Review Fix chats with Laurence Murray, who discusses the Lawrence Murray Project’s new single, NDP and more.
Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?
Laurence Murray: I started off messing around on an old classical guitar that was lying around the house when I was just young. Then when I was twelve years old I started taking it a bit more seriously and started to get into Blues music. I learned to develop my ear by playing along with SRV and Hendrix tracks and I learned chords and harmony through Radiohead and Jeff Buckley. Those are still some of my favourite artists now.
I played trombone all the way throughout school and enjoyed it but it always felt like more of a discipline rather than a creative tool. When I discovered guitar I realised I could learn to improvise and accompany myself and it just excited me more than anything I’d ever done previously. Singing is still something fairly new to me but I have a lot more confidence in my voice now than I did even a few years ago. I try to work on this as much as possible!
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Murray: I like to write in solitude for the most part. Recently I’ve been writing lyrics first, letting them breathe for a while and then trying to accompany them with chord progressions later. I’ve been guilty of overthinking what I’m doing in the past and ending up with ideas that are over-baked and needlessly overcomplicated. I’m still trying to learn to take any musical ego out of the song and be as honest as possible. Sometimes all the song needs is a few simple chords to convey the feeling behind the story you’re trying to tell. More often than not I’m drawn to writing about personal experiences and I find that kind of stuff is easier told in a more direct fashion. I find that the less cerebral and over-thought the process is then the more genuine and truthful the end result has the potential to be. I enjoy the process of writing as much as when I get to hear the finished article!
Review Fix: What inspires you?
Murray: Life experiences! Artists that are sincere and do what they want to do without worrying about what they think other people want to hear from them. Anything, music or otherwise in life, that comes from an honest place and is heartfelt.
Review Fix: What does music mean to you?
Murray: An innate human instinct and the most natural form of self-expression.
Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?
Murray: A melting pot of Rock, Blues and Soul. A throwback sound to 70s guitar music with a big singer-songwriter influence too.
Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?
Murray: We’ve yet to play live in our current formation due to the pandemic – but when we do we’re going to have a very free approach to our live performances. Every show will be different and we’ll play what we feel in that moment. I really admire artists who perform their songs with a slightly different flavour from one night to the next. We’ll be faithful to the feeling of the recorded songs but there will be plenty of spontaneity and room for getting lost in the moment.
Review Fix: What inspired your latest single?
Murray: The track is about manipulation, deceit and coming out the other end of something tumultuous and trying to make sense of it all. It’s about learning to trust your intuition and having healthy boundaries in relationships. I wanted to try and convey a sense of anger, betrayal and finally solace all throughout the course of one song.
Review Fix: What are your goals for 2021?
Murray: We have an eleven track album ready to release later on in the year. We don’t have a date for that yet but we may release another single before then! I hope to tour and play our first live gigs as a band together before the year is out too.
Leave a Reply