Beautiful Disaster is an up-and-coming female rock band made up of four girls ranging in age from 13-17. Each girl brings a quality to the music they play that makes it uniquely their own, while always keeping the main focus on entertaining people with the songs that they know and love from their past.
Interview conducted on July 18, 2020
By Dan Locke
Members include Morgan Gieder on lead vocals and guitar (13 years), Natalie Miller on bass (17 years), and Morgan’s twin sister Reese on drums (13 years). Separately these girls are great musicians, but they are simply better together. They have an unspoken communication that is amazing to watch live. Giving each other the slightest of looks, they can communicate and produce a killer sound.
What is your upbringing?
We all consider ourselves Florida natives. Natalie, our bassist, was born here and Morgan and Reese moved here when they were only 4 years old. They were born in Marietta, GA, which is just outside of Atlanta. We all live the typical Florida life spending time outdoors and having fun with friends and family.
How did you discover music?
Our families all love music, so we were exposed to a lot of different types of music since we were young. Our families had a big impact on the kind of music we like. In fact, Morgan and Reese’s mom and dad used rock-n-roll in their nursery instead of lullabies.
How did you start to write music?
Writing is a recent thing for us and something we are becoming more comfortable doing. Morgan and Reese live together, after all they are twins, so they doodle around and experiment a lot. We have lots of help from our friends and families but are starting to do more on our own.
Morgan- Do you remember how you got your first guitar? And do you still have it?
I got my first guitar when I was 6 years old. It was a black Fender made smaller for kids. I loved it so much and so did my mom…so of course I still have it! My sister, Reese – our drummer, also started playing guitar at 6 years so we actually have 2 of the same guitars… that my mom never wants to get rid of. Reese still plays guitar too and now I have graduated to my white Gretsch which I am in LOVE with.
Natalie- What was the first song you learned to play on the bass?
It is hard to remember. It seems like so long ago. But it was probably Fast Car by Tracy Chapman when I was at School of Rock.
Reese- What is your longest drum solo?
That’s a good question. I typically just add my own flair to each cover song that we play. But when I do play solos, they are around 2 minutes. I typically save my energy to rock every song we do! People have started requesting drum solo’s so I guess I will have to start doing more. 😊
How did you start playing together?
We met at the School of Rock about 6 years ago. We were all in Rock 101, which is their beginner class. We started learning songs together and since we were the only girls at the time, we immediately bonded. We all eventually left School of Rock but ended back up together about 2 years ago because we all wanted a real band that performed out in the community…and Beautiful Disaster was formed. The rest is history.
How did the band get its name?
A lot of brainstorming. And a lot of not agreeing, lol. We had a lot of silly names written down. All our families would help us by jotting down names they liked and it ended up being a combination of the names that were written down on the paper. Beautiful Disaster finally stuck and our (Morgan & Reese’s) Uncle Bengy helped us create the logo. People love our logo, and so do we. Thanks, Uncle Bengy!
What was playing your first song together like?
Our first song after we came back together as Beautiful Disaster was amazing. It was like we never stopped playing with each other. It was either Zombie by The Cranberries or Teen Spirit by Nirvana. We were able to read each other and we just worked well together. We played a gig a few months after we started back and the response was overwhelming. The house was packed and we KNEW this was what we were meant to do.
How do you stay healthy while performing?
Get lots of sleep before a gig. It is crucial. Making sure to eat a meal is important, but staying hydrated is important too, especially since we live in South Florida where it is hot. Morgan has to make sure she sips warm tea and always takes care of her voice using vocal warm-ups before gigs.
How many songs do you have on your playlist?
Right now, we have about 35 songs on the current set list. We have about 4-5 we are almost ready to add. We are always in process of adding new songs and shoot for at least 3 new songs a month.
Tell me about some of your original songs. Sick of Myself and Scream.
Those songs really represent who we are and how we feel being young. Scream is how we feel when we are underestimated because of our age and the fact that we are all girls. But it ends with us telling everyone we don’t care what they say or do…we will just scream, move on, and do what we do anyways.
