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\nJames Murphy is an American guitarist who is most well known for his stints in three of metal’s most influential bands, DEATH, TESTAMENT, and OBITUARY. Since then, he has become one of the most sought after producer\/engineers in the underground world of heavy music, working with big names like DAATH and LAZARUS A.D., helping to continue shape the future of thrash and death metal with his ever increasing skills to get the best possible sound production for his artists.
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\nThe Metal Den’s Randy “Rocket” Cody recently conducted an interview with legendary Ex-DEATH guitarist James Murphy for his loyal army of Den Headz worldwide.<\/strong>
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\nRocket: Where were you born and raised?<\/p>\n
James: I was born in Portsmouth, Virginia (USA), but I was raised in Central Florida. My family was from Florida, but my parents were in Virginia at the time of my birth because my father was in the US Navy at the time, and was stationed at the Norfolk Naval base there. I\u2019ve lived all over though\u2026 even in Germany for 6 years when my father got stationed there.<\/p>\n
Rocket: Do you come from a big family?<\/p>\n
James: Big-\u201cish\u201d\u2026 6 Aunts and Uncles and several cousins and 3 siblings. Family get-togethers were always out of hand. By the mid-90\u2019s though everyone had spread out quite a bit and drifted a bit apart, especially once all my grandparents had passed away.<\/p>\n
Rocket: What first drew you to playing music?<\/p>\n
James: At first probably my dad\u2019s record collection and his nylon-string guitar which he very occasionally allowed me to \u201cplay\u201d. After that I got my own record player at about age 8 and started getting Kiss, Queen, Aerosmith, and P-Funk records. In Junior High School I graduated up to Rush, Black Sabbath, and eventually Ozzy Osbourne with Randy Rhoads. I was always most attracted to the guitar on all those records, but vocals and drums also gripped my attention.
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Rocket: When exactly did you first start playing the guitar?<\/p>\n
James: Well, I wanted to play from about age 8, and to that end I asked\/begged for a guitar at every birthday and Christmas for several years. My father was not about to come off with the cash for that though, ha ha\u2026 nor put up with the noise\u2026 so I was never given one. Eventually, while living in Germany, I took a summer job with the Dependant Youth Summer Employment Program offered to the teenaged children of servicemen by the US Military for two years in a row and saved the majority of the money I earned. At the end of the second summer I had enough and went into downtown Geissen, Germany and bought an Aria Pro II XX Deluxe Flying V guitar\u2026 black with a big yellow lightning bolt across the front. I was very proud of that guitar and I began learning right away. I was 16, so it was quite a late start by most standards, but I threw myself into it. To my advantage was the fact that I had spent so many hours over several years of my life listening intently to the guitar playing on the records I owned. So by the time I started learning I had internalized the sound and feel of so many aspects of playing\u2026 like chord structures, scale tonalities, solo phrasing and structure, and very importantly, vibrato\u2026 so thoroughly that it all came very easily to me once I was actually able to physically practice the mechanics of those things on an actual instrument.<\/p>\n
Rocket: Did you ever take any formal guitar playing lessons?<\/p>\n
James: In High School\u2026 in Frankfurt, Germany\u2026 I took what was called an \u201cintermediate guitar\u201d class that the school offered. It primarily consisted of learning to play simple melodies via sight-reading out of Mel Bay\u2019s Guitar, Book One. So the course itself didn\u2019t really do much for me, but all the other \u201cguitar-heads\u201d in the school also took the class, and thus I was exposed to many players that were much more advanced than me, and I learned a lot listening and watching them at first, and then by jamming with them and getting them to show me things. It was really more of a \u201cclub\u201d than a class.<\/p>\n
Rocket: Who are some of your biggest playing influences of past and present?<\/p>\n
