After many months of recording and mixing we have three new tracks dropping on April 25th, 2025 featured on the Samantha Murray EP “NOT YOUR PROBLEM, BABY.”
We’re very proud of these recordings. The production is fun and Samantha’s vocals are better than ever.
The title track was something that, when I was waking up one morning, popped into my head almost like a memory. I had to question whether or not it was a real, already produced song. It was not. Well, it is now! With Samantha’s help we crafted this one into sonic ear-candy. It’s loaded with fun lyrics and a catchy groove. I think you’ll hear something different each time you listen.
Since I was very (very) young, I have listened to OLD TIME RADIO shows. After I learned how to ride a bike, I used to travel the roads of South Yonkers to my grandparents house where I would listen to Old Radio shows that were broadcast in the afternoon on a local station. The sounds of Jack benny, The Shadow, Green Hornet, Fibber McGee and Molly and more would entertain me from my Grandfather’s old wooden speaker. At the time, I didn’t know these were re-runs of shows that had aired years before. I loved them.
I still listen to these shows today and have a pretty big collection of favorite transcriptions.
Why I am bringing this up?; The new song,I CAN BE LIKE SANTA, pays homage to our love for Old Time Radio. In the opening, you’ll hear the sound coming from an old wooden speaker (to your left if you are listening to the track in stereo). We created a fictional radio broadcast doing our best to come as close to the way the shows sounded way back than. Soon after, the recording morphs into a wide stereo, Hi-Fi presentation. The song is composed in the way Christmas songs were written and arranged in the old days too. I just felt that today’s Christmas songs geared towards featuring the star and not the song itself. We wanted to focus on the song and remember who really enjoys Santa the most; Kids.
Our hope is that you enjoy our new song and simply remember the artist who performed it so you can listen again in the future.
Ho Ho Ho!
JM
I CAN BE LIKE SANTAand other Holiday Tracks by Samantha Murray and Private Eye Music are available on all streaming services.
I’m proud to announce that my new show, “THE VIRTUAL PODCAST,” is on the air.
We’re launching the show on Spotify Podcasts and then, soon after, on many other platforms. I hope you join me on this journey.
John Murray Speaks with 5 Actors about their common journey from being bit by the Theater Bug to making a life on stage.
Jason L and Meggie C: Theater students.
Jackson Poulin, a recent college graduate who majored in theater, is living the life an actor, director and playwright .
Yassmin Alers, a recipient of the Legacy Robe for her extensive work on Broadway in such shows as Rent, On Your Feet, The Rocky Horror Show, The Capeman, and currently The Notebook. She’s worked in radio, TV, stage and screen. Most recently Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.
Terri Klausner, a retired, award winning Actress and theatrical instructor. Her own Concert performances garnering nominations from the National Academy of Concerts and Cabaret Arts, two Drama Desk Award nominations, A New York Drama League Award, a Bistro Award and an Obie. She has starred in Broadway’s SOPHISTICATED LADIES, A CHORUS LINE and as Eva Peron in EVITA.
So pleased to announce the release of Samantha Murray’s new single “The World Is Upside Down.” This one kept us very busy in the studio. Samantha did an absolutely terrific job layering dozens of vocals and the mix was so big it nearly crashed the system.
I hope you enjoy listening as much as we did making this one for you.
Yesterday would have been Gilbert’s 69th Birthday. He passed away two years ago. I miss him, I miss his wonderful laugh and I miss the show. It was a really a terrific project. He left behind a tremendous body of work and a historical record of the entertainment business. We had some really amazing colossal guests visiting each week with stories you will not hear anywhere else.
Working on that podcast/radio show was a lot of work and a hell of a challenge, especially during the pandemic. I spent many sleepless nights slaving over the mixing board striving for a perfect mix by the air-date deadline. Despite the hard work and lack of sleep I miss the energy and the fruits of the lengthy labor.
Over the last year I’ve been developing a new podcast show. I’ve written about 50 scripts, created really cool thematic music and a pretty nifty intro. It’s ready to launch.
Starting this month, I’ll begin production on the show.
What’s it called? Well… I won’t say much more about here because I would like you all to be surprised. But, I can tell you it’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m betting you like it so much, you’ll keep coming back for more.
So, visit this space again next month and you’ll see a new page with links to the episodes and the dedicated site for the show.
I hope you’ll join me on this new adventure!
Stay Tuned
(BTW: Due to the crazy amount of spam I’ve had to spend time getting rid of, I’ve removed comments on my posts. Apparently WordPress is not as secure as you would think. Spammers have found a way to slam the comment fields of every page. What a PITA.)
