[1] He later studied music at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), where he gained a BA (Hons) 1st Class in Music and met his future Wombats bandmates; having suffered from depression and anxiety since his teenage years, he was prescribed antidepressants after experiencing severe panic attacks at LIPA,[3] which led him to detail his issues with the medication in the Wombats song "Anti-D".

[4] Murphy is the lead singer and guitarist of rock trio The Wombats,[5] alongside Norwegian bassist Tord Øverland Knudsen and fellow Liverpool native Dan Haggis on drums.

They then ended up gaining radio play in the UK with songs such as "Let's Dance to Joy Division" and "Moving to New York".

Their first album, A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, was released on 5 November 2007 with success following a European tour and an Arbor Day party at Liverpool Academy.

[20] Four months later, he released the debut Love Fame Tragedy studio album Wherever I Go, I Want to Leave to positive reviews.

[26] While his Wombats bandmates are avid football fans, with drummer Dan Haggis supporting the band's hometown team Everton FC and bassist Tord Øverland Knudsen supporting Manchester United FC, Murphy prefers to play golf and has never specified a preferred football team.

[29] Their section of the video featured them performing Wombats songs, with all donations going to a campaign set up by Everton to provide support to people who had been made vulnerable and isolated by the pandemic.