Daron Murphy is co-founder of the social justice creative agency Art Not War. Since the agency was founded in 2011, Murphy has written, directed and produced hundreds of short films and online videos that have earned billions of views worldwide.
Murphy is also a musician and composer for film and television. In 2016, he scored Henry Louis Gates, Jr's PBS documentary series, Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise. He composed musical scores for the feature-length documentary films, The End of America and MoveOn: The Movie. He has scored short films including Raving, directed by Julia Stiles, and Bring them Home, directed by Oliver Stone.
Murphy has written on popular culture for publications including The Wall Street Journal , Men's Vogue , Bloomberg Businessweek , The Huffington Post , Entertainment Weekly , and Vibe . He was an editor and producer of the pioneering mid-1990s web site Word.com.
In 2019, Murphy served as a fellow of the NSquare Innovators Network.
As a musician, Murphy was known for his work as a guitarist, harmonica player and songwriter with the retro-soul rock group, The Little Death. He toured Europe with Moby, as his guitar player, in 2005. [1] [2]
From 1992 until 1995, Murphy was the primary songwriter, singer, and guitarist (along with bass player Jonny Farrow and late drummer Chris Brown), for indie rock band Philco Bendyx, releasing an EP on John Flansburgh's (They Might be Giants) Hello Recording Club.
In 1998, Murphy formed The Sixes, a short-lived 1960s garage-style dance/rock ensemble. In 2000, Murphy co-founded Rene Risque and the Art Lovers, [3] [4] with primary songwriter and vocalist Andy Boose—a cabaret/rock/disco project in which each member of the band assumed the identity of a sleazy eurotrash decadent. Murphy's assumed name in the group was Dolce Fino.
Around the same time,[ when? ] Murphy was wed to singer and political activist Laura Dawn. [3]
Serj Tankian is an Armenian-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, keyboardist, rhythm guitarist and primary lyricist of System of a Down, which was formed in 1994.
Shavarsh "Shavo" Odadjian is an Armenian-American musician, best known as the bassist of heavy metal band System of a Down. He also plays bass in a trap group called North Kingsley.
John Graham Mellor, known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British musician. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist, and lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, formed in 1976. The Clash's second studio album, Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978), reached No. 2 on the UK charts. Soon after, they achieved success in the US, starting with London Calling (1979) and peaking with Combat Rock (1982), which reached No. 7 on the US charts and was certified 2× platinum there. The Clash's explosive political lyrics, musical experimentation, and rebellious attitude greatly influenced rock music in general, especially alternative rock. Their music incorporated reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, and rockabilly.
INXS were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, guitarist Tim Farriss, lead singer and main lyricist Michael Hutchence, and guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly. For 20 years, INXS was fronted by Hutchence, whose magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band. Initially known for their new wave/pop style, the band later developed a harder pub rock style that included funk and dance elements.
William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonists Wayne Shorter and David Sanborn, among others. He was the main songwriter and producer on three of Davis' albums: Tutu (1986), Music from Siesta (1987), and Amandla (1989). His collaboration with Vandross was especially close; he co-produced and served as the arranger for most of Vandross' albums, and he and Vandross co-wrote many of Vandross' songs, including the hits "I Really Didn't Mean It", "Any Love", "Power of Love/Love Power" and "Don't Want to Be a Fool". He also co-wrote the 1988 single "Da Butt" for Experience Unlimited.
Daron Malakian is an Armenian-American musician. He is the guitarist, songwriter, and second vocalist of the metal band System of a Down, and the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter of Scars on Broadway.
Georg Albert Ruthenberg, better known by his stage name Pat Smear, is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead guitarist and co-founder of Los Angeles–based punk band The Germs and for being a rhythm guitarist for grunge band Nirvana, and Foo Fighters. After Nirvana disbanded following the suicide of frontman Kurt Cobain, drummer Dave Grohl went on to form Foo Fighters, with Smear joining on guitar. Smear left Foo Fighters in 1997 before rejoining as a touring guitarist in 2005 and being promoted back to a full-time member in 2010.
Benjamin Robert Moody II is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as co-founder, former lead guitarist and co-songwriter of rock band Evanescence until his departure in 2003 after the band's debut album, Fallen. After leaving Evanescence, Moody co-wrote and co-produced songs for Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, Anastacia, Lindsay Lohan, Bo Bice, Daughtry, and Celine Dion.
