May31,2009
I'm totally thrilled to announce that, without much warning despite all the "coming soon" hype, a new compact disc release will be available for purchase next week from CD Baby. It's an EP that I recorded this weekend for the sake of distributing in Sweden while I'm there, as well as to all my fellow Americans.
It came about when I thought "Wow, I'm going to play songs in Sweden. I should have a disc for sale that sounds something like what they hear (voice and guitar)."
Fortunately, voice and guitar is just about the easiest thing to record acoustically, hence the project's lightning-fast production (all of it was recorded yesterday and I just submitted the order for processing).
There are six songs on the EP, totaling 23 minutes. There is one Ashes & Fire resurrection: the song Shapeless in its original acoustic arrangement. The original did have more voices and layered acoustic guitar tracks (and was also never released--the one on A&F was the "electrified" version), but for this EP everything was to be stripped down like a street performance.
I'm very excited, I think it sounds good for what it is, and I hope you'll all enjoy it! I'll post again with links etc., once it's up in the store.
Happy June!
May25,2009
I'M GOING TO SWEDEN.
OK, here's the story. A friend of mine (thanks) told me about this and suggested that I apply. It's a cultural exchange being started by the Fairfield Rotary Club and their friends in Sweden. Apparently there's a Swedish community nearby, and they somehow met our mayor, Ed Malloy, and decided to start up a cultural exchange with Sweden.
At first I hummed and hawed because I was letting the limitations of my comfort zone dictate my thinking. Then I talked to a couple friends about it and realized how dumb it would be to pass up the chance. So, I applied. Somehow there was only one other applicant, and it turned out to be another friend of mine!
As fortune has it, they're allowing both of us to go. The main purpose in going is that we'll be attending a festival in Sweden (I don't know what it's called or where it is). The Swedish folks want American artists, musicians and the like to come to this Swedish/American (?) festival they're having and either perform or give demonstrations.
Yes. I have a gig in Sweden.
Can I just FREAK OUT FOR A SECOND?!???!?!!?!?!!!
WHHAAAATTT!!!!!
This is going to be SO COOL.
Naturally, I'm going to see what I can do to record video of any performances I do and post some good stuff online. I'm also considering recording a quick voice-and-guitar demo to sell for a few Kronor at the festival. I'll have to see if that's allowed. Probably not. I should get business cards.
In other news, I've found software that I'll be using to restructure the back end of this website (after I get back), so that users will be able to comment on these posts and subscribe to RSS feeds from this site (which lets your blog reader get notified when I post, so you don't have to check back all the time to see).
Happy 25th of AWESOME-ber.
Zombies.
May11,2009
Wormtooth Nation got more awards!
This weekend, Wormtooth Nation creators Geoff Boothby and Cullen Thomas and Production Assistant Donald Revolinski attended the Iowa Motion Picture Association awards ceremony to accept six awards for Wormtooth Nation. The awards are: three Nomination awards in "feature film", "Lighting design", and "Editing", and 1st place in "Screenplay - produced", "directing", and "original music score."
Pretty kickass, huh? That means we got a nice shiny Oscar-Wannabe for each category. Mine's sitting in my living room now!
I'd like to thank everyone involved in the project. It was a blast! And, apparently, still is!
If you haven't seen it yet, go check it out while it's still hot! And let me know what you think.
Thanks again to all. Enjoy!
(yay color change)
Apr27,2009
New songs are up! They're up on my Myspace space. I've had a bit of creative diarrhea in the last week. Yay! Gross!
The first is called Bondage of the Animal and it's basically about exploring your own faults and rising above them to reach your full potential. That's right, you, specifically. It's somewhat aggressive rock, in a style similar to the darker/faster Foo Fighters stuff. Oops!
The second is called Watchin' the Folly and it's about the fact that we shouldn't take life too seriously. One could easily step back from the daily "absorbed" perspective and laugh a bit at how crazy stuff is. It's a less hard-edged, groovy number.. resembling older rock based on standards..
The third is a sad tune, called Waiting, done in a very dreamy soundscape type style. Good for those nights when you're feeling forgotten or lonely, lying on the couch staring out at the rain, or something.
