It’s no secret that the music industry is a savage beast. To capture the attention of the public nowadays, who increasingly view art as a disposable, throwaway accessory, everything has become incredibly slow to create this sense of artificial scarcity. Touring and album release cycles seem to stretch on into infinity.
Even the ramp up is about as fast as an inebriated tortoise with the obligatory run of singles before the album even begins to get hyped. Combine that with navigating industry politics, predatory promoters, blowouts with venues, and a public who have become averse to buying tickets in advance, it’s a wonder that any music even gets released and played sometimes.
But what if you decide to breakaway from all of that and just do whatever the fuck you want? Well if you’re King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, you did and the rest is history. But even they might be about to be dethroned from their place in history as Australia’s most prolific artists by a fellow Melbournite (he’s actually based in Gippsland now but let’s ignore that part or the sentence doesn’t work).
CHEAP-SKATE is the surf rock brainchild of Blaike Murphy. Music has always been an integral part of his life and he approaches it with a level of energy that’s absolutely unmatched by anyone else I’ve ever met. And this year, he’s decided to do something that I haven’t actually seen anyone pull off properly before. With no label to dictate when he can release music, Blaike has set himself the challenge of releasing new music every week of 2026.
CHEAP-YEAR thus far has been a very wild ride and we still have the other half of the year to go. Just releasing music each week would be enough of a challenge but ever the overachiever, Blaike also decided to squeeze in a tour. It was at the first and biggest show of the tour, CHEAP-FEST in Brisbane, that I caught up with him in The Brightside smokers to find out more about what he has in store for the rest of the CHEAP-YEAR.
OB: This is NOT Five Quickfire Questions With CHEAP-SKATE, this is actually a completely normal interview which is rare for us nowadays.
Blaike: Hi, I’m Blaike and I am CHEAP-SKATE. CHEAP-SKATE is my little one-man band project where I write and record everything myself. I have a “band in each state” model, so I fly myself around so I can tour, ’cause everything is so expensive these days. CHEAP-YEAR is where I’m writing, recording, mixing, mastering, and releasing music every week for all of 2026.
1. When did the idea of CHEAP-YEAR actually crystallize for you in your mind? Did you debate whether you wanted to do it or did you decide pretty quickly that it was a go?
OB: You’ve described it before as being like your ten thousand hours (to get good at something). I’ve seen other musicians set themselves a challenge like this before and they’ve lasted maybe a month, maybe two. You’re the longest one I’ve ever seen actually stick to this.
Blaike: I mean I did quite a bit of thinking about it, but I also kind of didn’t, I sorta just brute-forced myself to do it ’cause like, I’m broke. I need to learn how to mix and master ’cause I can’t afford to go to a nice studio and record stuff. I had a lot of demos and they were just going in a folder and they’d just never get released. Then I saw Mac DeMarco dropping his album of demos, and just thinking about Tame Impala and artists like that, and I just went like, “I’ve got the studio, I’ve got the space, I’ve got the gear, I’m just gonna do it.” And I’m gonna do it in real-time ’cause you know, you need content to post as well. So it’s basically the unlimited content machine.
[Note: Blaike has his own studio that he built himself. It floods whenever there’s heavy rain.]
OB: Cause yeah, I’ve got a mate called Sam Wrangle who basically does everything himself too. He’s only been doing music for about six years as a solo project. I’m doing PR for him and he’s already got four albums out with another on the way soon. Something can be said for doing it all yourself.
Blaike: King Gizzard! That’s another big influence.
OB: Ah yes, I was also going to ask if they were an influence.
Blaike: Yeah for sure, that work load… I think with CHEAP-YEAR ’cause it’s not just singles—it’s actually fifty two releases, some of them are EPs, some of them are albums—it ends up being more (songs) than that one year where King Gizz released like five albums. So technically, I might be taking them off the podium.
2. In another interview, you said that you’d learnt jack shit about mixing and mastering through CHEAP-YEAR, but what about songwriting? Do you have any lessons you’ve learnt that you want to share? Do you feel like you’ve improved as a songwriter already?
OB: In fact you’ve written more songs this year than some bands write their whole careers. And yes very soon you’ll have put out more songs than King Gizzard did in the five album run.
