Nick-Lee Murphy lives for music, by day fixing guitars at a music store and at other times playing in bands and musically supporting a bunch of different community groups. Nick started writing songs out of a feeling of envy when he saw his mates performing their own songs so he got a guitar and started writing songs himself. He reckons it took him a couple of years to develop his songs to the point where he could play them in a band.
Songwriting has been with Nick at the highest and lowest points in his life and the things that drive his songwriting have changed over the years. Earlier on he really needed affirmation from others when he wrote songs but now he writes just for himself and doesn't mind what people think. Interestingly he gets more positive feedback these days!
Nick finds the songwriting process difficult - like he's in a boxing match with a version of himself who is his harshest critic. He throws a lot of songs away but the ones that get through to the end of the boxing match are ones he loves.
He played one of his keepers, "Crave Love" live in the studio and explained how it was written a long time ago for a particular part of his life but the meaning of it has evolved for him over time and is still very relevant today. The song has a strong vibe of one of his songwriting heroes, Robert Plant.
Nick had a lot of fabulous music stories and had me in stitches telling his story about singing songs as a door to door electricity salesman to try to drum up business. It was a pleasure to meet him and hear his songwriting story!
To hear more of Nick's music with his current band The Filthy Darlings:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1aGULTk3Flhcljeah1qAVP?si=zq6N_xA9RIWqkYQSu-aYRw