HEY YOU!


Chris Murphy Says What He Means(and Means What He Says)



(Photo credit: Matthew Ryan King)


Chris Murphy: Hi there. This is Chris Murphy from the rock combo Sloan.
Golden Words: Hello Chris Murphy of Sloan. Oh dear. I was expecting Patrick Pentland of Sloan...umm...that's okay...I can improvise...

Universal told our A & E editor that my phone interview would be with Patrick and I didn't know until Mr. Murphy introduced himself that it wasn't. Unfortunately, my interview questions were a bit Patrick-centric. Fortunately, Chris was good about it.

CM: You have Patrick questions or something? That might be a funny thing; if you have specific questions for him, I can answer his questions. Or I could do the whole thing as if I'm him, and they'd be none the wiser.
GW: So you'd pretend to be Patrick for this interview?
CM: Lay it on me.
GW: All right. If each member of Sloan were a Spice Girl, which Spice Girl would each of you be and why?
CM: I haven't put a lot of thought into that, but I actually saw it done the other day. I saw an article on us that said which Spice Girl we were.
GW: WHAT? I thought that was an original idea!
CM: I know. Well, they called Chris Scary Spice and they called Andrew Posh Spice. I would say that those are right. I would definitely put Jay as Baby Spice, but I think they had him as something else.
GW: They've got that all wrong.
CM: You've got an answer?
GW: Patrick would be Posh because he always wears black...
CM: Nope, because Andrew has rich tastes.
GW: Right. Okay. Well Chris Murphy?
CM: That's me.
GW: No, it isn't.
CM: Yeah, right. Okay, yeah.
GW: I think Chris would be Sporty, if for nothing else than the karate kicks.
CM: Oh, yeah, okay. That's fair. And she is the best singer in the band. Although she's the most svelte, so therein lies the wrong. I'm the fat guy.
GW: (laughs) Sloan's KISS and AC/DC influences were obvious on Navy Blues. What were your influences on Between the Bridges?
CM: Well, the first song is a cross between the Plastic Ono band - John Lennon's post-Beatles band - and Pink Floyd. It basically sounds like that song "Big Gig in the Sky".
GW: That would be "The NS"?
CM: Right. "So Beyond Me" is a Velvet Underground song. It's...uh...whatever. The sort of phrasing...I forget which song it is. But it sounds like the Velvet Underground, kind of. Actually, the middle part of that song...I don't require that you know each song...but it goes "I for one feel that this is the time" - that's "Mamma Mia" by ABBA.
GW: Yeah! Completely. That's what I thought the first time I heard it.
CM: So that's Velvet Underground meets ABBA -- that's never been done. I dunno, I'm just talking out my ass.
GW: (laughs) As Patrick, are those black Converse shoes that you wear still the same ones from the 500 Up video?
CM: No, I get new black tapered stovepipe jeans and new black Converse like, every year. But they could be the same ones as another video. He wears them in every one, I think. I don't think he's had the same pair, he always kinda wears them out - I always kinda wear them out, I mean.
GW: Okay, you can be Chris Murphy again. Does the band prefer outdoor or indoor venues?
CM: (laughs) Thank god you asked me that one, 'cause I fucking hate playing outdoors. I like shows in rock clubs, where rock music belongs. I hate outdoor shows. I think that it's just a bunch of sandal wearing, fucking backwards baseball hat - oh, I don't know, I'm just being a jerk. But I don't like playing outdoors, really. It doesn't feel like rock 'n' roll music to me, it just feels, I don't know, faker. It just doesn't seem very cool. That's definitely not the way the band feels - I know that Jay loves it. I just feel it belongs indoors. Although I don't smoke and don't really like breathing smoke, I just feel it's part and parcel of what a rock show should be.
GW: Do you ever remember any of the fans you meet at your concerts?
CM: Yes.

At this point, the interviewer makes a teeny bopper-esque ass of herself by mentioning the times when she has met Chris, attempting to jog his memory, later realizing that he can't see her through the phone. Sigh.