James: Well at first I had a pretty limited set of influences: Ace Frehley, Tony Iommi, Randy Rhoads, Angus Young, Ritchie Blackmore, Jimi Hendrix, etc. Then I got into the \u201cshred\u201d guys, like Paul Gilbert, Tony MacAlpine, Greg Howe, Vinnie Moore, Shawn Lane, etc. These days I still love all those players but I\u2019m into so many different kinds of guitarists, as well as other instrumentalists, that any list would be too long to print. A few names that spring to mind though are Bill Connors, Allan Holdsworth, Al Di Meola, John Scofield, Steve Topping, Bill Frisell, Koichi Yabori, Pat Metheny, Steve Khan, Joe Bonamassa, Don Ross, Terje Rypdal, Oz Noy, John Surman, Jeff Kollman, Guthrie Govan, Brett Garsed, Nguy\u00ean L\u00ea, Jan Garbarek, Steve Tibbets, Nils Landgren, Ralph Towner, Chris Poland, David Fiuczynski, Jimmy Herring, Frank Gambale, Scott Henderson, Susan Weinert, John McLaughlin, Mike Stern, John Goodsall, Don Mock, Alex Machacek\u2026. See what I mean? The list gets long quick, and there\u2019s many more before I\u2019d consider it even close to comprehensive.<\/p>\n
Rocket: Have you always been able to solo naturally on guitar? Or did you really have to work hard at getting good with that?<\/p>\n
James: There was definitely work involved\u2026 but as I mentioned earlier, I feel I had a certain advantage from having spent so many years just listening intently to guitar playing on records. I had so many songs, solos and all, memorized in every nuance (but with no clue as to how to physically play them on the instrument), that it gave me an internalized instinct and understanding for guitar and music in general that was pure and uninhibited by trying to concurrently wrestle with the mechanics of actual playing. So, when I was finally able to actually learn those mechanics I already had a very clear concept of what the end result should sound like, and that served me very well, in that I never had the issue of technique getting in the way of the music\u2026 which is a problem you see quite often with young players. For me technique came last, so it was strictly a tool to get to the music in my head, and not an end unto itself.<\/p>\n
Rocket: How did you get the gig with Death?<\/p>\n
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James: At the time I met Chuck I had already toured the year before with the Combat Records band Agent Steel in Europe and the UK. I showed up at a Death show in Tampa that was part of their touring cycle for the Leprosy album, and I walked past Chuck without realizing it in the parking lot. I happened to be wearing a shirt from that Agent Steel tour I had done and Chuck spotted it\u2026 turns out he was a fan and had the band\u2019s albums. He commented \u201ccool shirt, Agent Steel rules\u201d as I was walking by and it sparked a conversation. I told him I was a huge fan and he learned of my experience as a touring musician, which he seemed very interested in, which in turn piqued my curiosity as to why he might be so focused on that. We were hanging out again after the show and I gave him my mother\u2019s phone number, as I didn\u2019t have one of my own, and told him to call and leave me a message if Rick ever quit. About 5 months later I had moved to Atlanta to try to get a job and enroll in the Atlanta Institute of Music. I did get a job, but couldn\u2019t yet afford the tuition of the school so I was just hanging out, working a landscaping job, trying to figure out how to attend AIM and jamming with my roommate, who happened to be the guitarist of Hallows Eve.<\/p>\n
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Out of the blue one day Chuck called my mother, who passed him my number in Atlanta\u2026 he called me up to offer me the now vacant guitar position in Death and believe it or not, I told him that I was flattered but that I really wanted to stay in Atlanta and attend the school. The next morning I woke up and thought to myself, \u201cwhat the hell is wrong with me??\u201d, and called Chuck back to tell him I had reconsidered and would be packing up and coming back to Florida to join. To my dismay though he informed me that since I had passed on the gig they had gone ahead and confirmed with another guitarist they had been considering. I was determined though and told him I\u2019d come down anyway, meet with him, play some Death songs for him, and see if I couldn\u2019t change his mind. He actually agreed to that, so I drove the 8 hours back to the Tampa area and met up with Chuck, Bill, and Terry at Terry\u2019s parent\u2019s house. I played along to some Death tracks from SBG and Leprosy with a boombox and chatted with them. They thanked me for my time and effort and I went back to Atlanta, still kicking myself for not accepting right away. Three days later though Chuck called again and said that the other guy wasn\u2019t working out, and told me I had the gig if I wanted it. Needless to say I accepted immediately that time and began packing my things in my car.<\/p>\n
