Q and A with Daniel Ward Murphy
07/07/2008
Up and coming musician Daniel has been a supporter of SOS Children for a couple of years and here he tells us how why he is spreading the word of our work.
Who are you?
I’m a singer/songwriter from London who has been writing and performing for many years now. I am recording an album this Summer with my band, it will be produced by Tony Platt and it will be available on Sellaband, Amazon, iTunes and a few other places in Autumn 2008. The music features cello and violin as well as acoustic guitar, drums and a female vocalist, so it is an interesting mix and does sound a bit different to most stuff out there. It would be great if you take the time to listen to the album when it comes out as if people buy it I get to make another one!
What have you done for SOS Children previously?
I just organised a charity walk last year. It didn’t take too much effort but I think many people in the UK are bit anaesthetised to charity donations for walks/runs/marathons and getting enough people to give up their time and get sponsorship was a little tough, but everyone was happy with the day, glad they did it, had fun and all together over £5,000 was raised for a great SOS Children’s Village in Russia. The best bit was that through SOS I was able to feed back to those who took part (and those who sponsored me) exactly what the money was spent on, rather than it just remaining unknown.
How much money have you raised this year through Sellaband?
Well I wanted to give a bit more to SOS at some point anyway and I was one of the thousands of artists on Sellaband trying to get the 5000 parts invested, so I could get the chance to record my debut solo album in a way that would let me compete with major label artists. I just thought that if I could stretch to give a bit more then maybe I could offer an incentive for people to buy parts in me. So after 800 parts had been invested I just pledged to give 10p for every part bought in me. So when I hit 5000, it resulted in a £420 donation. It is not the biggest amount in the world but at the moment I don’t earn a penny from my music - hopefully I can in the future and then use my profile to support this great charity. Of course I also knew that this £420 would go a lot further in Eastern Europe than it would in London!
What you would like to achieve and why you are supporting SOS?
Well on a musical level I would love the opportunity to play, write and record for a living. In terms of SOS, as an individual I have chosen to support this charity as I think they do fantastic work. The money goes towards giving kids a decent chance when otherwise they wouldn’t have it. It also enables the real heroes, those who donate all their time, the chance to make a real difference. In a world where Victoria Beckham’s new handbag is front page news, SOS also works in many areas (like Russia) that do not get the global publicity. Because a certain number of people listen to my music I am able to spread the SOS message fairly well, but obviously this will increase if I become more popular and widely known.
Daniel’s debut solo album will be out September 2008, please go to www.danielwm.com to listen to previously recorded music and keep in touch. The album will be available through Sellaband - www.sellaband.com, Amazon, iTunes and other good online distributors.
Relevant Countries: Russia.