Things started to get interesting when Gary discovered a local music store called “The Mad Hatter”. He would constantly rummage through bargain CDs and tapes discovering cool bands like Slowdive, Cocteau Twins, Sonic Youth,  and The Red House Painters (to name a few). He was intrigued by the noisy guitar layers, which really spoke to him and they were breath of fresh air compared to the mainstream music played on the radio at that time. With his new musical influences, he knew that sitting at home with an old acoustic guitar just wasn’t enough now. He made some local musician friends and soon, he would begin to contribute his new-found guitar skills with a  local band noise/punk called “Vacuum Star”.

We all know Gary Murray as a writer of some of the most somber, melancholy music on VBM, and “Vacuum Star” was far from that. Funny enough, some members would eventually become long-term contributors to his music in the future.  It was while participating in this band Gary gained experience playing side by side with other musicians, keeping his guitar tuned throughout an entire set, and enjoying the energy of  a crowd for the first time.

After playing for a few years in the band, he would occasionally collaborate with Vacuum Star guitarist Torey Freeman, drummer Nathan Abel and bassist Denny Kopp to focus solely on songwriting. One memorable night happened at a party in Bellevue, where they would write a full album’s worth of songs in a single evening. I guess you could say Gary was being prepared to become the future frontman of one of VBM’s much loved bands.

Velvet Blue Music Podcast is produced by Joey and Kirsty Esquibel

VBM Podcast theme song written by Josh Dooley

Song list:

• Pale Light , Pale Eyes - LN
• Raspberry Beret - Prince
• Billy In The Low Ground - Stanly Brothers
• Theme from Love Story - Frances Lai
• Hoovering Around Your Room - LN
• The Translator - Starflyer 59
• Kisses - LN
• Ride That Pony Down - LN
• California - LN
• Minotaur - Gary Murray & LN
• Stars Did Shine - LN
• Niagara - LN

Gary Murray's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/g.edgar.murray/

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