If you go
Fern Murphy Album Release
🗓️ 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27
📍 HI-FI Indy, 1043 Virginia Ave.
🎟️ $24
Fern Murphy frontman Gabe Adams, 34, had big life changes happen while making their new album, “via negative.” He bought a house and had a baby with his fiancee.
“A lot of the writing happened in the six months leading up to my child’s birth and the six
months after,” said Adams, who has headed the Indianapolis dream-pop band since its origins in 2018. “But I was like, ‘I really don’t want to check out now and go on a big hiatus because we’re finally firing on all pistons as a band.’”
Rather than let himself be overcome by the uncertainty in his life, Adams embraced the change and let it shape his next chapter.
The band will celebrate the release of “via negative,” their second album Thursday, Aug. 27, at HI-FI Indy with opening support from fellow Indianapolis band Sonia.
Big life events and music breakthroughs
Adams explained the origin of the new album’s title: all songs were written considering the negative things in life that give shape to the positive.
“The title is a play on the philosophical idea of via negativa, or the negative way: the idea that we can sometimes understand something more clearly by considering what it is not.” said Adams. “The anxiety I felt around having a child, for example, was inseparable from how deeply I already loved and cared for her, even before she was born and before I could fully understand those feelings.”
“As an adult, I’ve come to understand those memories differently,” said Adams. “Things that once felt like signs that something was missing now feel more like evidence of how hard my parents were working and how much love and sacrifice was there, even if I couldn’t recognize it at the time.”
Other album songs also draw inspiration from grief, anxiety, unconditional love, joy, shame and uncertainty.
“For me, that mirrors the way we sometimes need to dwell within grief before we can move on,” said Adams. “There can be a comfort in staying close to that sadness because, for a time, it still feels like a way of staying close to the person we’re mourning.”
All grown up
Fern Murphy has enjoyed some success since their founding in 2018. They have shared the stage with acts like Beach House, Cake and Vampire Weekend. Having an album release show at HI-FI Indy — a highly regarded Fountain Square venue — is an impressive feat for a local band.
Originally, Fern Murphy started out as a three-piece. Their sound had channeled the shoegaze shades of bands like Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive.
Since then, Fern Murphy’s sound has shifted, with the band now consisting of Adams on lead vocals and guitar, Gilberto Huerta, 35, on drums; Jason Bales, 33, on bass; Leah Foster, 29, on keyboard and vocals; and Travis Brown, 35, on guitar.
“We have careers and children, so it’s hard to consistently go outside of Indy,” Bales said. “But we have good friends in good bands in all the other Midwest cities, so we get to network and have opportunities to play those shows every once in a while.”
Adams sees their careers and evolution as what makes “via negative” Fern Murphy’s best album yet. He said that for the first time they have the experience, resources and freedom to fully capture the sounds they originally envisioned.
“In the past, we were often limited by our own experience, the gear we could afford, or by booking studio time, where the clock is always working against you,” he said. “For the first time, there was much less compromise between the idea of the record and the finished album.”
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Seth Johnson is a Mirror Indy freelance contributor. You can reach him at seth.johnson4291@gmail.com.
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