Each of these songs contains some new territory for me, musically, and it's pretty exciting to branch out. Sometimes I feel a bit schizophrenic with all the styles I visit, and I'm sure it will earn me some criticism some day, but hell.. it's fun!
In other news, a week ago last Saturday I had a really fun night running sound for a benefit concert in Fairfield. Playing around in the studio is always fun, but getting out for a night and putting the same skills to use in a crazy public venue is a blast sometimes... and darn good practice.
There was something else I was going to say, but I forget. Oh well!
Enjoy the songs! And happy new ... week ...
-David
Apr17,2009
I feel excellent today!
Apologies for not updating. I could make excuses but I won't.
There are a few things of note, pretty cool stuff... One is that I've been composing/producing the occasional musical number for DLF.tv, which is the site for the David Lynch Foundation and all their video content (there's a LOT!!). My stuff has been going into the "Profiles" of which there are currently 3 (the third is about to be released). Also, my brother Ed had the amazing opportunity to work with DLF on site in New York for the huge concert a few weeks ago, featuring Paul McCartney, Sheryl Crow, Eddie Vedder, Ben Harper, and many others. He's one of the video editors for DLF.tv and has been helping generate the plethora of content for the site. Another friend in that category is Geoff Boothby, who created Wormtooth Nation with Cullen Thomas (also on board at DLF). It's a pretty happening scene, you should go check it out!
Another point, speaking of Wormtooth Nation (which I had the huge privilege to score, mix/master and act in), is that it has been getting some critical attention. It won the Golden Eddie (which is "first place") at the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival here in Iowa a few months ago. And the current buzz is that Wormtooth Nation has been nominated in two categories, "Best Sound Design" and "Student," of the Webby Awards, which is pretty darn sweet, considering the Webbies are THE Internet video awards. Sort of like the Oscars of web films.
And speaking of the Webby Awards, YOU have a chance to participate. There is a separate award from what the judges choose, and it's called the People's Voice Webby. If you go to the site you can register (it's really easy) and browse the wealth of entries in different categories. Vote for the ones YOU think are best (ahem Wormtooth)... and who knows, you may stumble upon some brilliant content you otherwise wouldn't have found!
Another cool tidbit about the Wormtooth soundtrack (which is available to purchase via a SNOcap store, check the Music page, and if it doesn't work I'm happy to mail you a CD of it, gonna try to get it on iTunes also soon), is that the local mashup group, Porno Galactica, has used The Sky Is Free (intro theme from Wormtooth) in one of their pieces, though they still don't seem to care enough to post the track anywhere, despite my harrassment.. come on, guys, get on the ball! It's the least you could do after using the track without permission ;)
I should also mention that back in February I had the opportunity to play with a truckload of very talented musicians at the Sondheim Theater here in Fairfield. It was for a monthly benefit concert.. a multi-artist tribute (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Sting)... I got to play a couple Police songs with a band. It was pretty fun! There was supposed to be video posted, but I think it was one of those things where the guy showed up with three cameras, shot it, and forgot about it. Oh well..
As for David J Murphy releases, things are still up in the air, but I think they're going to land soon, which will give clues about release dates and what will actually be released. The Speeding Trees are in a similar situation. Bear in mind that as soon as these things become clear, I/we will do everything we can to let people know!
I also tried getting this site to point to a blog so that any readers could post comments to entries like this, but sadly all it did was screw up the DNS resolutions and the whole site was gone for a couple weeks (as well as my email address, which hopefully warded off some spam bots!)... Soon I'll find a solution, because I'd love to hear from readers! Meanwhile, hit the Contact page!
Cheers, people!
PS - the color scheme on this site was a bit of a joke... it'll go other places soon enough..
Dec30,2008
Uh-oh, dropping the ball again here on posting frequently...
Well how about this. There's no real news, but I have some wishes for you.
Whoever you are, reading this, I sincerely hope that you have learned something from your time in 2008 that will make you a better person. I also sincerely hope that--be it love, money, revelation, travel, rest, parenthood, whatever--in the near future, something will make your life what you want it to be.
Too much time is spent being distant from what we want. I don't understand it, and certainly don't have the clearest ideas on how to fix it. However, I do know that beholding something or someone magical, important and beneficial in your life feels really, really good. I therefore wish it upon you, myself, and everyone, and wish it to last.
