The Wombats’ Matthew Murphy on Self-Deprecation, Long-Distance Music-Making and Their India Debut

Although they started out in Liverpool, U.K. indie rock act The Wombats’ core trio are based in different countries now. Vocalist and guitarist Matthew Murphy is speaking to us from Los Angeles, drummer Dan Haggis recently moved from London back to Liverpool and bassist Tord Øverland Knudsen stays just outside Oslo.

Murphy says over a Zoom video call that he actually likes the arrangement they have, even if means long-distance songwriting, remote planning and time differences. “I don’t know… I like the fact that I’m kind of far away. I feel like I can be more creative or do more of the things that I want to do. No one’s kind of texting me or saying, ‘Hey, should we have a jam this weekend?’ I’m just alone, which is nice,” he says.

That said, The Wombats rarely sound like they have any dead space between them when it comes to their records or whilst on stage. Their most recent album Fix Yourself, Not the World came out last year and stayed true to their moody, jumpy indie rock sound but also brought in cinematic elements in their songwriting and a sense of grandiosity. They took that sound to some of their biggest shows in 2022, including a performance at the O2 in London and sets at Lollapalooza editions in Chicago, Brazil and Chile. “It’s been a long time coming and we’ve just worked and worked – released great songs when we’ve had to and always seem to deliver when there’s an ounce of pressure on us,” Murphy says.

Perhaps a bankable act to represent the curatorial leanings of a multi-genre (but rock-focused) festival like Lollapalooza, The Wombats are also on the Indian edition lineup, making their debut in the country on January 29th, day two of the festival in Mumbai. Murphy expectedly says that they have always wanted to go to India. “We didn’t know if it was ever going to happen […] We’ve just finished touring and everyone’s kind of tired and I’m back home with my kids but we were just like, ‘Fuck it, we’ve got to do it.’ It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. And if it goes well, hopefully we can go back more often,” he adds. For those who await what the global festival can bring to India, Murphy says the Lollapalooza atmosphere is just “electric” and likens it to the vibe of U.K. mainstay festival Glastonbury.

Although they’re not headliners (just yet) at festivals like Lollapalooza, there’s about 20 years of work gone into The Wombats’ fist-tight, steely and electronic music-informed Brit-indie rock sound. It’s heard on the suitably dance-y song “Let’s Dance to Joy Division,” the jangly, robotic beat-led “Kill The Director,” and “Greek Tragedy,” which released in 2015 but recently earned fame on TikTok due to a remix by producer Oliver Nelson. Their later material, including Fix Yourself, Not The World showcased an introspectiveness that comes with growing older, but nostalgia remains a strong lyrical magnet.

Even with the visual aesthetic of the band, informed by vibrant cover art by the collective eBoy, had a bit of 8-bit animation to it. “Maybe I am nostalgic, I never thought about it. Some ideas stick with me, and some don’t. The ones that stick with me tend to have this element of nostalgia and they find their ways into songs,” Murphy says. There’s a playful yet dark side to them, as the vocalist-guitarist notes and sometimes it’s self-deprecative. With songs like “Let’s Dance To Joy Division” or the shimmering “If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming With You,” there are references to era-defining bands like Joy Division and Radiohead, respectively.

For the listener, it might tie into music-specific nostalgia, but for Murphy, he’s just making fun of his younger self. “I like to laugh back at the moody 15-year-old version of me walking along the streets in Liverpool, listening to Kid A or whatever,” Murphy says with a laugh.

For their India show, The Wombats will bring a career-spanning set, but Murphy is making it a short trip so that he can be back home in L.A. with family, unlike the rest of the band who are likely to hang back in the country. He says, “What I want to do is play and then spend a week there and be a full tourist but I can’t I have to get back to L.A. to be a dad and I’m recording at the moment [his solo project Love Fame Tragedy has a second album coming up]. I’m in and out but I think everyone else is staying on for a bit longer to experience it.”