I have been in bands a long time. And I love to write.
Anything you want to know?
Anything at all?
I would appreciate it if you could ask me to write something, if you have a question or a curiousness to what being in a band on the road, writing songs, vomiting from a moving van in the rain in Seattle, writing a hit song, having people hate you, having people love you, recording studios, psychotic breakdowns on the road, industry people and their suits and smiles.. If any of that interests you and makes you curious, I would love to hear.
Bands I have played in.
- Animosity wanted to be punk rock, settled for a garage band from Irvine (1983-86)
- The Shaman doors-ish jam-ish rock mix (1986-87)
- The Shrinky Dinx heavy metal beginnings of Sugar Ray (1988-1995)
- The Weirdos I replaced Zander Schloss for their 1990 tour opening for Circle Jerks 20th anniversary tour (1990-1991)
- Sugar Ray changed our name after the Dinx got a record deal with Atlantic Records in 1994 (1994-present)
- The Special Goodness played bass as power trio with Pat Wilson & Atom Willard for rehearsals, a few local shows, and a tour on second stage with Weezer & Dashboard Confessional (1999-2000)
You can either follow me and my blog and I will get a confirmation email, or you can just write a comment in the bottom box below and I will see it that way.
Your are my publisher boss, so have at it.
Any topic goes.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Murphy
MurphyKarges 
I would like to know more about what songs you you applied lyrics to and what they mean to you, what else was going on at that time in your life, and what inspires you the most. I am glad that you are doing this because I think you are a great writer and I enjoy reading your stories.
Leslie
thanks leslie. i’m working on it now..
How hard was it for you to leave Sugar Ray and how did you ever hook up with Aaron Rodgers label?
wow. two great questions in the smallest amount of words. great job. coming soon…
Write about the first song you wrote, and it’s origins, granted I film you discuss this very interesting bit of information to contribute to my rock and roll documentary that is!
Karen…. ok… I will get on this one..
Hey Murph!
What were your best and worst times with each band member of Sugar Ray? What do you think they would say was their best and worst time with you?
that’s actually a good question… but a daunting one… I have to go back in my mind and scan 24 years to pick out the answers.
Hi Murphy!
What was it like perform halftime at game 5 for the NBA finals Lakers vs 76ers in 2001? Did you guys get to meet any of the players? What was the atmosphere like? Did you guys get to watch the game? Being a huge Lakers fan that is the only time I ever wanted the Lakers to go to a game 5 so you guys could perform. And if you have any pictures can you please share some? Thanks!
Regina
Regina. Great question. Look forward to this one..
Do you remember your last day of work before you quit to do the band full time?
I like this one Matto. Little Caesars! Actually that’s not entirely true. I will jump on this one very soon..
Hi Murphy,
How about, the first time you met Ryan. Why you and Julie chose to open a non-profit? I am sure after 11 years there are many that left footprints on your hearts, from the thousands of families and children you inspired and helped. What was the hardest part and what was your favorite part of the entire 10 year experience and how involved were your boys? Would you do it again in the future? What advise could you offer others that would like to do something to help others? Thank you!
Debbie.. look forward to writing about this..
Murphy,
On several occasions your name has come up during conversations with Zander Schloss and your role with the Weirdos. Can you tell me how this all came to be?
Brian
Brian it’s a cool story. I will jump on it soon..
How about your most memorable fan encounter and Sugar Ray Karaoke singer. I know you had some very dedicated fans while touring with Sugar Ray. Thanks!
what a cool specific question.. i’ll give it a roll..
In which country would you like to tour the next time when doing it again?
I look forward to writing your reply.. lots of places that come to mind..
Tell us about Dylan C. Crouch. He was certainly a friend, a fan, funny…. feel free to use any words that start with “F”.
This will be a blast and will fill people in on early days of Sugar Ray.. and Dylan was there to see it all..
just curious why won’t the 5 members of sugar ray ever play together ever again?
Evan, thanks for the comment. But this one again is kind of a ‘I don’t know’ kind of answer. Anything else you’d like to ask that might go a little deeper about our band?
Murphy,
Sugar Ray is by far my favorite band, my best friend and I have been from Detroit, Sault Saint Marie, Michigan, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to LA California to see you guys! When will you tour with them again??? I really wish it would go back to the 5 of you. Maybe Summerland tour????
Thanks Murph,
Sharon Erison
Sharon,
thanks for your comments and question.. So I understand you, your question is when we will get back together? I don’t think I can do 1,000 words on that unless you will let me do run on sentences aplenty. The easy answer to that is I don’t know. How about something with teeth? a real question about one of those places you’ve seen us play? something about a favorite song that you’ve always wondered, just trying to help out here.. thx!
Twenty-four years is a long time to be with the same group of guys. Out of those 24, which years were your favorite and why? Also, what was it like to go from being a fan of a band to actually being the adored? I’ll take the good with the bad. There have to be amazing stories as well as horrors.
Copied from FB: Hey, there, Murphy! Unless I’m mistaken (correct me if I am), you’re the only member of the original 5 whose voice we never heard in a song (you let your bass grooves do the talking :)). Did you ever have the urge to sing on any tracks?