That's what "happy new year" means to me. So, happy new year!
-David
Dec15,2008 - yes
To those who have commented (thank you) that the News page should act like a blog where viewers can leave comments and add to their blog readers, yes. I forgot to say it in the last post but this is what I intend to do. In spare time I've been learning how to do this (it's a css thing and other stuff I haven't read yet) so that I can also keep the other parts of the site to make it more than JUST a blog. So.. yes.. Coming soon, as they say!
Love and a loaf of seven-grain.
-David
Dec13,2008 - general
Hey all.
It feels good to be posting frequently again! Welcome back, me!
A couple next steps I'm looking into are setting up a more poignant music-sale/download situation for this website, where all the songs are in a store or player right on the music page, and you don't have to go noodling around on Myspace etc. to find a song I don't have up anymore. Also, I will be moving in the direction of single-song releases instead of album releases .. meaning, instead of posting half-ass pre-release cuts of new songs up on Myspace, where you can't download them, I'm switching modes so that when a song is posted, it's in a final, buyable form. No more of this "album coming soon!" crap. Even when someone releases an album, most people only buy a couple tracks from it on iTunes anyway. Later when I'm swimming in recording contracts we can talk about full albums :)
The good news about this is that I'll probably do things like "Come Forth Version 2" or "Greet the Morning 2" and whatnot... Single releases will be less formal than an album (but far more refined/polished than Ashes & Fire), which means having a "MKII" of something won't make me feel like "I'm making the second album just like the first! what kind of artist am I?" etc..
Speaking of that album, here's a link to get Ashes & Fire from iTunes if you feel the urge. I'll find a better place for that link very soon. Someone bought it on iTunes Europe last month! Woo! Thanks!
Things with The Speeding Trees are on the studio end right now, too. We're rehearsing for an album release. The difference here is that with TST things are oriented around the real world for the real deal of having a real band on a real tour and real investors--which, granted, would be nice for DJM too but it's not a priority at the moment--so we want a physical disc on hand to go along with this. The purpose of davidjmurphy.net is to be an outlet/secondary focus for ideas out of sync with The Speeding Trees. This may change some day, too.
In closing, may you always breathe deeply of health and vitality!
-David
Dec12,2008 - a thought
6 minutes is shorter than 5 minutes.
The phrase "5 minutes" is so commonly used that it's lost its meaning. I'll do it in 5 minutes. It'll take me 5 minutes. I'll be there in 5 minutes. Invariably, it always becomes 10 or 15, sometimes 30 minutes (or in the case of getting out of bed, a couple hours). This is because "5 minutes" is effectively a figure of speech, indicating "soon" or "quickly" and so forth.
It will take 6 minutes. Suddenly, we're talking about an accurate time frame. Six minutes is six minutes. Why would you specify six instead of five if you just mean "soon"? You wouldn't. Because "6 minutes" has not become a figure of speech. It is specific. When you say "6 minutes" you don't mean that it will take 30 minutes, you mean it will take 6. And not 2, either. You're gonna have to wait.
Thus, 6 minutes is shorter than 5 minutes.
Also, fifty-three years is longer than forever.
Dec8,2008 - ha
HA! I made two posts within the same month! Mere days apart, in fact!
I was messing around with different drum tunings last night and I think I stumbled upon a new breed of snare drum tone that I really like. And by new breed I mean something that's been done a million times by other people.
Oh, I just remembered about some things I've never posted on here. A big one being the Theory of George. This is a band of which I am a participant. We did a couple shows last month that were pretty sweet. It was an opportunity for myself, Matt Ticciati and Dan Rodman to each perform selections from our individual songwriting, with a full band. My sister Darla played bass and rocked the backing vocals.
While we're on the subject, check out my sister's band, Rock Paper Scissors. I'd like to congratulate them on their upcoming CD release. Buy it. They're incredible.
Something else worthy of mention is DLF.tv. The David Lynch Foundation is going around the country helping out some schools and groups in adopting consciousness-based education and meditation practice. To spread the word, they showcase video footage of this activity, as well as spots with celebrities and the like. They need good background music for their videos, and I'm one of the musicians they've asked about this. So, I'll be making stuff that you might hear behind Mr. Lynch's characteristic voice as he raves enthusiastically about meditation. More on this later.
