Solipsism

Solipsism is Craig Murphy, an Experimental Musician and Recording Artist from Glasgow in Scotland. His cross-genre style incorporates elements of Ambient, Techno, IDM, Electro and Experimental Music and his releases have been featured on various Radio Stations from across the Globe, including BBC Radio 1, BBC6 Music, XFM London and Digital Nimbus (U.S.A).
He is also a member of the Psychedelic/Folk band Shoosh, alongside Ed Drury and Neil Carlill. The latter who had several Top 40 hits in the UK with his band Delicatessen (Rough Trade, Big Life). Shoosh have released music on Awkward Silence Recordings and Herb Recordings. Murphy founded the Independent Record Label Herb Recordings in 2006 and he continues to run it to this day. Herb Recordings is distributed on CD by Cargo Records of London and on Digital Formats by State51 also of London. Previously they have been distributed by Amato and INGrooves. Main Site: http://solipsism.bandcamp.com | http://herbrecordings.bandcamp.com Label Site: http://www.herbrecordings.com Physical Distribution: http://www.cargorecords.co.uk Digital Distribution: http://www.state51.co.uk
Herb Recordings has released albums globally by many Artists both from the UK and abroad, such as; Kingbastard, Engine7, Skytree, Shoosh, Solipsism, Jack Marchment, Haz, Shamanic Technology and Mosca. The Label was set up by Solipsism as a platform to release music that had the right blend of melody and experimentalism at a time when Electronic Music was being dominated by Producers rather than Musicians. Herb Recordings therefore became a platform for Producers who were also serious Musicians and as such, their output has warmth that’s often lacking in contemporary Electronic Music.
After Amato Distribution of London went into administration in October 2008, the Label switched both their Physical and Digital operations to Cargo Records. They remain with Cargo Records for Europe-wide CD and Vinyl distribution, but as of February 2011, they have been distributed on Digital Formats by State51. State51 specialises in Experimental, Independent Labels and also distributes the likes of The Leaf Label, Lo Recordings and Twisted Nerve. In 2010 Herb Recordings was nominated as one of the Top Ten Experimental labels by the highly respected Igloo Magazine. The full article along with an interview with Craig Murphy can be read here; http://igloomag.com/profiles/label-extrapolation-piece-part-1
From 2002 to 2007 Murphy worked on Solipsism material with the American Multi-Instrumentalist Ed Drury, from Portland, Oregon. Drury was a Folk Singer and guitarist from the early 1970s New York “Café Scene”. Some of the original 1970s compositions were resurrected and re-worked for their 2008 release with Neil Carlill as Shoosh titled Orpheum Circuit. The album was inspired by American Cop Shows from the 1970s, 1920s Vaudeville Theatre and Spaghetti Westerns. The Orpheum Circuit was a Vaudeville Theatre Company established in 1919 by Martin Beck in the State of Delaware. Since 2007 Murphy has worked solo on the Solipsism material while continuing to work with Ed Drury on the Shoosh project. As well as his official releases, Solipsism has released material on a number of Compilation Albums. The most notable of which was the “Is This Music?” Magazines’ Cover CD featuring the track “At The Beach”. Is This Music? is a highly-respected and long-running Music Magazine from Scotland covering innovative artists and bands from around the World. Magazine: http://www.isthismusic.com
Solipsism’s releases, Refract Me, Don’t Subtract Me and It Could Be Clouds were released on the 1st of September 2011 and the 13th of December 2010 respectively via Herb Recordings. With Refract Me, Don't Subtract Me being Solipsism’s first full release to feature heavily-effected, the processed electric guitars. “Solipsism is the nom de guerre of Glasgow’s Herb Recordings label head Craig Murphy. The Herb catalogue has gotten long-term play around Igloo and D:N including the excellent KINGBASTARD mix back in 2009 on Digital:Nimbus Show 351. Their output tends to exactly the strains of experimental electronic that gets our motors moving and this latest excursion from Murphy is no exception.”Read a review of Refract Me, Don’t Subtract Me here:http://igloomag.com/reviews/solipsism-refract-me-dont-subtract-me-herb
“An adventurous foray into extraterrestrial techno and subsequent experiments in ambient sound design, but don’t let the genre tags skew any pre-conceived notions of Solipsism’s established panoramic modulation.” Read a review of It Could Be Clouds here: http://igloomag.com/reviews/solipsism-it-could-be-clouds-herb
During the period of late 2011, into early 2012, Solipsism released Let’s Watch The Sunrise on the Ambient label Cathedral Transmissions as a digipak CD, Soliloquy which was a CD only release, went out on the Ambient label Txt Recordings and the Minimal Techno release Habitual Hybrids, was released on the label he runs, Herb Recordings, who release innovative, contemporary music of varying styles. These albums were the culmination of 2 years work and demonstrate vividly, Murphy’s versatile approach to composition and production.
Other Related Solipsism Sites http://www.herbrecordings.com http://www.myspace.com/solipsism http://solipsism.bandcamp.com http://herbrecordings.bandcamp.com http://www.facebook.com/solipsismofficial http://soundcloud.com/solipsism