GW: Do you have any memorable fan stories? Do any particular fans stick out?
CM: Well, there's lots of them. I've seen some more than others who I would remember more. Most of them are polite. Some of them are a little...touched.
GW: Touched? As in...
CM: A little crazy. Some of them...we definitely have kids that follow us around and fly to shows and that type of stuff. There was a kid in L.A. who said that she'd just come from Japan - I don't know if that was true - but I see some kids who go to like 18 shows a year or whatever. You know, "I've seen you guys seven times this past little run."
GW: The equivalent of Deadheads.
CM: Yeah. But you know, I don't really like it that much. The repeat business is all very exciting and very fun and kids are good and all that shit, but um, sometimes you're dealing with people who don't realize what a pain in the ass they're being. Especially because we like to be so accessible, or I do - I like to go and talk to the kids after the show or before the show or whenever there's a time because I like making that connection because I think that's a part of what people like about us. But some people, they get into line every night to come and talk and they just sit there. I don't mean to say that I'm not interested in what they're doing but it's just like, "Well, at school, I'm doing this and this..." and it's like, you know, I don't have time for all that stuff and you told me last night. Some people I meet definitely turn into friends but some of them just - they're too young or there's nothing in common. It's more like a teacher-student relationship, and I like being the cool substitute teacher but, I don't know, it's too much. I can't do that. And sometimes you're dealing with kids who are in troubled situations at home too and you get a bit of information...sometimes that's hard.
GW: You have to play Guidance Counsellor, too.
CM: Yeah, again, it's funny. I'm the substitute teacher and yet I have no training. There's definitely been sad cases of kids saying "You've helped me through this and that because somebody beat the shit outta me" or "I'm scared of my dad" and that type of stuff. You know, I don't really have a good stock answer for that, it's like "Well, just know that you're better than him" or something. I don't know what to say. But, for the most part, it's pretty light and fun and kids mean well. I think that our fans are really bright and I welcome seeing them anytime, whether on or off the job. They're usually good people.
GW: In the recent Music Critics Poll published in Toronto's Eye Weekly...
CM: (laughs)
GW: You knew this was coming, didn't you?
CM: No, but I do based on you saying that.
GW: Between the Bridges was voted the third worst album of '99. Does this bother you do you take the opinions of critics with a grain of salt?
CM: Well, truthfully, I hate it. But if I led on that I hated it as much as I do, it would mean that I believe it when I don't. I don't think Between the Bridges is one of the worst records of '99. I don't necessarily think it's our best record but -- I think it's just a product of being a band for as long as we have. You just have to get used to people turning on you. Whereas praise, perhaps, has lifted me before, it's also good to get panned, because it keeps you from getting a big head. We've enjoyed a lot of luck with the press usually saying that we're so great and shit like that. But it all comes to an end, or at least it ebbs and flows. Perhaps next time they'll love us again, but who knows? I have a little note for those people: fuck you.
GW: There you go.
CM: Nah, I don't know, I'm just kidding. I gave you a little quote there.
GW: Chris Murphy To People: Fuck You!
CM: No, that was Patrick.
GW: I'm confused now. Are you Chris or Patrick?
CM: He said "fuck you". I said all the smart stuff.
GW: (laughs) Some "bands" out there - and I use the term loosely - such as the Insane Clown Posse, have action figures cast in their image. If there were ever to be Sloan action figures, what would they say when you pulled their strings?
CM: Ah, very good! Patrick's would say "A-oh!", Jay's would say "Sorry." Andrew's would just breathe smoke and mine would say, "Feed me!" or something.
GW: Everybody in the band gets angry with Patrick in the video for "Losing California". Is this art imitating life?
CM: Patrick often comes up with what ends up as the single. So in the video, it shows us all changing instruments. The joke of it is just how we're trying to show how we do different things but really it just ends up being futile because we always get rewarded for the same trick. It's just a joke on Patrick saying: "Outta my way! My band! My single!" In terms of the way he behaves in real life, no, he's not like that. The idea, actually, of being aggressive like that is totally foreign to Patrick. The band, to a fault, is passive-aggressive. Nobody would ever address that if that were a real problem. It would just kind of be beneath the surface. So, in a way, it was a chance to be aggressive where Patrick had never been before. But I'm sure there's a certain part of him that wants to push everybody over. There's a certain part of everyone that wants to punch each other out. But we actually get along quite well. Really.
GW: So there's no truth to the rumours that you wanted to change the name of the band from Sloan to "The Chris Murphy Rock Explosion?"
CM: That's another "fuck you." Who said that? Eye magazine?
GW: No. Joke question. That's...okay.
CM: Well, in my mind, I'm still the centre of attention. Even though I'm not the "singles guy" anymore, that's for sure. I had a song called "She Says What She Means" - we had a video for it - that didn't do anything. And I had a song "Keep On Thinkin'". Didn't do anything either.
GW: Was that a single? Because I thought it was a standout track.
CM: "Keep On Thinkin'" Yeah, it was, but we didn't get a video for it. Thanks for thinking that was the standout, though.
GW: Well, if you were Patrick, I would have said something else was the standout, of course. Just kissing ass here.
CM: Actually, this is Patrick.
GW: Oh right.
CM: Can you tell that I'm Chris? Do you know enough about us to tell that it's me?
GW: Yes. Although at first I thought you were like, the record guy or something saying that Patrick had to cancel.
CM: (laughs) The record guy, yeah.
GW: There are a few websites out there devoted entirely to you. Do you find this more flattering or disturbing?
CM: Flattering. I don't think I've ever looked at it actually...I should go look at it because I know the girl who does it, and she's a sweetheart. In terms of it being disturbing, she's totally a good kid. She's not crazy or anything...she doesn't want to sleep with me or anything like that. It's just a cute girl doing a website. I don?t find it the least bit disturbing.
GW: How has touring with the fantabulous Flashing Lights been for you so far? Oh, wait, have you even started the tour?
CM: No, we have not.
GW: Uhhh...how do you think touring with them will be?
CM: Well, we've played with them before. We played with them in Chicago, and a couple places in the States. They're really good...they're better players than us, so they push us, they push me. In Chicago, they were kicking our ass so when we hit the stage, at the end of the show I jumped off this P.A. stack onto the stage. I smashed my foot and I couldn't walk properly for about a month. So, it's gonna be hard because they're gonna kick our ass every night. Matt (Murphy)'s my best friend, and I just like having our friends on the road. I think their band's really good.
GW: Which band would you ideally want to tour with? It doesn't matter if they've broken up or if half the members are dead or whatever - any band at all.
CM: That's hard. There's definitely people I'd want to meet, and the other side would be people who I think we wouldn't get booed off the stage if we opened for them. You know, I'd love to see Led Zeppelin. I'd love to see KISS, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and all that stuff. The Rolling Stones are horrible now. Actually, I saw them at the Horseshoe two years ago and they were awesome, but they're not a band anymore. They're just playing old songs, you know? We played some shows with Guided by Voices. We're big Supergrass fans. We like Stereolab, we played with them before.
GW: Do you feel like your musical style has to match up with whatever band you're playing with?
CM: Not match up, necessarily. Although us and the Flashing Lights are pretty compatible.
GW: What do you see in Sloan's future?
CM: I'd just like to continue to make records. We haven't played in Europe for a long time; I'd like to go back. I'd like to not rely on radio, and just be a cult phenomenon, but play enough places that we can make a living. I'd like to make a record every year. Go to Europe, Canada, the States, Japan and Australia - maybe add a territory every year. Maybe someday we'll go to South America or something like that, but that's probably never going to happen. (laughter) But it would be great.
GW: Valentine's Day: a much-needed day set aside for celebrating love, or a sham holiday created in order to cause a frenzy of mass consumerism?
CM: It's something for the February blahs. I don't mean to be as cynical as the mass consumerism thing, but I definitely think that there's no use for it. I mean it's just another reason to buy shit. But people need to stay in business February's a slow month. It gives them something to sell. But I'll do something nice on Valentine's Day, for the girl.
GW: Awwww! What are you going to do?
CM: It always goes way farther if I make her something, so that's the way I think I'll go.
GW: Like doilies on a card with sparkles and stuff?
CM: (laughs) You know, the usual deal. I made her a cool little book for Christmas.

