Kristyn Chapman is coming home to herself. The musician, who performs under the moniker Morpho, has spent many years playing with and supporting other artists. But it is through the release of her debut EP, titled “Morpho Season,” that Chapman is regaining her confidence and self-assuredness on the stage.
Growing up in Wichita, Kansas, Chapman said she was inspired to pick up the guitar after watching the popular Lindsay Lohan movie “Freaky Friday.” Group and summer camp lessons eventually turned into her first experience in a band, at the age of 15. She’s been in bands ever since.
But her dreams could not be contained to the Wichita area. In 2021, Chapman moved to Chicago, a longtime dream.
“I always liked the idea of being a local to Chicago just to try to become immersed in the music scene,” she said. “Whenever I visited, I just never felt like I had enough time to actually experience the city. And it just felt really inspiring.”
Her move to Chicago has been especially fruitful. A graphic designer by trade, Chapman found a job in her field. She’s made connections with other emerging musicians. She’s also begun performing in other local groups as support. But most importantly, she’s found the strength and motivation to create for herself.
Although she began recording “Morpho Season” in Feb. 2022, the songwriting process began long before. The single “Prism,” for example, was first written in 2017, after a tumultuous end of a relationship.
Ultimately, writing “Prism” proved to be cathartic for Chapman. And that same cathartic writing process was present when she wrote “The End,” another track from the EP. “It’s definitely a really bleak breakup song, but also, I feel like there’s a hint of trying to reclaim some sort of independence through that,” she added.
Other tracks from the EP had been written before she moved here, then put away. It was not until 2022 that she felt encouraged to begin refining these tracks with music engineer Alex Burns for an eventual release. Chapman said she had to “get to know” these tracks in the years since they were first written and grow into her skills as a guitarist. That growth process ultimately helped the tracks flourish into something richer and meaningful.
For the listener, the results of this refinement have produced a short, yet captivating collection of tracks about romantic grief, regret, and — ultimately — renewed strength. It’s the sort of listening that permeates in the psyche of the listener. Relatable and sometimes frank, “Morpho Season” captures the thoughts, questions, and answers that make emotional loss and personal growth so significant in all of our lives.
It’s heavy stuff, but Chapman is not afraid to be vulnerable with listeners.
“In my music, there’s a lot of themes of dichotomies. I was kind of struggling with the identity of my professional self versus my artistic self, and just frustrated that I couldn’t be more of my artistic self, at least outwardly at that time,” she said. “And now, it’s been cool to finally put the EP out, and now it’s like a real thing. It’s not imaginary anymore.”
Perhaps it is that earnestness on record that has given Chapman a renewed sense of confidence on stage. After years of developing hesitancy — in contrast to the confidence of her youth — she’s ready to stand front and center, flaws, vulnerabilities and all.
“I think it took me a second to find my voice and what I was trying to sound like, and what was feeling authentic to me,” she said. “It is really, really motivating to have your own thing and when it has momentum, it’s energizing.”
Britt Julious is a freelance critic.