Lorin Morgan-Richards
Encyclopedia
Lorin Morgan-Richards born February 16, 1975, of Amish
and Welsh
descent, is a Hollywood based writer and illustrator of dark literature and composer of dark
storytelling.
, Richards spent countless hours doodling the fifty-some odd pets his family cared for, most of which were cats, and writing them into humanoid stories. Richards also doodled faces he would see in different textures, sometimes being uniquely silly or downright ghoulish. Inside there was an extensive collection of folk stories to read and a family pump organ his mother taught him to play. Richards’s ancestor was the 19th Century published poet named Robert Dennison Morgan.
in school, Richards struggled to keep up with his peers, having a tutor through most of his grades. This in turn, caused him to become more focused into creative outlets. At fifteen he learned guitar and his eldest brother, Brian, taught him how to write Mod
music via Amiga
computer. Richards along with his brother, and vocalist Casey Ruic, formed a music project using these instruments. By 1993, this Industrial
and Neo-Beat
based music project had been kicked off stages, stopped by police, and caused the removal of a battle of the bands at their High school in which they damaged the stage, broke instruments, used profanity, and painted controversial band posters with images of religious leaders with TV sets for heads. Between 1995 and 1998, Richards helped co-found other local Industrial music groups, including award-winning act Graven Image-Black Lung Cathedral.
In 1999, Richards wrote, directed and produced Enki
a modern dance
performance and album based on Zecharia Sitchin
's book The 12th Planet. Enki premiered in Cleveland, Ohio under the choreography of Michael Medcalf, and was co-produced by Valerie Stoneking. Sitchin commented on the album, "Beautiful words...the words you composed do capture ENKI's great contribution to our being." Richards wrote a second album in 2001 entitled An Occurrence Remembered based on the American Civil War
short stories of Ambrose Bierce
. Following this, Richards produced and directed An Occurrence Remembered which premiered in New York City
under the choreography of Nicole Cavaliere, and co-production of Valerie Stoneking. Two of the songs from the album were released in 2001 on Notes from thee Real Underground Vol.1. In 2002, Richards covered I'm Eighteen by Alice Cooper
for the Underground Inc. Ankhor Records release of Mutations, a Tribute to Alice Cooper. In 2010, Richards released an EP entitled Orpheus
conceptually based on Pwyll's
descent into Annwn
the Welsh Otherworld and uncompleted soundtrack synchronization with Jean Cocteau
's film Orphee
.
. The series began on May 15, 2008, and has run sequentially with special guests, speakers and performers. At the series on February 25, 2010, a historic meeting between representatives of the Ioway Nation and the Tongva Nation marked the first time a California tribe gathered with a Midwestern tribe. Richards is also actively involved with organizing for Welsh Americans coordinating the 2011 West Coast Eisteddfod, the first Eisteddfod in Los Angeles since 1926. Participants at the Welsh festival included: Monica Richards
, Jen Delyth
, and Michael Aston
. On November 13, 2010, Richards curated the exhibit Necessary Discomforts: an Artistic Tribute to Rozz Williams
at the Hyaena Gallery in Burbank, featuring artwork by Rozz Williams and those he inspired. Artists participating included nationally recognized macabre artists and members of Christian Death
, Shadow Project
, EXP, Asexuals, Premature Ejaculation
, among others.
diet.
In 2006, Richards received a B.A. from California State University, Los Angeles
majoring in anthropology
with emphasis in American Indian Studies and folklore
.
Richards is married and has a daughter.
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
and Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
descent, is a Hollywood based writer and illustrator of dark literature and composer of dark
Darkwave
Dark Wave or darkwave is a music genre that began in the late 1970s, coinciding with the popularity of New Wave and post-punk. Building on those basic principles, dark wave added dark, introspective lyrics and an undertone of sorrow for some bands...
storytelling.
Early years
Raised in an old schoolhouse on the crossroads of a four way stop in Beebetown, OhioBeebetown, Ohio
Beebetown is an unincorporated community in Medina County, Ohio..-Name and history:In 1823, Abram Beebe, for whom the place was named, brought his wife Dorcas and nine children from Canadaigua, New York with an ox team...
