​Go Murphy shoots from the hip

Go Murphy is a Fargo based indie rock band. Since their inception five years ago, they have been making quite the name for themselves. With one full length album down and another one on its way. Go Murphy has a few more tricks up their sleeves.

They have received global radio play, played RedGorilla music fest at SXSW in 2014, and one of their songs was even featured on a national radio ad campaign for American Family Insurance.

Their latest endeavor involved shooting a video at the historic Lisbon Opera House. HPR had the exclusive opportunity to speak with Go Murphy guitarist/vocalist Marcus Rondesvedt and video producer Jason Gronvold.

HPR: How did you come up with the name Go Murphy?

Marcus Rondestvedt: Murphy is the name of one of my best friend's dog. I was down in Omaha visiting just after the band started and his Girlfriend was yelling at the dog for eating her sandals "No Murphy" and I thought that was pretty cool. Go Murphy had a better feel to it.

HPR: Are you all from Lisbon?

MR: The band formed in Fargo when I lived there. I just recently, well over a year ago, moved back to my hometown of Lisbon. Everyone else still resides in Fargo. That's where we practice weekly and the band calls home.

HPR: Can you tell us a bit about the video shoot?

Jason Gronvold: We shot the video in a packed house at the Historic Lisbon Opera House. We had a great group of collaborators. Ryan Cofer was our recording and mix engineer. Jaeden Wellner was our lighting designer. Tucker Lucas produced our interviews. Matthew McGregor, Tony Mangnall, Aaron Baker and Casey Walsh were our camera operators.

HPR: Did you have a live audience or was it a closed shoot?

MR: Live audience. I can't remember what the capacity was but I think we had around 150 people there. Pretty awesome for such a small community. We even had a big crowd of Fargo fans make the trip.

HPR: What was it like shooting in the opera house?

MR: The Opera House is an amazing venue. I believe Ryan Cofer (the cat's meow) said he barely had anything coming through the PA because the sound carried so well.

JG: It was totally great. You couldn't ask for a venue with more character. It also felt really special to have so many of the band’s family able to make the show. There were definitely some good vibes and lots of love in the room that night.

HPR: Do you have many hometown gigs-if so how are they received?

MR: We have only played in Lisbon a couple times. This by far was the most rewarding. The community really got behind it.

HPR: How long was the shoot in the works?

MR: We started planning this a couple months before the performance. Trying to coordinate the video, sound, and lights without knowing exactly what we were getting into was a challenge but we couldn't be happier with how it all turned out.

JG: Yeah, we were in pre-production for couple of months. I love watching a project like this come together.

HPR: What did you find most impressive about the structure itself, why did you choose the Lisbon Opera House to shoot?

MR: I've played a couple acoustic things in the Opera house and just thought it would be a unique opportunity to do something for a live video. I've always been really impressed with Jason's work and I knew he'd capture the moment and he did. We've been in touch with Jason on a few different ideas over the years and it just never worked out timing wise. Whether it be band member changes or something else.. So when this opportunity came up we were happy that Jason was as excited to do this as we were. You can definitely see it in his work.

JG: I was partial to the purple curtains, myself. There's so much history embedded in old theaters like the one in Lisbon. Not just town history, but Marcus's family, too. It was such a pleasure to shoot in such a beautiful building while surrounded by people with strong ties to the band. I think that night really meant alot to everyone involved.

HPR: According to your website, one of your songs was used in a national radio campaign for American Family Insurance, that's quite the achievement! How did that happen?

MR: Out of the blue we got an email from a major advertising firm (BBDO) asking us if we'd be interested in submitting 3 tracks for a chance to be on a radio ad. He was searching for a band in the Midwest to represent this region in a "dream fearlessly" campaign. We had no idea what it was to be honest. We submitted “New Year”, “A is A”, and “Rezil” I believe, and they chose “Rezil”. We figured it would be some instrumental background track and then we heard it and it ended up being a full-on feature of the song for about 90 seconds and I think it played in about 8 states nationwide on all clear channel stations for a few months. it was a pretty big break for the band.

HPR: Can you tell our Readers about your new album?

MR: What I can tell you is that the tracking is done and the mixing will be done this week so we are getting very close to wrapping it up. The new album will be titled "Buildings" and have 10 tracks. We will be spending the next couple months planning the release along with a few other things we have up our sleeves. We are really excited to share what we've been working on.

HPR: You mentioned that Go Murphy will be releasing a full 30-45 minute video, Can you tell our readers a bit about that?

MR: Yeah we will be working with Jason to put together a longer video of a bunch of the songs from the Opera House show along with interviews they did before the set. JG: I have a all the footage in the editing room right now. We'll be rolling out a couple more videos over the next couple of months. We'll also be releasing a full concert film. Keep an eye out for for that later this summer.

HPR:. When is your next show?

MR: Actually we don't have an thing booked right now we are just busy with the album and the video. I expect our next show will be a CD Release show in Fargo and after that we'll be planning a couple Midwest runs.

YOU SHOULD KNOW:

http://www.gomurphymusic.com/