Blaike: Absolutely, like I think I’m unintentionally learning tricks and stuff like that. But it’s kind of weird, and it sounds so weird saying it, but I was never traditionally trained, I was never taught music. I couldn’t tell you what chord is what or anything like that. So I just kinda vibe and just pull shit out of the void, and you know, I could be ripping a bunch of bands, I don’t know, I’m just playing what sounds good to me.
3. Where do you find inspiration, especially inspiration for CHEAP-YEAR, to have put out so many songs?
OB: I ask artists this question a lot. A lot of artists are internal, a few artists are more external.
Blaike: I’ve had a lot of songs written and demoed, and a lot of the early stuff has been backlogged stuff. But the stuff that I’m writing now, it’s just experiences and I’m kinda inspired by everything and everyone. You should see my studio, it’s like packed with pop culture references and all sorts of stuff, so I’m always writing about something. I try to make the lyrics not too on the nose so some people don’t really know what I’m saying, but it is deep and it has a lot of meaning behind it, but it’s more like my stuff. It’s just me, it’s just writing about me and my life.
OB: I did sort of notice that. I’m like, “This is definitely about something, but it’s like smoothed off the edges a bit.” Yeah, I do that often with my own writing.
4. What’s the songwriting process like as a solo artist compared to when you were in bands?
OB: I’m assuming it’s easier for you but you tell me.
Blaike: Yeah, I mean it is and it’s not. I wrote the Remember You Will Die album with Jake and it was really good. A lot of collaborating on most of the songs if not all of them. It is really good to have input from other people. Whereas like this is like, if it sounds good to me, it works for me. I do like asking for people’s opinion and stuff, but yeah, I don’t know, it’s a weird one. I like both.
The number one thing I think about CHEAP-SKATE in general that differs from bands is that I can make decisions very quickly without having other people’s input or, you know, other people being slack or anything like that. It’s like I can just make a decision and do it, and I think that’s why it’s been so successful so far, because I just pick up the bands in each state and everyone’s really keen. But yeah, when it comes to writing and stuff it’s like, I can just go in and do it, I don’t have to wait.
5. How’s it been to finally see all your demos finally released because of this challenge?
Blaike: Oh it’s so good, and like again, one of the main reasons for CHEAP-YEAR was because those songs would have never seen the light of day. ’cause I write so much all the time, it’s really good going back and fleshing them out and putting them out there because I think they’re great. I write music for me. I think they’re good songs, so yeah.
OB: Well maybe I should do that with all my writing. I should do short stories each week or something basically, because I write a lot but at the moment it’s just like drabbles.
Blaike: Pump them out! I was, completely sidetracking here, in an op shop a while ago and I found these like country-western magazine things. Basically it was like this author, like for some big magazine, but he went under a pseudonym. And he wrote completely different things under like four of these fake names, and there’s like hundreds of these little cowboy books! I’m like, damn, that’s crazy. Just do it.
OB: You definitely do get locked into it after a bit.
6. What’s it been like to explore other genres outside of your usual surf rock sound? Are there any other genres that you might want to dabble in before the CHEAP-YEAR is out?
Blaike: Yeah, 100%. Like I said, I take inspiration from everyone. I have been dabbling with a potential hardcore EP. Like a SPEED-style hardcore EP, because I think it would be really funny to get to the end of this and just throw people, be like, “What the fuck?”. You know, do some like full screamo shit. I really like dabbling with all sorts of different stuff. The last couple tracks like CRAMMER and SHEEP have been very psych. So definitely dabbling, but I listen to everything so (I have a lot to draw from).
OB: Yeah well this was definitely another point where I wanted to bring up King Gizz. When I heard those tracks I was like, “Oh, King Gizzard better be watching themselves.”
7. What was your favourite song to write? Which one took a bit of work to get done? Which was the easiest to record and get out? Which one was the hardest?
Blaike: HEADSPINNER took the longest. And it’s probably my favourite ’cause that was the kickoff, like that was the one that started this whole thing. So HEADSPINNER is really special to me. Probably the hardest was this week’s one, which ended up being—it’s both. I spent a whole day writing a song and it ended up just trash. So then I wrote a different song in one hour about not being able to write a song, that was the easiest and hardest song, so far.
