John Russell Murphy (11 July 1959 – 11 October 2015) was an Australian drummer,

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

and multi-instrumental

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

who played in Australian and British

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

, ambient and

industrial music Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...

groups.

Early life

John Russell Murphy was born on 11 July 1959 and raised in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. His father, Russ Murphy, was a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

drummer who played for many years with the

Graeme Bell Graeme Emerson Bell, AO, MBE (7 September 191413 June 2012) was an Australian Dixieland and classical jazz pianist, composer and band leader. According to ''The Age'', his "band's music was hailed for its distinctive Australian edge, which he ...

All Stars, John started learning drums and percussion from the age of 4. For secondary schooling he attended Scotch College, where he played in the school orchestra and in military and Scottish

pipe bands A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, a ...

Career

John Murphy, as John Smith from the Suburbs, was the founding drummer in 1977 of

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band, News, with Adam Punk (real name Gavin Quinn) on vocals, Jarryl Circus (real name Jarryl Wirth) on guitar and Joy Relentless (real name Julie Jordan) on bass guitar. Jordan, Quinn and Wirth were all former members of Babeez. News' debut single, "Dirty Lies", was released in May 1978. In the following year they issued "Dowanna Love" and then "Sweet Dancer". By May 1979 Murphy had left News and joined

Whirlywirld Whirlywirld were an Australian post-punk band led by Ollie Olsen in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the first of his musical collaborations with drummer John Murphy. They played in Melbourne and Sydney and were supporters of the Melbourne ...

, fronted by

Ollie Olsen Ollie Olsen is an Australian multi-instrumentalist, composer and sound designer. He has performed, recorded and produced rock, electronic and experimental music since the mid-1970s. His post punk groups included Whirlywirld (1978–80), Orche ...

on lead vocals.McFarlan
'Ian 'Ollie' Olsen'
entry. Retrieved 1 October 2015. Along with fellow Melbourne group

Primitive Calculators The Primitive Calculators are an Australian post-punk band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria in 1978. Described by British critic Everett True as sounding like "a very aggressive Suicide", True, Everett (8 January 2009)"True Tales: Melbourne's musi ...

, Whirlywirld was instrumental in fostering the experimental little band scene, of which Murphy was an active participant. Murphy served as an advisor for, and appeared in, director

Richard Lowenstein Richard Lowenstein (born 1 March 1959) is an Australian filmmaker. He has written, produced and directed: feature films, including ''Strikebound'' (1984), ''Dogs in Space'' (1986) and ''He Died with a Felafel in His Hand'' (2001); music videos ...

's dramatisation of the scene, the 1986 film ''

Dogs in Space During the 1950s and 1960s the Soviet space program used dogs for sub-orbital and orbital space flights to determine whether human spaceflight was feasible. In this period, the Soviet Union launched missions with passenger slots for at l ...

''. In 1980 Murphy and Olsen travelled to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and formed Hugo Klang, which issued a single, "Grand Life for Fools and Idiots", in 1982. They followed with "The Wheel of Fat". Murphy returned to Australia in 1984 where he continued to work with Olsen until the early 1990s in various post-punk bands:

Orchestra of Skin and Bone Orchestra of Skin and Bone were an Australian post-punk band active from 1984 to 1986. The band's core members were Ollie Olsen, Marie Hoy and John Murphy.McFarlan'Ian 'Ollie' Olsen'entry. Retrieved 6 February 2010.Spencer et al, (2007), "Hoy, ...

(1984–86), NO (1987–89), and Max Q (1989–90). Murphy worked with the following acts: the Associates (1980–81),

Dumb and the Ugly Dumb and the Ugly were an Australian avant-garde metal band. They formed in 1987 with Michael Sheridan (also in No and then Max Q) on guitar; John Murphy (Whirlywirld, Orchestra of Skin and Bone, Max Q) on drums and synthesisers; and David ...

, Harpoon (1995–97) Sooterkin Flesh,

the Slub ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, SPK,

Lustmord Brian Williams is a Welsh industrial musician, sound designer and film score composer. He is often credited for creating the dark ambient genre with albums recorded under the name Lustmord. His experimental work has been described as "not tra ...

Our Father of Serpents Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulato ...

Stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

, Jaundiced Eye,

the Wreckery The Wreckery were an Australian rock and blues group which formed in January 1985 by Robin Casinader on drums, piano, Hammond organ, guitar and violin; Edward Clayton-Jones on guitar, organ and vocals; Tadeusz O'Biegly on bass guitar; Hugo Race ...

(1988),McFarlan
'The Wreckery'
entry. Retrieved 1 October 2015. Box the Jesuit (1990),McFarlan
'Box the Jesuit'
entry. Retrieved 1 October 2015. Bushpig (1992),McFarlan
'King Snake Roost'
entry. Retrieved 1 October 2015.

Whitehouse Whitehouse may refer to: People * Charles S. Whitehouse (1921-2001), American diplomat * Cornelius Whitehouse (1796–1883), English engineer and inventor * E. Sheldon Whitehouse (1883-1965), American diplomat * Elliott Whitehouse (born 1993), ...

Death in June Death in June are a neofolk group led by English musician Douglas P. (Douglas Pearce). The band was originally formed in the United Kingdom in 1981 as a trio, but after the other members left in 1984 and 1985 to work on other projects, the gro ...

Der Blutharsch Der Blutharsch was an Austrian martial industrial, neofolk and psychedelic rock project created in 1996 by Albin Julius. Group leader Albin Julius died on 4 May 2022. History Originally a side project to The Moon lay hidden beneath a Clou ...

, Sword Volcano Complex, Browning Mummery,

Current 93 Current 93 are an English experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet, who has been Current 93's only constant member. Background Tibet has been the only const ...

Blood Axis Blood Axis are an American band, made up of journalist and author Michael Moynihan (journalist), Michael Moynihan, music producer Robert Ferbrache, and musician and author Annabel Lee.Liner notes of the ''Ultimacy'' compilation Overview Early B ...

, Kraang, Sleeping Pictures, Scorpion Wind, Naevus,

Nikolas Schreck Nikolas Schreck is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, film-maker and Tantric Buddhist religious teacher based in Berlin, Germany. Now a solo artist, Schreck founded the musical magical recording and performance collective Radio ...

NON Non, non or NON can refer to: * ''Non'', a negatory word in French, Italian and Latin People *Non (given name) *Non Boonjumnong (born 1982), Thai amateur boxer * Rena Nōnen (born 1993), Japanese actress who uses the stage name "Non" since July ...

and Of the Wand & the Moon, in addition to playing on sessions for

Nico Naftiran Intertrade Company Société à responsabilité limitée#In Switzerland, limited (NICO) is a Switzerland, Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC bu ...

Zeena Schreck Zeena Galatea Schreck (née LaVey), known professionally by her mononymous artist name ZEENA, is a Berlin-based American visual and musical artist, author and the spiritual leader of the Sethian Liberation Movement (SLM), which she founded in 200 ...

The The () are an English post-punk band. They have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer-songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member. achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in the UK, with 15 chart singles ...

Gene Loves Jezebel Gene Loves Jezebel are a British rock band formed in the early 1980s by identical twin brothers Jay (born John) and Michael Aston. Gene Loves Jezebel's best-known songs include "Heartache", "Desire (Come and Get It)" (1986), "The Motion of L ...

and

Shriekback Shriekback are an English rock band formed in 1981 in Kentish Town by Barry Andrews, formerly of XTC and the League of Gentlemen (keyboards/synthesizers/vocals), and Dave Allen, formerly of Gang of Four (bass), with Carl Marsh, formerly of ...

. He recorded solo under the name Shining Vril, and as part of the industrial electronic trio Knifeladder, and as a member of the folk-noise group Foresta Di Ferro, and as part of the industrial music trio Last Dominion Lost. Murphy died from illness in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, at 56.

Tributes

After his death, The Epicurean record label produced a lavishly printed, three-CD box set compilation of various musical artists who performed with Murphy throughout his life, from the very earliest years up until his end months. The extensive memorial tribute, ''All My Sins Remembered - The Sonic Worlds of John Murphy'' is a collaborative effort of many musicians to help raise financial support for Murphy's widow to offset the medical and funeral expenses incurred.

References

External links

* * 1959 births The Associates (band) members Australian drummers Male drummers Australian electronic musicians Australian industrial musicians 2015 deaths Max Q (Australian band) members Whitehouse (band) members Death in June members Orchestra of Skin and Bone members No (band) members Whirlywirld members Noise musicians {{Australia-musician-stub