And now a word from our sponsor. .. Sorry what's that? ... Ah.. I'm being told there is no sponsor. Well then. Maybe next time!
Dec4,2008 - oh man
*looks at date of last past*
haha ... haaaa ... awwww shit.
So many changes happen from day to day. I don't like it.
Good changes, bad changes, whatever. I'm getting tired of changes. I'd like each day to be like the previous for a while (the previous being a good day, please).
I've been reading webcomics lately and sorta loving them. It makes me want to start one of my own, but then my self-inflicting judgement kicks in and I realize I'd be drawing just another one of those webcomics.
How about I just practice music instead. Good plan.
Yay weird color schemes!
July7,2008 - General
Long time no update.
Tonight I went to see these guys. Pretty wicked cool, check them out and get them a gig.
By now, for those who don't know, Wormtooth Nation has been completed and the DVD is available very soon (a week or two for printing or something). After you fall in love with it, buy the soundtrack.
Words.
May26,2008 - Ep 6 Monday!
Hey all,
Just reminding you to watch Episode 6 of Wormtooth Nation tomorrow (monday) .. i think 7:30pm (central time).
For those not yet tuned in (and who care), I've been doing all the music for this movie, and some acting, and it's incredibly fun and expanding my musical horizons. Pretty exciting shit. (Side note: if you're not tuned in, well tune the hell in! and start at episode One!) ... There are some pretty sweet musical features (well, as much as you can feature film scoring that's mixed back enough not to tread on the dialogue) in this one.
Visit wormtoothnation.com (or vimeo.com and search for 'wormtooth nation') to get your underground steampunk fix.
Yes.
May22,2008 - Rollin'
Alright! Stuff is really starting to roll now.. with Wormtooth Nation I mean. For those of you just tuning in, Episode 5 is coming out today. Checkit at WormtoothNation.com!! (Side note: all episodes are available on the site as they're released.) In short, it's a steampunk tale about an underground city and the humanity within. Very awesome and very fun. See post below for more info.
What's REALLY cool news for today is that the theme song you all love so much is now up for download!! And even better, soon the soundtrack will be selling, and WITH the soundtrack you will find an extended version of the theme song. This is being done by popular request! That's right. You people want it so I'm making it, even though it won't be in the show.
*switches hats*
In other news, The Speeding Trees just received confirmation about a gig in June. Yep, we will be back to rocking faces starting Friday June 13th. The show is at Pure Imagination Tattoo in Mt Pleasant, IA, for their annual store bash party thing. At this one, KQ92 will be doing a live remote broadcast of the show!! There are 4 bands performing: the Jefferson County Green Band, The Speeding Trees, Anternicy and Ritual Fixx. JCGB will kick off the show at 6pm. Age limit is 21+ (unless you're 18-21, a close friend and dying to come, we can get you in, but you absolutely cannot drink), BYOB, free admission. See you there!!
May12,2008 - It's out!!
Dear Friends and Fans,
Some of you already know, but I'd just LOVE to announce Wormtooth Nation, which is a movie/web series being created by many of my friends. It's a steampunk tale about an underground city, and it's very dark, very profound and uplifting, and very very cool. I also act in it, and am in charge of scoring the film (making all the music (except for a badass dance feature song by Ian Fry)), and mixing/cleaning all the audio. It's a student film on a donation budget, but with that considered it's downright amazing.
Episode One (of nine) was released on Thursday, and Episode Two comes out today (I believe).
View Episode One here:
Wormtooth Nation - Episode 1 - YouTube (1 of 2)
Wormtooth Nation - Episode 1 - YouTube (1 of 2)
Wormtooth Nation - Episode 1 - Google Video
Wormtooth Nation - Episode 1 - Vimeo, high resolution (worth it)
Read more about the movie & cast, post comments/reviews, and even watch the episodes as they come out, at the movie's official website:
http://www.theskyisfree.com
Enjoy!!
Lots of love to all
-David
May01,2008 - big news
Hello all you hot sexy rock stars.
Two things:
A) Happy May!
B) Spreading the word about Wormtooth Nation, which is a film by Geoff Boothby and Cullen Thomas.