OB: Yeah, so HEADSPINNER is your favourite and the hardest was… Halfwaymark?
Blaike (laughing): MIDWAYMARK? I don’t even know the names anymore, there’s too many!
8. I’m assuming it might be the song you literally mentioned just then but are there any songs that you’d do differently if you’d had more time to work on them?
Blaike (laughing): Well I mean, all of them! It definitely is a time crunch thing, but I like that. I think once the story gets out there and people get on board, I think it’s gonna be really special ’cause there’s a lot of human error in it, and I think in an age of AI and like really clean mixes and perfection, this is going to stand out because it’s got a lot of that, you know, bum chords and mis-hits, and I think it’ll be special.
OB: When you first announced the idea of CHEAP-YEAR, I was like “This is exactly what Dr. Sure’s always banging on about.” Dr. Sure from Dr. Sure Unusual Practice, he’s another very prolific musician.
Blaike: Yeah he’s a great man, we played with him at Best Night Ever a couple years ago.
OB: He’s all about being human in an age of AI and so is this.
9. How are the people in your personal life taking this challenge? Are they supportive or do they have concerns about your mental state or are they indifferent?
Blaike: Ha-ha-ha, very supportive, very concerned.
OB: What about your partner Ishy?
Blaike (laughing): My partner rarely sees me anymore and we live together. Nah (I’m joking) but yeah, it’s a grind and it’s just on all the time. I really struggle but I am also learning to turn it off and be able to spend quality time with my family and friends and not have it become all-consuming, even though it sort of is.
OB: Writing is like that for me, I could fucking bang on about it all day.
Blaike: A lot of people are worried about burnout and stuff like that. But like I fucking love it, so I don’t think I will burn out, you know?
10. If you wanted to cut another artist in on CHEAP-YEAR and do a collaboration, who would it be?
OB: Shout them out!
Blaike: Zac from FIDLAR.
OB: I thought you might say that.
Blaike: It’s always been Zac from FIDLAR. He’s always been the guy that I wanna work with, so.
OB: Cool, when I put this up we will definitely tag FIDLAR and we’ll see what happens.
Blaike: I want to work with him.
11. Will you be auditioning for Australian Idol again next year?
Blaike: I already did. As soon as it went up! Coming for you, Kyle Sandilands.
OB: I mean I don’t know if he’ll be on Idol next time, I think he’s run his luck too far at this point!
Blaike: Coming back for revenge on Amy Shark. I’ll do Baby Shark but it’ll be Amy Shark.
OB: Did you see there was that movie where she was playing the boxer? I remember thinking to myself like, “Hey watch out Blaike, she’s gonna come flog you next time.”
Blaike: Get in the ring! She’d kick my ass.
12. Speaking of which, do you expect to take a break from releasing more music next year or will you just keep skating along?
Blaike: I think it would be really funny to release heaps of music and then just stop. So like, I reckon I’ll take a year, but I will focus on relentlessly touring. I wanna do Europe, I wanna do America, I wanna do Japan. Like, I wanna fucking get out there and take it on the road man!
Blaike has some big dreams but after seeing him play one of the most chaotic sets I’ve seen in a long time, I think he’s definitely onto something here. It was an absolutely massive night, with Blaike having stacked the line-up with some excellent local talent. I’d already been going pretty hard during Speira so when I got called up to film the set on a handycam, I was wondering if I had enough left in the tank.
But the moment CHEAP-SKATE took to the stage, it very quickly exploded into a mass of flailing fists and Sailor Jerry’s being poured directly into mouths of thirsty crowd members. The energy was infectious and I rode that wave right to the end as I leapt right into the fray with only just enough caution to prevent damage to the camera. Getting right into the mud, sweat, and beer is what live music is all about.
It was the sort of experience that so many people in my generation seem to have become averse to and that’s such a shame. Nothing made using an algorithm on a computer could ever match the wonderful chaos that people create just by being themselves, and everything that’s sprung from CHEAP-YEAR exemplifies that in spades.
You can listen to CHEAP-SKATE’s ever increasing discography below and give Blaike a follow on the socials to keep up with what’s happening next with CHEAP-YEAR:
