When Cillian Murphy’s Band Rejected A Five Album Record Deal

Written By David Keenan

Source: Wiki Commons. Cillian pictured at a college workshop at University College Cork.

Music was the Irish actor’s true dream.

In 1993, in the small Irish city of Cork, the rock band Emperor of Ice Cream spotted a teenager running towards them. This teenager had recognized them, approached them in the middle of the street, and asked them to see his new band. The band was called The Sons of Mr. Green Genes, and the cocky teenager running up to people on the street was Cillian Murphy.

Murphy’s band played acid jazz and derived its name from a song by Frank Zappa. The genre was incredibly popular in the 1980s but had only caught on in Ireland in the 1990s. Cillian was the guitarist and singer, and the band included his brother Pádraig as well as other childhood friends.

In an interview with Steve Lamacque, Cillian said:

“Do you remember like the sort of early-mid-90s, when acid jazz was a big thing? That was a big influence on us. I think being in Cork in Ireland, we were probably a bit late to the party with that sound.”

As a college student, Cillian was, in his own words, “foolishly pursuing a law degree” at University College Cork or ‘UCC.’ However, music was Cillian’s biggest passion at the time, and he was regularly gigging around Ireland with The Sons of Mr. Green Genes. During this time, he still had a passing interest in pursuing acting.

As a college student, Cillian went to see a theatre production of A Clockwork Orange. This play was directed by Pat Kiernan, who headed a production company called Corcadorca. Kiernan had also taught Cillian a module on acting back when he was in secondary school (or high school). Cillian was encouraged to pursue acting back then but never fully went through with it. But after seeing this play, he started pestering Pat for auditions.

Cillian also made use of his time as a student and joined UCC’s Drama Society. This society staged the Frank McGuinness play The Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, and Cillian’s first role was in this play.

Meanwhile, Cillian’s band would continue to grow and receive praise from local newspapers. A review in The Evening Echo, a Cork newspaper, said:

“Sons of Mr Green Genes are the first Acid jazz band I`ve heard out of Cork and they were superb at the opening of Cabaret Deluxe last Sunday.”

For this review, it was not Cillian who was the star, but their bassist Chris McCarthy. The article says:

“Their bass player has to be seen and heard to reconcile the seeming contradiction of old, experienced fingers on such a young face. Groovesters par excellence.”

Outside of Cork, the group was receiving recognition from people in the acid jazz genre, including a record label. Acid Jazz Records in London had asked for a demo tape.

Around the same time, Corcodorca were producing a new play written by Enda Walsh, who was gaining a lot of hype off the back of his debut play The Ginger Ale Boy.

Cillian auditioned and got the part. The fact that he was relatively new to acting and completely nailed the audition was a sign that Cillian had serious talent in acting. While his first passion was in music, this was an opportunity he clearly needed to pursue and see where it went.

From left, Mikel Murfi, Enda Walsh, Cillian Murphy, and Stephen Rea. Photograph: Cyril Byrne

Disco Pigs was originally performed at The Triskel Arts Center in Cork, followed by The International Bar in Dublin as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival. While The Sons of Mr. Green Genes received reasonably good praise from newspapers, the reviews for Disco Pigs were sensational. The play went on to win Best Show at The Dublin Theatre Festival.

A review in the Irish Examiner said:

“It is the best one hour, two player show you’re likely to see before the Millennium.”

After Disco Pigs’ successful run, Cillian continued working with his band. In an article for the Irish Examiner, Cillian mentioned that the band was visited by Eddie Piller, the founder and manager of Acid Jazz Records.

At the time, the whole band was made up of college students, except his brother Pádraig, who was doing his Leaving Cert (the final exam in Irish schools).

The Irish Examiner article also addresses the crossroads in front of Cillian. It reads:

“But consider if you will be the double choice in front of Cillian, guitarist and vocalist with the band, who is now also suddenly part of an award-winning theatre team.”

The article, perhaps naively, also assumed that Cillian still cared about his law degree at this stage.

“Well, it looks likely that for him, as for all of the band, it’s going to be a double life for the moment; working at their studies while allowing their artistic talent to grow on stage, until they want to choose their moment. Cillian just may have to make that other choice, between music and theatre. It’ll be an interesting year.”

At this point, the acting career seemed like the most promising path. However, an article in the Evening Echo in March 1997 revealed that not one but two record labels were interested.

“And it seems as if Sons Of Mr. Green Genes are about to hit things big also. The acid jazz band are presently under the watchful eye of two top London record labels.

Although it’s not clear exactly when, The Sons of Mr. Green Genes were offered a record deal from Acid Jazz Records. And not just any deal; this one involved five albums.

However, there were some difficulties with this deal. First of all, Cillian’s brother Pádraig was still in school. Secondly, they were offered quite a low figure, and with this low figure, Acid Jazz Records wanted complete ownership of their recordings. While a lot of bands would jump at the idea of having a record deal, not all of them are as cracked up as they seem to be. This deal was turned down.

In August 1997, Disco Pigs played at The Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, which is the biggest arts festival in the world. There were 1278 productions that year, all with the same hopes of making it big.

The UK newspaper, The Independent, positively reviewed Disco Pigs and Cillian in his role as the character ‘Pig.’

“As Pig, Killian Murphy [sic] displays a combination of feral aggression, raw vulnerability and Celtic good looks that will inevitably bring Ewan MacGregor comparisons.”

Their Edinburgh show did really well, and this was a turning point in the lives of everyone involved. According to Enda Walsh:

“Within two years we travelled the world. I think all of us felt that our careers, our lives in theatre, had started at that moment: bang!”

Disco Pigs would embark on a tour of Europe, Canada, and Australia for these two years. An easy decision for Cillian was to drop out of college. However, a much tougher decision was for him to leave the band. The last gig I could find for the Sons of Mr Green Genes was in December 1997. From there on, it was clear which path Cillian had chosen.

Although making music was Murphy’s first love, he believes that his pursuit of acting, in the end, was the right decision.

In his Steve Lamacq interview, he said:

“It’s such a treacherous industry. With all the lads that I was in the band with, we’re such good friends now, and I don’t know if that would have actually stayed the case if we had been put through the jaws of the music industry as youngsters.

“I know lots of lads that went through that and it was pretty traumatic for them if they didn’t make it. So I am happy with my lot, Steve, I can’t complain.

“I’m very glad in retrospect that we didn’t sign because you kind of sign away your life to a label and the whole of your music.”

As well as that, he felt that acting was where his real talent lay.

“There was a period in my 20s when I wondered what things would have been like, but I quickly realised that there was a ceiling on my ability as a singer, songwriter and musician.

“I looked at other bands and other musicians and I realised that I wasn’t in that league.

“So that made me feel less sad about it. I don’t think the world is lacking my music.

“It’s so long ago now. It wasn’t such an outrageous thing to do. It was just figuring out your path in life.”

Sources:

David Keenan
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