, Richards spent countless hours doodling the fifty-some odd pets his family cared for, most of which were cats, and writing them into humanoid stories. Richards also doodled faces he would see in different textures, sometimes being uniquely silly or downright ghoulish. Inside there was an extensive collection of folk stories to read and a family pump organ his mother taught him to play. Richards’s ancestor was the 19th Century published poet named Robert Dennison Morgan.
Music Background
Suffering from a learning disabilityLearning disability
Learning disability is a classification including several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors...
in school, Richards struggled to keep up with his peers, having a tutor through most of his grades. This in turn, caused him to become more focused into creative outlets. At fifteen he learned guitar and his eldest brother, Brian, taught him how to write Mod
MOD (file format)
MOD is a computer file format used primarily to represent music, and was the first module file format. MOD files use the “.MOD” file extension, except on the Amiga where the original trackers instead use a “mod.” prefix scheme, e.g. “mod.echoing”...
music via Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
computer. Richards along with his brother, and vocalist Casey Ruic, formed a music project using these instruments. By 1993, this Industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
and Neo-Beat
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
based music project had been kicked off stages, stopped by police, and caused the removal of a battle of the bands at their High school in which they damaged the stage, broke instruments, used profanity, and painted controversial band posters with images of religious leaders with TV sets for heads. Between 1995 and 1998, Richards helped co-found other local Industrial music groups, including award-winning act Graven Image-Black Lung Cathedral.
In 1999, Richards wrote, directed and produced Enki
Enki
Enki is a god in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Akkadian and Babylonian mythology. He was originally patron god of the city of Eridu, but later the influence of his cult spread throughout Mesopotamia and to the Canaanites, Hittites and Hurrians...
a modern dance
Modern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...
performance and album based on Zecharia Sitchin
Zecharia Sitchin
Zecharia Sitchin was an Azerbaijani-born American author of books promoting an explanation for human origins involving ancient astronauts. Sitchin attributes the creation of the ancient Sumerian culture to the Anunnaki, which he states was a race of extra-terrestrials from a planet beyond Neptune...
's book The 12th Planet. Enki premiered in Cleveland, Ohio under the choreography of Michael Medcalf, and was co-produced by Valerie Stoneking. Sitchin commented on the album, "Beautiful words...the words you composed do capture ENKI's great contribution to our being." Richards wrote a second album in 2001 entitled An Occurrence Remembered based on the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
short stories of Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist...
. Following this, Richards produced and directed An Occurrence Remembered which premiered in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
under the choreography of Nicole Cavaliere, and co-production of Valerie Stoneking. Two of the songs from the album were released in 2001 on Notes from thee Real Underground Vol.1. In 2002, Richards covered I'm Eighteen by Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
for the Underground Inc. Ankhor Records release of Mutations, a Tribute to Alice Cooper. In 2010, Richards released an EP entitled Orpheus
Orpheus
Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
conceptually based on Pwyll's
Pwyll
Pwyll Pen Annwn is a prominent figure in Welsh mythology and literature, the lord of Dyfed, husband of Rhiannon and father of the hero Pryderi...
descent into Annwn
Annwn
Annwn or Annwfn was the Otherworld in Welsh mythology. Ruled by Arawn, or much later by Gwyn ap Nudd, it was essentially a world of delights and eternal youth where disease is absent and food is ever-abundant. It later became Christianised and identified with the land of souls that had departed...
the Welsh Otherworld and uncompleted soundtrack synchronization with Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
's film Orphee
Orphée
Orpheus is a 1950 French film directed by Jean Cocteau and starring Jean Marais. This film is the central part of Cocteau's Orphic Trilogy, which consists of The Blood of a Poet , Orpheus and Testament of Orpheus...
.
Curator
Richards co-created and curated a free Indigenous American film series in Los Angeles entitled Bringing The Circle Together focusing on social political issues affecting Indigenous peoplesIndigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
. The series began on May 15, 2008, and has run sequentially with special guests, speakers and performers. At the series on February 25, 2010, a historic meeting between representatives of the Ioway Nation and the Tongva Nation marked the first time a California tribe gathered with a Midwestern tribe. Richards is also actively involved with organizing for Welsh Americans coordinating the 2011 West Coast Eisteddfod, the first Eisteddfod in Los Angeles since 1926. Participants at the Welsh festival included: Monica Richards
Monica Richards
Monica Richards is a singer, songwriter, artist and writer from the United States. A graduate of the American University with honors in literature and a minor in anthropology, she is considered to be an icon of the goth subculture and has been the frontwoman of numerous bands including Madhouse,...
, Jen Delyth
Jen Delyth
Jen Delyth , Welsh-born artist and author, is a contemporary Celtic Art illustrator and author who has contributed to the Celtic folk tradition with her original Celtic art and designs based on Celtic mythology and symbolism...
, and Michael Aston
Michael Aston
Michael Aston, born August 22, 1957, is the founder and current leader of the U.S. version of Gene Loves Jezebel.In 1989 he left Gene Loves Jezebel due to his unhappiness with the direction of the band and strained relations with his twin brother, Jay. Moving to California, Michael started The...
. On November 13, 2010, Richards curated the exhibit Necessary Discomforts: an Artistic Tribute to Rozz Williams
Rozz Williams
Rozz Williams was an American vocalist and musician of several varieties, most famous for fronting the band Christian Death, then later Shadow Project with musician Eva O, though his main project throughout his career was the industrial, Premature Ejaculation...
at the Hyaena Gallery in Burbank, featuring artwork by Rozz Williams and those he inspired. Artists participating included nationally recognized macabre artists and members of Christian Death
Christian Death
Christian Death is an American deathrock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1979. The band was founded and fronted by Rozz Williams. Christian Death is most notable for their first album Only Theatre of Pain....
, Shadow Project
Shadow Project
Shadow Project were a deathrock band formed in the early 1990s with Rozz Williams, Eva O and Paris Sadonis. The band's first album included bassist Jill Emery and drummer Thomas Morgan....
, EXP, Asexuals, Premature Ejaculation
Premature Ejaculation (band)
Premature Ejaculation was an experimental music group from Pomona, California in the United States. It briefly existed in 1981, and was reformed in 1987 by Rozz Williams of Christian Death fame and Chuck Collison.-History:...
, among others.
Books and Illustration Background
A Raven Above Press, Richards small press, released his first book Simon Snootle and OTHER small stories in February 2009. His second book A Boy Born from Mold and Other Delectable Morsels was released in 2010.Personal life
Richards follows a pescetarianPescetarianism
Pescetarianism is the practice of a diet that includes seafood but not the flesh of other animals.In addition to fish and/or shellfish, a pescetarian diet typically includes all of vegetables, fruit, nuts, grains, beans, eggs and dairy...
diet.
In 2006, Richards received a B.A. from California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles is a public comprehensive university, part of the California State University system...
majoring in anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
with emphasis in American Indian Studies and folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
.
Richards is married and has a daughter.
Albums
- ENKI (Self released) (1999)
- An Occurrence Remembered (Self released) (2001)
- We See But Dimly (Self released) (2002)
- Notes from thee real underground (Underground IncInvisible RecordsInvisible Records is a Chicago based record label founded by Martin Atkins to support and distribute the works of artists who preferred to work with a smaller, artist driven label.-Artist Roster:* Ashtrayhead* Attrition* Bagman* Bizarre Sex Trio...
) (2001) - Mutations: A Tribute to Alice Cooper (Underground IncInvisible RecordsInvisible Records is a Chicago based record label founded by Martin Atkins to support and distribute the works of artists who preferred to work with a smaller, artist driven label.-Artist Roster:* Ashtrayhead* Attrition* Bagman* Bizarre Sex Trio...
) (2002) - Orpheus (Self released) (2010)
Audiobooks
- A Boy Born from Mold and Other Delectable Morsels narrated by Jason Shepherd, jingle by Seongje Hwang and Tae Sung Jie (A Raven Above Press) (2011)
Other Notable Works
- 13 Disturbing Postcards to Send to Your Grandparents (A Raven Above Press, 2010)