Gothfather: Part II
With Bauhaus once again buried, Peter MurphyNs solo career rises from the dead
“I enjoy playing with whatNs at hand, almost like found ideas, something thatNs here-and-now. Most of my vocals are written in one take, they just need a bit of refining—I donNt really want to mess around with the details! Working in music somehow allows you a liberation, it allows you to speak from a less bound-up kind of perspective.”
Speaking from his adopted home country of Turkey, Peter Murphy sounds simultaneously enthused, thoughtful and joyous. The British singer has long explored those moods in his work, most famously (in America) in his chart hit “Cuts You Up.” But some people also know him for probing darker, more emotionally fraught impulses with that band he used to be in.
After a series of reunion shows with Bauhaus, along with the studio sessions that became their final album release last year, Go Away White, Murphy has returned to his solo career. His concert this week at the House of Blues is part of a second series of American shows in a yearNs time. HeNll be backed by a group he has worked with on-and-off since the release of his last solo album, 2004Ns Unshattered: Nick Lucero on drums, Mark G. Thwaite on guitar and Jeff Shartoff on bass.
MurphyNs keeping the exact details of his next full-length release under wraps for now, though the tourNs title, Secret Cover, refers to the series of digital singles heNs slated to begin, focusing on new interpretations of othersN songs, the first being a take on John LennonNs “Instant Karma,” as recently featured in an ad campaign for Chase Bank.
“INll be previewing a lot of the new album,” Murphy says, “but INll mix it with work I havenNt played from my own albums along with Bauhaus work. WeNre going out on a limb by playing songs on the album without releasing it—I donNt want the effect of the albumNs actual release to be dissipated in any way!
“I want to keep a connection with the audience, to offer something fresh while INm working out something fresh,” he continues. “INll be including covers in the set, which is a tradition that both Bauhaus and I have always been interested in.”
Not surprisingly for a performer who seems to thrive every time he steps onstage, Murphy speaks very warmly about his audience in general, enthusiastically discussing the reactions he and his band received earlier this year in a first-time visit to South America and recalling BauhausNs collective gratification at their ability to win over Nine Inch NailsN crowd while opening for that band in 2006. As he sees it, while he always works to make sure he puts on a strong show for all attendees, he does so knowing theyNre there for him in turn.
“I donNt think INve ever been surprised by an audience at all—oddly, INm almost overconfident about it,” Murphy says. “INve always felt a certainty, even if youNre playing healthy-capacity venues, and you just want to visit elsewhere, and you strip it all down to you and the players and just one light and 150 people. Sometimes thatNs when I get a feeling of surprise—are they going to think INm a loser for playing in this odd place? But you still see the same response or similar responses, and that provides gratification.”
Following the American dates, Murphy will return to Europe with his band, whose newest member, second guitarist John Andrews, will make his touring debut there. Then theyNll support the full album, released, like the digital singles, on his new Huuvola label. ItNs part of a new artistic and business independence that Murphy clearly relishes, leading him to cast a very positive eye to the future:
“Now that INve got a good relationship with [producer] David Baron artistically, I can exercise creative aspects in production and working with bands I really like,” he says. “INm working on bringing acts with me on tour that I really want to encourage, but INve also got my eye on a studio I like a lot—INd love to buy that. It will be a professional studio that others can work at, but it will be my own workplace, to support and garner support for other artists. INm not finished yet!”
Peter Murphy with Venus Infers at the House of Blues, 1530 S. Disneyland Dr., Anaheim, (714) 778-2583; www.hob.com/anaheim. Mon., 8 p.m. $20-$22.50. All ages.