I know some producers don’t like remixing tracks that they worked on because they feel the original was the best and anything else is just lower quality. I disagree. The original mixes are difficult and often stressful because they need to be the first impression. But, the remix is where the fun begins. I think remixes are for those listeners who really liked the original and want more of it and want some “ear-candy” too.
That’s what this new mix is. It stays very faithful to the original but it is also loaded with a lot of fun ear-candy.
Samantha’s new single ALWAYS WILL BELONG is out and available everywhere on the planet. Visit the All-Tracks page to find this and other Samantha Murray music on your favorite streaming service or listen on YOUTUBE.
Play it Loud!
This was a fun single to produce.
We took Samantha’s music in a slightly different direction. As Samantha describes it, “THIS ONE IS A BANGER!”
And it does BANG.
As a producer, one of the struggles I face is the various speaker set-ups a track will hit. How can it sound good on big studio monitors as well as a little hockey-puck or soda can shaped Alexa device? Or, how about the sound coming out of a tiny iPhone speaker? It’s nuts. Stereo, Mono, Big Small… Way too many platforms.
Have you ever seen that viral post where you hear a voice and it sound like the text you are reading? And the two words couldn’t be any different. It’s masked frequencies at play.
Well, in this mix, I masked certain frequencies that can be heard clearly on an iPhone but easily get masked on a big speaker. The result is a mix that sounds cool on a tiny speaker as well as a giant system.
Samantha and I spent a great deal of time in the studio bringing this track to life. It’s chock full of new instruments, layers of vocal tracks and some crazy engineering FX.
We have several other tracks in the mixing stage but they will be held for the release of an upcoming EP. The EP will include new tracks as well as very interesting re-mixes of previous songs. Some of the re-mixes are more fun because they are not constrained to the formula of a single. There will be a lot more ear candy to enjoy.
If you haven’t listened to the new single, visit theMUSIC PAGE where links to all streaming platforms exist. Previous singles are also available on the same page.
I had a lot of fun working with Samantha on this track.
Initially, the song was intended for just acoustic guitars. the initial demos were all about fast and fun strumming and harmonies. It quickly evolved into a fully orchestrated pop track.
Michelle Levy (MVL CUSTOMS) designed the Snap-To-It sneakers and the talented photographer, Marnie Crowne shot the cover image.
We had a lot of ears testing the various mixes of this song before it was released. It was an exciting day when we realized we had a final mix that sounded terrific on all devices.
It’s not easy to create a mix that not only sounds great on headphones and in the studio, but also sounds just as good in a car or on an Alexa/Soda can type device.
Back in 1990, I was asked to perform at the Long Island Sound Earth Day festival. It was suggested that I write an original song for the occasion that would be a real Hand-Holding-Swaying Kumbaya type of song as the finale. Being passionate about the topic, I was not interested in performing this sort of song. I didn’t want the audience walking away cheerful about the Earth’s impending danger. I wanted the song to be a punch in the gut, But, I hadn’t written anything yet.
Those in charge were very insistent that I stick with the Kumbaya theme.
I went to bed that night and experienced a very vivid nightmare;
I was old and my grandchild was sitting on my lap wearing a sort of gas mask. Through the mask I heard a muffled voice ask, “Grandpa… what was it like to breathe the real air.”
I awakened in a panic. I felt guilty. I had let this little person down. It was my Grandchild!
Even though it was just a dream, I felt the guilt and felt the panic. It was the most vivid nightmare I had ever had. I remember it in every detail to this day.
In several minutes I penned the song “Grandpa.” It was effortless. It was more like remembering than creating. No cross-outs, no getting stuck for words. It was all there including the melody and the chant… which was not very Kumbaya.
Flash forward to the concert.
After wards, an older man approached me. He looked shaken. He took my hand.
“I traveled all the way from California to meet you.”
“why?”
“Someone passed along your recording of “Grandpa” and told me it was written after a nightmare. Is that true?”
I said, “Yes. Very true. It shook me up.”
His eyes teared up and, with a bit of a gasp he said, “I had the same nightmare. I just had to meet you.”
I recorded and performed this song a few times over the last few decades and I don’t think I’ve ever written anything as powerful. Its the song I’m most proud of.
Just as the pandemic was taking over all of our lives, I was inspired to record it again. This time, with my young daughter. She did a terrific job.
The pandemic dominated our lives and I put the project aside and forgot about it until this past week. With Earth Day approaching and the fate of the world looking bleak, I thought it was time to finish it.
I was going to have my daughter sing on it again but found her youthful vocals from the early pandemic days sounding so perfect, I left it all in place.
It will be released on all platforms this weekend.
