Jul 195 min read

Sugar Ray's Murphy Karges Wants His New Book to Inspire as Well as Teach

‘Basics for Bassists’ includes stories of band life and advice on how to succeed in music.

Murphy Karges played with Sugar Ray for 23 years and is one of the band’s founding members. Photo courtesy of Murphy Karges

Murphy Karges knows a lot about playing the bass guitar. He also knows a lot about how to survive and thrive in the volatile world of rock music stardom – he was a founding member of Sugar Ray, one of Orange County’s most successful bands.

Both skill sets come together in Karges’ new book, “Basics for Bassists.” Part primer, part hard-earned lessons learned from 35 years of life as a musician, the book’s subtitle hints that it doesn’t take itself too seriously: “How to Not Suck at Playing Bass!”

The cover of “Basics for Bassists” by Murphy Karges. He says his book for bass players is part primer, part hard-earned lessons learned from 35 years of life as a musician.

Karges is holding a book-signing event at the House of Blues Anaheim's Foundation Room on Saturday, July 20 at 7 p.m., followed by a concert at 8 p.m. He’ll be playing with an impressive lineup of musicians, called the Millennium All-Stars, that include members of Third Eye Blind, One Republic, Panic! at the Disco, Puddle of Mudd, Goo Goo Dolls, and other bands whose heyday was, like Sugar Ray’s, largely in the ’90s and aughts.

“Basics for Bassists” is already receiving warm praise from some of Karges’ rock ‘n’ roll colleagues. Here’s a sampling of the endorsements:

“Murphy has successfully created not just an easy-to-follow, step-by-step comprehensive tutorial … but a wonderful and completely engaging personal journey as well. I wish I had this when I was 13,” said Paul DeLisle of Smash Mouth.

“Informative, simple, and FUN,” declared Three Dog Night’s Tim Hutton. “ Whether you’re a beginner or a professional there’s something to learn from this book. I sure have.”

Karges said his book rose from the ashes of an earlier manuscript: an attempt to write about his 23-year experience as a member of Sugar Ray. Karges left the band more than a decade ago, but it continues to tour with several new members. Sugar Ray’s most recent album, “Little Yachty,” was released in 2019.

“I've always written on the road,” Karges said. “I always brought a notebook with me. I remember I once tried to bring a typewriter – you know, like, to be cool. I took my stab at … my time in Sugar Ray but I made too big of a swipe at it. I tried to (cover) a 20-year period but it just didn't work.”

Buried within that lengthy manuscript was the raw material for another book, Karges eventually realized. “It just kind of wiggled out of me.” Karges said an instructional book seemed like a logical outgrowth of his activities at the time. “I had a music school in Westside Costa Mesa, and then I did a YouTube channel. And this book really came out of those two things – actually teaching people one-on-one. I really like teaching people.”

At first, Karges felt that the information he was gathering would be best suited for video. “I thought I was making a video series but months in I said, ‘Wait, this is a book!’ And I just kept going. YouTube (is) an amazing place to go to figure something out, which is cool, but it's still hard to find a path of … getting inspired to (play), and that was another big reason for me to write it, because I really want to encourage people. “

Karges describes himself as more ambitious than talented, but insists that ambition is the most important ingredient of success. Photo courtesy of Andrew Karges

It started with a $60 bass

As an instructional manual, Karges thinks his book isn’t appropriate for every bass player. It’s the additional material that is more universally useful, he believes.

“The main focus would be beginners to intermediate. But I think if you're a pretty decent bass player, you could get a lot out of this because a lot of my stories and anecdotes are about learning to be on time, learning to take people seriously, learning how to communicate as a person. It's really important.”

One chapter in the book is titled “Understanding Your Role.” Karges thinks that’s critical to getting along in a band setting. When Sugar Ray first found success, he was often asked the question: Are you jealous of the attention your singer receives? “I figured out one day that I don't want the attention that a singer gets; I don't need it,” Karges said. “You pick the instrument of your personality, period.” (He was quick to add that some of the greatest musicians in rock history were bass players. “We've got Brian Wilson, we've got Paul McCartney, Sting. It goes on and on.”)

Karges said his initial interest in the bass proves his personality theory. “I was a shy kid. I remember seeing (a bass) on the cover of a magazine called Action – this magazine that was the first to cover skating, surfing and snowboarding. And I thought it was so interesting. And I remember seeing this photo of a punk band in L.A. in the early ’80s. He was sticking his bass into the camera frame real aggressively. And I go, ‘Man, that thing just looks so cool.’”

The bass also appealed to Karges’ attraction to the offbeat. “I liked that it was different. Nobody talked about it. It was overlooked. I like overlooked, underdog things.”

Karges applied himself immediately, even though his first bass wasn’t exactly ideal.

“I got my hands (on) this crappy little $60 hand-me-down bass from a friend of a friend. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't sexy, it wasn't cool. It didn't play well. (But) my mind exploded when I thought I could put the words I was writing on paper to crappy little thumbed-out notes on bass and call that a song and play that in front of people. That was a mind-exploder to me.”

‘People get shut down in life so hard’

Karges’ fascination with his instrument only grew. “It was a way to express myself to friends and the world, and it opened up a whole new world for me. And it never ended from the first day I got that bass. A year later I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

Karges talked at length about the highs and lows of playing with Sugar Ray as the band developed stylistically from hard punk to a more radio-friendly pop sound, going through sometimes painful, sometimes joyful periods while their fame grew. He has few regrets about that period in his life (though band members’ later legal disputes left him sad, he admitted). He hopes the book encourages young bass players – and anyone who wants to follow their creative dreams – to take that brave first step.

“I think people get shut down in life so hard. There's a lot of negativity in the world and people want to crush you. Because they're also not happy if you succeed. It's really weird. I'm not trying to come off … that it's doomsday, but I really feel that it's really hard to chase very, very hard dreams.”

Karges said society’s attitudes about musical ambition change after budding musicians graduate from high school. “All of a sudden, if you want to do music after high school, it’s ‘No, no, no, no, no. It's time for you to get a real job.’ I'm just trying to say, if anybody out there is encouraged by music and they love it and they're passionate, then this book is going to … encourage you to follow your dreams.”

Karges describes himself as more ambitious than talented, but insists that ambition is the most important ingredient of success. “I want to fire you up to say ‘I can do it.’ I was a nerdy kid from Irvine who wasn't born with a ton of natural talent. My talent was that I wanted it more than anyone. And so I was going to (succeed), and I didn’t care how long it took.

“So that's what I want to help impart: just some joy and encouragement that you can do it.”