James Murphy's "egomaniac" description

Music journalists Mikey Cahill and Marcus Teague discuss the reasons fuelling James Murphy's 2020 fight with DFA Records co-founder Jonathan Galkin.

It’s well known news in the music industry that head of DFA Records and LCD Soundsystem James Murphy removed co-founder Jonathan Galkin out of DFA last year.

The eccentric LCD Soundsystem front-man changed the locks to the DFA building, freezing Galkin out of the company and starting a legal and public feud between the pair.

Before Murphy decided to split ways with Galkin, the former’s pioneering personality was put on display in the award-winning book ‘Meet Me in the Bathroom’ by music journalist Lizzie Goodman. Having read and loved the book, Hit Different co-host Marcus Teague was quick to discuss the origins behind Murphy’s DFA Records.

“One of the fun things about reading the book is that it really dives down into what a massive egomaniac James Murphy is, and how essentially he built DFA and LCD Soundsystem through the force of his personality,” Teague explained.

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We covered it on Hit Different, a weekly podcast that puts music culture in context.

But it also led to Murphy creating a harsh reputation along the way, as he was described by friends as “a complete cunt”. Teague believed an early example of how LCD Soundsystem was created sums up Murphy’s ruthless nature that led to Galkin being kicked out of DFA ownership in 2020.

“The poster boys for early DFA were The Rapture, and they ended up signing to a major label and James was so pissed that he started LCD Soundsystem and the rest was history,” Teague said.

All of this leads to a history of DFA Records that Teague and the book describe as “contentious”. Yet it’s no surprise considering the group was built off young, creative people getting together and partying often without any idea of how to create relationships and run a business properly.

“It’s amazing that they’re still going but it’s probably no surprise that there’s been so many bodies along the way,” Teague said.

Hear the full story on Hit Different, a free weekly podcast that puts music culture in context.