The Murph proceeds to talk about his very cool-sounding girlfriend, but we won't print it because, in his own words, "she'll be mad".

GW: You majored in English literature, didn't you? I'm doing that right now.
CM: (laughs) Good luck!
GW: Yeah. I'm just wondering what to do with my life. Maybe I'll become a rock star.
CM: Well, I went to art school after, and did some fine arts stuff. I had absolutely no plans as to what I would do. I was in university just to go...partly because my dad worked there and I could get cheap tuition, and also to stay friends with my dad who wanted me to get an education. And because it wasn't that hard. I could do it and be in a band at the same time.
GW: Which university did you go to?
CM: Dalhousie. Jay and Patrick went to King's, and Andrew went to the art college.
GW: Any final words to our readers?
CM: Leave your baseball hat at home when you come see us. And don't crowd surf.
GW: Okay, I'll put that in bold.
CM: (laughs) Say please, because I don't want to look like a jerk. GW: (laughs) Okay.
CM: Nice talking to you again. See you at the show, maybe?
GW: Yup!
CM: Okay, good.
GW: Thanks a lot! Bye.
CM: Bu bye.

Sloan is playing with the Flashing Lights on February 17th at Jock Harty Arena. Mr. Murphy asks that you PLEASE not crowd surf.

-jaylebayte (aka Sofi Papamarko)