Biography
Fazerdaze is the solo project of Amelia Rahayu Murray (born 19 January 1993 in Wellington, New Zealand), a singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist working across dream pop, shoegaze, and indie rock. Murray grew up on the outskirts of Wellington with a Pākehā father of English descent and an Indonesian mother, the youngest of three siblings. She began piano lessons at age nine but quit after finding her teacher unsupportive. At thirteen she picked up an electric guitar her father had bought for her brother and taught herself chords, starting with Beatles songs favoured by her friends. Her formative influences expanded to include Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, and Carole King, while her tennis coach — aware of where her energy was going — gifted her a Smashing Pumpkins compilation CD shortly before she left the team.
During her years at Onslow College, Wellington, Murray formed a band called The Tangle with bassist Kasia Venter, guitarist Rachael Visser, keyboardist Lana Wagner, and drummer Danielle Tod. The group entered the Smokefree Rockquest but did not progress past the Wellington Regional Final. They self-released an EP titled Where the Road Goes, played a fundraising show for the SPCA in their school hall, and headlined a show at all-ages venue Zeal — where budding musicians Gussie Larkin and Lily West were in the audience, an encounter that later inspired them to form Mermaidens. The Tangle dissolved when high school ended.
After a year off, Murray moved to Auckland to study for a BMus at the University of Auckland. Living in cheap student accommodation, she began recording her own music using a basic setup: a USB microphone purchased from Dick Smith and her laptop. She took a course on sound recording near the end of her degree and worked to apply those techniques to her home recordings. She also worked part-time as associate editor at NZ Musician magazine, which gave her insight into how musicians approached their work and how to publicise it. Her live approach at the time involved using a loop pedal to build up layered guitar parts before singing over them.
“I played an open mic night at Juice Bar in Parnell. I didn’t realise it was a competition but I ended up winning a hundred dollars and the chance to play at the Juice TV Naked sessions, where I opened for Goodshirt.”
Amelia Murray, via AudioCulture
Murray began the Fazerdaze project in earnest while at university, working with Gareth Thomas of Goodshirt after several failed attempts at forming bands with other musicians. She self-released the self-titled debut EP in October 2014 to positive reviews, its dreamy reverb-laden guitar sound accumulating an international audience. Her debut album, Morningside, followed in 2017 on Flying Nun Records and brought wider recognition, particularly through the single “Lucky Girl”, which became a viral hit and prompted touring around the world. After Morningside, Murray experienced a period of burnout and personal challenges that resulted in five years of silence from the project.
Fazerdaze returned in late 2022 with a second EP, Break!, released on section1 and Buttrfly Records. Murray’s second album, Soft Power, was released on 15 November 2024 and received critical acclaim. The Fazerdaze catalogue is characterised by intimate, introspective lyrics and echo-laden production.
“Amelia Murray has been releasing music as Fazerdaze since 2014, when her first EP of dreamy guitar tunes began accumulating a worldwide audience of fans. The ripple turned into a tidal wave with the release of viral hit ‘Lucky Girl’.”
Gareth Shute, AudioCulture
Members
- Amelia Rahayu Murray (Vocals/Guitar/Bass/Keyboards/Production, Fazerdaze)
Discography
- Fazerdaze EP (2014, self-released)
- Morningside LP (2017, Flying Nun Records)
- Break! EP (2022, section1 / Buttrfly Records)
- Soft Power LP (2024, Buttrfly Records)