Matthew Murphy

Matthew Edward Murphy (born 23 July 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of The Wombats. He also maintains a solo career, for which he uses the name Love Fame Tragedy.

For other people named Matthew Murphy, see Matthew Murphy (disambiguation).

Matthew Murphy
Murphy in 2019
Born (1984-07-23) 23 July 1984
Liverpool, England
Occupation
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Years active2003–present
Spouse(s)
Akemi Topel
​
​
(m. 2017)​
Children2
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • bass
  • keyboards
Labels14th Floor
Associated acts

Early life

Matthew Edward Murphy was born in the Woolton suburb of Liverpool on 23 July 1984.[1] His mother works for Liverpool City Council, while his father teaches engineering.[1] He has said that he "didn't come from money, but didn't have very humble beginnings either".[1] He began playing the guitar at the age of five, primarily at the behest of his father.[2] He was educated at Liverpool College in the neighbouring suburb of Mossley Hill, where he "smoked a lot of weed all the time and played in a lot of weird bands" and just barely managed to pass his A-levels.[1] He later studied music at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA), where he met his future Wombats bandmates. He joined his first band at the age of 13.[2] He began suffering from depression and anxiety as a teenager, and was prescribed anti-depressants after experiencing severe panic attacks at LIPA.[3][4][5]

Career

The Wombats
Murphy performing with The Wombats in 2009

Murphy is the lead singer and guitarist of rock trio The Wombats,[6] alongside Tord Øverland Knudsen (bass) and Dan Haggis (drums). The band began as "a joke [they] didn't want anyone to find funny".[7] The band was initially launched when the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts gave them the chance to play various gigs. They then ended up gaining radio play in the UK with songs such as "Let's Dance to Joy Division" and "Moving to New York". Their first album, A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, was released on 5 November 2007 with success following a European tour and an Arbor Day party at Liverpool Academy. The album achieved platinum status in the UK. The band's second album, This Modern Glitch, was released on 25 April 2011 and was a chart success, reaching No. 3 in the UK and No. 2 in Australia.[8] The band released their third album, Glitterbug, on 13 April 2015; reviews were mixed, though it became the band's first album to appear on the U.S. Billboard 200, where it peaked at No. 91. Their fourth album, Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life, was released on 9 February 2018 to positive reviews.

Love Fame Tragedy

In 2018, Murphy revealed that he had written 20 new tracks for a new album called I Don't Want to Play the Victim, But I'm Really Good at It.[9][10] In June 2019, he announced that the album would be released under a new solo project by the name of Love Fame Tragedy, alongside a tour announcement and a debut single called "My Cheating Heart".[11] The debut 4-track EP was produced by Mark Crew[12] and released in September 2019 to generally positive reviews.[13][14][15] In March 2020, he released the five-track EP Five Songs to Briefly Fill the Void.

Other work

Murphy appeared on an episode of the Australian music quiz show Spicks and Specks. He was a contestant on the episode and later appeared with his Wombats bandmates, with their bassist performing the Postman Pat theme song in Norwegian.[16] Other notable performances were at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, where the band performed a cover of Leona Lewis' song "Bleeding Love"[17] and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno where they played "Jump into the Fog". The Wombats appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers to perform "Greek Tragedy" on 28 April 2015.[18]

Personal life

Murphy married American hotel manager Akemi Topel on 7 October 2017.[19][20] Their daughter, Dylan, was born in 2019.[21] They live in the Mount Washington neighbourhood of Los Angeles.[2]

While his Wombats bandmates are avid football fans, with drummer Haggis supporting their hometown team Everton FC and bassist Knudsen supporting Manchester United FC, Murphy prefers golf and has never specified a preferred football team.[22][23] However, in a May 2020 fundraising video on Everton's YouTube channel during the COVID-19 pandemic, Murphy and Haggis were described as "top Everton-supporting artists".[24] Their section of the video featured the two performing some Wombats songs, with all donations going to a campaign set up by Everton to provide support to people who had been made especially vulnerable and isolated  by the pandemic.[25]

Discography

The Wombats
Main article: The Wombats discography
Studio albums

Studio albums
List of studio albums, with release date and label shown
Title Details
Wherever I Go, I Want To Leave

Extended plays
List of EPs, with release date and label shown
Title Details
I Don't Want to Play the Victim, But I'm Really Good at It
Five Songs to Briefly Fill the Void
  • Released: 21 March 2020[28]
  • Label: Good Soldier Records
  • Format: Digital download, streaming

