Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Kaz Murphy, who discusses his the goals and creative process behind his upcoming album, â€Ride Out the Storm.â€
Review Fix: What makes you different?
Murphy: I grew up in South New Jersey and was part of the Jersey folk scene that still runs strong and bleeds over into the Philly folk scene. We have our own approach to songwriting with forthright lyrics and musically a combo of old classic folk with a new twist. As I’ve grown as an artist I’m still close to those roots, and with the other more national influences that I’ve acquired over the years, I feel that my voice stands on its own, and when I write a song, it is always clear in my mind which direction I’m going to go.
Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?
Murphy: My mother was a trained operatic soprano. My dad was a jazz buff and actually sang really well. I started drumming at 10 in a rock n roll band. At 13 I bought a guitar and banjo at the same time and started writing songs and performing locally. The response at that early age was somewhat overwhelming and I realized at that time that music could be a way to go. And I guess it was…
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Murphy: There two processes.
One is that I come up with a title or some lyrics that feel really strong. I’ll write down some rough ideas, then at some point I’ll be thinking about some of those words and a melody will come into my mind. All I have to do is sit down with my guitar, and usually within a few minutes or so, I have a rough feel of where the song is going. Then it’s just a matter of shining it up musically and finishing the lyrics. Sometimes it’s all a matter of minutes and sometimes I may spend a month or more fixing and changing until it feels right.
The other is that I come up with music and have no lyrics. So I’ll record a rough of the music and at some point the lyric will kick in. It can kick in while I’m playing it, or kick in the middle of the night, or sometimes I’m just humming the tune and the title will come out of my mouth. Then it’s on to crafting the finished piece.
Review Fix: What inspires you?
Murphy: Inspiration comes from everywhere; something a person says, somebody that I see and get feeling about, a line in a novel that I’m reading, pretty much everywhere. As I grow as an artist, I try to only deal with subjects that are super meaningful to me, so that I can create with some level of depth.
Review Fix: What’s your standout track on this album?
Murphy: That would probably be “A Sunny Day” a song that I started writing the day Johnny Cash died. I went down to the railroad tracks in Los Angeles and just started picking away and the song developed. It is done with metaphors and some afterlife visuals because I didn’t want to just to do a straight up ballad about Big John. I tried to make it a piece that honored him as the great artist he was.
Review Fix: How does writing poetry help you as a musician?
Murphy: I don’t really write poetry anymore. I get an idea or a title and then I work at crafting a solid song lyric.
Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?
Murphy: My music is definitely Americana which is a mix of folk and country with a unique twist. I tell stories through song.
Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?
Murphy: Since recording the album, I have been getting into playing shows with just one other player; a pedal steel, lap steel, mandolin, and sometimes a multi-instrumentalist who plays a few instruments. The shows are very intimate, with big dynamics and shifting from darker, sadder songs, to more uplifting numbers. I usually end the show with a very uplifting song, recently it has been “All I Wanna Do Is Work” which has become a sing along. So a big part of the audience will be singing the hook line, and we lower the music so all that you hear is the audience, then we end the show.
Review Fix: What are your goals for 2019?
Murphy: I will be playing a lot in Southern California. Touring Arizona and Texas in April. Touring the UK and parts of Europe in August/September. Then recording a new album in the Fall and releasing it in March of 2020.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Murphy: I’ve got a lot of new songs to write. So far the ideas just keep coming so I’m rolling with it.
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