Murphy Facts

Matthew Murphy Karges (aka Murphy, Murf-Dog, Murf) was born on June 20, 1967. He is the bass player for Sugar Ray. Living in Newport Beach, California, Murphy learned how to smoke and surf at age 12. Murphy said he wanted to play the bass because he wanted to be in the background and he liked how it looked. He started playing the bass at age 15 and played it for about 18 years. Murphy's parents got divorced when he was about 20. Before he was in Sugar Ray, Murphy was a failed security guard turned pizza chef at Johnny's Pizzaria making about $7 an hour (the place where he also met Sugar Ray Leonard). His other previous jobs are pizza maker, waiter, and bus-boy. Murphy met Rodney and Stan as the Tories in 1984 while Stan was dating Murphy's sister which isn't a subject Murphy likes to talk about. His first real band was Animosity but he and his brother used to have a band called Barf that had instruments of kitchen appliances. The first concert he went to was Chicago at the Cow Palace in San Francisco in 1975. Murphy's early influences are: Seals & Crofts, Judy Collins, James Taylor, The Beatles, Joan Baez, America, Loggins & Messina, CSN&Y, Led Zepplin, The Rolling Stones (which they opened for), Traffic, The Doobie Brothers, Supertramp, Steely Dan, Sergio Mendes & Brazil, E66, Cream, Stevie Wonder, The Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, Wes Montgomery, B.B. King, Jose Feliciano, Canned Heat, Steppen Wolf, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Chicago. Murphy was 27 years old when Lemonade & Brownies came out, 29 when Floored came out, and 31 when 14:59 came out. Murphy still lives in Newport Beach, California in a house he moved into by April 4, 1998. If the band ever broke up Murphy said he would write.

Murphy's favorite songs from Lemonade & Brownies and Floored are Danzig Needs A Hug and Fly
Hobbies: surfing the Net, surfing (in water), playing basketball, and his golden retreiver, Bowie
Murphy usually wears suits on stage
Murphy loves 70s punk bands
Murphy likes full albums instead of one-hit-wonders
Favorite Teams: Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Anaheim Angels
Zodiac Sign: Gemini
Hair: has been purple, red, bright pink, green, blue, and a lot of other colors but it's naturally brown
Eyes: green
Status: Taken
Murphy has a red '68 Charger and a '98 Ford Expedition
Favorite Bands: T.S.O.L., AC/DC, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Cheap Trick, Dokken, The Clash, The Damned, The Sex Pistols, The Circle Jerks, The Police, Devo, the B-52s, X, Black Flag, The Ramones, The Dead Kennedys, Redd Kross, Nirvana, and Jane's Addiction
Murphy has 1 niece and 1 newphew (Gwen & Jeff Jr.)