Chris Murphy (Canadian musician)

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Chris Murphy
Chris Murphy.jpg
Murphy performing with Sloan in 2007
Background information
Born (1968-11-07) November 7, 1968 (age 55)
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Origin Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Genres Indie
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Bass, drums, guitar, piano, vocals
Years active1991–present
Member of Sloan, , Tuns, Trans-Canada Highwaymen, Anyway Gang
Formerly of The Super Friendz, The Certain Someones

Christopher Michael Murphy (born November 7, 1968) is a Canadian musician and a member of the rock band Sloan.

Contents

Early life

Murphy was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. His family moved[ when? ] to Charlottesville, Virginia, where his father obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. He later[ when? ] moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he attended Halifax West High School and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.

Musical career

Murphy originally formed Sloan with Jay Ferguson. Murphy is the band's primary bassist, occasionally switching to drums or guitar, and is one of the band's two main singers; he sings lead on about 40 percent of the band's songs and backup harmony vocals on most of the others.

Murphy has written several Sloan songs that have been released as singles, including "Underwhelmed" (from the album Smeared ), "Coax Me" (from Twice Removed ), "G Turns to D" (from One Chord to Another ), "She Says What She Means" (from Navy Blues ), "The Other Man" (from Pretty Together ), and "The Rest of My Life" (from Action Pact ).

In 1995, while Sloan was on a hiatus, Murphy toured and recorded as the drummer for The Super Friendz.

Murphy hosted a show on CBC Radio 3 with Sloan bandmate Jay Ferguson from December 2005 through November 2006. The show was also broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 94.

In 2010, Murphy served as a music performance supervisor for the film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World , tasked with making sure the actors knew how to play their own instruments for the camera. One character, Young Neil, is seen wearing a Sloan t-shirt during one scene; another character, Todd Ingram, plays a red Fender Mustang Bass with white racing stripe, similar to Murphy's. [1]

In 2013, Murderecords released a 7-inch single by The Certain Someones, a supergroup featuring Chris Murphy, Matt Murphy of The Super Friendz, and Jale's Jennifer Pierce.

In 2015, Murphy formed the supergroup Tuns with Matt Murphy and Mike O'Neill of The Inbreds. [2] [3]

In 2016, Murphy, along with Steven Page (Barenaked Ladies), Moe Berg (The Pursuit of Happiness), and Craig Northey (Odds), formed the group The Trans-Canada Highwaymen; they performed their first show in Niagara in July that year, [4] and toured across Canada in 2017. [5] [6] Their live set consisted of cover songs by member's bands (Sloan, Odds, Pursuit of Happiness, Barenaked Ladies).

In 2018, Murphy and his bandmates from Sloan set out on a 30-date tour in support of their twelfth album together. [7]

In August 2019, it was announced that Murphy had formed a supergroup called Anyway Gang with Sam Roberts and members of Hollerado and Tokyo Police Club.

Murphy and Joel Plaskett collaborated on the production of Prize for Writing, a posthumous album by singer-songwriter Matthew Grimson, which was recorded in 1995 but not commercially released until 2020. [8]

Personal life

Murphy and his girlfriend, Rebecca Mendoza, have two sons, Francisco and Santiago.

In July 2009, Murphy was hit by a car in a hit and run collision while riding his bicycle in Toronto, breaking his collarbone. [9] [10] The incident lent its name to Sloan's subsequent release, the Hit & Run EP. [11]

On January 27, 2021, Murphy announced on Instagram that he was diagnosed with Bell's palsy earlier that month. He was optimistic that he would fully recover in the months ahead. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sloan (band)</span> Canadian rock band

Sloan is a Canadian rock band based in Toronto and originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Sloan have released thirteen full-length albums and have received nine Juno Award nominations, winning one. Between 1996 and 2016, Sloan was among the top 75 best-selling Canadian artists in Canada and among the top 25 best-selling Canadian bands in Canada. The band is known for their sharing of songwriting and lead vocals from each member of the group and their unaltered line-up throughout their career.

<i>One Chord to Another</i> 1996 studio album by Sloan

One Chord to Another is the third studio album by the Canadian rock band Sloan. The album was released in Canada through Murderecords in 1996 and in the United States through The Enclave in 1997. Like their previous album, One Chord to Another is a Beatles-influenced power pop record.

Murderecords is an independent record label that releases the music of the Canadian rock band Sloan. Originally formed in 1992 to produce just the records of that band, it later released work of other bands including Eric's Trip, The Hardship Post, Al Tuck, Stinkin' Rich, Hip Club Groove, The Inbreds, Thrush Hermit, and The Super Friendz, and was Canada's best-known indie label in the 1990s. Later, the roster was stripped bare, and released Sloan albums exclusively for nearly a decade. In 2008, however, albums by Will Currie and the Country French and Pony Da Look were released by the label.

Murray Kevin "Moe" Berg is a Canadian singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer best known as the frontman of The Pursuit of Happiness.