What is your favorite track on the album?
It depends on the day. But, Feels Like The First Time is special. It is about our first time playing together out at a venue again and how we felt that day. Especially the one line, “I don’t remember what we wore, I can only remember the crowd’s roar”. That is an honest statement and it was an overwhelming feeling. We felt like real rock stars that day. Also, our families always tell us to not take a second for granted and when we are playing, we are enjoying it and we are in the moment. So that is represented in the song too.
What are your feelings about streaming music?
It’s great having music easily available and at your fingertips. We all love that we can listen to anything, anywhere and at any time.
Digital vs. vinyl?
We are all torn on this. Natalie loves digital because it is readily available and affordable. She loves so many different types of music and it allows her to listen to what she likes, when she likes it. Morgan and Reese, on the other hand, love vinyl. They have a vinyl collection as well as they just started a cassette tape collection. They even have old-school walk man’s!
Any plans to tour?
No plans at the moment due to COVID, but we would love to tour. Maybe next summer, since we are still in school! But, sign us up!
What song from the past is in your mind right now? And what is the meaning that song means to you?
We all have different songs that mean different things to us. Natalie loves Everlong by the Foo Fighters because it evokes multiple feelings for her. Love and also loss. Morgan loves Don’t Stand So Close To Me by The Police. She really loves any song by them, they are her favorite band. But this song was the first song she remembers listening to on vinyl which she says just made her have this amazing feeling. Reese’s favorite band is the Foo Fighters. Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins are her heroes. If she has to pick a favorite it is The Pretender because she and Morgan used to turn it up to full blast and listen to it and dance around their bedrooms.
How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
Well, we worry about bands that make their living with paying gigs. We are lucky enough that we are young and still in school. We all still live with our parents. So, no bills to pay for us. We also worry about a lot of places that foster the love of music going out of business due to the loss of business that is happening. We hope everything bounces back and bounces back fast.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
Practice makes perfect. 😊 Also, we have summer homework that we have to stay up on. 😊
Lots of people are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. You did a song challenge. How did you come up with that?
We are still pretty young, so we have lots of help from our families. We couldn’t do it without their support. That was an idea that came from hanging with the family. It ended up getting us lots of views so it worked! We love to share our songs with everyone!
There was an article in the New York Times this week talking about large concerts may not start again until Fall of 2021. Do you think it could happen?
Yes, we think it will happen most likely. We hope it doesn’t, but all the people in our country need to work together to help stop this thing so we can go back to normal asap!
You are starting to go out and play in clubs. What was it like the first time you went back to play in a club?
It was good. But it was a little odd. Wearing masks while setting up, and while moving around the venue…and then taking them off to perform…and then putting them back on before we leave the stage. It was different. But it was a small price to play to do what we love.
Are you ready to go back to school?
YES! For Morgan and Reese, they will be turning 14 and going into their first year in high school so they are ready!
Do you know how they are planning to set school up for the upcoming year?
No, not really but interested to find out.
How do you see yourself in the next five years?
Natalie is into the arts. She is a talented artist and she sees herself choosing a career path with not only music but with visual arts. Morgan and Reese haven’t decided just yet, but they know they love music and want music to be a big part of their life (hopefully the main part).
Anything you would like to say in closing?
We love music. We get our inspiration from all kinds of music and our goal when performing is to perform songs that people love to sing and even dance to. Songs that everyone knows. The biggest compliment is when people come to watch and end up singing along and dancing. When they do this, you KNOW you are doing it right. Then, when they sing and dance along to your originals…it is even better! We want to thank all our families, friends and fans who follow us on social and who also support us by coming to see us play live. We also want to thank you for giving us this opportunity to share with the world who we are and what we do. Our main goal, outside of making music, is to support people and lift them up and you showcasing new artists is a great way to do that, so thank you!
We would love everyone’s support. So please check us out:
XoXo – Beautiful Disaster
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