Words: Alisa Caira
August 4, 2019
At Governors Ball, WBRU got the chance to meet up with Murray of Easy Life. We talked about everything from my hometown of Boston to Tyler, the Creator.
AC
For your new fans, can you just briefly describe your band and your sound?
EL
Yeah, so, we’re called Easy Life! There’s five of us in the band. We’re from England, and yeah, we play this kind of like pop, jazz-influenced sound.
AC
So what are your specific influences when it comes to your music?
EL
That’s a difficult question to answer. I always try to not name specifics because I’m only one member of the band, and I have my own unique set of influences. All five of us come from such a broad musical background. We all grew up listening to very different stuff. So, when we come into the studio, we come with these very different genres. There’s a lot of jazz, I guess. A lot of hip hop as well. A bit of pop, of course. Some of the band members are into country, some world music, reggae, afro-beat kind of stuff, rhythmic stuff, all sorts of things.
AC
Then what does it look like in the studio? How do all of these influences kind of come together in the songwriting process?
EL
I mean, it’s different every time, really. Sometimes it might just be one of us on our own who will write the song, just me in my bedroom, and I’ll get it. Other times, it’ll be all together when we’re just hanging out and making music. There’s no set formula for us. In fact, we wrote a song on the road the other day. It just came about. We sampled, like, this crazy American person who was a legend, not crazy actually.
AC
Was this just a random person?
EL
No, we befriended this guy in a bar, and he later broke someone’s arm. Everthing got all crazy in an arm wrestle, and he was just the best guy. We sampled him. So, from the stuff he said, we wrote a song based on what he had told us. So yeah, that’s what the songwriting process is all about. Or we can be in the studio for, like, weeks trying to get that one song.
AC
You’ve been traveling around for quite a bit now. Have you had any particular experiences that really stuck out to you while on the road?
EL
A lot. To be honest, yeah, it’s just weird being in America because we go from state to state. Every state is like a different country. It really is. Obviously, each has its own laws and stuff. The accent changes a lot. What it’s like to go out and party is different. People’s demeanor really varies. But yeah, I don’t know that much about particular crazy stories. I think that just being here is crazy enough. Having people want to talk to us in New York City. Man, I love New York.
AC
Why do you love it?
EL
Why do I love New York? What’s not to love?
AC
I don’t know! New York and I have a love-hate relationship.
EL
Oh, really?
AC
Yeah…
EL
Whereabouts do you live?
AC
I’m not from the city. I’m from Boston, but I come down here quite a lot.
EL
Oh, okay. Well, we love Boston too! We were in Boston just last week.
AC
You were at Boston Calling, correct?
EL
Yeah, we were!
AC
So, what city is better? Boston or New York?
EL
Well, I don’t know if I can answer that because you might get offended.
AC
Ouch…
EL
No, I can’t pick between two such amazing cities! But, I’ll tell you what, the food! Well, the food in New York is amazing. You must agree. However, the seafood in Boston was the best seafood I have ever had in my entire travels.
AC
We’re known for it.
EL
Yeah, we ate the most amazing oysters, had some calm chowder. When we were in Alabama, we ate some fried alligator as well. We’ve eaten some weird stuff, but this lived up to all of it.
AC
Okay, so Boston might not be the best city, but you’re giving us the best food?
EL
Yeah, definitely the best food, and it’s got people like you which helps. Also, I love the film set in Boston “The Town.” Have you seen it?
AC
No, I actually haven’t.
EL
What!? You’re from Boston! How have you not seen “The Town”? Maybe it’s just a tourist thing. I went to Boston, and I was like, “I gotta see this movie about Boston.”
AC
I didn’t even know we had movies about Boston.
EL
There are loads of good ones like “Departed” was in Boston with young Leo.
AC
What are your favorite, not Boston related movies?
EL
Hah, I don’t know. All the good ones! Like “Pulp Fiction,” “Shawshank Redemption,” Forest Gump,” all the good ones, man. Always classic.
AC
Makes sense. So, who else are you excited to see perform here at Gov Ball?
EL
Oh, you know, Ty Dolla $ign is on the same stage as we were pretty soon. He’s gonna be great. I’m quite excited. I’m really surprised at where he’s billed actually, but it’s good, in the end. He doesn’t conflict with any of the big headliners. It’s going to be sick. I think Playboi Carti is also playing as well. King Princess, but I think we might miss her. We’re going to just hang around and see loads of stuff. Some of the lads saw Tyler last night which they mentioned was crazy. I was in the studio working though.
AC
What were you doing in the studio? New stuff for the band or a more personal project?
EL
Oh God, no. I am not doing anything solo. I was doing band stuff. I was just mixing some drums. How boring is that?
AC
Was it worth missing Tyler?
EL
Well, someone’s gotta mix the drums! Who’s gonna mix down the drums if everyone is at Tyler? What are we gonna do? No drums, no band, everything would be over. You know what, we’ve been in New York for around two weeks now, and I’ve spent almost all of that time in the studio. I’ve been really inspired. As soon as I get my hands on a studio, I just lock myself in there. Those things are 24 hours, so I just drink coffee and smoke and just go for it.
AC
So, does that mean there’s new music coming?
EL
There’s always new music coming. Yeah, we are just constantly writing. Our entire goal is to just be really authentic and transparent with it as we put things out. Anything we write, we just want to put it out. We just want to release music and being on this trip has really allowed us to create loads of stuff.
AC
I think we have to wrap things up, sadly, but…
EL
EL
Short and sweet, huh?
AC
We tragically have to go to another interview. However, before we go, we would love to ask you what advice you would give to students trying to pursue their creative interests.
EL
EL
Just keep doing it and have fun doing it. You guys are, like, super Ivy League.
AC
I don’t know about that.
EL
Truly! Anyone who has gotten to where you guys are is going to be alright. You all must already be very outgoing and determined. So yeah, just keep doing your thing and have fun. For ages, it wasn’t much fun for us, and we were just chasing this thing that perhaps could have never existed. Then, as soon as we stopped caring about what people think, that’s when it started working out. So, keep doing you! I mean, that’s pretty rubbish advice, eh?
AC
I like it! Good advice to end on. Thank you so much for your time.
EL
Of course, that was a great chat.