Daniel Ward-Murphy: Online backing to acoustic success
Daniel Ward-Murphy: Online backing to acoustic success
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Tuesday, 03, Mar 2009 12:55
'Have guitar, will travel' is the mantra by which aspiring singer-songwriter Daniel Ward-Murphy lives by and it's stood him in good stead as he diligently works the London gig circuit.
Now the 31-year-old from Kent has launched his debut album, Until The Morning Light, via an internet initiative and I spoke to him after he and his band played an intimate gig in the capital.
The gig was held in the wonderfully lived-in environs of the 12 Bar club in London's Denmark Street, nestled among guitar stores and small cafes, while a winter's night raged outside.
Watched by media and record industry types, Daniel and his talented band played several tracks from Until The Morning Light and new material, and received passionate applause from the appreciative audience.
Buoyed by the great reception he had received at the 12 Bar, Daniel commented on the "good" gig when I met up with him in a Kings Cross hostelry.
"It was obviously a bit of a strange one for us because it was an unpromoted, secret gig and there weren't too many people in the crowd, but there were a few industry people there," he added.
"I think we've come on for it and it's given us an extra string to our bow.
"The industry people don't normally clap, they have an 'entertain me' expression on their faces, but it was good and the comments afterwards were good, so we'll see what comes of it.
"I'm hoping I'll get a live radio session, maybe some in-flight plays on planes."
And he went on: "It's always difficult with a small crowd. You can see their faces but you just teach yourself over the years that you've just got to perform, whether it's 300 or just 30 people you've got to give a good representation of yourself.
"If you don't enjoy it then it's very hard for the audience to enjoy it. You have to attack these things, really."
The gig opened with a brilliant folk-bluesy version of She's A Knockout, the first track on Daniel's album.
The small venue really allowed Daniel and co-vocalist Jennifer Delaney's voices to soar, and their harmonising vocals evoked memories of Deacon Blue.
As the song came to a close, the small crowd broke into loud applause.
A live version of She's A Knockout from 2007:
I Think I Made You Smile followed, which shimmers into life with an Oasis-styled intro before glowing as a beautiful ballad that sees the vocal chemistry between Daniel's voice and guitar and Jennifer's own vocals sparkling.
Sublime violin from Helen Twomey helped imbue the song with a glorious vulnerability. Throughout the set, Daniel was ably complemented by Helen Twomey's violin and bandmates Milo Bird on cello and percussionist Pravin Mukhi.
The Queen Of Something New was next up, a rousing love song with definite echoes of Billy Joel, one of Daniel's heroes, as well as hints of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska album.
Of the Nebraska feel, Daniel said: "I heard that album for the first time the other day.
"I really like Springsteen's Bob Seeger tribute album, We Shall Overcome. I saw that toured but his straight rock stuff, I'm not massive on.
"I did ask someone if he had anything that leans more toward folk and they told me to listen to Nebraska, which has some really good tracks on it.
"It's funny, I don't think I copy or try to emulate someone but if I can be a tenth as successful as he's been, then I'll be happy."
Referring back to The Queen Of Something New, he said: "It's the fourth track on the album. It's a song that is fairly instant and has a really strong choral melody and that tends to get stuck in people's heads, and it's got a funny 60s/Beach Boys claparound feel.
"When you write it's quite easy for an artist to write songs that are very similar, so you push yourself to write stuff that is quite different.
"I have to say it's not something I struggle to do but having lots of different influences helps. Y'know, that choral feel doesn't repeat itself in the rest of the album so that's one of a kind on this album."
The gig progressed with The Sun Is In Your Eyes, a song that provides a solid yet lilting backbeat upon which Jennifer takes lead vocals showcasing her delicate, youthful and fiery range.
Daniel then blends her voice to his own like the lingering whispers of a dream.
Daniel is full of praise for Jennifer, as he said: "She's really untainted, unspoilt. She's got a great voice.
"I get a real kick out of her harmonisation and seeing her sing some of my songs."
Next up, was a new song called The Liberation Of The Female Kind, which Daniel jokingly introduced by saying how he had embraced the Spice Girls' 'girl power' ethos then threw it away to write this track.
