Meet Robert Murphy | Filmmaker and Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Robert Murphy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Robert, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?

It’s funny, because you never really choose or you never really know when you chose to pursue an artistic or creative career. It just kind of happens to you. I know that when I was in high school, I was reading a lot of comic books, graphic novels, and watching a lot of mainstream movies, but also kind of exploring some of the art house films like Blue Velvet and Raging Bull. I remember our English teacher giving us the option to either write a paper or make a video of the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar– and so of course me and a few buddies decided to make a 45 minute video called “Julius Seizure,” a complete airplane-style parody. We really just did it for fun, but there was a willingness to spend ungodly amounts of hours, collaborating and writing and filming and getting costumes and rehearsing and planning and organizing—so there was quite a bit of passion there from the start, in terms of wanting to put these projects together, and make them happen . Sometimes I would try to recreate shots from a comic book or graphic novel or maybe a Kubrick movie. I think I was really obsessed with A Clockwork Orange and The Shining at that time. I remember a few years later, in college, I was an English major, which I enjoyed, but it was leaving me somewhat unfulfilled. I remember going to see the film Goodfellas in the theater, and as soon as I saw that, I knew that I wanted to make things that made people feel like that. There was something in that rock ‘n’ roll style of Scorsese that kicked my adrenaline into high gear and took me to a place that I haven’t been before, made me feel like I was on drugs almost. It was like listening to Led Zeppelin IV for the first time, and so I immediately started taking some classes at the University of Texas so that I could learn how to do this stuff– try to figure out if there was a way to make a career out of it, because I was very passionate about it. At the same time, I was picking up a guitar for the first time, and I realized that I could write songs relatively easily, even though I couldn’t play guitar very well. I was definitely able to come up with lyrics and melodies, even though I couldn’t sing worth a shit. So while I was graduating from film school and trying to make a few short films outside of school, I was also spending two hours a day driving around Austin, Texas, practicing vocals by singing along to U2’s Achtung Baby and Nirvana‘s Nevermind as well as any Beatles album I could find. And I was doing this just so that my voice wouldn’t suck so bad— because I wanted to actually record some of the songs I had written. My brother is a fantastic singer, so I figured if he has a lot of talent, maybe I have some vocal talent in my DNA? And so I eventually started a band in Austin, while I was still trying to do videos and films. And I still do both to this day.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

There are a few things that make me a little bit different than most other creatives. I have a very strong sports background, which I think has really helped me in order to understand the concept of team achievements, and working together as a group– which are skills you use every day, whether you’re making a film or you’re in a band. So that kind of humility of learning your role and checking your ego at the door has really served me well in my creative endeavors. I don’t think we are ever at the place in life where we have achieved greatness. I think you just grind every day and you try to make your movies or music as good as you can. And you try to be as creative as possible and have your antennae aware for new possibilities and new directions to explore. Every creative project is a journey– it’s an adventure, and you have to have an open mind. It’s never easy cause you’re always going to be racked with self-doubt. The only way to overcome that kind of insecurity is to put the work in and get something done and put it out into the world, and then do another one. I think my particular art has a lot to do with being a straight white man and being very privileged, but being aware of that, and trying to explore and criticize the systems in place, the history of misogyny and racism, the danger of male rage. I think I have a lot to say about what makes men special but what also makes us monsters. I think in this current creative climate, where people of all backgrounds are encouraged to be creative and express themselves, it’s important for me to be a part of that, to contribute whatever I can regardless of my background. I know I’m gonna make a lot more art in my life, and I hope it’s all very self-deprecating and funny and dark and challenging, and in the end, makes me feel like I’m walking out of Raging Bull or a concert by U2. I’ll do anything to make something great. I just wanna make the kind of art that inspired me when I was a kid and continues to inspire me to this day. I mean, just the other day I was listening to that song from Barbie called “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish. Every time I hear it, I cry. Now that’s great art—and I’m inspired to create myself, too, as a result.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

