Murder by Death Australian Tour

With the tour recently being postponed until May, Murder by Death are still on the way for a seven date tour of Australia. With a south western sound blended with dark undertones, Murder by Death have been described as everything from 'Gothic' to 'alt country'. I spoke to singer, Adam Turla about their eclectic sound, the upcoming Australia tour and plans for a new album.

Angie Hurlock

Since forming in Bloomington, Indiana as a group of friends making music for fun, Murder by Death have gone on to release five albums and five EP's and cemented themselves as an intense live band with a compelling sound. Murder by Death's sound is unusual and has been labelled as everything from country to Gothic, but labelling the music is something that vocalist Adam Turla tries not to do. “Being eclectic is kinda our thing. I guess we mainly try to be a rock 'n' roll band with hints of Americana and some darker themes. When someone like my grandmother asks what we sound like I say, 'Dark rock 'n' roll with a cello'.

This eclectic sound stems from the diverse musical influences of the band, for Adam these include Percy Sledge, Sam Cooke, Ziggy Stardust era Bowie, The Cure and Os Mutantes. “I like groups/musicians that own their sound. We have very eclectic tastes and generally just enjoy the music of groups that go out and do their own thing and do it well”. Lately Adam has been listening to some of his friends bands and thinks that our readers should do the same. “O'Death is a friends band that put out what I think was the best record of 2011, it's called 'Outside'. It is such a well arranged, beautiful and creepy record, I love it. Our friends J Roddy Walston also put out an amazing record called 'J Roddy Walston'. It is a really fun rock 'n' roll, with a weird Queen meets Thin Lizzy meets Jerry Lee Lewis vibe”.

As Murder by Death prepare to come down to Australia for the first time they're incredibly excited for the shows and so are a lot of Australians who have been waiting for Murder by Death to grace our shores for years. “We've gotten so many e-mails from Aussie's who have been waiting for us to come there, but I think we might be even more excited than them! We are taking a week off to enjoy Australia too, as it's a place we have always wanted to go. I'm flying up to the Great Barrier Reef to scuba and snorkel and I hope to get some rock climbing in too while I'm there”. When it comes to the live shows, Australians should brace themselves for some rowdiness at a Murder by Death show. “The more the audience gives, the more we give. I love a good sing along. We have a tight show that we have worked on for many years. We plan to play stuff from all our records so people who have been waiting years to see us will get to hear the variety of sounds we have gone for. I can't wait”.

The future of Murder by Death is bright, with the Australian tour pending and work on their follow up to 'Good Morning, Magpie' almost complete. “We are in the studio with producer John Congleton (Explosions in the Sky, St Vincent, Black Mountain) right now. We've been holed up in Dallas, Texas, working on a new record that will hopefully be out late this spring or early summer”. After this next album is released another Australian tour is on the cards for Murder by Death with hopes that Adelaide and Perth, who are missing out on shows this time round will be included in the tour next time.

Make sure you get along to a Murder by Death show this May.

Thursday 17th May | The Evelyn, Melbourne

Friday 18th May | The National Hotel, Geelong

Saturday 19th May | The Wall, Sydney

Sunday 20th May | Cambridge Hotel / Side Bar (Chino's), Newcastle
Tickets only available at the door on the night of the show.

Thursday 24th May | Surfers Paradise Beer Garden, Gold Coast
Tickets only available at the door on the night of the show.

Friday 25th May | The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba
Tickets only available at the door on the night of the show.

Saturday 26th May | The Jubilee Hotel, Brisbane