The song, not on the debut album, is one of the singer-songwriter's works-in-progress, and is a rollicking number with a towering Pogues-esque/bluegrass influence that lets the band cut loose, and for Daniel to let his voice rise to the fore.
Act Of Defiance wrapped the set with its down and dirty Sophie B Hawkins-styled swampy funk-rock making the song sizzle and crackle. As with his other songs, it illustrates an artist in splendid synchronicity with his band and deserving far more than a mere five minutes in the spotlight.
A live version of Act Defiance from December 2008:
It may have been wet and windy outside but inside the 12 Bar, thanks to Daniel and company, it was a balmy June afternoon warming your heart and soul.
The majority of the songs played during the gig are from Daniel's debut album. Prior to forging out a solo career, albeit with the camaraderie of his own band, Daniel was in an outfit called Bullet Galloway.
This band formed when Daniel and his friend Dan Winterburn met bassist Dave Hume and guitarist Neil Quilley. As Bullet Galloway they played gigs around London, building up a sizeable following.
However, after a couple of near misses with major record labels, the responsibilities of adult and work life caught up with some of the band and very amicably, Bullet Galloway split.
Although this wasn't the first time Daniel had been in a band. At university in Bournemouth he and Dan Winterburn were in Coney Junction, which won a regional battle of the bands competition.
Following the break-up of Bullet Galloway, Daniel found himself at a crossroads. He had been frustrated by the machinations of the record industry but was still writing material and honing his own talents.
After a series of successful shows that effectively marked him out as a solo artist, he set about putting together a backing band of considerable talent featuring vocalist/co-vocalist Jennifer Delaney, who was blown away by Daniel's voice when she heard him sing at a gig, Milo Bird on cello; violinist Helen Twomey and drummer Pravin Mukhi.
As Daniel and the band played London's gig circuit he found out about Sellaband.com, an internet initiative whereby fans invest in their favourite artists in order to enable them to professionally record an album.
Supported by more than 900 fans Daniel had hit the magic $50,000 needed to record an LP in May 2008.
"It basically allowed me to back up my belief and to carry on playing," he explained.
"With Sellaband and the internet I was able to record three really good demos with Tony Platt, who produced the album. Meeting Tony brought everything on."
Thus began an intense period that saw Daniel and his band working with veteran producer Tony Platt to record Until The Morning Light, which was released in January.
Said Daniel: "I think the reason I've carried on making music is looking at how audiences react.
"I believe there's enough people out there who'll like my music if they get the chance to listen to it.
"I think myself, the band and the producer did a good job bringing these songs to life and really I'd like to see it get played and open a few doors for me, festival gigs and good support slots in London.
"That's what it's all about, really. I get a kick out of playing live, playing with other musicians. I hope the album impresses enough people so those things become possible.
As well as gigging Daniel enjoys being ensconced in a studio working on songs.
He said: "I really love recording, actually. I suppose it stems from the fact that I'm not one of those people with a home studio, and for me studio time has always been quite precious.
"Right back from when I was 14, I sung for a local musician, being with him in the studio that was my first experience.
"Then all through your early 20s when you're saving up a few quid here and there to buy yourself some studio time. I think you learn from each time you go in, you learn when something works, you learn more and more.
"On the other side, I love playing new material live and I like the spontaneity of what can happen live, the interactive process of seeing the audience looking back at you.
"I really love doing both. If I do too much of one then I really miss the other."
We moved onto playing various venues and Daniel said one of his favourites is the Borderline along with the Bedford in Balham. He's also performed at the Dublin Castle.
Outside of the capital he's played at the Paradiso in Amsterdam. He said: "We did a big gig to about 1,000 people. It was a great experience and I'd love to play there again.
"I really enjoyed having a good crowd in front of me and it kind of felt easier to me because you play tough gigs where there aren't many people there, or where people need to be won over to stop them from chatting, but there I felt people were into it straight away or were watchful and got into it by the end."
He added: "We're happy to play any time, any place, providing it's feasible. We're not gonna pay thousands to fly to any gig and lose money.
"I've got to be respectful to the band who have other musical and non-musical commitments, but I'm hoping the time will come when it'll be feasible for everyone not to have to re-mortgage their house and concentrate on the music.
"The drummer's a full-time session musician, the cellist has invented some iPhone application that pays him a bit of money. Co-singer Jennifer has a regular job and the violinist Helen often plays live."
