By Beth Jamnik

Matt Murphy is nothing like Guy Terrifico. While he does bear a striking resemblance to the frequently stoned and perpetually disheveled country/rock musician, Murphy is clean-cut and (probably) sober. Unlike Terrifico, who became famous without ever actually recording an album, Murphy has slowly and deliberately made a name for himself with Halifax- and Toronto-based bands The Super Friendz and The Flashing Lights.

There is, however, one principle similarity: Guy Terrifico doesn’t exist, save for Matt Murphy.

Originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Murphy, a musician-turned-actor, took on the title role in the Canadian mockumentary The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico and with it, the challenge of portraying a character that previously existed only in the mind of writer/director Michael Mabbott.

Mabbott’s deep respect for ‘70s country/rock musicians like Gram Parsons, Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson prompted him to write the film’s musical score, which eventually evolved into a character, the character into a script. (Terrifico) combines the most outrageous elements of all those people," Murphy explains. The result? A musical genius whose talents are nevertheless obscured by wild onstage antics and a self-earned reputation for offstage pill-popping and onstage drum-humping that doesn’t allow him to be taken seriously as a musician.

Murphy, a musical marvel in his own right, doesn’t have that problem. "My shows are dramatic, but not theatrical," he says, which explains why the performance aspect of his shows doesn’t overshadow the music.

Murphy, just in Milwaukee for the city's International Film Festival, listened to the Irish Rovers growing up and The Waterboys in the '80s. He currently lives in Toronto with his girlfriend and cat. "He's tailless, from the Isle of Man," Murphy explained. "His name is Cyrus, but I didn't name him I would have gone with something like 'Paddy.'" 

The singer is working on a new album with the Super Friendz and has also been playing around Toronto with his most recent band, City Field, for the last year. Despite having previously fronted numerous bands, Murphy has taken a less prominent role in City Field, on backup guitar, vocals and… fiddle?

Yes — Murphy, whose family came to Canada in the 1820s from Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland, plays the fiddle. "‘Haste to the Wedding’ is my favorite jig," he says, before launching into a lively vocal rendition at Mabbott’s request.

Mabbott’s familiarity with Murphy’s music is what prompted him to seek the musician’s collaboration on the writing of Guy Terrifico’s songs and also offer the possibility of the lead role. After about four years of writing and re-writing the music with Mabbott, Murphy met with the producers—which was really more of a formality at that point—and got the role. "Some of the best stuff we wrote, that we ended up using, came right at the end," said Murphy.

Despite what had turned into years of working on Terrifico’s music, the actual shooting only lasted about two and a half weeks for Murphy, who relied on Mabbott as a "dialog coach" to help him through his lines.

While he had never acted before, Murphy was able to draw on his experience playing Southern caricature Orton Hoggett on a Halifax radio show. Clearly trying to choose his words carefully, Murphy eventually settled on a description of the "draft-dodging redneck who’s angry with left-wing politicians," before admitting, a bit sheepishly, "Americans don’t like it." Having adapted this radio persona to a country cover band as well, he found he also had little difficulty performing the film’s music as a character other than himself.

It also helped that he was playing a fictional character, rather than a specific musician. While it’s easy to draw comparisons between Guy Terrifico and any other country musician of the era, Murphy felt less pressure portraying a fictional character. 

"The margin of error is greater than if I were trying to mimic one specific person, like Johnny Cash," he said. And although there was a narrow frame of time between the release of his movie and Walk the Line at last September’s Toronto Film Festival, he considered the movies to be too different to have felt any competition. "What’s important is that both [movies] get people interested in the music," he said, adding of Terrifico that "it’s the music that defines the character."

This explained why Murphy’s favorite scene is the only one in which Terrifico plays an entire song, from start to finish. Growing exasperated by the audience’s demands for the manic antics they have come to expect from his shows, he finally requests that they "hush up a bit, and just listen," before launching into Kris Kristofferson’s "The New Mr. Me." It’s one of the few scenes that conveys Terrifico’s desire to be taken seriously as a musician. It is this moment that makes Terrifico, even among all his outrageous onstage behaviors, seem real.

"It’s real and it’s unreal" is how Murphy described the movie. While Terrifico is, for all intents and purposes, a ridiculous character, there is truth to his struggle to be taken seriously as a musician. Other than that, Murphy doesn’t identify much with his character. "I’m more uptight," he said simply.

Although Murphy indicated he would sign on for another project that he believed in, he had no plans to pursue acting. Other than taking a class to improve his skills after finishing the film, he hasn’t taken any steps toward acquiring another role. "I have a deep respect for acting," he explained, "but it’s not my passion."

Murphy caught Mabbott’s eye across the table and added with a grin, "I do, however, want to direct." Does it seem easy enough for anyone to do? "That’s been my experience," he joked.

Mabbott shook his head, trying not to smile. "There’s that Irish humor."
 
 

Writer Beth Jamnik can be reached at bejamnik@uwm.edu