James Murphy Working on Film With Ron Howard

James Murphy, frontman of the now-defunct LCD Soundsystem, recently told Rolling Stone about his directorial debut, a short film that he will make with oversight from Ron Howard. “I don’t know what I’m doing, but that’s what I’m excited about,” he said. The film, which Murphy will start working on this fall, is part of a series of shorts that will be inspired by the winning photography submissions in a contest sponsored by Canon.

Howard will serve as a mentor to Murphy throughout the filmmaking process. “Now I’ll be able to call Ron Howard, which is super weird,” Murphy said. “This is the beauty of having been in a band that did well enough, I guess. You have access to something as crazy as this.”

Murphy has been on an exploratory bent ever since the planned breakup of his band, dipping his toes in the pools of film, literature, even cuisine. “I’m in this absurdly privileged spot by being in a band but not so famous that it makes me feel weird,” he said. “It’s amazing. I love to complain because it’s part of my nature, but right now it’s amazing.”

LCD Soundsystem may be “kaput,” as he puts it, but Murphy continues to make music through other avenues. His current situation – “for all intents and purposes, I quit my job” – has afforded him the opportunity to try new things musically. “I’m not going to curl up and die. I’m doing things that I would never have time to do, like go work on a couple of songs with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs,” he said.

At some point, this period of exploration may come to an end, but for now, Murphy is happy to continue experimenting. He said, “After those 10 years with the band, I wanted to go back to that state of trying things and just seeing what happens. It’s exciting.”