Christopher Michael Murphy (born November 7, 1968) is a Canadian musician and a member of the rock band Sloan.

Early life

Murphy was born in

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlott ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

. His family moved to

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the seat of government of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Quee ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, where his father obtained a Ph.D. from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. He later moved to Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, where he attended

Halifax West High School Halifax West High School is a Canadian public high school located in the Lacewood neighbourhood in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Encompassing grades 10 through 12, Halifax West High School offers a variety of courses in both ...

and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.

Musical career

Murphy originally formed Sloan with Jay Ferguson. Murphy is the band's primary bassist, occasionally switching to drums or guitar, and is one of the band's two main singers; he sings lead on about 40 percent of the band's songs and backup harmony vocals on most of the others. Murphy has written several Sloan songs that have been released as singles, including " Underwhelmed" (from the album '' Smeared''), " Coax Me" (from '' Twice Removed''), "G Turns to D" (from ''

One Chord to Another ''One Chord to Another'' is the third studio album by the Canadian rock band Sloan. The album was released in Canada through Murderecords in 1996 and in the United States through The Enclave in 1997. Like their previous album, ''One Chord to An ...

''), "She Says What She Means" (from '' Navy Blues''), " The Other Man" (from '' Pretty Together''), and " The Rest of My Life" (from '' Action Pact''). In 1995, while Sloan was on a hiatus, Murphy toured and recorded as the drummer for

The Super Friendz The Super Friendz are a Canadian indie rock band from Halifax, Nova Scotia. They were initially active between 1994 and 1997, before reforming in 2002, with sporadic activity since then. Contemporaries of Sloan, their early work was on Sloan's ...

. Murphy hosted a show on

CBC Radio 3 CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music. The service, which la ...

with Sloan bandmate Jay Ferguson from December 2005 through November 2006. The show was also broadcast on

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio ( SDARS) service that operated in the United States and Canada. Sirius launched in 2002, and primarily competed with XM Satellite Radio, until the two services merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM. Li ...

channel 94. In 2010, Murphy served as a music performance supervisor for the film '' Scott Pilgrim vs. The World'', tasked with making sure the actors knew how to play their own instruments for the camera. One character, Young Neil, is seen wearing a Sloan t-shirt during one scene; another character, Todd Ingram, plays a red Fender Mustang Bass with white racing stripe, similar to Murphy's. In 2013, Murderecords released a

7-inch single In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

by The Certain Someones, a supergroup featuring Chris Murphy, Matt Murphy of The Super Friendz, and Jale's Jennifer Pierce. In 2015, Murphy formed the supergroup Tuns with Matt Murphy and Mike O'Neill of

The Inbreds The Inbreds were a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 1992. Originally from Kingston, Ontario,"Kingston's Inbreds don't need guitars". ''Toronto Star'', July 8, 1993. the band relocated to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1996 and remained based ther ...

."Sloan / Super Friendz / Inbreds Supergroup TUNS Announce Debut Album"
''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'', May 20, 2016. In 2016, Murphy, along with Steven Page (

Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies (BNL) is a Canadian Rock music, rock band which was formed in 1988 in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their Barenaked Ladies (EP), self-titled 1991 cassette becoming th ...

Moe Berg Morris Berg (March 2, 1902 – May 29, 1972) was an American professional baseball catcher and coach in Major League Baseball who later served as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. He played 15 seasons in the majo ...

( The Pursuit of Happiness), and

Craig Northey Craig Northey (born February 9, 1962) is a Canadian musician and film and TV composer. He is one of the founding members of the band Odds, which released four albums between 1991 and 1996. They were best known for the radio singles " It Falls Apa ...

(

Odds In probability theory, odds provide a measure of the probability of a particular outcome. Odds are commonly used in gambling and statistics. For example for an event that is 40% probable, one could say that the odds are or When gambling, o ...

), formed the group The Trans-Canada Highwaymen; they performed their first show in Niagara in July that year, and toured across Canada in 2017. Their live set consisted of cover songs by member's bands (Sloan, Odds, Pursuit of Happiness, Barenaked Ladies). In 2018, Murphy and his bandmates from Sloan set out on a 30-date tour in support of their twelfth album together. In August 2019, it was announced that Murphy had formed a supergroup called Anyway Gang with Sam Roberts and members of Hollerado and

Tokyo Police Club Tokyo Police Club was an indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2005, it consisted of vocalist and bassist Dave Monks, keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook, and drummer Greg Alsop. The band found early success with ...

. Murphy and

Joel Plaskett William Joel MacDonald Plaskett (born April 18, 1975) is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was a member of Halifax alternative rock band Thrush Hermit in the 1990s. Plaskett performs in a number of gen ...

collaborated on the production of ''Prize for Writing'', a posthumous album by singer-songwriter Matthew Grimson, which was recorded in 1995 but not commercially released until 2020.Brad Wheeler
"Joel Plaskett and Sloan singer-bassist Chris Murphy bring songs of late Halifax musician Matthew Grimson back to life"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', August 5, 2020.

Personal life

Murphy and his girlfriend, Rebecca Mendoza, have two sons, Francisco and Santiago. In July 2009, Murphy was hit by a car in a hit and run collision while riding his bicycle in Toronto, breaking his collarbone. The incident lent its name to Sloan's subsequent release, the '' Hit & Run'' EP. On January 27, 2021, Murphy announced on Instagram that he was diagnosed with

Bell's palsy Bell's palsy is a type of facial paralysis that results in a temporary inability to control the facial muscles on the affected side of the face. In most cases, the weakness is temporary and significantly improves over weeks. Symptoms can vary f ...

earlier that month. He was optimistic that he would fully recover in the months ahead.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Chris 1968 births Living people Dalhousie University alumni Canadian rock bass guitarists Canadian rock singers Canadian indie rock musicians Musicians from Charlottetown Musicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia Murderecords Alternative rock bass guitarists Canadian alternative rock singers Sloan (band) members 20th-century Canadian bass guitarists 21st-century Canadian bass guitarists 20th-century Canadian guitarists 21st-century Canadian guitarists 20th-century Canadian male singers 20th-century Canadian drummers 21st-century Canadian drummers 20th-century Canadian pianists 21st-century Canadian pianists 20th-century Canadian multi-instrumentalists 21st-century Canadian multi-instrumentalists Canadian male pianists Canadian male bass guitarists 21st-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian singers Singers from Prince Edward Island Singers from Nova Scotia The Super Friendz members