Jan 15 2014

NEWS: A Look Into The Departure Of David Murphy From STS9

PHOTO BY Live Edits Lab

STS9 BASSIST DAVID MURPHY LEAVES BAND:

News of long time STS9 bassist David Murphy’s departure from the band yesterday has shaken the jam scene. The announcement came last night, and minutes later Facebook was in uproar, myself included. This leaves the band’s upcoming tour dates postponed for an unknown amount of time. Their festival season is looking bright however, seemingly keeping the scheduled McDowell Mountain and Wakarusa Festivals dates, and even adding two more today (Counterpoint, and The Hangout).

Now, lets rewind before the announcement for a second. In a group called “People to bring back sector 9”, a FAKE screen-shot of a few tweets from Cherub suggested that Murph was leaving to join Cherub, along with a hashtag that read #sector9nomore. This got every tribe fan going nuts, but most of us believed it to be so farfetched that it obviously was not true. The official announcement of his departure came only an hour or two after the fake post, leaving everyone to assume that the post was actually real. Things went haywire after that and nobody had any idea what was going on. Shortly after the announcement had made it’s way into the group, the person who posted the Cherub screen-shot came forward admitting that his post was entirely fake and that this was one crazy coincidence. I raced to where I was going, having gotten this news on the go, opened my computer and started trying to find any information I could about what exactly was happening.

Having known that the Cherub rumors were fake, I started gathering info and settling down. Here is all the information I have gathered over the past while, this is info mostly gathered in the group I am a part of, a lot of these guys are close to the band so I do respect what they say. Having said that, I am not close with the band so take some of these with a grain of salt:

The band has had an album that was due in early 2013.
Rumors have been stated that the band has sent back numerous bass recordings that Murph has done.
Rumors also stated that the band finished the album, gave it to someone whose opinion was highly valued and they didn’t like it.
Murph recently moved to Denver, leaving the rest of the band in Santa Cruz, making it undoubtedly harder on the band to record and rehearse.
Constant talk about how Murph’s ego has been getting in the way and that he has been pushing for a band to go in a direction that they’re not comfortable going in.
Numerous instances where people have talked to other band members, most recently their New Years run and Mayan Holidaze, and stated that “something was off” meaning they did not seem happy.

Like I said, these points are speculation, but in light of what has happened, I’m inclined to believe most of it.

As for when the dust settles (no pun intended), today brings new hope for the band. Nowhere in their statement did they mention anything about a break up, and as a loyal fan, I sure hope that is true. As stated, their festival season is in tact, but no further information on the tour has been released. I, along with other fans, have received an email issuing the statement, as well as stating that my credit card is going to be refunded for my purchased tickets within 8-10 days.

More rumors are flying around however about who would be replacing Murph. The most suitable candidate right now is a bassist named Alana Rocklin. Currently in a duo named Sub ID with her husband, they have opened, and Alana has played with STS9 on multiple occasions. STS9 is Alana’s favorite band, she’s been around them for a while, and I’ve even heard a rumor that she’s related to guitarist Hunter Brown. She knows a lot of the STS9 songs and if this tour is to remain postponed and not canceled, she would be the best choice to step in and keep the tour alive.

STS9 is my favorite band, and I have high hopes that this was the right decision for the band. Having a member that doesn’t want to play the music the others want obviously doesn’t work, and it seems they have given it a fair shot. Losing a bassist is one thing, losing a bassist AND a front man is even tougher, but it seems the boys of STS9 are not ready to give up. Fans should trust that they would not continue if the integrity of their music would be compromised, that’s exactly the point that has lead to this decision. Have faith Tribe fans, they will be stronger than ever!

**This article is written by Curated Music’s Scott “Slow Cookin” Gasorski. In no way is this article associated with any statements from the band, their teams, or any affiliates.**

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