Rocket: What was your very first impression of the late great Chuck Schuldiner as a person?<\/p>\n
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James: I liked him right away, we seemed to click and have quite a few things in common, especially regarding musical taste. He was very into early 80\u2019s European metal bands, like Sortilege, H-Bomb, Demon Eyes, Tyson Dog, Heavy Load, Silver Mountain, Satan Jokers, etc\u2026 and I knew them all and owned the albums as well\u2026 so we bonded immediately on that front.<\/p>\n
Rocket: In 1989, you recorded on Death’s third album entitled “Spiritual Healing”. What was that experience like for you?<\/p>\n
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James: It was the culmination of my lifelong dream to be honest\u2026 I was incredibly happy to be a part of it. To this day I\u2019m very proud and fond of that recording. I had never even played on a demo before that\u2026 just the one Euro\/UK tour I had done, that was my only \u201cpro\u201d experience prior to joining Death and getting to work on that album.<\/p>\n
Rocket: What was your favorite Death song to perform live and why?<\/p>\n
James: Probably Pull The Plug, simply because of the chorus. As soon as we\u2019d hit that chorus the entire crowd would be chanting along \u201cPULL THE PLUG!!!\u201d Always loved that, it was a great feeling.<\/p>\n
Rocket: You also played with Testament, recorded on 1994’s “Low”. What is your favorite personal moment from the time you were in that great metal band?<\/p>\n
James: The entire process of making that album was a high point for me. I was in one of the best thrash bands in the world, recording one of their best ever albums\u2026 couldn\u2019t have been happier. The only downside of the whole situation was that my girlfriend in Florida didn\u2019t want to move to California, so it pretty much ended that relationship\u2026 but that never caused a hesitation, I had priorities! Playing on the 1999 album, The Gathering, with my buddy Steve Digiorgio and drumming legend Dave Lombardo was a high point as well, even though I was getting quite ill at the time, and some of the memories are sketchy.<\/p>\n
Rocket: What kind of guitars are you currently playing live and in the studio?<\/p>\n
James: I\u2019ve been using Caparison guitars for several years now, and I love them. I have 3 of their Dellinger models and they are workhorses, the ones I use live. I also have two of their Angelus models that I use for rhythm tracking in the studio since they have fixed bridges. Last but not least I have one of their Horus models that I use for most of my studio soloing work. They are all beautiful, well-crafted guitars.<\/p>\n
Rocket: What kind of amp rigs?<\/p>\n
James: I have several different amps and cabs\u2026 I like them all for different things. My latest is a Fender EVH 5150 III, and it\u2019s a stellar amp. My Peavey 6505+ and Framus Cobra heads are rhythm guitar beasts, and my Madison Divinity II provides a nice contrast to those other amps for solos, and I have it loaded with the optional Ruby Red tubes which make it even better for this. I also have a VHT Pitbull that\u2019s a monster on rhythm tracks, but it\u2019s down for service right now. My fave cab at the moment is my Mesa Std. V30-loaded 4×12.<\/p>\n
Rocket: When did you first start to realize that you had a talent for being a producer?<\/p>\n
James: Well, I first noticed an attraction to the engineering side of things while recording \u201cSpiritual Healing\u201d in 1989\u2026 just watching our engineer\/producer Scott Burns work fascinated me as I\u2019ve always been a \u201ctech-head\u201d with an affinity for good sound. It really cemented when he showed me how to auto-punch on the 2\u201d machine and let me work on my solos by myself while he took a break.<\/p>\n
