If you search Chillian Murphy, Google will try to convince you you’re looking for Irish actor Cillian Murphy, even after you tell it that you did, in fact, mean gloomy-pop artist Chillian Murphy. One day, that might not be the case.
The indie one-man band out of Oakland has roots in nu-metal thanks to his brother’s musical taste growing up. When it came time for Chillian (real name Adam Van Der Veer) to pick up a guitar, he moved this upbringing in a pop direction to create a distinct lo-fi sound and mood of his own. He says, “years of listening to Bright Eyes tempered my musical taste.” It’s also Radiohead’s OK Computer, Interpol’s Turn on the Bright Lights, and The Strokes that have contributed to his doleful rock-pop demos, which are preemptive of a currently hypothetical album.
We get a taste for the diversity of the demos in this episode of No Name’s Record Room with “Low-Middle Class,” pop “Asking for a Friend,” chill “On Vacation,” and the seemingly improvised “Untitled.” There’s a common thread, though: “(I like to) drench my songs in some reverb.”
Both the performer Chillian Murphy and the man Adam are “Bay Area” at the core. Born and raised here, the self-proclaimed homebody prefers to play local. He’s most recently played The Octopus LIterary Salon in Oakland and Neck of the Woods in San Francisco. Keep up with where he’ll be next on Facebook and check out his demos on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, or Vimeo.