Sean Murphy has the name of the common man, but one listen to his music and you'll soon realize that he's truly one of a kind. A native of Lanikai, on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, Sean grew up loving the ocean, beaches and laidback serenity that shaped his hometown. But it was his early love for music that honed his career as his dad's internet broadcast business would allow Sean to take in many of the concerts performed by local Hawaiian artists.
At the age of eight Sean started taking guitar lessons and in a typical pre-teen sense began to follow and favor the rhythms of Dave Matthews and the legendary Bob Dylan. Moving on into his teens Sean would eventually venture out and hook up with some local bands, before deciding to go solo with a focus on generating his own material.
Clearly on an inspirational path, Murphy's sound would develop even more as he began to put pen to paper, scripting words filled with emotion as well as songs that not only spoke of love, friendship and nature, but transcended the popular tradition of self-indulgent rock. Later, Sean would further challenge himself by taking on large-scale issues such as global awareness and climate change in his music, all the while building new bridges between secular concepts and deep meaningful lyrics.
Sean is now skilled to play variety of musical talents including the Chinese acoustic guitar, piano, harp, drums and Sitar. These talents, along with Sean's musical influences, support a strong, unique medley of style; along with a "vision" of combining both spirituality and growth to his unique playing style that makes him a great performer as well.
Sean's music is, therefore, a direct reflection of a culture that takes on much of today's society and the pragmatic roots of American music that have brought us today's influential alt-rock sound (along with the cult faves such as Beck and Matt Costa). It is within the search to invoke this very cord that truly inspired tunes like "It's Time" and the current hit "Us", both heartfelt tunes that showcase Sean's syrupy, yet warm and emotional vocals.
Indeed, "Us" deftly captures Sean's repertoire&emdash;nimble guitar riffs, handsome vocals and lyrics that are both personal and touching. "Us touches the feelings we all have when we have had love and lost love," says Sean. "The places and memories which remind us of that relationship. Some things we might regret, and wish we could take back, yet most often never get the chance."
Soon enough, without the assistance of a label or radio promotion, Sean's MySpace music page began to garner a huge buzz (to date, almost 4 million listens), with industry veterans such as Brian Adams checking out Sean's work and singing his praises while Sean made a plethora of fans overseas. Major producers took notice too, namely David Foster (whose worked with everyone from Whitney Houston to Celine Dion and Madonna) who took a listen to Sean's work and came away amazed: "During the years I have seen a great number of incredible talents and worked with a lot of superb artists," said Foster, "but rarely will you find such raw talent and passion in someone that seems to elevate music to a higher standard."
High praise indeed!
It wouldn't be too long before all the excitement surrounding Sean would catch the ears of indie imprint Moonlight Entertainment Records' Valentino Li Valcin and Salvatore Albert Bazile, who quickly signed the unsigned artist to his first record deal.
Now Sean is working on a debut full-length album where he'll serve as creative head and producer with plans to assemble a band and tour internationally. The album promises to boast a collection of tunes that feature Sean's lessons on life, love and society in general. Hardworking, humble, and compassionate, Sean's determination is sure to get him as far as his music can possibly reach. As Sean himself stated in a recent interview: "A true artist has no choice but to create. A smart artist not only creates, but knows to learn all the ins and outs of his craft, seizing the reigns of production, making all artistic choices, so that the outcome is entirely a reflection of his heart and skills."
– Cleon Alert