Interview: Ali Murphy
On her musical POV, and celebrating a year of her debut EP "A Long Time Coming"
Nashville-based pianist, singer, and songwriter Ali Murphy is celebrating a year of her debut EP “A Long Time Coming,” and shared what sparked her passion for music, her influences and mentors, and what she’s up to these days with Amy for Foray Music.
Q: What drew you to music? What was the spark?
Growing up, we always had a piano in the house. When I was little I would always go over to our grand piano and "sing" and "play" songs. As I got older, I spent more and more time at the piano, and eventually started figuring things out by ear. When I was 9, my mom finally decided to put me in piano lessons. I took lessons all the way through high school and college. In high school I was in pretty much every musical ensemble imaginable: chorus, chamber choir, orchestra, vocal jazz ensemble, and played piano in the pit for the spring musicals. At this point I just knew that music was my thing. I was also just always surrounded by music growing up. We'd always listen to music in the car when we went places. My parents listened to a wide variety of music (classic rock to smooth jazz to country to pop to R&B plus other genres), so this instilled in me a love and an appreciation for all kinds of music.
Q: Who are your major influences? Who are you inspired by inside and outside of music?
Billy Joel. I remember when I was taking lessons and once I was finally at the point where I could start learning tunes outside of my lessons book, one of the first songs I learned myself was "New York State of Mind." I instantly fell in love with Billy Joel's music and have been a huge fan ever since. Adele is also a big one for me. I remember hearing 21 for the first time and absolutely fell in love with her music. She's such a powerhouse and I love her songwriting. Outside of music, I feel very inspired by my family. I have the best support system, and I look up to my mom, dad, step-mom, and fiancé so much. They're all incredible people and they support me 10000000%.
Q: Did you/do you have any mentors?
Yes!! My first piano teacher, Joan Beshore, was a huge mentor for me. She taught me from the time I was 9 all the way to 18. She was an awesome teacher and helped me build my technique so much. My high school chorus and orchestra teachers, Lauren Ciemiewicz and Sara Mastern, had such a huge impact on me. They saw my potential and believed and pushed me so much. They are both incredible educators, and I'm honored to have been taught by them. I'm also incredibly grateful for my college piano professor, Dan Strange. He believed in me from the moment I walked into his room for the school's admittance auditions back in February 2018. I have learned so much from him and he was never afraid to push me. He helped me grow so much as a musician, but also as a person. He's helped me believe in myself and be confident in my musical abilities.
Q: How would you describe your creative process? Writing process? Recording process?
I think because of my piano background, I'm pretty much always a music gal first, and then lyrics come later. I always joke and say that if I wrote songs without lyrics, I could write 100 songs a day, but because lyrics are always hard for me, it takes me forever to finish songs. I usually start with a melody idea and then come up with a chord progression, After I have all the chords and melody done, then I write lyrics. I'm always super nit-picky when it comes to lyrics, so it often takes me days or weeks to finish them.
Q: Can you talk about the meaning behind this EP?
My debut EP, A Long Time Coming, literally means so much to me. I'm so excited to finally have my music out in the world. This is a huge personal and musical milestone for me. I'm an extreme perfectionist. It is something I've struggled with my whole life. Up until last year, I hated even the thought of recording because it was always such a negative internal environment for me and always brought out the worst of my perfectionism. But through the process of making this EP with my best friends, I've learned that recording can be fun and exciting and it doesn't have to be this horrible, high-stress thing. After spending a lot of time deciding a name for the EP, I landed on A Long Time Coming and thought it was a perfect fit because 1) it's a lyric in the last song "Odds", but more importantly 2) I truly feel like it's been a long time coming personally and musically to get to this point of being okay with releasing my own music. I've been pursuing music professionally for about 7 years, so it's about dang time that I release some music.
Check out Ali’s EP on all streaming services (Spotify / Apple Music).
Q: Did you collaborate with others on this project? What was that process like?
I got to make this EP with my best friends, who are incredible musicians, but also amazing people. This made the recording process so much easier and less stressful for me. I really really appreciate all the time they took to help me with this project and all of the feedback they gave me along the way. This EP would literally not exist without these amazing humans: Jack Dratch, Reese Alexander, Lia Murphy, Stanton Hudmon, Jeyhan Turker, Nyla Smith, and Kendall Gallo.
Q: What is your favorite part about making music? Your least favorite? Why?
It sounds corny, but it truly allows me to express myself in the purest, unfiltered form. We're all influenced by so many things and so many kinds of music, so I love seeing how each of our experiences impacts our own music. I can definitely hear a mixture of all my musical influences in my own music. I love that I get to pursue my passion as my career. My least favorite part about making music is that a song is never done. I'm so proud of my EP, but even in the days following the release, I heard things that I would change or things that I would add. But I guess that's just part of the deal. There's always more to be done or things we would like to change, but I'm slowly starting to accept that it's just how it is and I should be ok with that.
Q: What advice would you have for someone wanting to make a life in music?
I would say stay true to yourself no matter what. Music is so subjective; one person could say your music is great and another could say they hate it. It's just how it is, so I would say just take everything with a grain of salt. Music is an amazing emotional outlet and can connect us in ways that nothing else can, and I think musicians are pretty dang lucky to be a part of something that powerful, so just be proud of yourself for that.
Q: What’s your favorite song or artist?
Where do I even start? I don't think I can pick one, so I'll list some of my favorites. Favorite Songs - "New York State of Mind" - Billy Joel, "Summer Soft" - Stevie Wonder, and "Want Me Back" - Cody Fry, Cory Wong. Favorite Artists - Billy Joel, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Chris Stapleton, Lawrence, Jacob Collier, and Charlie Puth.
Q: What are you up to these days?
I feel like the better question might be "What are you NOT up to these days?" Life in Nashville has been super busy and I feel like I've been doing so many things that I don't even know what day it is or where I am. I've been gigging a lot here doing solo gigs and writers rounds, which has been super fun. I've been writing some new songs that I plan to record next year. I'm teaching voice and piano lessons three days a week, which gives me so much joy. My students are the sweetest and most talented kids, which makes my job so much fun. On top of that, I'm super excited to be music directing two upcoming productions at Prima Theatre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I'm directing and performing in their holiday concert "Illumination" this month and their Oz-inspired pop concert "Off the Yellow Brick Road" in February. It's a lot, but I love that every day looks different and that I'm growing in so many different areas within my musical universe. I would love to have you follow me on this journey - you can find me everywhere @alimurphymusic!