The Murder Capital ‘When I Have Fears’ is the debut album by The Murder
Damien Tuit: I think we’ve got a lot of respect for who’s
Capital. It’s an equally stunning and harrowing exploration
stuck around from the beginning till now. It’s kind of
of hope and fear, isolation and despair, understanding and
hilarious to see how many times Mick & Sonny have caught
finding solace in others. On the day of the record’s release,
us, the dedication is unparalleled.
I joined the group in their home of Dublin, Ireland to capture the relief, exposure and ecstasy emanating from this
J: Also, we’re at the very beginning now and today feels
unquestionably vital and rewarding group of people.
like another beginning in itself and we haven’t really started. Here’s the record, we have been working on it for
For you to have started all this here together in Dublin,
a while and we’ve been doing everything we can do to
how does it feel that it has now all come full circle?
communicate what we want to.
James McGovern: Well, when we started off we were
D: It feels like now we’re a band, now we have the album
playing shows to five people in upstairs rooms with seats
we’ve proved ourselves.
and two of the audience were family, and that wasn’t so long ago.
So does this feel like chapter one now?
Gabriel Pashal Blake: This venue (The Button Factory)
D: It’s felt like a dark secret, in that people have heard
was where I saw Damien and James for the first time. I just
the songs they’ve heard and the record is obviously so
remember coming in on a dark November night, raining like
much more than just the singles, I think especially with
it is now. That was the first time I walked in to anywhere
this album. Now that’s it out, it’s completely a load off
in Dublin and straight away felt like this is something that
your mind, and people know who you are now. It’s like if
completely resonates with what I want to do artistically. It
someone knew you from your social media profile and then
was the first time I heard music or saw a performance that
they finally met you.
was so perfect. So now to be a part of that and to see how far we’ve come in the year and with all the families coming,
J: Its wild releasing it, you feel incredibly exposed. Here’s
it feels like a christening or a communion.
everything we said, everything we wrote, every single thing we put together, all our experiences over the past couple
The fact that there is a real sense of occasion is obviously
years together, and everything is just there, and it really
a reaction to how your music is relating to people.
is contained within that. It’s a very intrusive feeling but a
How have you personally dealt with the way people are
beautiful one at that.
responding to your music? G: Someone sent me a really lovely text about the songs, J: That experience has been dripping through the ceiling for
they said “each song is a seed now for anyone else to grow
a long time, but it’s pretty wild to watch it today, with the
now whichever way they want to” and I thought that was
record here and a lot of people having waited for it for a
really beautiful.
while. It’s nice, you see a lot of people at different shows, everywhere, and you recognise them and know them. Everyone’s reaction is incredible really. I would like a little bit more hate…
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Words by Ross Jones, illustration by Ian Moore
