Conor Murphy is the kind of artist who doesn’t want to limit his artistic output to one outlet. Perhaps best known for being in the St. Louis-based band, Foxing, Murphy exercises different musical muscles with his other band Smidley. This includes exploring his dance-floor options on the album “Murphy Horse” (Royal Mountain). Pressed on “Coke Bottle Clear” vinyl, songs on “Murphy Horse” such as “Capstone” (featuring a guest appearance by Lucy Dacus), “Love In Every Direction,” “People Like You,” “Friendly’s,” reveal another aspect of Murphy’s musical personality, and it’s one well worth investigating.
Gregg Shapiro: For those not in the know, what can you tell us about how the name of the band Smidley came to be?
Conor Murphy: Growing up, our childhood dog was named Smidley. I found the video from the first day we got Smidley. For a Christmas present for my family, I digitized all of our childhood VHS tapes. I found it and it’s so sweet. I remembered the day so well. Basically, we tried to come up with a name for our dog, and nobody could agree on anything. Then somebody brought up that when I was a baby, my brother, who is 10 years older than me, would pretend he was a superhero and I was his baby sidekick. He would call me Smidley, and then we named our dog Smidley. (The band) Smidley is named after my dog, but our dog was named after me as a superhero. It felt like the most fitting thing. I had so many other band names, but that’s the one that meant the most.
GS: Your previous band, Foxing, is now on hiatus. In what way would you say distinguishes the songs on Smidley’s new “Murphy Horse” album from the five you made with Foxing?
CM: From conception, Foxing was always just this extremely serious band that always felt like it was life or death. Everything we did was done in a serious way, and it created so much pressure whenever we wrote songs or toured or recorded. I needed a release valve with it. When you’re writing a song and, according to us, it has to be incredible, serious, and innovative, it becomes stressful. When you play a show and you mess something up, you feel like you’re letting down everybody and yourself. I created Smidley to be that release valve to have fun making things. So that when I went into writing with Foxing, that I wouldn’t feel like if we don’t use one of my songs or if we don’t use a guitar part I wrote, I wouldn’t feel so disappointed because I would be like, “I can do it with this other thing.” Smidley is like the exact opposite of Foxing. It’s an accurate depiction of the type of music I like, which is a lot more dance-y and also lighthearted. It feels like something that is meant to be enjoyed rather than something meant to be taken so seriously.
GS: I’m glad you mentioned the dance aspect. I love the dance energy of “Capstone.” Is there a remix in the works, and if so, what would it mean to you to have the song embraced by club DJs?
CM: It would mean everything to me.
GS: Wow!
CM: [Laughs] I want so badly to have a remix album. I haven’t put in the time to actually do it because I’ve been thinking that that is my goal for when the album comes out. Once the stresses of putting out a record are over, that is what I want to do next. Have a full remix album. I wanted it to be much more dance-y than it already is. I DJ at some places in St. Louis and I love it so much. I’ve done it since I was in high school. When I was a sophomore in high school, I saved up over a long time to get my first board, which is a Traktor Kontrol S4. That’s what I still use today. It’s now kind of an archaic, digital board. I got it because I never got invited to the cool parties in high school. When I got it, everybody would invite me to the parties.
GS: That was very smart!
CM: I know! It was a genius move looking back on it. I got embraced by people for the first time in my life. I’ve been playing in bands since I was 12. Nobody wanted a band to play at their party, but everybody wanted me to come and play music so they could dance. I have a very special place in my heart for dance music and DJing. The songs I’ve been writing for our next record are even more straight up, four-on-the-floor dance music. Because this is what I love.
GS: Queer singer/songwriter Lucy Dacus provides vocals on the song “Capstone.” How did that come to be?
CM: Lucy’s partner Julien Baker and Foxing have played shows together. We used to perform house concerts, and play very small DIY venues, together in her previous bands. We’ve known Julien forever. Dominic Angelella, who plays bass in Lucy’s band, we’ve also played together forever. He was in Smidley for a tour, he played on this (new Smidley) record, and he’s one of my best friends in the world. There are countless people that are in between Lucy and I, connective tissue there. Julian turned her on to Foxing and Dominic turned her on to Smidley. When we met, we were such fast friends. We started talking about (the TV show) “Survivor” and we were friends immediately. Every time that we hung out, it became obvious that the only reason we’re not best friends is that we don’t live in the same city. I hope she would say the same thing about me. I love her very much. She asked me to sing “Bullseye” (from “Forever Is a Feeling”) with her in St. Louis at our opera house (Stifel Theatre), which is my favorite place in the world. I was on tour and had a show the same day, so I couldn’t do it. I wrote her this novel of a text message that was basically like, “I want to die because I wish I was there.” I will never forgive myself for not being able to do it. Then I also mentioned that, “I’m working on an album. If you have any interest in doing something with me, it would be awesome.” She immediately was like, “Yeah, let’s do a song together.”
GS: Lastly, how would you say that your own queerness is or was a presence in your music?
CM: On Foxing’s fourth album, “Draw Down the Moon,” that’s when I came out as being bisexual. It was a very freeing moment. A very big thing for me to be able to do that publicly. It felt like I found much more community from it. They’re people that I felt like I could relate to more. A lot more people came to me because of it saying, “Hey, me too. I’m queer.” I feel like you can talk to people in a more sincere way when you both realize that about each other. Several of the songs on that album are about that, about being able to find your community and find yourself in those ways. That’s kind of a through line from that album to this album. There’s this and recognition that AI and the government and capitalism can’t take this from you. You can be laid off, but you still have community and you still have love all around you. You have people that will take care of you and that you can take care of. That is one of the most beautiful parts of my life.
To listen and watch Smidley’s video for “Capstone,” go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_RC9H9uFyU
This story is brought to you by Rosedale Health and Wellness and Dudley’s Place.
