| Page 1 2 HUMP THE DRUM: THE LIFE AND HARD TIMES OF GUY TERRIFICO by Adam M. Anklewicz Those who have seen Matt Murphy perform live will know that he’s one big ball of energy: guitars are flung into the air, he’ll frequently jump off of the drum kit and do anything that the energy of rock ‘n’ roll will bring him to. “I think it’s just a larger picture of what I do in everyday life, super-exaggerated.” His live act prepared him for this role. Watching Terrifico live on stage is Murphy’s act multiplied by ten. When Murphy started performing, he was basically just like everyone else: “you stare at your feet, cautiously stare at the audience, going up to a microphone, looking at the end of it and basically crossing your eyes. Once I did Little Orton Hoggett and his Ten Cent Wings, that was a real persona, he was very different than me, exaggerating some uglier, nastier side of myself. It allowed me to experiment with performing in a way that I couldn’t if I was performing my own songs or playing guitar on someone else’s.”Eventually, bits of Little Orton Hoggett came into his act with The Super Friendz and The Flashing Lights. Over time however, Murphy has matured and calmed down, while still being able to channel his old self for the role of Terrifico. “I’m different now, if I’m playing a country song now, it’s all about getting the vocals and connecting with people as opposed to jumping away from the mic and throwing my guitar in the air.” Murphy enjoyed the experience of The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico so much that he’d jump at the opportunity to do another film. He enjoyed getting to meet some legends such as Donnie Fritts and Stephen Bruton during the production. It wasn’t until he arrived at the Toronto International Film Festival, however, that Murphy got a chance to meet with legend Kris Kristofferson, who plays a large role in the film. The one person he truly wants to meet from the film is Merle Haggard. Matt Murphy has been a part of the music scene since the mid-90s when with Charles Austin, Drew Yamada and various drummers, The Super Friendz released their debut album Mock Up, Scale Down. Their pop was a fit with the entire Halifax scene of the 90s and with help from Sloan, The Super Friendz found their audience quickly. After the 1997 release of Slide Show the band broke up and Murphy formed The Flashing Lights. Henri Sangalang, Steve Pitkin and Gaven Dianda became Murphy’s backing band for The Flashing Lights, a high energy, 60s-influenced rock band playing all Murphy originals and making a huge impact on the Toronto pop scene. All tambourines were in danger when The Flashing Lights were in town due to Dianda’s over enthusiastic performance. The abnd releasing their debut Where The Change Is in 1999, and followed up with 2001’s Sweet Release. As Murphy sang on that album, “We’re the kings of the Canadians now”. They broke up before Murphy rejoined The Super Friendz and The Flashing Lights show “no signs of life, it just felt like the music style we were on ran its course for me. It wasn’t really doing it for me any more. I’m pretty proud of it and I would recommend people listen to it.” The reformed Super Friendz, now joined by Dave Marsh on drums, went on tour with Jet and recorded a new album, Love Energy. “We made a cool raw record last time, and we’ll probably end up making an interesting folk acoustic EP coming up soon. I know Charles [Austin] has been, with Buck 65, playing a lot of acoustic stuff. All of us write our songs acoustic, hopefully we’ll do it. We’re talking about recording in December.” “The Super Friendz are a group of songwriters basically who get together every two years and make noise. I can’t describe the Super Friendz - it’s like my family, and it’s not going anywhere,” said Murphy, unsure of how to describe something that has been an important part of his life for over 10 years. Late last year, Murphy released a new EP with Gregg Millman, Mitchell Wiebb, Brent Randall and Dave Ewenson. Authentic City was the debut of City Field, a big departure from everything else Murphy had done before. Self described as “The Fall mixed with The Everly Brothers. They’re really an awesome bunch of people who are real collaborators, we write 90 songs a minute.” City Field just played a couple of shows in Halifax and at the Montreal Pop Festival. “We are split between two cities, it’s kind of hard to get people together. It’s actually a really fun show to play live and I think people get into it. I sometimes worry people expect something from me, because it’s quite different. It’s really catchy but it’s got more discordant elements and more chaos. It takes a little adjustment, but I’m super excited about it.” The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico will be released theatrically in some markets on October 28, 2005. Check out http://www.cityfield.ca to see upcoming tour dates. Page 1 2 |  |
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