John Murphy (born 1959), sometimes credited as "Jonh Murphy", is an Australian drummer, percussionist and multi-instrumental session musician who has played in numerous Australian and British post-punk, ambient and industrial music groups. John is the son of an illustrious Australian jazz drummer Russ Murphy who played for many years with the Graeme Bell All Stars, stalwarts of the early Australian music scene.
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He was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne, Australia, where he played in the school orchestra as well as Scottish pipe bands. John was affectionately known by his school friends as "Peach" .
Murphy's first major band was NEWS the seminal Melbourne punk band in which he performed as "John Smith from the Suburbs".[1] From the late 1970s until the mid 1980s he collaborated with vocalist Ollie Olsen in the post-punk bands Whirlywirld, Hugo Klang, Orchestra of Skin and Bone, NO, and Max Q.[2]
He formed, joined, or collaborated with, the following acts: The Associates, Dumb And The Ugly, Sooterkin Flesh, The Slub, SPK, Lustmord, Our Father Of Serpents, Stress, Jaundiced Eye, The Wreckery, Whitehouse, Death In June, Der Blutharsch, Sword Volcano Complex, Browning Mummery, Current 93, Blood Axis, Kraang, Sleeping Pictures, Scorpion Wind, Naevus and NON, in addition to playing on sessions for Nico, The The, Gene Loves Jezebel and Shriekback.
Today he records solo under the name Shining Vril, as part of industrial electronic trio Knifeladder, and as a member of folk-noise group Foresta Di Ferro with Marco Deplano and Ostara's Richard Leviathan. He splits his time between living in Australia and the UK.