Blaike Interview | CHEAP-SKATE
Aus Idol judges not seeing genius and the work life balance with music
CHEAP-YEAR is the concept and CHEAP-SKATE is the brainchild of Blaike Murphy who has promised to release something every week in 2026 and joins Tempo to tell us about the concept. Noteworthy themes also include the importance of trusting the ear, honing his craft and how sorry the judges of Australian Idol will be for not realising they witnessed a musical genius in what was the performance of a lifetime.
Hello Blaike, thanks for joining me on Tempo. You have been making surf/punk garage/rock music under the name CHEAP-SKATE since 2022 and this year have decided to do something pretty extreme with the concept CHEAP-YEAR, promising to release something every week for a year. What was the thinking behind this wild idea?
Yo! Thanks for having me!!
Look, I’ve got SO much music in my head it’s actually ridiculous, for a loooong time I’ve been writing and recording and it’s just been sitting in a folder never to be seen, and I really wanted to learn how to mix and master so I’m learning and uploading in real time, trying to hone in on the craft and become a better all round musician and get all this music out of my head and into the world! This is my 10,000 hours but in public
Considering we are halfway through the year already can you tell us about how you have managed to stay motivated and what has been the best and worst parts of the project so far?
I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to be unmotivated when it comes to music,
it’s what I live for, I hear all these stories about burn out and people hating music because it becomes their job but like… I WANT it to become my full-time job!!
The hardest part is balancing it around normal life / work! But I’ve had to make sacrifices to do the thing I love
All your songs, EPs and experiments are all written, recorded, mixed and mastered yourself in a garage studio. Can you tell us about your set-up and how you have learnt to do it all yourself?
To be completely honest…. I haven’t learnt shit! It was always meant to be me learning and honing the craft of mixing / mastering, but I can’t even sit through a YouTube video!
I’ve just been trusting my ear and the ears of the people around me! Any sound engineer would look at my mixes / the things I do to an EQ and wouldn’t be able to sleep….
But my shits getting played on national and international radio so…. in the ear, we trust
I am interested in your music background and what inspired you to start CHEAP-SKATE? Who are you hero’s and influences?
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been into music, I always tell the stories of my uncle bringing me burnt CD’s and learning to drum to them / hanging out in some dodgy garage watching my uncles band practises, that and my pop showing me music videos as a kid like Roger Glover - Love is all and Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
Heroes and influences that inspire CHEAP-SKATE, it’s always been Fidlar, Wavves, Skegss, Violent SoHo, that sorta stuff mixed with Mac Demarco, Tame Impala, King Gizzard (and obviously Dave Grohl) but I take influence and inspiration from absolutely everywhere from Ween to Katy Perry hahahah
There is a story I would love to hear more about. You brought the project to national TV on Australian Idol, introducing a prime-time audience to CHEAP-YEAR in a comedic vein that I’m sure surprised the judges. Can you tell us all the details and what the experience was like?
Haha yessss Australian Idol!
That was the performance of a lifetime, but the judges just didn’t see my musical genius! They’ll be sorry soon!
I even hired out a cinema for the premier and played a gig INSIDE the cinema hahahaha! Feel bad for the people watching movies either side of us
How do you pull it all off live? Do you have a regular group that backs you with your tunes? And are you planning something awesome to encapsulate this project at the end?
Live I have some of the best musicians in the country! I’ve got my regular Melbourne lineup and then I’ve built a band in each state! It’s soooo hard for artists to tour and SO expensive so flying myself state to state and picking up homies on the way is the only way I’ve been able to make touring work!
As for the finale… I’m still working on it; I’d LOVE to get over to the states as ALOT of my listeners are from there but DAMN it’s spenny!!!
Finally, who are your favourite local Melb/Naarm bands right now and who would you like to see interviewed for Tempo?
Oh my god there are SO many it’s almost impossible not to just give you a list of 1000 + hahhaha
It’s been really sick growing alongside the homies in Oh Daisy! We’ve played together SO many times and they always rip!
Same with friends like Okay Dane, Sick Visor and Grevillea! I literally can’t express to you how many bands I wanna shout out, basically look at my gig posters, every band that’s ever been on a lineup are 10/10!!!
A new artist I recently discovered tho (at the last Okay Dane show) was Dempsey!! Goddamnnn! They absolutely crush! Banger tracks, banger live show! Go give em a rip!
CHEAP-SKATE is heading on Tour -
June 12 - Brightside Brisbane - Tickets
June 13 - Dog Daze Festival GoldCoast - Tickets
June 14 - Black Flag Brewery Sunshine Coast - Tickets
June 20 - Chuck trailers Sydney - Tickets
June 21 - La La la’s Wollongong - Tickets
June 26 - lulies tavern Melbourne - Tickets