
Grammy-nominated DJ Morgan Page posed backstage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. (photo by Crystal Chatham)
When Morgan Page steps away from his DJ booth, he looks like any clean-cut guy you could take home to mom. He’s friendly. He’s polite. He doesn’t swear.
In reality, Page is on the verge of exploding on the music scene.
The Los Angeles-based DJ, who took the stage both Sundays at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, has two Grammy nominations under his belt and an international tour ahead of him.
It didn’t come easily.
When Page first visited Coachella in 2006 to see Daft Punk, he vowed he wouldn’t return to the famed music festival until he was asked to perform.
“I was like, I’d love to go, but I need to work hard enough to get invited,” Page, 30, told MyCoachella.com during an exclusive interview after his second set.
So Page recorded nearly 100 radio shows, an hourlong podcast that streams online Mondays, and won nearly 72,000 “likes” on his Facebook fan page.
He recruited singers and songwriters from virtually every genre to collaborate on tracks and dropped his third studio album, “In the Air,” on April 3.
It includes indie band Tegan and Sara on the single “Body Work,” which looks to be their biggest hit since the Canadian sisters hit the scene 15 years ago.
All that was enough for Goldenvoice to make the call he’d waited for, and Page landed on the festival lineup this year along with some of his biggest influences, including Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia.
“So few artists kind of make it through the gauntlet and get asked. It’s nice to be part of that select group,” Page said.
While here, Page studied the big names, jotting down ideas in a notebook. He liked Avicii’s set with its giant head and Swedish House Mafia’s on-stage fire.
“That’s a big part of what we did this year, was just to have more of an enhanced visual set,” Page said. “I really want to take this set on the road.”
When the modest Page isn’t recording a radio show or hitting the clubs, Page somehow finds the time to escape to the Coachella Valley.
He once hit up a house party where people did cannon balls into a piano-shaped pool. He likes to swing by The Ace Hotel or hike Mount San Jacinto.
Always on the lookout for a fresh business opportunity, Page even has a killer idea for the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway — maybe for his next gig.
“They should throw a party up there,” Page said. “I’d be there in a heartbeat.”