A Handstamp Interview with We Are Scientists: Miami music, Bon Jovi, stand-up comedy and M&M stores

One half of the much-loved band shares his thoughts on live shows

Somebody recently asked me if I was Korean at a documentary screening after party in Hackney Wick, London. A nice but puzzling enquiry. Based on my physical characteristics, I have no idea what inspired that question and I’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying to work it out.

After the interaction, I witnessed a set from Yu Su, who – in between televised tennis - I’ve been listening to since. I’ve also been rotating the pretty undeniable new Geese single, ‘Taxes’.

When I connected with Keith Murray of indie-rock band We Are Scientists last week, I was reminded of the unwavering strength of his tremendous and enviable mane. Long-time followers of the duo will know that though now greyed, Murray’s trademark fringe has endured, much like his consistently enjoyable songwriting.

Alongside fellow founding member Chris Cain, Keith began the WAS project in California, but his relationship with live music started on the opposite American coast.

Keith Murray: “I grew up in Miami, Florida. In the ‘90s, it was a live rock music wasteland. It’s weirdly difficult to get to and sort of out of the way, for a lot of tours. So, you only really get arena bands, which means the only bands I’d see growing up would play the Miami Heat basketball arena or tiny clubs.”

Handstamp: Yeah, I guess when I think of Miami from this side of the pond, live music doesn’t jump out as a major part of the cultural footprint.

Keith “There was a huge hip-hop scene in Miami, in the 90s. Then, obviously a big Latin and world music scene. But most of that was happening really late at night, in bars and clubs that a teenager can’t generally go to. Those scenes sat outside of my purview.’

“Miami, especially when I was growing up, was a very ADULT oriented town. I think now that it’s become a bit of a tech hub, it seems a little more accessible to everyone. The money that comes in to make it more entertaining for wealthy technocrats eventually trickles everywhere.”

Handstamp: When you say adult oriented, I guess you mean both that there’s not a lot for kids to do and it’s NSFW?

Keith: “Yes, very much so. Miami, in it’s cocaine-running heyday, was one thing but when that got shut down, it became kind of poor. There weren’t a lot of places to go, except the beach or your friend’s house.’

“The one good indie rock club in town was in an incredibly bad part of town, where an understood bit of commerce was that you would pay guys on the street to ‘watch your car’, which basically means they promise not to break into your car?”

Handstamp: [laughs] So, you’d pay for the privilege of not being robbed?

Keith: “Yeah, sort of how the Mafia say ‘we’ll protect your business, it would be really sad if this place burned down..”

Handstamp: Savvy kind of hustle. Do you recall the first show you ever saw?

Keith: “My first EVER show was the 60’s rock band The Animals. It didn’t even occur to me at the time, but they were playing a free show at the Miami Metro Zoo. The idea that THE ANIMALS were playing there didn’t occur to me until years later, when I thought ‘oh that sucks.”

Handstamp: I can vividly picture the PR team putting that one together.

Keith: “[laughs] Absolutely. I don’t remember much of it. I was very young and was taken by my parents, as it was a family-friendly, all-ages event.”

Handstamp: Ok, what was the first show you WILLINGLY went to?

Keith: “I was taken by my older sister, who was really into hair metal, to see Bon Jovi at Miami Arena, with Skid Row opening up. My first string of shows were all big MTV bands that my sister would reluctantly take me to, because my parents said she had to.”

Handstamp: Forgive me for making assumptions about your city, but it feels like Bon Jovi would have absolutely killed in Miami.

Keith: “Oh yeah, Miami accepted Bon Jovi VERY readily!”

Handstamp: So, when you guys met in college, did you go to shows together while forming your creative bond?

Keith: “Initially, my friendship with Chris was not really music based. We were more into comedy. We went to school right outside of L.A. We would mostly go there to see stand-ups.’

“There WAS a pretty good music venue by our college, which has now sort of become a bit of a stop between downtown L.A. and Coachella. It’s called The Glass House in Pomona, it was just starting out when were at college. We saw The Cardigans and Sunny Day Real Estate there… who’s the ‘One Armed Scissor’ band?”

Handstamp: At The Drive-In.

Keith: “Yes! We saw them, then we saw Sparta there, after they broke up. Because we were in California in the late ‘90s, there was a lot of singer-songwriter stuff that I didn’t necessarily dig, but definitely indulged. I went to a lot of coffee shop shows. Again though, we were mainly comedy nerds back then.”

Handstamp: I won’t be the first person to tell you this, but your enthusiasm for comedy permeates into how you present yourself as a band. What were some of the most memorable sets you attended together?

Keith: “[laughs] Yeah you’re not the first. We’re both really big Norm Macdonald fans, so we saw him. When we moved to New York we got very into the underground comedy scene. Do you know who The State are?”

Handstamp: I don’t.

Keith: “Well, they made an MTV show, when we were in high school. It was a lot of NYU kids, who were just given an MTV show. That sort of ended as quickly as you’d imagine a show given to a bunch of 20-year-olds might. But they started a scene in New York, formed a company called Stella, which we’d see ALL the time.’

“People like Janeane Garofalo, Louis C.K and a lot of people who now run Late Night now – Seth Meyers. We were also pretty good friends with The Lonely Island, which is why Akiva (Schaffer, The Lonely Island) directed our first four music videos.’

“When we moved to New York City, we were out legitimately six days a week, either seeing bands at shitty clubs or comedians at shitty clubs.”