Hans Uno Jonas Åkerlund is a Swedish filmmaker and musician who is best known for his work in music videos. Åkerlund was a member of the Swedish black metal band Bathory. He has directed well-known videos for artists such as Queens of the Stone Age, Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Blink-182, Blondie, Duran Duran, Lady Gaga, David Guetta, Jamiroquai, Lenny Kravitz, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Metallica, Moby, Ozzy Osbourne, P!nk, the Prodigy, the Smashing Pumpkins, Rammstein, Britney Spears, the Rolling Stones, U2, Robbie Williams and Ghost.
Rai Thistlethwayte is an Australian rock, pop and jazz musician and songwriter. Thistlethwayte is an accomplished pianist, guitarist, and vocalist. He is the lead singer and primary songwriter in the Australian pop rock band Thirsty Merc. From 2004, Thirsty Merc released a string of hits in the Australian charts including "In the Summertime", "Someday, Someday", "20 Good Reasons", "Emancipate Myself", "My Completeness", "When the Weather Is Fine" and "Mousetrap Heart". He is currently based in Los Angeles. As a solo artist, Thistlethwayte performs under the name 'Sun Rai'.
Jerry Miller is an American songwriter, guitarist and vocalist. He performs as a solo artist and as a member of the Jerry Miller Band. He is also a founding member of the 1960s San Francisco band Moby Grape, which continues to perform occasionally. Rolling Stone included Miller at number 68 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time and Moby Grape's album Moby Grape at number 124 from listed 500 greatest albums of all time. Miller's longtime guitar is a Gibson L-5 CES Florentine guitar which he calls "Beulah".
Sam Houston Andrew III was an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, composer, artist and founding member and guitarist of Big Brother and the Holding Company. During his career as musician and composer, Andrew had three platinum albums and two hit singles. His songs have been used in numerous major motion picture soundtracks and documentaries.
Laura Dawn is an American political activist, filmmaker and singer-songwriter. She has been the cultural director for MoveOn.org from 2003 to 2011 and was named the organization's national creative director in 2007. In 2019 she helped to found progressive news aggregator Front Page Live, where she is Chief Creative Officer.
Bruce Turgon is an American bass guitarist, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and producer. Bruce has played in several bands throughout his career including: Foreigner, The Lou Gramm Band, Shadow King, Steve Stevens, Warrior, Black Sheep and Showcase.
Cass Browne is an English musician and writer.
Kevin Ridel is an American musician and songwriter most notable for being the lead singer and primary songwriter of '90s power pop band Ridel High and 2000s alternative rock band AM Radio.
Jonathan Jacob Walker is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Formerly the bassist of Panic! at the Disco, Walker was also the lead guitarist and occasional split vocalist of The Young Veins, which is now on indefinite hiatus. Having gone on to release several solo recordings, he is now mostly songwriting and producing.
Barb Morrison is an American recording artist, Top 5 Billboard dance chart songwriter, and Platinum record producer, best known as producer for numerous artists such as Blondie, Rufus Wainwright, Franz Ferdinand (band), LP, Asia Kate Dillon and as an ASCAP-featured film score composer.
Aaron A. Brooks, also known as, Aaron Kinsley-Brooks is an American rock musician, drummer, producer and composer. He co-founded The Little Death with Moby, Laura Dawn and Daron Murphy. He is a founding member of the American alternative rock band, The Mars Bonfire. Aaron also plays or has played drums for the electronic pop band Leisure Cruise; Grammy nominated electro-pop chanteuse Angela McCluskey ; Grammy award-winning producer/songwriter Mark Hudson; Emmy award-winning actress and singer Jackie Cruz; Grammy award-winning artist Moby; Singer/songwriter and progressive political activist Laura Dawn; Grammy award-winning bassist/songwriter and rock musician Duff McKagen of Guns N' Roses; Circle of Soul; Erin Evermore; Grammy award-winning pianist and songwriter A.J. Croce; Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Lana Del Rey; Writer, radio host, progressive political comic and guitarist/singer Jamie Kilstein and his band The Agenda.
Rafael Moreira is a Brazilian-American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and record producer, best known as the lead guitarist / vocalist on the hit CBS television shows Rock Star: INXS and Rock Star: Supernova, MTV's Rock The Cradle and most recently on NBC's The Voice. He has also appeared as lead guitarist / supporting vocalist live on world tours and television, as well as on CD & DVD releases, with world-renowned and groundbreaking artists such as Paul Stanley (KISS), Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Dave Navarro and Stephen Perkins, Tommy Lee and Natasha Bedingfield. Rafael has also performed as the lead guitarist for Grammy-winning artists Pink, Christina Aguilera, Don Felder Marc Anthony, Colbie Caillat and Mýa.