The Super Friendz are a Canadian indie rock band from Halifax, Nova Scotia. They were initially active between 1994 and 1997, before reforming in 2002, with sporadic activity since then.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Inbreds</span> Canadian alternative rock band

The Inbreds were a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 1992. Originally from Kingston, Ontario, the band relocated to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1996 and remained based there until breaking up in 1998. The band was a duo, consisting of vocalist/bassist Mike O'Neill and drummer Dave Ullrich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Scott (drummer)</span> Canadian musician (born 1967)

Andrew Walter Gibson Scott is a Canadian musician. Primarily a drummer, he has been a member of the band Sloan since 1991.

Mike O'Neill is a Canadian singer-songwriter, actor, and screenwriter. Originally from Oshawa, Ontario, he has been based in Halifax, Nova Scotia since 1996. O'Neill was a member of indie-rock band The Inbreds in the 1990s before disbanding the group and embarking on a solo career. He was involved as both sound engineer and actor on the popular Canadian television series Trailer Park Boys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Plaskett</span> Canadian singer-songwriter

William Joel MacDonald Plaskett is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was a member of Halifax alternative rock band Thrush Hermit in the 1990s. Plaskett performs in a number of genres, from blues and folk to hard rock, country, and pop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Page</span> Canadian musician (born 1970)

Steven Jay Page is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was a founding member, lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the music group Barenaked Ladies. Page left the band in February 2009 to pursue a solo career.

Matt Murphy is a Canadian musician and actor. He is perhaps best known as the vocalist and guitarist of 1990s band The Super Friendz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craig Northey</span> Canadian musician

Craig Northey is a Canadian musician and film and TV composer. He is one of the founding members of the band Odds, which released four albums between 1991 and 1996. They were best known for the radio singles "It Falls Apart", "Eat My Brain", "Heterosexual Man" and "Someone Who's Cool".

<i>Recorded Live at a Sloan Party</i> 1997 studio album by Sloan

Recorded Live at a Sloan Party! was a rare album release by Sloan; it was released in the United States in February 1997 as a bonus album to March Records' release of One Chord to Another. It was also packaged with initial US pressings of One Chord to Another through The Enclave label, and was later released in Japan in a one-disc package with One Chord to Another on Universal Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Marsh (musician)</span> Musical artist

Dave Marsh is a Canadian musician, best known for being drummer of Halifax power pop group The Super Friendz in the 1990s, of Joel Plaskett Emergency in the 2000s, and as a solo artist.

The Flashing Lights were a Canadian alternative rock band, active in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Fang Recordings is a record label founded by Canadian Folk Artist Joel Plaskett in 2008 based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. Plaskett claims that he "started New Scotland Records to release songs recorded with friends from my musical community in Nova Scotia and abroad". They have released multiple albums on vinyl and CD and digitally for free on their Bandcamp page

TUNS is a Canadian indie rock supergroup, consisting of Mike O'Neill of The Inbreds, Chris Murphy of Sloan and Matt Murphy of The Super Friendz. The band's name is a reference to the Technical University of Nova Scotia.

Matthew George Grimson was a Canadian musician from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Although he released albums locally in small quantities and never became widely known outside of Halifax in his lifetime, he came to wider attention in 2020 with the release of the posthumous album Prize for Writing.

References

  1. ↑ "Edgar Wright, Michael Cera, and Jason Schwartzman On Set Interview SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD". Collider . Archived from the original on September 16, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Sloan / Super Friendz / Inbreds Supergroup TUNS Announce Debut Album". Exclaim! , May 20, 2016.
  3. ↑ "‘Supergroup’ TUNS share their dream band collaborations". Toronto Star, By Ben Rayner, Aug. 17, 2016
  4. ↑ "Chris Murphy Introduces His New Supergroup the Trans-Canada Highwaymen". Exclaim!, By Gregory Adams, Jul 21, 2016
  5. ↑ "30 years later, the Pursuit of Happiness is back on its feet". The Globe and Mail, Jan. 4, 2019
  6. ↑ "Stories Behind A New Canadian Supergroup | FYIMusicNews". www.fyimusicnews.ca. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  7. ↑ "REVIEW: Sloan still delivering nearly 30 years in". Thunder Bay Newswatch, Apr 5, 2018 by: Leith Dunick
  8. ↑ Brad Wheeler, "Joel Plaskett and Sloan singer-bassist Chris Murphy bring songs of late Halifax musician Matthew Grimson back to life". The Globe and Mail , August 5, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Sloan bassist Chris Murphy talks about nearly dying in hit and run". CP24, The Canadian Press, November 22, 2009
  10. ↑ Harper, Kate (July 30, 2009). "Sloan Bassist Breaks Collarbone". CHARTattack. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ↑ Collins, Leah (November 30, 2009). "Hit & running again: Sloan". National Post. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  12. ↑ "'I have to tape my eye shut': Sloan's Chris Murphy diagnosed with Bell's palsy". CTV News. January 27, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
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