Handstamp: Is that what inspired your move there in 2001, when New York was sort of the pop culture centre of the universe?

Keith: “We weren’t quite expecting that to be the case, but L.A. was sort of in a lull at that point, culturally. We also never really vibed with L.A.’s version of commercial artistic pursuit. We aren’t indie snobs, we definitely think making a living through art is awesome and we signed our first deal with Virgin Records, they gave us a lot of money which we spent on a lot of young, dumb arty things. When we besmirch L.A., it’s because when you’re there you feel worried if you’re not ‘successful’, while in New York, it’s almost even better to be less successful but very cool. It’s almost the exact opposite.”

Handstamp: The struggle is celebrated?

Keith: “Yeah, the struggle is the interesting part. So, we were excited about going to tiny shows, thrown in abandoned warehouses by tiny promoters who paid $50 and brought the PA. It all felt very exciting, especially because we got here just as a big wave of bands were graduating from obscurity to extreme buzz.’

“I saw Yeah Yeah Yeahs at a place called Brownies, which was a 200-capacity place in the East Village. The first show I ever saw in New York was a magazine show at Bowery Ballroom, with Interpol headlining. At that point, people were excited about musicians, but also knew they were going to work the next day like everybody else. It made things feel very accessible, in a way that L.A. did not.”

Handstamp: I thought the Meet Me in the Bathroom book punctuated that in quite a successful way. It felt very much like the art wasn’t hiding behind a cloak of showbiz mystery.

Keith: “Yeah, that’s sort of what I mean. It didn’t necessarily feel like Interpol went to work the next day and seemed like schlubs. It felt like they were going to the office and being dicks in suits, too cool to ring you up at the coffee shop. The vibe was that EVERYONE at ALL TIMES was putting on a show. It didn’t feel casual, but somehow felt accessible.”

Handstamp: I can’t imagine Carlos from Interpol in any other job. From my experience, you were fully embraced by the UK audience quite quickly. Did you find that quite surprising?

Keith: “To us, it felt quite gradual. It happened in clear stages, from our perspective. We were very surprised when we learned that we COULD go over to the UK and play a show. But the very first show we played in the UK was not what you’d expect.’

“Our booking agent - who we had never met until the day of the first UK show - got us on a few shows with Editors. But before that, we played our own show at a club we had never heard of, above the M&M store in Leicester Square and there were seven people there. Then we played with Editors in front of about 200 people and that was cool.’

“But we DEFINITELY put the work in over in the UK, it felt like we were over there constantly.”

Handstamp: I was going to say that. I honestly thought that you guys may have lived over here at some point.

Keith: “Oh, we should have. We definitely spent more on airfare than we would have on rent. We should have. But everything felt quite incremental and we felt really lucky that we were able to keep going to the next stages. We got to know bands like Editors, Arctic Monkeys and others, where they gave us a bit of a template to follow.”

Handstamp: Can you still enjoy gigs from the crowd, or do you feel too involved?

Keith: “For sure, I can. I’m trying to think of the ways I HAVE been corrupted…”

Handstamp: Sounds like one for therapy.

Keith: “[laughs] I definitely think about the production of shows, in a mechanical way. I think about the way things are working, who is doing front of house, which lighting package they brought, if it’s the house PA or their own. I am a little more removed from it than perhaps my wife may be at a show, but I still love the experience.’

“One specific element of live music that HAS been ruined for me is festivals. Being able to hang out backstage, with a clean bathroom and a place to dump your bags, makes me want to avoid going to a festival as a punter.’

“The only things that have changed for me are the practicalities of live music, not the enjoyment of it.”

Handstamp: We’ve had a previous guest who finds himself thinking about shows from a numbers point of view, considering the revenue distribution of the show. It’s interesting to get the different insights.

Keith: “I guess I think of it that way sometimes. I think about how much they have to pay to pull off certain aspects of the show, but more about the creative choices they’ve taken than how much of a viable financial tactic it is.”

Handstamp: Can you pinpoint the last great show you saw?

Keith: “I feel like this is cheating, but I went to see a good friend of ours, Sean McVerry, who recently put out a record called Steve. We went to his record release party. I’m fairly confident that he is my favourite New York artist right now. Insane singer.”

Handstamp: Time for the biggest question. Does anything stand out as the best show you’ve ever seen?

Keith: “I know time hasn’t been kind to this artist and rightfully so. Growing up though, the biggest local band – for better or worse – was Marilyn Manson. Marilyn Manson brought the level of theatricality people associate with them to the tiny club shows and that was formative for me, when it comes to making sure the audience become immersed in the show, rather than just playing the chords in the right order. You want them to become a part of world you’re creating. Now, it turns out the world Marilyn Manson was creating was a terribly corrupt and awful one that should have been destroyed, but it was a helpful lesson.”

Handstamp: Isn’t it a brutal and depressing reality that when you prefaced that, I was mentally scrolling through a rolodex of potentially disgraced, mega-famous musicians that you could have been referring to?

Keith: “Totally. Yeah it’s gross. Unlike Interpol, I think when Marilyn Manson went to work the next day, they had to try to be nice and were probably still considered losers in the office. But they acted like crazy people in the club and showed a level of commitment that had an impact on me.”

We Are Scientists will release their ninth studio album ‘Qualifying Miles’ on the 18^th of July 2025, via Grönland Records. Subscribe to Handstamp Substack for future interviews, follow @itshandstamp on social media and just bloody listen to Chief Springs on your chosen platform, will you? Illustrations by the excellent Alice Bowsher.