LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy: ‘I’m writing a novel’

James Murphy of the now defunct LCD Soundsystem has revealed that he is currently writing a novel.

Speaking to GQ, Murphy said that he has considered writing under a pseudonym so his work is “considered fairly”. He said: “I’m writing now, actually. A novel. I’m always making things, but whether they turn into something that I’ll consider making a part of the public world is different. I mean, I write songs every day, but only once in a while do they go out into the public sphere.”

He added: “I’m also dubious because as a person who’s known for something else, something that I wrote might get published before it was ready. Maybe I’ll have to send things in under a pseudonym, just so that they’re considered fairly. Editing is no joke.”

LCD Soundsystem split up last year following two epic shows at Madison Square Garden in New York. Those shows were made into a documentary, Shut Up And Play The Hits. Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys recently gained distribution rights to the film, with his company Oscilloscope Laboratories, and will be releasing it in North America this summer. According to LCD Soundsystem’s Twitter, the movie will be out in the UK later in the year.

Shut Up And Play The Hits premiered at the Sundance Film Festival at the start of the year, and was also screened last month at SXSW. In the GQ interview, Murphy explained that he suffered from stage fright, saying: “Stage fright is a very real thing for me. I don’t address performing. I try to play the songs. The performative aspect for me is always musical and physical and not about theatre, which I think is a failure of mine… I love David Bowie, who’s obviously a theatrical performer but I don’t have that gene.”

When asked if he felt connected to his lyrics, he said that “I feel like a newscaster, not a charming personality. If I didn’t have news to say, then why would you listen to me?”