Dean Murray

Dean Murray Born in Taranaki, New Zealand and moved down to Manakau, Horowhenua in the lower north island at the age of 5. Brought up a farmer’s son with a musical interest that started with piano lessons, which were traded in for self-taught guitar. With influence’s from Deep Purple, Neil Young, the Beatles, Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, Splitenz and more recently Ryan Adams to name only a few. During a strike while working at the freezing works he teamed up with good friend Tura Rata and hit the streets busking, playing a blend of Country, Blues and Folk. Naming themselves “Road Works” after all the traveling, the pair played the streets of many towns around New Zealand. Drummer Brent Gemmel joined the team to form ‘the Gravel Slappers” and they continued to play the streets also playing pubs with a unique all acoustic style. With a young family Dean retreated from the music scene for around fifteen years working many different jobs as well as unemployment and developing a political bent combined with a love of the natural world, growing food, organics, and community. Building a rammed earth house with family and friends that he now lives in and producing a lot of his own meat, fruit and veggies grown on his small lifestyle farm in the southern Horowhenua Dean is a self titled “shed guy” spending many hours in his shed welding, grinding, drilling, nailing, stained glass work etc, building many different things and playing music. One of his latest projects has been converting his Nissan Navara Diesel to run on second hand veggie oil. All the while still playing guitar and writing music but not finishing or performing he was challenged by another good friend Ian Campbell from Muddy Boots records to do just that. Armed with a guitar and harmonica Dean and Ian went to work and with the help of some very talented friends produced his debut album Yeah Nah which was recorded using only renewable energy (solar and wind power) in Akatarawa ranges at the muddy boots studios. Deans environmental, political and sense of community thinking, has led to prolific song writing combining all these aspects into heart felt lyrics delivering a message in a broad selection of contemporary styles among those being, country, reggae and folk. In 2005 Dean traveled to Kalgoorlie (600kms inland from Perth AU) to find a didgeridoo and along with an old friend and two aboriginal locals stayed a few nights out in the bush cutting and clean up sticks to make the Indigenous Australian instrument which he plays regularly. In May Dean was a finalist in the MLT song writing awards in Gore with his song "Stop throwing stones" written about the degrading environment and in August the Fishing song which was written about him and his mates fishing trips out off Hokio Beach near Levin won a second place in the open section of the pacific Songwriting competition. Dean has frequented many music clubs in the Horowhenua,Kapiti coast and Wellington area and most recently teamed up with Neil Adams on trumpet. Neil and Dean have worked some of Deans songs into places they may not have gone before and the brass adds a flavour not often heard in that combination but always appreciated.
Now ‘the gas is gone is a finalist in the Independent Music Awards in the social action section.