Morris Hayes
"We're at a pivotal point in the music industry where players want to have everything at their disposal without having to address multiple rigs. The NeKo64 presents a single-unit rig that is as comfortable in the studio as it is on the road."
- Morris Hayes
Morris Hayes is a keyboardist, song writer, producer and visual artist (drawing and painting). Morris has worked or performed with: Prince, Maceo Parker & The MPB, Larry Graham, Mazarati, Chaka Khan, Elton John, Babyface, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Shelia E., Carlos Santana, Lenny Kravitz, Smokie Norful, Fred Wesley, George Clinton & P. Funk, George Benson, Doug E. Fresh, Cee Lo, Me'Shell Ndegéocello, Mint Condition, Will i am, Candy Dulfer, Alicia Keys, Ludacris, Natalie Cole, Mike Philips, Ann Nesby, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Tramaine Hawkins, Maroon 5, Questlove, Frank McCombs, Najee, Philip Bailey, Floetry, Sheryl Crow, Gwen Stefani, Angie Stone, D'Angelo, Common, Erykah Badu, Bono and the Edge, Macy Grey, Debra Cox, Eve, Ani Di Franco, Bill Banfield, Shanice, Mica Paris and many others.
Morris Hayes performed with Prince at the 2007 Pepsi Super Bowl XLI Halftime Show. The 12-minute performance featured Prince accompanied by two dancers he calls “the Twins” and the Florida A&M University marching band, the Marching 100. He played before 74,512 fans at Dolphin Stadium (who had been given flashlights to point at the stage during the performance of Purple Rain). The event was carried “to the biggest audience of his life - 140 million television viewers.” Overall, the show was energetic and quite well-received by the rain-soaked audience surrounding the stage. Music critics have been extremely enthusiastic about his performance, one calling it "arguably the best halftime show in Super Bowl history," and others saying it was one of the best ever. The event marked the first time that a Microsoft Windows based keyboard workstation, the NeKo was played live at the Super Bowl. The NeKo keyboard played by Morris Hayes, was later auctioned by the Make-A-Wish foundation. The Halftime show has been nominated for two Emmys: Outstanding Special Class Program and Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special. The Emmy's will air Sunday, September 16, 2007.
(Make-A-Wish feature interview from METV)
Artist Q&A
Q: How are you using your NeKo?
A: My primary use for the NeKo has been in the live setting. Because of the power of the NeKo, I have been able to cut my live rig down from around 14 keyboards and modules to three. I can’t even describe how much faster it is to get setup and rolling. The other thing is it is a rolling studio-in-a-box. A true compact recording solution for home or the road.
Q: Why do you use NeKo rather than something else?
A: The NeKo is very visual. You can see everything right there at once. With all of the sliders and knobs, I have realtime control over all of the keyboards at hand. Basically, the NeKo can be just about any keyboard - soon I will be able to replace any keyboard I have used in the past with the MimiK software.
Q: What software do you use and how do you use it?
A: I use a wide variety of software on the neko and I have most of it open all at once. Such as: Spectrasonics Stylus RMX, Atmosphere, Trilogy, IK Multimedia Sampletank, SonikSynth 2, Motu Machfive, Ethno, G-Force Imposcar, Oddity, Minimonsta, The Native Instruments Komplete 3 and many others. I am able to open many of these plug-ins, organize the splits and layers. It truly is a one stop solution. The only problem is that I have two hands, so I need another NeKo for the other hand!
Equipment Used
Purchased 3 NeKo 64 (Gen1) upgraded to NeKo LX (Gen2)
Purchased NeKo LX (Gen3)
Purchased 2 MiKo LX (Gen3)