It's pretty kickass. It's about an underground city, the population divided by oppression and revolution, a mysterious gas (called "wormtooth" or "wormy") that causes complete memory loss, and people's hopes and dreams of finding "the surface."
Matt Ticciatti, Helena Grace Treadwell, Elisabeth Hughes, and Steve White star.
Lots of supporting roles and extras appearances made by all your friends!
The sets and locations look amazing, the costumes and props are fabulous (e.g. authentic WW2 french issue gas masks), and most of the acting is quite moving.
If that isn't enough, I got to act in it, and even better, I'm writing and producing ALL of the music for the film, assisting with sound editing, and in charge of final mixing and mastering of the audio.
Wormtooth Nation will be released as a feature-length movie (90 minutes), as a culminating event after it is distributed as a nine-episode web mini-series. Yes, you'll get to see the whole thing in cliff-hangy chunks throughout the month of May. The first episode is released May 8th (i believe).For a high quality movie trailer, visit the official Wormtooth Nation site:
Enjoy!!
I'm excited.
March20,08 - Happy SPRING!!!
Yes. Yes. Spring is finally here. Sometimes I feel like winter has some death grip on my happy glands or something. But today's the first day of Spring, and the weather is actually nice! It'll probably shit on us a few more times in the coming weeks, and then become stupidly hot outside, but let's cross that bullplop when we come to it.
Currently I'm involved in three projects. In non-alphabetical order, the first is a new Davidjmurphy solo album, which I've been mentioning for months/years. Tentative release is Summer '08. The second is a debut album from The Speeding Trees. Me and Jon are working on this, and tentative release date is Spring '08. The third is scoring and soundtracking for Geoff Boothby's new film/web series called Wormtooth Nation. I've been writing jazz, blues, and electronic/bigbeat pieces for it, plus others. I'm also covering all the non-song parts like when something happens and you just hear a smattering of notes to accent a moment or something... like, not a full song... et cetera. Release date for the web series is the first week of May. The series, which is 9 episodes, about ten minutes each, will be fused into a feature-length movie and shown at a premiere in Fairfield, early June '08. I also acted in this film, which was fun. I've been watching the rough cuts from the editors, and I can say that the lead actors did some fabulous work, and there are some powerful moments to look forward to.
Overall stuff is cooking behind the scenes and will be unveiled to the public in all its steamy glory in the next few months.
Yay spring!
March7,08 - Here's a good laugh
http://reserveaspotinheaven.com/
reserve a spot in heaven.. for as low as twelve bucks! or else risk eternal damnation.
oh and you can also send someone you know deep into the pits of hell.
Feb29,08 - Shouts
y'all not knowin', I'm here to let you know. On the upcoming davidjmurphy album(s?), you'll be hearing my latest toys from Saluda Cymbals. Jaime and his gang will make beautiful cymbals, custom-tailored to your tastes, per order, at amazing prices. Tell 'em I sent you.
Feb21,08 - Progress... No seriously
Just thought I'd say that since the release of Ashes & Fire, a few fundamentals have changed, my songwriting style included. I have acquired some tasty treats, most notably a new drum kit (Gretsch Catalina Ash.. not exactly the Rolls Royce of drumkits but it's way better than my last one.. love it), a new room to record said drums in (don't even get me started about the drum recordings on A&F), and today I ordered a real set of studio monitors to mix on. Apart from that, I've been reading up TONS and tons on sound engineering and general production techniques. Thing are gonna start sounding pretty sweet on the second album, which I plan to start recording rather soon. In similar news, I'm also working on the first The Speeding Trees' album with Jon... which we also plan to start recording soon. Weather providing, you should see the two new CDs by early summer or sooner.
sprinkles!
Feb14,08 - Site relaunch!
Whatup, kits and kaboodles?
Happy fucking Valentine's Day... Guess what I did for this occasion? Yep. Redesigned davidjmurphy.net. Very streamlined.. stripped down .. all naked and sexy.. unlike myself at the moment. Ha!
Take a look around! Trust me, it won't take long. While you're at it, buy Ashes & Fire! Yes, even if you already have it.
Peace, love, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
ps - email me if the site looks not-right to you.