It's been nearly five years since an appearance on KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic" rocketed Alexi Murdoch's songs into Honda commercials,The O.C., and Garden State. The teen drama association doesn't do justice to the careful and serious tone of Murdoch's music, which he recorded and released independently despite multiple offers from the major labels.

After a long silence since his Four Songs EP, Murdoch's 2006 full-length debut Time Without Consequence didn't pander to casual fans. The album is tough to navigate on first listen, with dark folk, somber lyrics, and very subtle hooks that only reveal themselves after you've spent some time with the songs. The overall effect is that Murdoch challenges listeners to come to him, and the patient are rewarded with something quite special. We recently had an amiable and spirited conversation with Alexi Murdoch about the merits of television, ACL Fest, and tequila mixers.

There was quite a gap between your popular debut EP and the full album. Was the delay due to your schedule, or from finding the inspiration to write?

I was clear that the record needed to be made a certain way. I wanted to do it all on tape and record the songs live. This meant having to find the right studio, and getting the musicians in at the same time, and getting the songs down in single takes...which when you're producing on your own can be a little challenging. Also, I'm just really fucking anal.

Were you surprised at how much of an impact "Orange Sky" had on listeners? We still hear it at least once a week on our local radio station.

Completely.

This year, you are heading to Austin along with 1,300 other bands for SXSW. Are you coming for business, for exposure, or to drink beers and see bands?

With any luck I'm coming to sing a bit to people who might listen. And it's always good to discover new music.

What do you make of the American music culture, where our television shows and advertisements are more open-minded about music selection than 95% of our radio stations?

Well, that's an interesting way to put it. I think it's more accurate to say that television is more hip to current music trends and therefore exploits them better than commercial radio, which has become so fat with corporate advertising dollars that it is fast going the way of major labels and the dodo. But I wouldn't credit TV with open-mindedness! Shit, the only chance left of opening our minds at this point is if the power actually goes out...which I guess eventually it will.

Do you find that the frequent use of your music in television and film has translated into new fans at gigs?

Well, here's the flip side to the previous question I suppose. It's hard to say what the impact is. Honestly, I'm pretty conflicted about having my music used on TV. On the one hand, since I don't have some big marketing machine pasting and blasting and buying and pushing and so on, TV seems to be a pretty clean way to get the music out to people - I don't have to do anything I don't want to: add beats, speed up songs, etc. On the other hand, people just spend way too much fucking time watching mindless and life wasting shite. Way too much time. That kind of nags at me.

Last year, schedule changes forced you to cancel an Austin City Limits festival appearance. Was that just an excuse to avoid Austin's summer heat and increase your chances of a cooler day at SXSW?

Actually, I was pretty gutted not to make it. ACL is, to date, the most badass festival I've been to. I played a couple of years back, I think? Maybe this year...

Scottish acts have made a real impact in the US in the past few years: Snow Patrol, Belle and Sebastian, and Franz Ferdinand have all established big fan bases here. Are there any new or undiscovered Scottish acts you'd recommend to us?

Actually, I only just moved back to Scotland very recently. I was in LA working on the music for the past four years or so, so I'm new to the music scene there myself.

Your music is usually quite folk-based and hushed. Do you ever feel the urge to just rock out and turn up the amplifiers live, as you do in the waning moments of "Home"?

I don't know about 'rocking out' but when I play with the band, it can get pretty fierce. Even when they're not on stage though, it's all pretty crazy on the inside.

Finally...beer or margaritas? Tex-Mex or Bar-B-Q? These are the tough choices at SXSW - which do you prefer?

I'd go for good tequila - without the crap in it.

Thanks for talking with Austinist, Alexi.

Cheers.

Alexi Murdoch plays SXSW 2007 on Saturday, 3/17 at Eternal (11pm).

[Alexi Murdoch MySpace]
[Alexi Murdoch Official Site]

Image by Jessica Shokrian from the Time Without Consequence album sleeve.