He did sing on the song “Waiting” and I only know this because I asked him specifically about the song. Listen to it again and are if you can figure out where he is.
I really like the video for “your heart” from Donovon frankenreiter. You directed that, I believe. How did that come about? What was it like to be on the other side of the camera? Were you nervous?
yes scott glad you like it. 🙂 I’ll get on this..
Who was the greatest Sugar Ray cover band? specifically on Big Black woman and caboose(lol)
You were Gary.
Hi Murphy, I have a question that is probably more important to me, and may not be what you are looking for, but here it goes. About 91-92, Mark asked me to scratch in the background of some of your songs while playing live. We did this about 3 times at random venues (once in Hermosa and twice in San Diego), just playing around. I don’t know of any other DJ’s that did this with you live, until you signed with Atlantic and they introduced you to Craig (DJ Homicide). Was there ever any conversation with the band to hire me? I know that you had DJ Lethal perform on Lemonade and Brownies, was he also an option? I am just looking to be a trivia question down the road other then who deejayed Rodney and Murphy’s weddings!!
Cheers
Scott you were the original Sugar Ray DJ. Got it started in San Diego! This gives me some ideas to write about the early days..
Hi Murphy,
Huge fan of you and Sugar Ray (I also love your photography!) … Can you write about your time with the band in Australia when you shot Music in High Places? For obvious reasons, I am sure it was a blast — but can you tell us about your time there with the band. How long were you there for and how “real” was it. It seems like most of it wasn’t scripted/planned – it was really raw and I loved that about it. Was it as fun as it looked … and if not, why? Finally, what was your greatest memory of your time there with the band? Thanks for this opportunity to connect with you.
Laura Silva
Great question. Music in High Places was really fun. I have some tour journals from when we did that show. I’ll go back into those and write about it for you.
thanks for your input.
Hey Murphy. I know you already answered my question but I have another if you would like to reply. I was wondering if you remember playing at the Lincoln Park Zoo July of 2011. Just wondering how everything before/during/ after the show all went for you and the guys. I was at that show, and I had the best time! thanks Murph!
Reblogged this on MY BLOG and commented:
Really crazy that I wrote this nearly two years ago. And so many great questions came of it. What I didn’t anticipate was how hard some of the answers would be for me to write.
It’s public knowledge that Stan and I are in the middle of a lawsuit regarding the band Sugar Ray that we all built together, but we have never spoken of it, preferring to handle it behind closed doors and amongst ourselves. Sugar Ray is something that Stan and I have been in for half our lives, for 24 years, and to go through something this messed up has been quite a trip.
So then these questions come it.. and they’re great questions! And I was excited to answer them. But then I put the keyboard in front of me and…. blank… I couldn’t write them. I know the answers but it was stuck because some of the answers would reveal the truth that we have been hiding and preferring to keep quite amongst ourselves.
I will answer some of them now because the severity of what has happened and the shock of dealing with this ugly matter has subsided a little bit and there is some distance to stomach it.
Again, if you wrote in asking me a question, thank you so much and I whole-heartedly apologize for it taking this long but perhaps this explanation will help you understand why your questions when ignored.
Most of all, thanks for following and thanks for listening.
Hi Murphy, I love, love, love Sugar Ray and have for 100 years it seems. My friend and I have seen you all from LA to Milwaukee, Detroit to St. Sault Marie MI over the years. I am so happy that you are opening up about what happened with you, Stan and the band. We sang karaoke with Stan for goodness sakes and as you probably don’t remember me/us, some very special memories were made over the years getting to hang out with you and the guys. My heart goes out to you and no matter what happens I hope you all find some sort of peace with each other, 24 years is a long time to never speak again. Frankly, I still love Sugar Ray but it is absolutely not even close to the same feeling watching them without you and Stan there. I miss watching you, Stan and DJ Homicide rockin out. So, I guess after all that ranting, I didn’t even ask a question HaHa…. much love and success to you, Julie (met her a couple times to), and your handsome boys. So my question is…. will we ever see a SR reunion with you, Stan and Craig someday, possibly, maybe…???? Hmmmmmm… Thank you so much for your time, Sharon Erison vball4life@att.net
Sharon,
Thanks for writing and sharing. 100 years is a long time… Those cities you mentioned, they all had some great shows that I can remember. Especially St. Sault Marie, just because we didn’t get there as often as the others. Who knows if there will ever be an original member reunion, I just know that it would be really cool. Whenever the five of us got together to make music, something special always happened. There was just an energy between us that clicked and made things happen that were fun to be a part of. Thanks again for writing in.
Murphy,
I kind of knew what was going on thanks to some loyal Sugar Ray fans. I’m so sorry you and Stan are going through this. God has a plan for you and I hope it is in your favor. Since you guys have left the band I have not seen Sugar Ray. However if there is a Sugar Ray reunion with all 5 guys Batgirl (me) will be the first in line. I do have another question for you. Are you still working for Aaron Rodgers at Suspended Sunrise recordings?