Rob Morgan was born with the capacity to—music-wise, at least—layer everything on top of everything else, and he’s never given up since. His merry band The Squirrels celebrate 2026 with their 42 EP, honoring 42 years of madness; and they’re celebrating with a live show (EPs for sale) at Darrell’s Tavern, 3 pm on Sunday, February 1st. Resident Mad Hatter Mr. Morgan, was kind enough to take some questions over email.
Seattle Star: What are your earliest memories of music, and being passionate about music? Were you a Beatlemaniac?
Rob Morgan: Definitely a Beatlemaniac, as is pretty much everyone else my age. Some of the earliest memories I have of anything revolve around The Beatles—”Michelle” was the first time that I remember realizing that there were actually different languages for different countries! Quite a revelation.
The White Album in particular was particularly eye opening for me. I was ten years old when it was released. Loved it. It contained everything! Rock, country, ska, sound collages, Roaring Twenties, weird druggy shit—I found it fascinating. Still do. So, yeah.
Music of all kinds has been a huge part of my life, from childhood. I have my big brother and sister to thank for that. From The Beatles to Sparks to Frank Zappa, they were both very instrumental in shaping my musical taste. They were both big music fans, and were supportive of my own efforts for my entire life. Grateful. They have both passed on now, and I miss them dearly. They would have really liked this one. So, yeah… this CD is for you, Jerry and Carlie!
(Oh, and my favorite Beatle? Ringo. By a hundred miles.)
Seattle Star: When and how did you discover your amazing talent for making mashups in your head?
Rob Morgan: I’m not really able to pinpoint any specific timeframe, really. I’ve been doing parody stuff my entire life. As for what they now call “mashups” (we called them “Mudleys”) things definitely headed more in that direction for us when Joey Kline and the late, great Eric Erickson came into the band. Between Joey and I discovering that between the two of us, we knew pretty much every stupid radio hit from the 60s and 70s, and Eric’s scary ability to play anything on his guitar, things definitely started getting weirder. The doors opened considerably.
In fact, the first time that Eric and I got together with Joey to try him out for the “New Age Urban Squirrels” lineup in 1985, we had a super weird hybrid of Billy Joel’s “Just The Way You Are” and “Baba O’ Riley” by The Who pretty much flushed out. We knew right then that he was the guy! Joey has moved home to Montana now, to care for his elderly folks. Grateful for his decades of service, to say the least.
Seattle Star: Has your vision for the band changed at all, over the years?
Rob Morgan: The goal of the project remains the same as it always was. We just want people leaving the show happier than they came in, and to offer oddballs of all stripes a safe space to let their hair down and share some laughs, forget about the “real world” for a bit, and have some goofy, judgement free and rockin’ fun. Squirrelworld is open to everybody. Unless you are an asshole. Ahem.
Seattle Star: What are your best, worst, and most insane gig stories from playing Squirrels music up and down and all around?
Rob Morgan: To answer this would take up an entire article on its own. We’ve pretty much seen—and done—it all. And we have done a lot of stupid stuff onstage. Like, a lot.
One thing that pops to mind is the time that we started shooting Cabbage Patch Dolls into the crowd with a giant slingshot at Bumbershoot one year—tooo funny. Those suckers were flying! That little stunt got us 86’d for good!
Seattle Star: The new EP is 42, for the Squirrels’ 42nd anniversary, and for the love of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy. How did you first experience the Hitchhiker saga—radio, print, TV, or some of all of that? What are your favorite things about the saga?
Rob Morgan: Full disclosure, I am not as well versed in all of that as some of the other band members. The EP was originally started as 40th Anniversary EP, but, real world “grownup” stuff delayed its completion until now.
JT [Jimmy Thomas] was actually the one who suggested the Hitchhiker angle as a way to market 42. And Ed [Viars], our buddy who laid out the cover, is a huge fan of the book, so he and I came up with several references to use in the packaging. I really like the cover art. People seem to get a kick out of it!
Seattle Star: What is the current lineup of The Squirrels?
Rob Morgan: Well, The Squirrels at this point is more of a “project” incorporating any number of people, with the live band acting as a representation of the bigger picture. Kind of hard to explain. But the live band at this point consists of myself, longtime members Jimmy Thomas on guitar, and Bruce Laven on keyboards, returning alumni bassist Matt Fox, and drummer Bill Ray, who joined the fold in 2017. It’s a pretty happening little combo. And of course, Mary K the Slinky Queen will be on hand as well. And possibly another special guest or two. Anything could happen at this point!
Seattle Star: You call the EP’s genesis a “long story.” Can you share some of it? Were the musicians in the same place at the same time, dialed in by Zoom, or mixed?
Rob Morgan: The delays I was speaking of were all called by real world, “grown up” problems, as mentioned previously. The basic tracks—drums, bass, rhythm guitar, keys and a scratch vocal—were recorded live at once at Bill’s home studio, aka …But The Cat! Studio in Everett, Washington. The remaining overdubs and vocals were recorded a day here and a day there at JT’s home studio in Shoreline, aka the Vulcan Philosophy Center, where we have done a lot of our stuff.
We work really fast when we get going. It was just finding the dates where we could actually get together and work on it it that was the problem!
Seattle Star: How do you work with the band, to build up the arrangements?
Rob Morgan: Most of the stuff just kind of shows up in my head—some of it actually comes to me in dreams!—and then the band will help me realize the vision from there. JT in particular is really good at seeing where I am going. And some of it just comes out of nowhere at practice. Stuff just occurs. It’s kind of hard to explain.
Once you get acclimated to smashing things on top of each other, and that many songs are pretty much exactly the same chords and what not, you can never hear music the same way again. We refer to it as “Squirrelbrain”. It’s a curse more than a blessing at times, to be honest!
Seattle Star: I noticed Jimmy got ahold of an Otamatone! Where he did find one? Did you play around with it any yourself?
Rob Morgan: Jimmy got it as a Father’s Day present from his daughter. That thing is hilarious—so much so that we are going to be featuring it in the show. I didn’t really dink around with it much, but I did have the opportunity to play both slide whistle and Stylophone on the new CD, so I more than did my part as far as odd tones and whatnot! We aim to please.
Seattle Star: Which tracks on the new record are your favorites, and why?
Rob Morgan: I am actually pretty happy with the whole thing. We all are. But for me, if I had to pick two, I’d say “Puff The Lucky Dragon, Man” and “Burnin’ Love For You.” Jimmy’s solo in “Puff” is spectacular, and Bill’s Carl Palmer fills are funny as Hell. “Burnin’” just cracks me up all the way around. My vocal on it is pretty nutso!
Seattle Star: You’ve got the release party coming up February 1st at Darrell’s. Anything in the future for the Squirrels?
Rob Morgan: Right now, it’s the only thing on the books. But we will be playing again soon, I am sure. We’ll be doing a number of brand new songs at this show, so we are really looking forward to it, and hope that people come and help us celebrate the new EP.
We are all really, really proud of this one, and think that you will all enjoy it. “A long, strange trip” indeed. That’s actually a bit of an understatement!
But we ain’t done yet. Still smiles to make, now more than ever. So, yeah, we are back. Let’s see where this all goes together, shall we?