From that point I began studying on my own and by 1993 when I joined Testament I had a fully formed plan as to how to put together a project studio\u2026 which I did shortly after finishing the \u201cLow\u201d sessions. I also contracted out to bigger studios as an assistant in order to better learn the craft from experienced engineers, and had the fortune to work under some of the best over a several year period.<\/p>\n
Like most other producer\/mixers would say though, my best work is my latest, and I feel I\u2019m really just finally \u201carriving\u201d, over the last 4-5 years\u2026 this last year most especially, in which I\u2019ve done more big label productions\/mixes than ever.<\/p>\n
Rocket: Congrats on the success with Lazarus AD in 2009! You handled their killer debut “The Onslaught” via Metal Blade and let me say that the work you did is truly the best I’ve heard in the modern thrash era, and the scary thing is how young these guys are. Can you tell me a little about the recording process?<\/p>\n
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James: Well, the recording and production were handled in Wisconsin by Chris Djuricic, a good engineer whose work I\u2019ve done a lot of mixing and mastering of. I mixed and mastered the Lazarus AD and thanks to Chris\u2019 thoroughness in taking D.I. tracks of the guitars I was able to re-amp them with some of my best amp heads and really craft a killer, fitting guitar tone for the album. The mix itself was fun and came together nicely\u2026 definitely one of my favorite mixes I\u2019ve done in the past few years.<\/p>\n
Rocket: Who are some of the other bands you are working with?<\/p>\n
James: I\u2019ve also recently done albums, either in a production, mixing, or mastering capacity, or some combination thereof, for Abigail Williams on Candlelight, Success Will Write Apocalypse Across The Sky, Augury, and Swashbuckle on Nuclear Blast, Alestorm on Napalm, The Destro on Metal Blade, and Burning Human on E1 (formerly known as Koch Records).<\/p>\n
Rocket: How do bands submit to hire you on as a producer?<\/p>\n
James: The best route is to message me on my Production MySpace page: http:\/\/www.myspace.com\/thesafehouseproductions , and either myself or management will respond\u2026 or just contact my manager directly by emailing to demetri@redrocketentertainment.com <\/p>\n
Rocket: If you could produce any metal band in the world today, who would it be and why?<\/p>\n
James: Oh there\u2019s quite a few actually, but I\u2019m hesitant to say\u2026 simply because I don\u2019t want to offend the ones that produce themselves (almost always a bad move I think, to have no outside ear or expertise at all involved), and I don\u2019t want to engender any bad feelings from the current producers of the others, most of whom are doing a great job, by the way. I\u2019m sure most pros wouldn\u2019t be bothered at all, but just in case I\u2019ll keep that info close to my chest.<\/p>\n
Rocket: With all the other great releases that have come out so far in 2009, what’s been your favorite metal album this year?<\/p>\n
James: I have several faves so far this year, though not all of them for their production\/mix quality\u2026 I always pick my faves based on the music.. though of course some of these also have great production values and excellent mixes:<\/p>\n Septicflesh \u2013 \u201cCommunion\u201d, Delain \u2013 \u201cApril Rain\u201d, The Haunted – \u201cVersus\u201d, Absu \u2013 \u201cAbsu\u201d, Chimaira \u2013 \u201cThe Infection\u201d, Obscura \u2013 \u201cCosmogenesis\u201d, In This Moment \u2013 \u201cThe Dream\u201d ( a huge 180\u00ba for me, as I hated their last one), Zonaria \u2013 \u201cThe Cancer Empire\u201d, Dream Theater \u2013 \u201cBlack Clouds & Silver Linings\u201d, Suicide Silence \u2013 \u201cNo Time To Bleed\u201d, Killswitch Engage \u2013 \u201cKillswitch Engage\u201d, Born Of Osiris \u2013 \u201cA Higher Place\u201d, Goatwhore \u2013 \u201cCarving Out The Eyes Of God\u201d, Job For A Cowboy \u2013 \u201cRuination\u201d, Isis \u2013 \u201cWavering Radiant\u201d\u2026.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure I\u2019m forgetting several.<\/p>\n Rocket: What is your opinion of how \u2018free downloading\u2019 has drastically affected record sales in the 21st century?