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Everything Under The Sun with Carey Clayton (Modern Olympia, Jay Som, Morgan Jay)

Metadata

title
Everything Under The Sun with Carey Clayton (Modern Olympia, Jay Som, Morgan Jay)
description
Carey Clayton's first album as Modern Olympia is Justification Machine. He talks through lyrics he doesn't fully understand yet, about thirty Morgan Jay shows built on crowd work, joining Great Good Fine Ok, and songs written in English, then translated, two of which went to number one in China.
date
2026-10-06
kind
guest
status
complete
guestSlugs
  • carey-clayton
listenUrl
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lovemusicmore/episodes/Everything-Under-The-Sun-with-Carey-Clayton-Modern-Olympia--Jay-Som--Morgan-Jay-e3pr382
spotifyUrl
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2I0Rj96FW41qdyl2aEyycN
appleUrl
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/everything-under-the-sun-with-carey-clayton-modern/id1567355195?i=1000793393862&uo=4
topicsDiscussed
  • Songwriting
  • Music production
  • Mixing
  • Touring
  • Collaboration
  • The music business
  • Scoring for picture
  • Genre
  • Modern Olympia
  • Morgan Jay
  • Great Good Fine Ok
hostNote
Carey Clayton’s first album under the name Modern Olympia is called **Justification Machine**. The songs keep coming back to the mental hoops people jump through to tell themselves something is okay. On lyrics, he trusts the lines he doesn’t fully understand yet. The clever ones feel contrived. Touring, session work, and TV and film production music are how he learns what makes a genre tick, including music he would not have chosen, and carries that back into his own songs. A solo session turns into an echo chamber, so he still wants other people’s takes. The quick test for “done,” nothing left that’s wrong, is the one he doesn’t like. He’d rather know the song is good, and when an idea shows up he tries to write, record, and produce it in an afternoon. We spend the middle of the hour on the live work. Morgan Jay’s show stays fresh after about thirty dates in under a year because so much of it is crowd work: they vamp and leave space for the audience’s punch line. Great Good Fine Ok is the longer story. He knew a member from Miami, met drummer Danny and singer John again in New York, and [Russ Flynn](https://lukefwalton.com/love-music-more/episodes/russ-flynn/) called him in about ten years ago, after Flynn had been subbing with X Ambassadors. The China songs are a different path. An Instagram message led to producing an artist who was in Los Angeles, then to something like eighty songs over a few years, written in English with John and pitched by an A&R contact after translation. He does not go to China to write them. Great Good Fine Ok did tour China, and he says that trip had nothing to do with these songs. Two of the songs became number one for a while, which he treats as a goofy fun fact. The gigs, he says, came from people he likes making music with, not from auditions. Asked why he loves music, he talks about rooms he would not otherwise have entered: a record in Nigeria, a choreography project in Istanbul, and the quieter work of sitting with a sound until it says something about him.
selectedMoments
  • label
    Justification Machine
    startSec
    122
    note
    First album under the name Modern Olympia, about the hoops people jump through to tell themselves something is okay.
  • label
    Lyrics he doesn't fully know yet
    startSec
    210
    note
    The clever lines feel contrived. The ones he doesn't understand yet are the exciting ones.
  • label
    What makes a genre tick
    startSec
    258
    note
    A decade of other artists, plus TV and film production music, is how he learns a style and brings it home.
  • label
    Capture it the same day
    startSec
    402
    note
    Done means the song is good, not that every problem is gone. He tries to write, record, and produce an idea in an afternoon.
  • label
    Thirty Morgan Jay shows
    startSec
    1019
    note
    Still fresh after about thirty dates because the set is crowd work.
  • label
    Joining Great Good Fine Ok
    startSec
    1262
    note
    Miami, then New York, then a call from Russ Flynn about ten years ago.
  • label
    The China songs started on Instagram
    startSec
    1896
    note
    A message that sounded like a scam became years of songs written in English and translated. He does not fly there to write.
  • label
    Find your people
    startSec
    2225
    note
    The gigs came through musicians he actually likes, not a pile of auditions.
  • label
    A record in Nigeria
    startSec
    2364
    note
    Why he loves music: rooms he would not have entered, including Nigeria and a choreography project in Istanbul.
excerptQuotes
  • text
    The title of the album is called Justification Machine.
    startSec
    129
    reviewed
    true
  • text
    In this album it was like I kept seeing this theme of the kind of mental hoops we all jump through to like tell ourselves that something's okay.
    startSec
    155
    reviewed
    true
  • text
    Some of my more favorite things I've written, you don't really know what it totally means at the time, but you know there's something like juicy there and it's like speaking to something more subconsciously.
    startSec
    190
    reviewed
    true
  • text
    Sometimes it's like I can pretty much write, record, and produce out a song in an afternoon.
    startSec
    425
    reviewed
    true
  • text
    We'll try to like leave some space for like the audience punch line to hit.
    startSec
    1069
    reviewed
    true
  • text
    We don't go to China to write with Chinese artists.
    startSec
    1970
    reviewed
    true
  • text
    The fact that two of those songs became number one songs for a while, this feels like one of those goofy fun facts.
    startSec
    2010
    reviewed
    true
  • text
    I love music because it's connected me to people from such vastly different backgrounds and cultures that doing anything else, there's like no way that would have happened.
    startSec
    2339
    reviewed
    true
faq
  • question
    What is Carey Clayton's album Justification Machine?
    answer
    It is the first album under the name Modern Olympia. He describes it as an eclectic set that kept returning to the stories people tell themselves so that something feels okay. The lyrics he trusts are the ones he doesn't fully understand yet.
  • question
    How did Carey Clayton end up with number-one songs in China?
    answer
    An Instagram message led to producing an artist who was in Los Angeles, then to years of songs written in English with John from Great Good Fine Ok. An A&R contact pitches them after they are translated. Carey does not go to China to write them. Two of the songs reached number one for a while. A separate Great Good Fine Ok tour of China was unrelated.
  • question
    What does Carey Clayton do in Morgan Jay's show?
    answer
    He plays in the band, about thirty shows in under a year. The music vamps under crowd work and leaves space for the audience's punch line.
  • question
    When does Carey Clayton know a song is finished?
    answer
    The short test, nothing left that's wrong, is the one he doesn't like. He'd rather know the song is good. When he can get into the studio with an idea, he tries to write, record, and produce it in an afternoon.
transcriptPublished
true
draft
false

Guest

Carey Clayton

Modern Olympia, Jay Som, Morgan Jay

Producer, songwriter, and touring musician (Modern Olympia). Love Music More on a career across Jay Som, Morgan Jay, Great Good Fine Ok, and his own records.

Profiles: http://www.careyclayton.com/ · https://www.discogs.com/artist/7707517-Carey-Clayton · https://careyclayton.bandcamp.com/ · https://open.spotify.com/artist/5YgelnfjmFp9I6NAP9FH7P

Also on this site: Great Good Fine Ok · Jon Sandler (Great Good Fine Ok)

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