Singles
List of singles, with year released and album shown
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
Sales
[29]
"My Cheating Heart"[30] 2019 6 I Don't Want to Play the Victim, But I'm Really Good at It
"Brand New Brain"[31] —
"Backflip"[32] —
"Body Parts"[33] — Five Songs to Briefly Fill the Void
"Hardcore"[34] —
"Riding a Wave"[35] 2020 —
"Please Don't Murder Me (Part 2)"[36] —
"Multiply"
(featuring Jack River)[37]		 —
"5150"[38] — Wherever I Go, I Want To Leave
"Everything Affects Me Now"[39] —

References
  1. Lead Singer Syndrome, episode 193: "Matthew Murphy", September 2019
  2. The Seven Words Podcast, episode: "Matthew 'Murph' Murphy", 28 June 2019
  3. "Wombats against depression". The Guardian. 12 April 2011.
  4. Emily Jupp (10 April 2015). "Wombats' frontman Matthew Murphy on depression, growing up and the band's new album Glitterbug". The Independent. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  5. He later detailed his issues with the medication in the song "Anti-D".
  6. "The WOMBATS | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's". Myspace.com. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  7. "The Wombats : History, Biography and Contact Details etc". Archived from the original on 3 May 2008.
  8. "This website is for sale! - acharts Resources and Information". Acharts.us. Retrieved 11 May 2020. Cite uses generic title (help)
  9. Daly, Rhian. "The Wombats' Murph on Weezer tour, watching Pixies do magic tricks, new album plans and mysterious new side project". NME. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  10. Newstead, Al (11 June 2019). "First Spin: Murph from The Wombats going solo and playing Australia". ABC. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  11. Beaumont, Mark. ""It's somewhere between Gorillaz and a solo project": Murph from The Wombats explains his new semi-supergroup, Love Fame Tragedy". NME. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  12. Drever, Andrew (19 September 2019). "'Baptism of fire' doesn't deter Wombats frontman from new project". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  13. Walters, Tammy (1 August 2019). "Love Fame Tragedy: I Don't Want To Play The Victim, But I'm Really Good At It". Forté. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  14. Naranjo, Jacqueline (10 September 2019). "Album Review: I Don't Want To Play The Victim, But I'm Really Good At It by Love Fame Tragedy (8/10)". Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  15. O’Sullivan, James (25 September 2019). "EP Review - Love Fame Tragedy 'I Don't Want To Play The Victim, But I'm Really Good At It'". Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  17. "The Wombats Set To Mock Leona Lewis at MTV EMAs". Gigwise.com. 30 October 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. "Zola Registry". Zola.com. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  20. "PressReader.com - Your favorite newspapers and magazines". Pressreader.com.
  21. Tom Lanham (15 September 2019). "Wombats' Matthew Murphy goes solo with Love Fame Tragedy – The San Francisco Examiner". Sfexaminer.com. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  22. "U.K. indie rockers the Wombats pick favorites in soccer, don't drive tired". Riffmagazine.com. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  23. "Golfing With A Rockstar: Matthew Murphy". YouTube. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  24. "DMA'S, THE WOMBATS, CIRCA WAVES + MORE! : EVERTON LOCKDOWN SESSIONS FOR THE BLUE FAMILY CAMPAIGN". YouTube. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  25. "Blue Family | Everton Football Club". Evertonfc.com. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  26. Beaumont, Mark (9 July 2020). "The Wombats' Murph talks new "turbo-personal" Love Fame Tragedy album and the future of the band". NME. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  27. "I Don't Want To Play The Victim, But I'm Really Good at It – EP by Love Fame Tragedy". Apple Music GB. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  28. "Five Songs to Briefly Fill the Void – EP by Love Fame Tragedy on Apple Music". Apple Music GB. 21 March 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  29. Peaks in UK Physical Singles Chart:
  30. "My Cheating Heart - Single by Love Fame Tragedy". Apple Music. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  31. "Brand New Brain - Single by Love Fame Tragedy". Apple Music. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  32. "Backflip - Single by Love Fame Tragedy". Apple Music. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  33. "Body Parts - Single by Love Fame Tragedy". Apple Music. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  34. "Hardcore - Single by Love Fame Tragedy". Apple Music. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  35. "Riding a Wave - Single by Love Fame Tragedy". Apple Music. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  36. "Please Don't Murder Me (Part 2) - Single by Love Fame Tragedy". Apple Music. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  37. Aubrey, Elizabeth (19 March 2020). "The Wombats' Matthew Murphy shares video for emotive new Love Fame Tragedy single, 'Multiply'". NME. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  38. Martin, Josh (17 June 2020). "The Wombats' Murph announces debut solo album as Love Fame Tragedy". NME. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  39. Teri (11 July 2020). "Love Fame Tragedy release debut album Wherever I Go, I Want To Leave along with single "Everything Affects Me Now"". The Girls at the Rock Show. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
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