Next Wave #1192: Murdo Mitchell

Cutting your teeth as a new artist is far from easy. Glaswegian singer songwriter Murdo Mitchell is certainly aware of this. An endearingly honest musician, his home city’s burgeoning troubadour scene has been something of a phenomenon of late, spawning the likes of Scottish superstar Gerry Cinnamon and more recently Dylan John Thomas. Now based in London – “the tap water isn’t great, but the weather is always about five degrees hotter than Scotland,” Mitchell jokes – the rising artist is celebrating the arrival of his latest EP ‘Cheap Hotels’. But with his hard-working ethos, ingrained from the streets of Glasgow after first busking aged just 10-years-old, Mitchell’s eyes are always looking one step ahead to what comes next.

“I really cut my teeth busking for years,” says Mitchell. “I worked out I have spent about five years of my life just busking. People mention the 10,000-hour rule… try 50,000.” Mitchell goes on to describe how buying his first guitar at the city’s Barras Market felt like “the holy grail”. He later had mentoring from Donovan, who walked past by chance as Mitchell played one of the iconic artist’s songs whilst busking. And while he may speak modestly about his own musical talents, it’s clear that Mitchell’s busking experiences were an apprenticeship of persistence that laid out opportunities for him to build a career in music, as well as his peers like Dylan John Thomas. 

“I’ve known Dylan for years from busking in Glasgow,” says Mitchell. “There’d be some days I’d wake up at 4.30am, getting to Buchanan Street by 5am and more often than not, there’d be Dylan’s smug face already sitting there smoking cigarettes. If I asked him when he got in, he’d always say he just arrived five minutes before me. There’s been a few buskers that have really broken the mould and that doesn’t surprise me as it takes a certain type of persistence to really push on with it. For me, it was persistence, persistence, persistence.”

Having shared a string of singles and EPs since 2021, Mitchell’s latest body of work feels like his most accomplished to date. The four track EP ‘Cheap Hotels’ looks both inward and outward, with lyrics channelling experiences from nightlife in London to introspective ballads. ‘One Glass’ has already been cemented as a fan favourite at live performances. The EP title track offers tender tones amongst glimmering falsettos. However, ‘French Defence’, a homage to Mitchell’s late teens back in Scotland via frank and visceral social commentary, is definitely the high point of the EP. “The initial inspiration came from thinking back to the days me and my mates would be drinking underage in our local pub – listening to the old regulars tell mad stories while we soaked in the mayhem of a proper boozer,” he explains. “To paint the picture: there was a pool table with a roll to one side, a jukebox that had certain Irish songs removed so as to not cause a scrap, a puggy (fruit machine), and toilets that always had a crowd in them. I wanted to capture all of that. Where it ends up is the state of play of life as I see it and how in the end, all you can do is dance your way through.”

Dancing is more than commonplace at Mitchell’s raucous live concerts. He returned home for a special affair at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut earlier this year, sold out London’s Omeara shortly after and also supported his “favourite artist” Glen Hansard last year. While ‘Cheap Hotels’ may be the latest chapter in Mitchell’s career to date, with his motto of persistence, of course he’s already thinking ahead to what’s next. “I feel like I’ve never been more motivated to get to work,” he says. “I’ve been sitting on a backlog of songs and new material for a while which I’ve had to wait a minute to release. But I’m really excited to get them out.” 

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Stay in touch with Murdo Mitchell on social media.

Words: Jamie Wilde

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