SHANNON ALLIE-MURPHY – singer from Across Tundras & Brightstar

This girl can sing! We did her shoot with two rolls of 120mm tmax 400 b/w film (24 shots). I took out the Hasselblad (first time in 10 years) and the ‘blad’ worked like a champ. Shot in the Baker district Denver, Co.

1. Name: SHANNON ALLIE-MURPHY 2. Bands you’ve played in: Across Tundras (Neurot) since 2005 and Brightstar (Amplified Din Records), my solo project, since 2005 3. What are your favorite songs to perform live? For Across Tundras, I always loved doing “Blackbird Sanguine Sky” because I get to do some screaming, soft singing and a cool psychedelic vocal part in the instrumental slowdown. One that pulls on my heart strings is “Follow Me to the San Luis”, it is hard for me not to cry, it is a personal song that Tanner wrote about a very special experience and I can see the whole thing in my head as we sing it. As far as Brightstar, “The Blackest Crow”, that was the first song I ever recorded with Tanner and it is very emotional but fun to sing the high parts, it vibrates inside me. “Trapped in a Song” I wrote with Brandon Rich, it is beautiful and cathartic.  I wrote it about a very hard break up so singing that feels like I am singing it to that person every time. 4. Did you have any female rock idols growing up? Who were they? I was super into Liz Phair, I connected with her vocal range, she is an Alto 2 like me and I just loved how daring, honest and raw her songs were. I saw PJ Harvey in Boston on her “To Bring Me Your Love” tour and it changed my life, I loved watching her play so many characters, she definitely became and idol and inspiration. Besides that I was into Joni Mitchell, my friends would drive me to this point near the ocean and put the album  “Blue” on and have me hit all the high notes, she is still one of my favorite singers of all time. I also loved Bjork, Madonna, Cher, The Cranberries and Sinead O’Connor. 5. Your advice to women and girls that want to start their own metal band is… Don’t be afraid to be girly and wear your heart on your sleeve. If you are making music for your soul, then you are doing it for the right reasons. My songs are about love and I never second guess saying things like “I love you” in a song. If I think I am second guessing my lyrics to appease a commercial audience, I underline the original thought and keep it. I want to stay true to exactly who I am and I encourage all girls to do the same. I was encouraged not to take singing lessons and that ended up being one of the best lessons in self-acceptance. We are all unique, our voices cannot be replicated, perfection is not necessarily perfect because perfection is subjective, be unique, be you. 

1. Name: SHANNON ALLIE-MURPHY

2. Bands you’ve played in:

Across Tundras (Neurot) since 2005 and Brightstar (Amplified Din Records), my solo project, since 2005

3. What are your favorite songs to perform live?

For Across Tundras, I always loved doing “Blackbird Sanguine Sky” because I get to do some screaming, soft singing and a cool psychedelic vocal part in the instrumental slowdown. One that pulls on my heart strings is “Follow Me to the San Luis”, it is hard for me not to cry, it is a personal song that Tanner wrote about a very special experience and I can see the whole thing in my head as we sing it. As far as Brightstar, “The Blackest Crow”, that was the first song I ever recorded with Tanner and it is very emotional but fun to sing the high parts, it vibrates inside me. “Trapped in a Song” I wrote with Brandon Rich, it is beautiful and cathartic. I wrote it about a very hard break up so singing that feels like I am singing it to that person every time.

4. Did you have any female rock idols growing up? Who were they?

I was super into Liz Phair, I connected with her vocal range, she is an Alto 2 like me and I just loved how daring, honest and raw her songs were. I saw PJ Harvey in Boston on her “To Bring Me Your Love” tour and it changed my life, I loved watching her play so many characters, she definitely became and idol and inspiration. Besides that I was into Joni Mitchell, my friends would drive me to this point near the ocean and put the album “Blue” on and have me hit all the high notes, she is still one of my favorite singers of all time. I also loved Bjork, Madonna, Cher, The Cranberries and Sinead O’Connor.

5. Your advice to women and girls that want to start their own metal band is…

Don’t be afraid to be girly and wear your heart on your sleeve. If you are making music for your soul, then you are doing it for the right reasons. My songs are about love and I never second guess saying things like “I love you” in a song. If I think I am second guessing my lyrics to appease a commercial audience, I underline the original thought and keep it. I want to stay true to exactly who I am and I encourage all girls to do the same. I was encouraged not to take singing lessons and that ended up being one of the best lessons in self-acceptance. We are all unique, our voices cannot be replicated, perfection is not necessarily perfect because perfection is subjective, be unique, be you.