Thunderclap Murphy is a songwriter and live looping multi-instrumentalist, and his catchy folk melodies take unexpected melodic and lyrical turns. He has been trying to avoid the word “quirky” for about 20 years. His live performance combines songwriting, live looping, spoken word and hip-hop. With influences as diverse as Welsh poet Alun Lewis to 90s rap legend Skee-lo, Thunderclap combines covers and original material in a high energy show.
For five years he was the host of The Monday Echo weekly open mic in The International Bar, as well as the monthly poetry slam, Slam Sunday in Filmbase, Temple Bar and he has been an active organiser of events on the Dublin music scene. 2018 saw the release of self-penned single “The Party’s Over”, produced by Irish music legend Duncan Maitland. The song is an upbeat and catchy commentary on the imminent collapse of climate and food systems and it’s available to listen to on YouTube and Soundcloud.
In 2019 he performed at Glastonbury on the Poetry & Words stage, and he was also the MC for their festival poetry slam.
He occasionally performs arrangements of his songs live with a string quartet and his arrangements of other songwriters’ material for string quartet were showcased in a regular event called the Bamboo Sessions featuring live string players which were held in the National Concert Hall, the Mill Theatre, Dundrum and The Sugar Club. His orchestral arrangements have appeared on the recordings of several other songwriters. When you see Thunderclap Murphy live you are guaranteed to be entertained and to witness something unexpected.