I would just take someone out and show them what’s cool about LA. I’d start off with a walk along El Matador Beach in Malibu, then maybe grab some Ramen at Tatsu, then hit all the comedy spots at night. Go see the Cooking with Gas improv show on Thursday at the Groundlings. The next night go see Nikki Glaser, Arsenio Hall, and Iliza Shlesinger at the Improv. Check out Mark Maron and Craig Robinson at the Comedy Store then maybe head over to Largo to see Fiona Apple and Zach Galafianakis. Then check out Billie Eilish at the Hollywood Bowl and hopefully go see a movie that I worked on at the AFI film festival. Then maybe make them sing with me as we play a show at the Silverlake Lounge, followed by a late night meal at Canter’s Deli, and the after party in my apartment’s little backyard— sounds like a good nightcap.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

First and foremost, I want to thank my Mom and Dad. They have always encouraged me to do whatever I want. They never tried to control us, and as long as we made good grades, we never had any curfews or any limits on any of the things we could do, That kind of freedom was extremely empowering and allowed my brother and I to pursue whatever we wanted to the fullest extent. So when I started making films, they always allowed me to have friends over, to have sleepovers, to basically do whatever I needed to do to be able to make whatever film I wanted. We were one of the first families in the neighborhood to have a camera, and my parents have always supported and enjoyed what I was making. My brother Billy is also a huge inspiration. Beyond his helping out in my early films, he has always been an incredibly talented singer, even though he probably annoyed me a lot, because he was always singing in the shower or singing in the house at all times day or night. But I could see the development of his unique talent in front of my very eyes, and I think it inspired me to explore music in my own way, even if I wasn’t anywhere close to his ability as he was vocally. But he was so effortless at developing his talent, and it came to him so naturally— I was just so impressed by his ability to sing like Harry Connick, or sing like Billy Joel or sing like Stevie Ray Vaughan and he could move from one genre to the next so easily. I knew that if I even had 1/10 of that ability I could probably do something pretty good myself, so yes, sharing DNA can be a very helpful thing. Sometimes it gave me that extra bit of confidence. 15 years later, we were in the same rock and roll band together, which was very cool. Artistically, Kurt Cobain and Martin Scorsese are my biggest inspirations. Martin Scorsese made me want to make movies and Kurt Cobain made me feel like I could write songs that were heavy metal rockers and that were extremely self deprecating and get away with it. Over the years, I’ve collected biographies of both men and I’ve studied them very carefully and taken a lot of inspiration from their greatest artistic qualities to their biggest flaws. I also want to give a shout out to a few of my greatest artistic collaborators: filmmakers Alex Holdridge, Brent Florence, Malie Mason, Sharad Patel, Kate Zenna, Kingsly Martin, Mika Boorem, Tomer Almagor, Shayne Pax, Ansel Faraj, Paula Tiberius, Carlton Sugarman, Tamara Hernandez, Nathan Wilson, Brian McGuire and Brian McCormick. I’ve learned so much from these people and they were incredibly inspirational and incredible collaborators. I also want to thank anyone who’s ever played with me in a band, as that is the highest compliment I could ever receive. These include guitarist Gordon Kahan, guitarist Brian McComick, drummer Ryan Craig, bassist Rob Sides, my brother Billy, drummer Jonathan Jackson, guitarist Alan Donaho and bassist Eddie Sykes. I do also want to mention some women as well, my more recent artistic heroes being Iliza Schlesinger, Courtney Barnett, Victoria Legrand of Beach House, Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Ilana Glazer, and Abbi Jacobson. And I can’t forget Natalie Kabenjian, who is a longtime inspiration and collaborator, an amazing dancer, actress, and singer.

Website: www.robertmurphy3.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cuckoosnest333/

Image Credits
In order of photos: 1. Robert Murphy. 2. Crystal St. John and Robert Murphy of the Hidden Gems band. 3. The Murphy family: Carolyn Murphy, Bob Murphy, and kids Robert Murphy and Billy Murphy. 4. Robert Murphy on camera, Nathan Wilson and Lara Parker acting, 5. Mika Boorem directs with Robert Murphy on camera. 6. Brent Florence directs Robert Murphy. 7. Robert Murphy. 8. Robert Murphy on the monitor acting with Lola Nekrasova. 9. Robert Murphy in character. 10. Robert Murphy and brother Billy Murphy