Peter Murphy doesn’t like to be pegged or limited when it comes to musical styles. At the same time, the long-time lead singer of Bauhaus also doesn’t mind so much if you refer to him as the Godfather of Goth.
“Just as long as they’re talking about you, darling, and once I get them in the door I’ll sort them out,” said Murphy from a stop on his current solo tour. Murphy performs at the 9:30 Club on Wednesday. “I think it’s a compliment to be lauded in any way. I think it’s quite amazing to me that I’m viewed by a very large demographic as that.”
| Onstage |
| Peter Murphy |
| Where: 9:30 Club, 815 V Street NW |
| When: 10 p.m.,Wednesday |
| Info: $25. 930.com |
The term “goth” doesn’t accurately describe Murphy nowadays. Bauhaus, the Gothic music pioneers that first formed in England in the late ’70s, has long been an on-again, off-again project. After a five-year run that included the groups best-known track “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” ended in 1983, the members of Bauhaus went their separate ways. The group reformed with a tour in 1998 and 2005, and released a new album in 2008, but again called it quits.
Murphy’s solo career has been much more steady. In June, he released his ninth album, titled, appropriately, “Ninth.” He’s also toured regularly for the last half-decade.
Murphy wrote “Ninth” while living in upstate New York. After the experience recording Bauhaus’s 2008 “Go Away White,” Murphy wanted to record with more spontaneity.
“I was carrying this energy of wanting to get out what was stifled on that album,” Murphy said of “Go Way White.” “You can make a song in an hour if you sit down to do that and not to over-agonize over everything, going into this kind of classic two-year album production.”
“I wanted to make a record that was direct, that was crackling with immediacy,” he added.
Murphy recently released a six-track EP from the “Ninth” sessions titled “The Secret Bees of Ninth.” The tracks range from rockers and melodically haunting ballads to new-agey experimentation and what could be considered, yes, goth.
“I’m the type of person that gets very put-off by being pinned down by one kind of moniker, and have enjoyed going into different areas of style and approaches to making music,” Murphy said.
Which gets back to that whole “Godfather of Goth” label.
“I’ve obviously left a very strong impression,” Murphy said. “If I’ve got that many people interested, that’s one of the reasons we do this. So I’m very grateful really. I love to play with it.”
