I was born Floyd Paul Murray to Floyd and Antoinette Murray at Perth Amboy General Hospital, New Jersey, on May 10, 1961. (Damn, now you know how old I am) I resided in Woodbridge, New Jersey, for all of my adolescent and teen age life, attending St. James Catholic School from K through 8th grade, then one year in 9th grade at Woodbridge Junior High, then attending and graduating from Woodbridge Senior High school, Class of '79. I am the "middle child", having an older sister of two years named Kathy, and a younger brother of two years named Kenneth, both of whom I am very close with. I am blessed with a close knit family, and feel that I experienced the "average model American childhood". (boy, did that all change later in life!)

I seemed to always be interested in music, and recall very early on sitting around the "stereo" singing to Peter, Paul, and Mary albums with my folks. (the kids now are all asking… what the hell is an album?) My parents bought me a great set of Ludwig drums at about the age of 12, and I was enjoying playing them until my sister accidentally put her hand through the snare drum while roller skating in the basement. Then my parents sold them without asking me because they thought they were broken. (it was probably because they were so loud) I was so devastated by this that my wonderful aunt, Sr. Margaret (she's a Nun) gave me a "Harmony" guitar. Well that changed my whole life! I was immediately hooked and spent a great deal of time goofing around on guitar and recording my own little "radio shows" into my dad's General Electric tape recorder. (I still have a few of those tapes) I formed my first band in the 7th grade called "The Black Rage" and that was the beginning of an incredible journey.

Going into a public school after 9 years of Catholic school was a very enlightening experience for me to say the least. A whole New World! The focus always seemed to be on music (and girls), and I met some new musician friends and formed the band "Spread Eagle" which went on to win a few local battle of the bands and get some gigs at local dances. (I still have a few of those old tapes too!) In high school I got involved with a heavy metal band (that wasn't the term at the time) named "High Voltage" I could tell you some nutty stories about that band! The notorious Harley gang, "The Breed" did security for us, (I didn't need security, I was 17 years old) and I played some funky gigs with that band. Probably not appropriate to be described here.

I landed my first "real job" in a music store at the age of 16 working as a salesperson and somewhat manager at Laconia Music Center, down town Woodbridge. I met some cool people there, learned a lot about the music scene, equipment, retail, and bought some good equipment at cost. I also learned at that ripe age that I wasn't really interested in working for someone else for a living. I had the pleasure of working with Richie Sambora at that store, (you remember him, he was the guitar player for that guy… what was his name… Bongiovi or something…) Richie and I went to school together as well. He was always a great player and somewhat of an inspiration.

Anyway…

After high school I worked various day jobs while giging in bands at night for about two years. I was never interested in, nor did I have the money to go to college. That was about the first time in my life I really had my first experience with "soul searching". I still have those once and awhile. I knew I wanted to "do" music, and that I wanted to travel. I also had the burning desire to learn new things and gather knowledge. By a crazy act of fate, which is an incredible story in itself and much to the delight of my parents, I wound up joining the United States Navy.

My Navy experience was absolutely incredible! Six years of some of the best experiences of my life! Some day I may do a whole Web Site on just that experience. I have an incredible photo collection, all in chronological order, of most of my six years in the Navy. I even discovered a Web Site about the first ship I served on, the frigate U.S.S. Francis Hammond FF-1067. Joining the Navy for me was a very calculated and planned adventure, and I got everything out of it that I intended and more. I traveled the world extensively, visiting 26 different countries and actually lived in San Diego for a year and a half, Japan for two years, and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for two and a half years. I got extensive schooling in digital and analog electronics, fire fighting, and leadership management. I advanced quickly in rank as a Sonar Technician, chasing Soviet Submarines around the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions, and earned a Top Secret Security Clearance. I literally had life and death experiences, and made a few life long friends. The cool thing was that I always maintained my "music thing", playing in different bands in different countries, practicing my ass off, and buying lots of cool music gear in Japan and Hong Kong. But moving right along…

After leaving the Navy was the best vacation of my life so far! I was stationed in Hawaii, and upon my discharge I had accumulated 45 days of paid leave. So for 45 days, all I did was get up before noon, go surfing on which ever side of the island had the best surf, come home and cook a good meal (I had this incredible house in the mountains overlooking Pearl Harbor), play guitar for a few hours, then go to Waikiki and party. I could live the rest of my life that way! On my way back to New Jersey, I hung out for two weeks in San Diego with my sister and my brother-in-law who lived there. (I introduced them!) That was pretty much another two weeks of surfing, playing guitar, and partying. My brother came out to San Diego to drive back to New Jersey with me, and that was the beginning… or continuation… of a cosmic trip.