The Liberation of the Female Kind, live in December 2008:
Our conversation moved onto songwriting and what approach Daniel has. "When I first starting songs I used to play sequences of chords and see what I'd come up with. Then I made a decision about four or five years ago to switch because I noticed whenever there was silence, my head started coming up with some melodies.
"And I started working out, over a period of time, that the best stuff I was coming up with was the stuff in my head.
"Then I picked up a guitar and worked out what chords I needed to play around the melody. Then I went a step further, I started writing a chorus and found two-thirds of a song.
"I don't know about other people but I find when you play a chord your head can actually pick out what to play over that chord.
"I try to have some thoughts and lyrics up my sleeve so I don't end up writing songs about nothing. But, at the same time, the way the lyrics fit into a song is dependent on the melody and how many words you have. I'm a big believer in vocal melodies.
"I structure everything around vocal melodies. I think, quite often, a lot of bands concentrate on the guitar riff, whereas I like to structure stuff around the vocal melody.
"I don't know what other people would call it, but I call it vocal rhythm, it's where you put the syllables that dictates where the drum rhythm is gonna be and when you listen to us play, even though we're only a small band, there's a rhythm and lots of things going on. I'm giving away all my secrets here!"
Daniel's synergy with his current band is a somewhat different situation to the one he had with Bullet Galloway.
As he explains: "I remember that the guys used to like channelling through ideas. So I found if I came in with an idea they wanted to play through it.
"So if I came in and they had certain bits in their heads they'd find it hard to reverse out of that situation, so when I went solo I had a chance to think about what musicians I wanted to play with, what instruments, how I wanted to write.
"Obviously I changed my mind a little bit when I found out about the personalities of the musicians. I think the band certainly helps with fine tuning a song.
"Sometimes I've come in and said 'can you play these notes?' and other times I've really given them free rein.
"It's a difficult scenario because you want to encourage creativity but at the same time you don't want to get yourself in a situation where other people are finishing off your songs and you get a bit reliant on that.
"So I think it's a really good mix with the band, and producing the album I can't remember even one argument during the process and I felt there was a lot of mutual respect there.
"And it seemed to me that Tony Platt, the producer, thought that if one of us had an idea, he had the respect to let people run with it without saying 'no, don't do that' and invariably the idea turned out well, so it was a really nice creative feeling.
"We all enjoy each other's company and all enjoy hanging out, and part of that probably comes across in the music."
Away from music, on one of his rare days off, Daniel relaxes by watching movies and supporting Reading FC, and trying to find a bit of time to keep fit.
"I'd love to get into film-making," he said. "I studied it at university and I'm gonna direct a music video in the next couple of weeks.
"I've got to start writing shots but it shouldn't be too tough. The video's for She's A Knockout and I've got four female models so it's a tough life" he laughs.
"Directing is something I love doing and I had a crack at directing a music video back in my early 20s and I learned a lot from that.
"I'm going to do a really simple video that focuses on beauty with a bit of humour, a bit of comedy and see how far it goes.
"It's going to be full colour, quite a lot of camera movement, featuring the models miming the lyrics to camera and we've got a couple of comedy male dancers who are going to do a few mocking dance routines in the background.
"I'm hoping that it'll be something that'll be a little bit funny to watch and it'll be on YouTube. YouTube's a must these days.
"I'm a big believer in that you have to give people what they through the channels they want. That's why I have profiles on all these different sites like Facebook, MySpace, Stereofame and ReverbNation."
Musicians like to collaborate and Daniel is no different as he said: "One of the things I'm most disappointed at is that I've been playing live for a long time and I've never had a serious request from a semi-established musician to sing backing vocals or to co-write.
"On bigger artists, like Sheryl Crow, I'm thinking guest vocals. I'm thinking I could walk onto that stage and do a good job, so if Sheryl's reading, she can drop me a line!
"I'm looking forward to collaborating with more musicians on my stuff and going forward."
In the near future Daniel has two London gigs lined up. The first is at the Miller near London Bridge on March 5th and Islington's Bar Academy on March 25th.
Around the same time he's got a gig for Balcony TV set up. He said: "It's a busy time but we'll see where it gets the album."
Lee Davis