Spotlight: Murphey
Story & Photos By Henry Ager | Nov. 15th 2019
SOULFUL AND CONCEPTUAL - the music of Murphey is all encompassing of his passions. The 23-year-old soul musician from London produces music which is independently written, performed and recorded by him in his bedroom. To create his unique style, he combines soul and jazz using his skills as a singer, trumpeter, pianist and guitarist, making his music complex and varied. His debut EP The Velvet Hue of You, released in August, held a recurring theme of being in love and the harder areas that often get overlooked.
Currently Murphey is recording his second EP, which I have been lucky enough to listen to the first draft recordings of. The theme of the second EP is darker than that of the first, with Murphey describing the first EP as being ‘in love’ and the second EP as being ‘out of love’. For Murphey, concept art is a big inspiration and he aims for the two EPs to stand alone, but also exist within a larger concept together. This is further expanded through his plans to produce visual arts that stand alone yet connect to the essence of Murphey’s style.
To date, Murphey has only performed his music as a solo artist, however when writing and recording his music he produces a different type of sound, one created with a band in mind, therefore creating different sounds between recordings and live music. For example, the stripped-down version of "Camomile" brings the jazz elements of Murphey’s music further into focus, without the smooth beats found in the record. Building a band is the next step for Murphey, as this is an element he is anticipating bringing to his live performances. He is currently in talks with other musicians, developing ideas for the future of his live shows. Murphey loves playing on stage with others and feels his songs are best received live, allowing the listener to really connect. The live performances of the songs promise to contrast the records, as Murphey develops ideas when writing which better suit his live sets than recordings, so plans them for the future performances. He is aiming to begin performing before the release of his second EP and will play songs from the new EP before its release.
As creatives, we believe that once you have established yourself in an art form you will naturally spill out into other arts as a bi-product of your creativity. Music forms the main art form for Murphey and during the practise he has entered other creative avenues such as helping to co-create a documentary on his debut EP The Velvet Hue of You and filming a live recording of his single "Camomile". This entry into videography has given Murphey the idea to write a short film that encompasses the ‘bigger picture’ that the EPs fit into. He believes that by extending your artistic range you can convey your message to more people which may resonate with them in different ways.
Part of Murphey’s core belief is to build a community around his music of creatives to enable them to help each other. Murphey aims to work with people that share his vision and to help craft an end product which positively impacts everyone involved. Working with creatives such as a photographer, Murphey aims to build a relationship so they can progress in their work together, enabling shoots to become easier and letting creative boundaries get pushed further. When it comes to writing music, Murphey works with a variety of musicians from different genres, allowing his music to absorb influences from all his collaborations.
Despite being a passionate humanitarian and environmentalist, Murphey has chosen to leave these themes out of his records. Through his music he wants to create a form of escapism for the listener, to be able to talk to them and not at them. Murphey views the music as an emotional conversation, a form of self-help for himself, and he hopes for other people too. Self-awareness seems to be central to Murphey’s songwriting with these two EP’s, taking a step back and seeing things for what they really are as opposed to seeing only what we want to.