<\/p>\n James: No doubt it\u2019s killing it\u2026 and the direct result you can see today is that budgets are getting smaller and record companies are cutting staff, cutting tour support, etc etc. Eventually, unless something happens to turn it around or to create a new model for purchasing music that isn\u2019t rife with the temptation to abuse it, the record industry will collapse. I shake my head dumbfoundedly at those who think that this is \u201cgood thing\u201d somehow\u2026 since 90% of the music all of us enjoy so much wouldn\u2019t exist without labels to fund the recordings and promotion and tours\u2026 just wouldn\u2019t happen for most bands that are making well produced albums and videos and such without the infrastructure provided by their labels.<\/p>\n That\u2019s all I have to say about it, and I\u2019m sure every person that illegally downloads will surely disagree strongly with me\u2026 and I\u2019ve heard every argument from that camp. Unfortunately they are almost always dead wrong. Example\u2026 \u201cwell I don\u2019t buy the album, but I go to the show and buy a t-shirt\u201d. Well that\u2019s definitely great, and necessary if you want your fave bands to be able to continue to tour, but concert ticket and merchandise sales don\u2019t fund album budgets, and even with both those income sources combined 99% of the bands we all love just barely manage to pay for getting from one city to the next on that money, while hopefully managing to keep the apartment rent paid back home. There\u2019s none left over for recording proper albums\u2026. Album budgets are determined by previous album sales once a band has already released it\u2019s debut\u2026 if in fact they\u2019ve even sold enough to justify the label exercising their option to continue with a band.<\/p>\n The arguments go on and on, and they are all just as easily shot full of holes as that example, so I\u2019ll let it rest there. I\u2019m not passing judgment on anyone, it\u2019s not my place to do that\u2026 but I\u2019ll be there shaking my head every time someone I know that only acquires music by illegally downloading its favorite band, give up\u2026 because that\u2019s where it\u2019s headed, and indeed it\u2019s already happening at lower levels.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not totally hopeless on the subject though\u2026 I hold out hope that something comes to fruition that is a workable, secure, and fair way to monetize music usage in the coming years\u2026 before the collapse I referred to fully develops.<\/p>\n Rocket: What is your advice to some youngster picking up the guitar today for the first time with the rock n roll dream?<\/p>\n James: Practice, a lot\u2026 but also just get out and play\u2026 as often as you can, with whomever you can. Do it early, and do it often\u2026 this will build live confidence and experience, and season you as a live player. Always try to play with people that are better than you. Learn to really play with a drummer\u2026 preferably a good one. Also, I\u2019d say have a back-up plan, but be willing to put everything on the line for your dream. Be able to work well with others, don\u2019t be a prima donna. Support the system you are trying to be a part of by buying the CDs you enjoy and learn from. Learn as many songs by as many varied artists as you can\u2026 so you can practice with \u201ca band\u201d at home by playing along with those CDs\u2026 you\u2019ll simultaneously be getting a well-rounded overview of songwriting, which will help you as you begin to write your own songs. Record yourself and listen back\u2026 and be critical. Seek out the advice and tuition of local players that are better than you, and even non-local players via the Internet. Buy DVD and Book\/CD instructional materials and study them thoroughly. Practice learning music by ear. Be humble.<\/p>\n Rocket: Any other projects you are working on that you’d like to mention?<\/p>\n James: Right now I\u2019m working on the World Under Blood debut for Nuclear Blast, and upcoming I have the production and mix of the next Epicurean CD for Metal Blade, and I also have the production\/mix of the second Infernaeon album for Prosthetic Records coming up as well.<\/p>\n Rocket: If you didn’t have a career in music, what other profession do you think you may have ended up doing?<\/p>\n James: Hard to say, as I never considered anything else\u2026 which is odd considering my advice to \u201chave a back-up plan\u201d that I gave earlier. Probably something with computers and\/or graphic arts. But honestly, I can\u2019t imagine life without music as part of my career.<\/p>\n Rocket: Thanks very much for rocking this out with me. Best of luck with it all.<\/p>\n
\n(Digital art by James Murphy)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n