Being in a band is about more than fame and money. For Eric Murphy, senior English major, it’s about a love of music and a passion for the art.
“We just want to write good songs and play them and record them well,” Murphy said. “There’s the artistic motivation but then there’s the motivation of ‘I hate my job’. So it would be really nice if we could start paying some bills with this. We’re just giving it a shot. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll do something else.
Murphy is a guitar player, singer and writer for the local band Radio City.
“A band that a lot of people say we sound like is The Replacements and they were influenced by a band called Big Star,” Murphy said. “They had an album named Radio City but we didn’t know that. The original idea was to make super cheesy ’70s rock and we thought that that sounded completely extravagant and stupid so we used that (as our name). Now people think we did it on purpose because of Big Star.”
Murphy’s favorite part about music is being able to see it all come together from what he originally imagined.
“(My favorite part about music) is writing music and coming up with the arrangement with the band, the first time you play a song the right way, the way it sounds in your head,” he said. “The first time you play a new song live is the most exciting thing.”
Radio City plays all their own music so being able to compose a song is an important part for them.
“I just listen a lot (to get inspiration for my writing), to a lot of other people, all different kinds of music,” Murphy said. “Sometimes listening to music that’s not like what you write will inspire you more. Most of the songs we have right now are all about growing up here. We don’t try to sound like classic rock but we’re influenced by it.”
Radio City has never done a cover of another band because they haven’t found the right one.
“We’re not against (doing covers) and we toy around with it in the basement but we write a lot so we’re always more excited to play the songs we wrote than a cover,” Murphy said.
The band practices in the basement of their lead singer, Matt Kosinski, Emporia resident.
“How often we practice depends on what’s going on,” Murphy said. “For a while, If we weren’t at work or school, we were down there (in the basement) but now since we do shows every weekend and we all have jobs, we haven’t been down in the basement much.”
Since all of Radio City’s band members don’t live in Emporia, that also makes it harder to practice often.
“Everything has to be totally scheduled, band wise and the rest of your life,” Murphy said. “It’s not really conducive to most musicians.”
Radio City will record a full length album in St. Louis this summer. They have played in Kansas City, Warrensburg, Mo., Manhattan and Lawrence. They will soon take up gigs in Tulsa, Okla. and Omaha, Neb.
“We’re going to record a full length album in St. Louis,” Murphy said. “We’ll start with a national booking agent in June. The plan is to get an independent agent. We deal with Sidecho Records in California right now and that got us on ITunes. But the goal is to end up on independent label and tour.”
With the connections that Radio City has, the band could well be on its way to stardom.
“People can give you chances and you can go out and play and if there is a good crowd there and if you have a good show, then that’s good,” Murphy said. “But you to make sure that the people come. There are a lot of factors (affecting our success). We’re thankful for opportunities.”
While he has big hopes for the future of Radio City, being a full time musician has not quite become a serious option for Murphy yet.
“It’s not really hard to make a CD anymore,” Murphy said. “We don’t really know about it being a ‘career’ career. It’s something we’re toying with. At some point I realized that the caliber of the song writing and the performances are about as good as other people that are doing it. So it’s like ‘shot we should do it then.’”
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