Murphy originally formed Sloan with Jay Ferguson. Murphy is the band's primary bassist, occasionally switching to drums or guitar, and is one of the band's two main singers, as he sings lead on about 40 percent of the band's songs, and backup-harmony vocals on most of the others. Murphy has written several Sloan songs that have been released as singles, including "Underwhelmed", "Coax Me", "G Turns to D", "She Says What She Means", "The Other Man", and "The Rest of My Life". In 1995, while Sloan was on a hiatus, Murphy toured and recorded as the drummer for The Super Friendz. In December 2005, Murphy began hosting a show on CBC Radio 3 with Sloan bandmate Jay Ferguson. Their show was broadcast Saturdays and Sundays on Sirius Satellite Radio station. The show has been on hiatus since November 2006. In 2010, Murphy served as the music coach for the actors in the film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. The character Todd Ingram plays a red Fender Mustang Bass with white racing stripe, similar to Murphy's. In 2013, Murderecords released a 7-inch single by the Certain Someones, a supergroup featuring Chris Murphy, Matt Murphy of The Super Friendz, and Jale's Jennifer Pierce. In 2015, Murphy formed the supergroup Tuns with Mike O'Neill of The Inbreds and Matt Murphy of The Super Friendz. In 2016 Murphy, along with Steven Page, Moe Berg and Craig Northey, formed the group The Trans-Canada Highwaymen; they performed their first show in Niagara in July that year, and toured across Canada in 2017. Their live set consisted of cover songs by member's bands. In 2018, Murphy and his bandmates from Sloan set out on a 30-date tour in support of their twelfth album together. In August 2019, it was announced that Murphy had formed a supergroup called Anyway Gang with Sam Roberts and members of Hollerado and Tokyo Police Club.
Personal life
Murphy and his girlfriend, Rebecca Mendoza, have two sons: Francisco and Santiago. In July 2009, Murphy was hit by a car in a hit and run collision while riding his bicycle in Toronto, breaking his collarbone. The incident lent its name to Sloan's subsequent release, the Hit & Run EP.
