful, sleek briefcase with modern styling as a gift. A wonderful gift. My personal style was always quite contemporary in those days. I was able to tote all my important papers, my Handspring PDA (cutting edge productivity technology at the time, before SMART phones got so smart), my sunglasses, tic-tacs, and other personal effects. Clearly, with this briefcase, I was was moving up in the world. It was a far cry from scrubbing the leftover gravy off of people’s plates at our family diner.

As with all gentleman’s accessories, you have an opportunity to express your personal style with a well chosen briefcase. More than that though, you have a tool that will help you remain organized and prepared for every situation.

The Samsonite 15696 Focus III 4-Inch Attache is very similar to my first briefcase as a young professional. Sleek and modern styling with combination lock to secure your belongings within, it is a great option for any professional.

Perhaps a little more in alignment with my own personal style these days is the Italian made Floto Novella Roller Buckle Briefcase Messenger Bag in Full Grain Calfskin Leather. Tanned in Tuscany, it offers plenty of space, classic style...beautifully luxurious.

If your profession requires a lot of travel, or you need to keep significantly more physical documents with you, a rolling briefcase might make sense for you. The one pictured here, from McKlein USA, may be a perfect fit.

Newer to Gentleman’s Purpose eMagazine?

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Newer to Gentleman’s Purpose eMagazine?

Click here to read more editions...and please share with friends and family!

Travel

Backpacking Through Italy

Written by Justin Gaynor

“In fair Verona, where lay our scene,” is the opening to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Today, Verona remains a destination for romance and adventure. Getting there from Orlando International Airport here in Florida will cost around $1500 per person this summer. With fuel prices continuing to surge and with the shortage of pilots and other workers, the cost of flights may continue to increase. This will likely be the largest expense for the journey.

Once in “fair Verona”accomadations at Gabanel Bike Hostel are currently running around $36 per night and that includes Wifi and breakfast each morning. After exploring Verona for a few days, the next stop would be Venice to the east.

Getting around Italy will include renting automobiles, Vespas, and taking train rides. Make sure to orchestrate this in a way that frees up as much money as possible for some of the finer dining, wine tastings, and so forth.

Once we arrive in Venice, the ao Venezia Mestre offers dorm rooms for $25 per night and private rooms for $75 per night. The most exciting thing about Venice for me has to be getting everywhere via gondola! What are you looking forward to?

After 4 days in Venice, we’re off to our next destination, Florence.

Florence is in central Italy and is part of what is known as the Tuscany region. I have wanted to travel to Florence since I was in college. It is all very exciting, but Florence offers something unique.

As gentlemen, we hope to be men that offer tremendous value to individuals and communities...in business, the arts, and so forth. Well, Florence is recognized as really the birthplace of the Renaissance. So, there is much to be learned in our own personal development from this center of human beauty and utlity. We will only be inFlorence for the day, even on Hostleworld.com, the least expensive accomodations are more than $400 per night, and those funds can be used better elsewhere.

Our next stop will be Rome. That’s right. Once the center of the known world, Rome offers a level of historical and cultural significance that is difficult to match. New Generation Hostel Rome Center offers dorm rooms for a reasonable $75 per night. We will be staying with them for three days to explore this ancient city before we head home to rejoin our family and friends.

Where are you traveling this summer?