The Wombats' Murph on sobriety, the LA fires and being "truly present"

14 February 2025, 10:10 | Updated: 14 February 2025, 16:13

The Wombats' Murph on sobriety

The Wombats frontman has been talking to Radio X's Dan O'Connell about the new album from the band, Oh! The Ocean...

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Matthew "Murph" Murphy has been telling Radio X that sobriety has made a huge difference to life in The Wombats - even claiming that ditching the booze has made him "more creative".

The musician decided to make the change after the release of his second solo album, Life Is A Killer, last March - and the new Wombats LP, Oh! The Ocean is the result of his new found energy.

"Life is now infinitely stranger," Murph told Dan O'Connell on the Radio X Evening Show last night (13th February). "My bandwidth of high highs and low lows has increased dramatically. I feel more creative as a result of that, I think."

Rather than feeling adrift without the crutch of alcohol, Murph explained that the change has been liberating.

He said: "Usually the drink or the substance is actually communicating with you and trying to get you into a state of such fear that you don't do anything about it. But I have found the complete opposite, to be honest.

"Although I am very grateful to my past because, you know, alcohol... It makes you move, it makes you travel, it makes you see new places and meet new people. So for that I have to remain a bit grateful." 

Listen back to the latest from The Evening Show with Dan O'Connell on Global Player

The Wombats – I Love America And She Hates Me (Official Video)

The title of The Wombats' sixth album, Oh! The Ocean, is a reference to the newly-found clam Murph has found - and refers to a moment he experienced near his Los Angeles home.

"I had a really weird morning," he revealed. "We were doing this 'staycation' and we went down to the beach somewhere near Orange County. My kids were off playing and my wife was looking after them.

"I was stood there staring out at the ocean for a good ten minutes. It was a crazy, somewhat spiritual experience where I was truly present and I kind of viewed nature in the ocean for the first time.

"I realised that actually there's not that much of life that is explainable. My ultimate finding is that we can explain the mechanism of everything, but we can't explain the agency very well. The daily kind of cyclical thought patterns I find myself in just were flattened for about fifteen minutes and I was just truly present.

"Then it stopped and then I went back to my normal stuff." 

Radio X&squot;s Dan OConnell and The Wombats&squot; Matthew "Murph" Murphy. — Radio X's Dan OConnell and The Wombats' Matthew "Murph" Murphy. Picture: Radio X

Murph has lived in Los Angeles for the best part of a decade and he and his wife and two children witnessed the devastating fires that swept the region in January of this year.

 "The Palisades fire got within about two miles of us and we evacuated. But we're fine. We have nothing to complain about. But I do know three people who lost their homes and stuff."

He also explained how the community's reaction to the disaster has only increased his love for the area.

 "Los Angeles is kind of known for its superficiality and status climbing - but in the wake of these fires, it was amazing to see how people came together. Just to hear that the fire departments and all these collection sites were saying we've got too much. Like you have to stop giving us all the clothes, the water and, like, the Gatorade and stuff for the firemen. I thought that was pretty amazing. It made me very proud."

The Wombats' album Oh! The Ocean is released on 14th February. Picture: Press

The Wombats - Oh! The Ocean Tracklist:

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want To Come
Can't Say No
Blood On The Hospital Floor
Kate Moss
Gut Punch
My Head Is Not My Friend
I Love America And She Hates Me
The World's Not Out To Get Me, I Am
Grim Reaper
Reality Is A Wild Ride
Swerve (101)
Lobster

The Wombats playing Neighbourhood Weekender in May 2023. Picture: Alamy

The Wombats will be setting out on their biggest ever UK arena tour in March, which kicks off in Nottingham on the 18th, before moving on to London, Cardiff, Manchester, Hull, Glasgow and Leeds. The band are also set to play their largest homecoming show at Liverpool’s On The Waterfront on 19th June.