Then I went back to NJ for two weeks. Got my van and my personal belongings from Hawaii off the boat, partied with some old friends, packed the van full of my music equipment and some clothes, and cruised down to my wonderful cousin's farm in West Virginia for a week or so. "Half Mountain Berry Farm", one of the most incredible places on earth. More spiritually and physically enhancing indoor/outdoor activities, playing guitar, and partying. I was stopping there on my way to recording/engineering school in Chillicothe, Ohio.

That school was Great! The first time in my life I was completely surrounded by people who were pretty much into everything I was. A very educational and creative time in my life... I graduated in the top 5% of a class of 95 people. I couldn't surf there, but there was lots of music and partying. I learned the latest audio technology, made a few more life long friends, and headed back to Jersey to pursue my music career.

Now that I was going to be "based" in New Jersey, I immediately formed a new band named "Magazine" with an old Navy buddy from New York who I actually met while jamming on a stage in a club in the Philippines. I started beating the streets in Manhattan for a "job" in a recording studio. I got a few offers, but you start out by being an "intern" with no or little pay.

So I jumped back into the "corporate world" using my electronics training landing a good paying "job". I wasn't digging the corporate thing, and Magazine split up in the middle of recording our big demo because the lead singer left the band, so I took some time off and traveled to South America. Upon returning, I found myself working again in a music store, making good money, meeting people in the industry, and buying music equipment at cost. I worked there for nearly 3 years, was one of the top salesman in the store, then they screwed me and fired me. This company was so ****ed up and screwed so many of their employees… that's a whole other story… ask me about it if you're really interested. Now I was convinced that I would never work for anybody else again… but what was I to do?

A fellow employee at Sam Ash (oops, I gave it away) talked me into forming a "duo" to play gigs with him, much to my reluctance… (After all, I had done the "band thing" and wanted to make some real money…) I agreed, and next thing I knew, we're Incorporated and doing five gigs a week as JukeBox Inc. That was just about when the 80's slipped into the 90's.

The 90's began a decade of vast experiences, changes, education, and growth. Giging out 5 or 6 gigs a week in a duo or solo, writing and recording my stuff in my studio, recording and giging with a band named "Nature Boy", recording some of the local talent in my studio, and trying to work contacts in the totally insane "music industry". In late summer of 1990 I was Blessed with and delivered my wonderful son in a birthing center with a midwife. Having my son had brought me to a place in my life that I had instinctually known about all my life. I felt immediate and distinct physiological understanding and reward. The first three and a half years of this decade I pretty much spent all of my time caring for and raising my son during the day and giging at night. That's always been a pig plus in both my relationship with my son and my "occupation"… I got to hang out with him all day, tuck him in at night, then go to "work" and have fun.

About halfway through the 90's, after continuous giging and a few duo partners later, by an act of fate I was introduced to a very talented vocalist/songwriter/performer named Jody. We immediately "clicked" and were soon giging out 5 nights a week and writing and recording. There was an incredible writing chemistry between us that melded into this creatively prolific relationship of making what we felt was cool music. In the mean time, and as a byproduct of spending so much time together, Jody and I had become best friends. We were recording our music in my studio and giging our asses off, with the intention of putting out a CD of our music. We were both single parents trying to make a living in the music industry.

That pretty much brings us up to the present as of the time of this writing, with the addition of the development of the CD.

Through contacts that Jody had developed throughout her career, she had gotten the attention of the "industry" and gained the support of some wonderful people who facilitated the opportunity to present the music of both Jody & I in a professional medium. That story of that whole process may someday become another Web Site or a book or something. In the mean time…

I guess this "bio" will be updated in a few years or so when I become retrospective once again. Please continue to visit my site for updates as they occur.

If you made it this far, thank you for your interest.

... as of the year 2000

[Back To FloydWeb Page] [Back To My Music Page] [Back To Welcome Page] [Buy the CD]