Roísín Murphy (Pt. 2)
She has carried that sense of wonderment, that breathless love of music with her throughout life, as ready to enthuse about contemporary music as about the acts which inspired her 16 year old self.
“I think pop music is quite good at the minute. I really like Gorillaz, they’re fantastic and I like Outkast and Kanye West. Anybody who is prepared to embrace opportunity, people that are creative in every aspect of what they do, be it in making good videos, good artwork and of course, good music. These are the kind of artists I look up to today.”
An enthusiasm for adventure is evident not only in her musical tastes, but in everything Murphy does. Look at the artwork for her records, those far-fetched costumes, the over-the-top videos, the artistic escapades, the daring to be different. This determination not to be tethered to convention is, Murphy claims, the product not only of nature but of nurture,
“I was told as a child how special I was, that I didn’t need to be the same as other people. How I am now comes down to the fact that, from a very young age, for right or for wrong, I was told you create the way you are, that you don’t need to be what other people think you should be. I was always told that and that was the way the people in my family were. In Ireland every single person on both sides of my family works for themselves and I’m not saying that they are all millionaires or anything, well actually a couple of them did turn out to be millionaires but there was never anyone telling us what to do, or what to be. Also we weren’t a very religious family; in fact my father was quite anti-religious.”
This constantly questing, independent streak is what makes Murphy such a cherished and idiosyncratic performer, a trait she utilised in the creation of ‘Overpowered’, travelling from place to place, employing numerous collaborators, restlessly seeking to fulfill her unique vision.
“My intention was to work with lots of people, to have whatever I needed to make the dream come true. I could write something in Miami and if it wasn’t right I could get it produced in Sheffield and mixed in New Yor; and then, if I didn’t like that mix, I could get it mixed again in London. I didn’t have to stop until I got as close as I could to achieving what I was trying to express at the outset. It just meant I had to travel a lot, but that was okay. I was proud to be there, at every part of it, keeping the unity of the record. Because if you’re not there, maintaining some kind of vision, or focus, it all becomes impossible, things separate.”
Given the barrage of superlative spewing reviews the record has received, it seems that with ‘Overpowered’ the unity of the dream was made magnificent reality.
“Everybody liked it, didn’t they. There’s something on the internet, a critique comparison site, where all the reviews go into a database and then you get an overall rating ‘Overpowered’ got ‘Universally Acclaimed’, which is better than shit, that’s for sure! Generally though I try not to look at the reviews, it’s really unhealthy, but then we all do a lot of things that are unhealthy.”
In her official website biog it is stated that EMI signed Murphy because she reminded them of Robbie Williams. We ask whether she considers this an unhealthy comparison.
“It’s important to set this in the correct context. Yes, it’s true that EMI came to see me play live and later, when backstage, told me, ‘don’t take this the wrong way, but the only performer we can compare you to is Robbie Williams, you have the same sort of connection with your audience’. Which, given a lot of people consider me some sort of Ice Queen, is not the usual line I hear. It is important to me to be able to communicate; I believe I’m an unconventional performer, that I make little pieces of music art rather than songs.”
For this ‘unconventional performer’ the need to remain faithful to her creative impulses takes precedence over any mainstream concerns.
“It’s the only thing I can do. I’m determined to make records and perform and make images and videos and make them absolutely as good as they can be. That’s the main thing, how good can it be? That is always the priority but sometimes, people talk about it as if it’s a negative thing. Whilst I don’t put my music out there as art, I certainly approach it in that way, because that’s where I get the funk – creating.”
Given Murphy’s openness to opportunity, her willingness to engage with fashion and art, it seems obvious to ask whether a music career alone can provide all the creative fulfillment she desires, to speculate on the possibility that perhaps her future lies within some other artistic sphere?
“I’ll be a happy woman when I know what I’m doing next. Right now I don’t, so I’m a medium type woman at the moment, neither happy nor sad. But when I’m actually on to the next project, when that begins, that’s probably the happiest I can be. You’re all fresh, it’s a clean page and you’ve got a plan and you’re going there. As soon as you’ve made something and you’ve put it out, even if it is ‘Universally Acclaimed’ eventually it will start to get on your nerves, especially hearing what people say about it, how they ruin it.”
For now though the success of ‘Overpowered’ remains relatively fresh and untarnished and Murphy, who for so long had to share the accolades with Mark Brydon her partner in Moloko, can luxuriate in the status of esteemed solo artist,
“All this has come to me through experience and hard work so it’s really satisfying as things get bigger and you’re in control. On the top of all the paper it says ‘RM’. Seeing that, you know that it really is your business. Making the solo records is very satisfying because I have an idea in the beginning and I carry it through to the end. It’s especially true of ‘Overpowered’; I had never really approached a record like that before. But I do approach every record differently regardless of whether it’s as Moloko or as a solo performer. But that’s what my life is all about, looking for the next challenge.”
Words_Francis Jones
This article originally appeared in AU 43, January 2008
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