Pete Murray (American musician)

Pete Murray is an American musician and singer-songwriter. Starting his music career in the mid-1990s, he has been the lead vocalist for a number of bands, including nu metal band Ultraspank, hard rock band Lo-Pro, acoustic/electronic rock band Life On Planet 9, industrial rock band Chokt, and most recently, rock band White Noise Owl.

Pete Murray
BornLarchmont, New York, U.S.
GenresHard rock, acoustic rock, electronic rock, nu metal, industrial rock
Occupation(s)Musician, singer-songwriter
InstrumentsVocals, programming
Years active1995–present
LabelsEpic Records, Sony, Geffen Records, Rocket Science
Associated actsLo-Pro, Ultraspank, Life On Planet 9, Chokt, White Noise Owl
Websitelopromusic.com

Recording career

Early years and Ultraspank
Main article: Ultraspank

Murray's first band was actually a speed metal band called Indica.[1][2] While they did manage to earn the title "MTV's Best College Rock Band of 1992" award, the band began to fall apart shortly after, leading some of the members, Murray included, to form a new band called "Spank".[2] Unable to use the name due to copyright issues, the band changed their name to "Ultraspank" once they signed to a major record label.[2] Murray recorded two nu metal albums with the band, Ultraspank in 1998 and Progress in 2000 before the band broke up after being dropped from their record deal.[3]

Lo-Pro
Main article: Lo-Pro

Murray took a brief break from music after the end of Ultraspank, where he took up a job at a traveling magazine.[4] However, before long, he reconnected with Ultraspank guitarist Neil Godfrey and began working on new music together.[4] Murray came in contact with Aaron Lewis of the rock band Staind, who took interest in the material.[3] Lewis also helped Murray assist in reworking the material into a more hard rock sound, fill out the rest of the band, and sign them to 413 Records, a sub-division of Geffen Records.[3]

Life On Planet 9

In the six-year gap between 2003 and 2009 Lo-Pro releases, the band would experiment with different sounds than their original hard rock sound. Murray, Godfrey, and Pete Ricci would write new acoustic material to perform on an acoustic tour with Lewis.[5] However, in the studio, the tracks started to move in a more electronic rock and ambient direction. As such, Murray decided it was too different to be released under the "Lo-Pro" name, and the material would end up being released under a pseudonym called "Life On Planet 9".[6][7] The first album, released in August 2011, was entitled Bittersweet.[8] A second album, The Theory of Everything, was released in August 2014. Murray provides all vocals and electronic programming on these recordings.

Chokt
Main article: Chokt

Another project taken on in between the six-year gap between Lo-Pro's first and second albums was working with Ivan Moody, who afterward formed Five Finger Death Punch, and Jon Stevens, past guitarist of The Clay People, in their band Ghost Machine. Murray produced their albums Ghost Machine and Hypersensitive.[9][10] Afterwards, Murray and Stevens continued to work together, forming a new band, called "Chokt", with Walter Flakus of Stabbing Westward.[11] They released nine songs between 2005 and 2009, but have not release a formal album or EP. Murray stated that the group "wouldn't be secret for long" in a 2008 interview, but has not revisited the project since he began releasing material in Lo-Pro again in 2009.[12]

White Noise Owl
Main article: White Noise Owl

White Noise Owl was a band formed in 2013 by Murray, John Fahnestock, the original bassist for Lo-Pro, Will Hunt of Evanescence and Dark New Day, and Chris Shy of Aurora Sky, after the release of Lo-Pro's third album, Disintegration Effect.[13] Murray provided vocals for their first release, an EP titled Until We Meet Again.[14]

Musical style and influences

Murray specifically says several bands have influenced his vocals, including Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin[15] and Bono of U2,[15] and Peter Gabriel.[15] AllMusic described his Ultraspank era vocals as a "distorted howl".[16]

Discography

Ultraspank

Lo-Pro

Life On Planet 9

White Noise Owl

Side-projects
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References
  1. LOCEY, BILL (28 May 1992). "Metal With Melody : Indica will help fill the bill at a thrash extravaganza tonight after winning a college battle of the bands". Retrieved 17 February 2017 – via LA Times.
  2. "Ultraspank – Biography, Albums, Streaming Links – AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  3. "Staind's Lewis Makes Lo-Pro Look Like Chopped Liver, But It's All Love". mtv.com. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  4. "HugeDomains.com – TheCultureShock.com is for sale (The Culture Shock)". thecultureshock.com. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  5. "INT4". metalexiles.com. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  6. "petemurraylop9 on Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  7. "Life on Planet 9 on Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  8. "Bittersweet – Life On Planet 9 – Songs, Reviews, Credits – AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  9. "Ghost Machine – Ghost Machine – Credits – AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  10. "Hypersensitive – Ghost Machine – Credits – AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  11. "chokt – Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos". myspace.com. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-04-24. Retrieved 2010-07-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. "Unsung Heroes: Chris Shy of White Noise Owl". emurg.com. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-10-11. Retrieved 2015-08-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. magazine, Maximum Ink music. "Maximum Ink music magazine of Wisconsin – Artist Interviews – Lo-Pro". maximumink.com. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  16. "Progress – Ultraspank – Songs, Reviews, Credits – AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  17. XyenProductions (16 July 2009). ""Letters Never Sent" MRI Music Video". Retrieved 17 February 2017 – via YouTube.
  18. "Release Me: The Remixes (EP), by N Pa". bandcamp.com. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  19. "The Ghost Within: The Tale of Turmoil – EP by N Pa on Apple Music". apple.com. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
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