SXSW is bringing in their youngest performer ever; her name is Marlhy Murphy and she happens to be from the great city of Dallas. See her in action on Sonicbids. Murphy and bandmate Lydia Night came together to form their band Pretty Little Demons and will be playing this year at SXSW. "We both went to School of Rock in Burbank so we met there and made a friendship," Murphy says. "Later in the summer she sent me a Facebook message to meet up when I came back to L.A. So we met up to eat cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory and hung out. Then we were like 'We should make a band!' So we had a vision of two-piece girl band to do covers, and now we are here writing our own songs."
Murphy has been playing the drums for four years now, and was immediately spotted by her teachers as a natural rockstar. "When I was five and a half I got Rock Band on the Wii and I was scoring 90 to 100 percent on drums," Murphy says. "One day I got a postcard in the mail for School of Rock and decided to go to a class. I learned my first AC/DC song in 45 minutes, which was pretty awesome, and my teachers were telling my mom 'Hurry hurry you have to come see this, it's amazing!'"
Since then, Murphy has become a member of three other bands, and has opened for several popular artists such as the Polyphonic Spree and local favorite Sarah Jaffe. "It was really interesting opening for Sarah Jaffe," Murphy says. "I was at the front of the stage just standing there watching her play. I was next to my bassist and told him 'This is so awesome! I can't believe we got to open for this!' She was so nice too, and told us we did an awesome job."
Her biggest idol, however, is someone even older: John Bonham. "I have a Zeppelin cover band, The Zeppos, and have always loved his music," she says. "There is a T-shirt shop down the street from my place, and just the other day I got a customized Led Zeppelin T-shirt, and now I'm about to make my bedroom Led Zeppelin."
Murphy says she is beyond flattered by the opportunity to be included in this year's lineup for SXSW. "I'm so excited," Murphy says. "It feels like a really big honor to be playing somewhere with incredible bands like Polyphonic Spree and Airborne Toxic Event. I'm so excited to be at a gig where bands like them will be too."
As excited as she is to show off her mad drumming skills, Murphy hopes to see some former instructors jam out as well. "I'll definitely want to see Somebody's Darling, because I know some of them and I definitely want to see Polyphonic Spree play again," Murphy says. "I also want to see the Blackstone Rangers play, because some of them are from School of Rock. Nate Wedan from Somebody's Darling was my drum teacher in School of Rock, and Michael Talley is a keyboard teacher there too."
Murphy seems to be big on paying it forward when it comes to the School of Rock, and enjoys helping them out in any way she can. "Me and The Zeppos will perform for some of the School of Rock camps to show our support and let others see how much fun it can be," Murphy says.
"I think it's learning the different types of music you can play on the drums," Murphy says. "There's Latin, jazz and all these different types of music, so that is definitely one of my favorite parts. Also I really like getting to meet new people and doing different gigs in different areas, and going to new places to I've never been before."
Murphy has already began to make an impressive career for herself at such a young age as not only a drummer, but an actress as well. She spends half of the year in L.A. auditioning, and even managed to land a spot on a Target commercial last June. With such a busy schedule, I had to ask, how does this girl get any school done? "I do homeschooling, so I have a flexible schedule and it helps with my switch between Dallas and L.A.," Murphy explains. "I work on my computer and communicate with teachers online, and basically have 24 hours to do my work."
My conversation with Marlhy was pleasant: She has charisma and talent well beyond her years. She explained to me that when she grows up she hopes to be a drumming actor, pursuing both of her dreams to form one fantastic career.
