Volume 96, Issue 27
Thursday, October 17, 2002
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Murray digs up London roots
By Isabela Varela
Gazette Staff
Don't
expect to see the Chris Murray Combo sporting plaid suits, Converse hi-tops
and suspenders when they play Call the Office tonight. They're definitely
a ska band, but they're not the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
Back when Chris Murray was the frontman for Toronto-based ska combo King
Apparatus, his music was influenced by industry pioneers like Madness
and The Specials. Their unique brand of loud, high energy music blended
elements from reggae, punk-rock, rockabilly, hip-hop and even disco.
Since going solo in 1996, Murray has been trying something new. He's carved
a niche for himself in the genre of ska, playing a folk-reggae fusion
he calls "campfire ska."
With his forthcoming CD, Raw, Murray strips things down even
more. All songs, except for one, were recorded on a Panasonic portable
cassette recorder. Without any studio wizardry, he achieves an effect
as honest and direct as if he were singing and strumming a guitar right
in front of you.
On his current tour, Murray is joined by three musicians from Victoria,
on bass, drums and organ, but the spirit of the music remains the same.
"Our vibe overall is more of a rootsy vibe, rather than a power,
driving vibe," he says.
The laid-back singer-songwriter says his novel approach to ska can be
traced back to his teenage days as a camp counsellor. He remembers standing
on a wooden crate in front of a group of kids and leading them in sing-alongs.
On Raw, however, Murray veers away from camp songs in favor of
more traditional reggae and ska themes. "Rastaman" includes
references to Babylon, Marcus Garvey, the Black Starliner and Mother Africa.
Murray says most listeners who are really touched by ska listen to it
for years and eventually go back to where it all began – Jamaica.
For Murray, the journey back to the musical origins of ska started in
the early '90s, when the scene was thriving and he was touring the United
States with King Apparatus.
Eventually, he left Toronto and moved to Los Angeles. His solo acoustic
act went over well when ska was making waves in the mainstream in the
late '90s.
"Being kind of an oddball act was really good because it was a novelty
for a lot of people and they wanted to see it," he says. Murray toured
and collaborated with many of the top names in the ska scene, including
The Specials, The Skatalites and Hepcat.
Murray is looking forward to the show at Call the Office as a homecoming
of sorts. Back when he started King Apparatus in the late '80s, he was
studying English and philosophy at Western while two of his bandmates
attended Fanshawe College.
"Now when I go back [to Call the Office]," he says, "it's
like tapping a root again. It's like 'OK, this is where I come from' in
a way."
The Chris Murray Combo will hit the stage at Call the Office tonight,
Oct. 17, with special guests The Nightshift. Admission is $5.