Echoing Liverpudlian forebear John Lennon’s infamous ‘bed-in’ to protest the Vietnam War, Matthew ‘Murph’ Murphy of The Wombats is spending his Thursday morning fielding global media enquiries from the comfort of his bed. Rather than pretentiously suggesting that his malaise is designed to bring warring factions to their knees, Murph admits that he’s merely enjoying a well-deserved rest while off the road.
“We’ve had a couple of weeks off and I had no idea about this interview, but it’s cool.” Murph yawns.
Since the release of their insanely popular 2007 single Let’s Dance To Joy Division and its parent album A Guide To Love, Loss And Desperation, sleep-ins have been scant in The Wombats’ world. While their touring schedule has been relentless, it has afforded them the opportunity to play with some of their musical heroes.
“We just played with Radiohead the other day and when Thom Yorke walked past I just sort of froze and didn’t say anything to him. I guess when you’re touring so much you realise how normal these people are, so I don’t really get starstruck anymore. I didn’t talk to any of Radiohead – I bowed my head at [guitarist] Ed O’Brien but he just gave me this really weird smile back. Then we shouted at him from across the road if he wanted to come to a cheese party, but he smiled and walked off. I would go as far to say that Ed’s culinary tastes do not go as far as cheese.”
Do you enjoy trying the native cheese produce of the world as you travel the globe?
“We were filming a TV show called The Fixers and basically this fixer had to come on tour with us and sort out whatever we wanted, so she sorted out a wine tasting and cheese party after we’d finished supporting Radiohead. She’d arranged the smelliest cheeses and when Ed O’Brien walked past we just shouted at him, so he probably wondered what the hell was going on.”
Similarly surreal was Murph’s experience on the ABC quiz show Spicks & Specks when The Wombats were in Australia earlier in the year. The episode found him pitting his wits against gnarled Toto guitarist, Steve Lukather.
“I don’t think I got any questions right but I had a good time and Steve Lukather is a very strange guy and quite seedy. I don’t think it made it to air but he was saying some pretty frisky stuff. He said when we go over to LA I should hook up with his daughter. Hang on, are you whoring your daughter out?”
You were comparing stories about trashing hotel rooms, weren’t you?
“Our efforts have been pathetic, to be honest. The most rock‘n’roll thing we ever did was throw a remote control out the window. The window was only one storey high, so we just lent back out and picked it up.”
In the wake of talk Paul McCartney is keen to produce their next album (“I’d say it’s about a 45% possibility,” Murph suggests) comes word that Daniel ‘Harry Potter’ Radcliffe is a big fan.
“Yeah I know,” Murph chuckles. “He’s come to shows and now we want to get him in a video without him charging us. We’re trying, but he’s a busy guy. Once I get off the phone I’ll put in a request to our manager to get in touch with him.”
Not only will Liverpool’s Wombats come face to face with Australian wombats on their impending national tour of Down Under, the trio are also set to cameo in iconic soap Neighbours.
“We’re not wannabe actors, but I did do an A level in theatre studies, which was more a doss so I could get away with doing less work and encourage my weed smoking habits.
“I think we’ll just be performing in the background. We never intended on telling anyone before it went to air, but our manager put a big bulletin on our MySpace.”
Well it’s a big deal – you’re following in the footsteps of acts such as the Pet Shop Boys, who appeared in the early ‘90s.
“We’d prefer to think we’re following in the footsteps of Jason Donovan… I’ve still got something for Kylie. She’s a bit old now, but she’s timeless.”
Murph admits to being a much darker character than his happy-go-lucky media image suggests.
“The thing is, we are cheery, crazy guys when we’re together on stage, but that is like my therapy. When I’m by myself I’m a pretty depressive character when I’m by myself. That hour on stage really sorts me out, but it can be quite annoying being painted as cheery, happy-go-lucky people. I would have thought that it’s pretty obvious from the lyrics that we’re not… or I’m not, anyway.”
So are you interested in moving away from the pervading fun image and instead promote this darker side of The Wombats?
“I’d like to possibly get away from the happy-go-lucky thing. Then again, we’re called The Wombats, for fuck’s sake. You can’t really get away from that as it’s a part of what we are, but maybe I can balance the two nicely.
“I’ve written three new songs recently and I hope we’ll be able to play them in Australia if we sort them out - I’ll be interested to see how those go down. I wrote this song called My Circuitboard City, which is about feeling out of place in huge places like and trying to assimilate yourself into everyday life. I think it’s a very different song topic from love, loss and women, so I’m quite excited to see how it goes down. It’s still quite a fun song, it’s just not as much fun as Let’s Dance To Joy Division.
“Which in itself isn’t that fun, is it?”
The Wombats play the Governor Hindmarsh on Wed Jul 30 (all-ages) and Thu Jul 7 (sold out). A Guide To Love, Loss And Desperation is out now through Warner.