Róisín Murphy is that precious mix, a combo all creatives long for but rarely reach; sparklingly creative but also confident and self-assured. She’s been dubbed eccentric and a little bit…kooky. But actually she’s just doing her own thing. And enjoying it at that. So there.
Many remember her as one half of Moloko, who stormed the dance charts in the late 90s and early 00s with a bizarre and cheeky trip-hop/electro sound. She then went solo, releasing four albums to fairly universal critical acclaim. Overpowered in particular, her 2007 masterpiece of stonking electro disco, sent technicolour soundwaves rippling through the industry, influencing much of chart pop and dance for years to come.
Now, Róisín’s back, and as brave and beautiful as ever. She’s just released the third in a series of four 12” singles. It’s called “Jacuzzi Rollercoaster/Can’t Hang On” and it’s as weird and wonderful as you might think. It’s been a loving and meticulous project, with Róisín directing and producing the music videos for each song herself.
Dylan B Jones had a chat with her not just about music, but about how she’s influenced, on an audiovisual level, by the world and what’s around her.
So Róisín…what goes through your head when you’re making music videos. Mentally and creatively, how DOES making music videos work?
It’s like anything you try to achieve while you’re creating. What have you got at hand? Who’s in front of me? What can I use? With Jacuzzi Rollercoaster, and the two videos that came before that, for the previous two 12” singles…they’re all born out of club culture. I get a lot of people to come and be in my videos for free. Because I’ve got no money. I actually made films, in order to attract people to come and make films with me. The best thing I had at my disposal was these fabulous people, who came and did it just because they felt like it. They love the music, they’re loved up. So it’s better than actors, in that way.
I’d like to take you back to the video for Movie Star. With Jodie Harsh, Lady Lloyd and loads of others. So good! Tell me about how it came into being.
Well, it’s a case in point. I was really involved in that video. I wanted to recreate a vibe from John Waters movies. There was my mate Leo, who I knew would make a perfect Divine. And the rest spilled out of the Boombox scene – Richard Mortimer was the bad man in it, because he was the most normal looking out of everyone, so he was the evil person in it. And all the Boombox kids, they were in it too. And obviously we had to have me being raped by a giant lobster in the middle of it all.
Well naturally. Are you a perfectionist?
I’m definitely a finesser. Once I’m there and in it, I’m very interested in making sure each detail is as good as it possibly can be. And sometimes people are standing scratching their heads, wondering why I’m so worried about small little things. They say ‘just let it go, it was supposed to be finished yesterday!’ So on the one hand, the ideas are just there for picking. That’s not the worry. For me, the worry is, I need to get the details across as much as I possibly can. I continually try to put myself in the position of the person who’s seeing it or hearing it for the very first time. So, the more details I can get right, the better that experience is going to be for them.
It’s a natural thing for creatives.
Yeah! It should never be too much of a massive stretch. My career’s like that from start to finish. I just walked in, saying experimental stupid shit on my boyfriend’s music, and then it became a career. It’s about a MOMENT, more than an overarching plan. The gut feeling is more important than the big plan. It would be nice to be able to explain to you in an interview, but it’s not that much use in real life. Because it ends up being something that could get in the way of free thought and association and just letting stuff happen.
So essentially, it’s all to do with your surroundings.
Each creative thing you do, you ask yourself, who’s here? What am I thinking about? But it’s not just people, it’s the world around you and the things around you. I have to come up with a treatment this week for somebody else’s project, and because I’m walking around listening to Sam Harris podcasts and they’re obsessed with free speech, and de-platforming and riots in universities and all this stuff – it’s all swirling around in your head, so that’s what comes out. You sort of end up shoehorning the ideas you have, into the opportunities you have. And there’s nothing wrong with that! It’s just how it works.
Róisín Murphy’s latest single Jacuzzi Rollercoaster/Can’t Hang On is out now. For info on her upcoming work and tours, head to roisinmurphyofficial.com
