Vapors of Morphine: breathing new life into an unfinished legacy

For the surviving members of Morphine, one of the most compelling bands of the 90s alt-rock movement, the sudden passing of frontman and friend Mark Sandman changed their future trajectory forever. 

What didn’t change? Their unique sound, the passion behind the music and the influence that continued a legacy not yet done. 

Original baritone saxophonist player and founding member, Dana Colley, said the outfit would never again be Morphine, without Mark. 

Thus, Vapors of Morphine rose from the ashes – a gently diffused evolution breathing new life into tracks and reinventing the limits of their sound. 

Vapors of Morphine Tour Dates

“The idea came out of an anniversary of Sandman’s passing; we formed in the spring of 2009 in preparation for the Nel Nom Del Rock concert in July of that year, the 10th anniversary of Mark Sandman’s passing on the same stage,” Colley tells me. 

“I had been working with Jeremy Lyons; we had met after hurricane Katrina before deciding to come back as a trio – with our original drummer Jerome Deupree. At one point we were called Members of Morphine, then – briefly – the Ever Expanding Elastic Waistband. Then someone gave us vapors and we grabbed it. 

“It seemed to appropriate the idea of “this is what’s left of a legacy”; Mark has passed, Billy Conway has since passed, Jerome had retired from Morphine music, so we wanted to take over a legacy but also add to it to make it our own too.”

“I wanted to do this because, from my particular voice as a saxophonist to have been a part of a band that utilised what I had to bring to that group in a way that was very true to what my voice was – the material for me is about as close as I can come to fully expressing what it is I feel is my voice in music. 

“For me to carry on is taking the music we made together and breathing new life into it every time we play it; that’s the beauty of live music. 

“A song can be a framework but also a departure into the unknown, it seems to me its always new. 

“It doesn’t feel like we’re just dragging old stuff along its an opportunity to reinvent what we have.” 

Vapors made the decision to continue playing Morphine tracks to celebrate the music they loved to create, and offer new interpretations of it. 

“For the most part, anytime you try to capture an idea in terms of recording sound, a song, you’re kind of relegated to that moment and what you come up with,” Colley says. 

“So each time can offer you something different in interpretation. We’ve got a two-string slide bass guitar, bouzouki, we’ve electrified the baritone sax and have a different approach to drums; there’s a lot to bring to what has been visited before. 

“That’s not to say we stay there. We’re not as interested in recording Morphine songs as we are playing them, playing them brings more opportunity for nuance in a live setting.” 

The resurrection of an outfit that found it’s way into so many appreciative ears and vinyl collections, has been supported by old Morphine fans and introduced it to a new generation. 

“We have people come up and tell us they saw us in ‘96 or in San Fran one year, and then introduce their grandson who is at a show for the first time.” 

“You think “woah my contemporaries are having grandchildren”, and to me that’s an amazing legacy.

“I think of Mark who would’ve loved to have known his music has carried forward and reached as many corners of the world as it has.” 

The evolution felt like a natural one, with the alternative being wrapping up the band’s career permanently. 

“It falls halfway between the two choices of carrying on completely without dropping a beat or 

acknowledging that a band member has left the building and just filing someone in to fill the space,” Colley says. 

“But we were never going to be Morphine again without Mark, whatever it came to be it has to allude to the fact that it will never be Morphine without Sandman. 

“There are thousands of Morphine cover bands out there, if what you believe on Youtube to be true, but I feel like we still have something to say around what our music was and we have an authentic lineage and trajectory from the original source that is still valid. 

“We’re still here, that’s what this band represents.” 

The upcoming tour will be the first time Morphine’s music has been heard in Australia since 1994 and Colley tells us you can expect two-string slide bass like you’ve never heard it before, the original Morphine sound with an added twist and some great shows. 

words by Frankie Anderson-Byrne