Sean Murphy's Stories from The Vault

You can take the boy out of Fort Walton Beach, but you can't take Fort Walton Beach out of the boy.

2 of Sean's BFF's Alan "Lil Al" Helmuth and Dan "The Man" Rimes sharing some crazy stories in this episode of Stories from the Vault.

Welcome to the world of Legend, Timothy, and Heath. They are a trio of young dudes, doing cool creative things... and creativity is where it's at. When Sean met them he was moved by the fact that each of them held their own special unique creative power. They are either a team of superheroes, or a team of bandits - time shall be the judge. It makes for some fun conversation, and we hope that time does pave the right path to success.

recorded Dec 2 2021

Jessica Heit and Neve Cunnane are a lovely pair of talented musicians. The duo is currently based in Nashville, but have been hanging around the Murphy Compound quite a bit while they've been in the area for a month-long gig at McGuire's in Pensacola. Sean had a series of photoshoots with the girls, and we had a super time going to hear them play the night before this podcast episode was recorded. Listen up for a good dose of laughter and creative inspiration.

recorded Dec 2 2021

Episode 22 of Sean Murphy's Stories from the Vault features conversation with artist & friend Bradley Copeland. Bradley is one of Sean's favorite artists and photo subjects. We learn about her iconic lip paintings, and talk about creative paths to success! Check out her amazing art at bradleycopelandstudio.com and click here to see behind the scenes from the recent shoot.

recorded Nov 17 2021

Bryce Paul is the guest on Episode 21 of Sean Murphy's Stories from the Vault. A man of many talents and interests, Bryce shares stories from his journey - a start as a touring musician at 17 years old, to landing in Nashville where he joined country outlaw musician Tim Montana, and now known best as the bass player with Swedish melo-death metal band, In Flames. 

recorded Nov 5 2021

Artist Harley van Hyning is the guest on Episode 20 of Stories from the Vault with photographer Sean Murphy.  Sean and Harley both have a love for the water and a passion for the creative endeavors in their lives. We learn a lot about Harley's unique gyotaku art and have a special conversation between friends, filled with love, stories about surfing, fishing... and poo.  

recorded Oct 13 2021

Episode 19 features a momentous conversation with like-minded creatives, Scott and Michelle Montgomery. We caught up with this cool photographer couple while they were in town from New York City. Michelle and Sean have some common ground as they both grew up here in Fort Walton Beach. She found success with product photography working as an in-house studio photographer at Quiksilver HQ for a number of years, and freelance with a focus on eyewear & accessories. Her husband Scott keeps the wheels rolling strong as a photographer in the commercial/advertising world. With similar experiences, but different paths, Sean and Scott geek out about lighting, lenses, and more fun conversation, comparing experiences on their road to creative success. 

recorded Friday Sept 17 2021

Alan "Lil Al" Helmuth visits the vault for his 2nd SFTV podcast appearance. Al came in with so many good questions on his first visit that we had to have him back for more, and he didn't let us down. Having known Sean for most of his life, yet traveling very different paths, Alan's thought-provoking questions provide us with interesting Murphy stories and inspiring conversation. The friendships where you can pick up right where you left off are the best... Life is short, make sure to keep the good ones in your lil pocket. 

(recorded Thurs Sept 9 2021)

Sailor Harrison is a young creative guy. At 14 years old, he is the youngest SFTV guest so far. Sailor is the son of Sean's good friends, Jerry and Teri Harrison, owners of the Sail Away Tattoo shop in Fort Walton Beach. Sean loves to talk with all kinds of creative people and has been inspired by watching this young man as he grows up. Sailor tells us about his passion for cooking and we get a little insight into this younger generation. Not sure if all the kids have the positive attitude that he does, but let's hope so! 

(recorded Thurs Sept 9 2021)

During Sean's 3-week road trip to California for Bote, he had some time to reminisce with one of his best friends, Travis Shinn. Working together and sharing all kinds of experiences over the past 20 years or so - both being highly respected in their field, these guys have a million stories to tell. Between their crazy stories, they share a lot of valuable advice about the long road to creative success as a  photographer. Tyler Trant, videographer for Bote & Sean's copilot on the road trip, joins the guys in the conversation. visit Travis on IG  https://www.instagram.com/travis_shinn/

Sean reconnects with one of his favorite friends, Angelina Butera, for Episode 15 of Stories from the Vault... while the two were in Oklahoma working on a shoot for Choctaw Casinos. Angelina is a celebrity makeup artist and has worked with Sean for many years. This trip down memory lane is quite an adventure. Listen and learn from the best of the best. 

After a full day of shooting in the studio for Emerald Coast Magazine, the photographer and his subject sit down for a chat in the vault. Skylar Capri is a lovely young musician, a creative singer / songwriter with an exciting road ahead. Sean and Skylar had fun getting crafty in the studio, and their conversation uncovers interesting ways that different kinds of artists explore the creative process. Check out Skylar Capri's awesome music and videos online and look out for the upcoming feature in Emerald Coast Magazine.

Sean sits down with his 3 sons - Ozzy is 21 and the twins, Milo and Tripp are 20, so they are what some would identify as Irish triplets. They are each little chunks of Sean in their own unique way. With such a unique guy to have as a dad, we hear some fun stories of crazy things that happened when they were little kids growing up in the Murphy compound, and how things that some people would think are super cool are just another regular day.

On Episode 12 of Sean Murphy's Stories from the Vault, Maxine Orange is back for more conversation with Sean. We hear stories about G. LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE. Sean tells his story about taking one of the last photos of James Brown, and mentions others he's shot (with a camera!) who are no longer with us... and that one time he almost killed Sugar Ray's Mark McGrath on a boat.

One of Sean's oldest pals, Alan Helmuth, sits down for a sesh in the vault. These two grew up surfing on acid in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Sean and Al reminisce with some crazy old stories about stealing surf racks and competing against Kelly Slater. Al brings some pretty cool questions to the table - one about if you can be taught to be a photographer or if it is only a natural talent... inspired by a question Steve Harvey asked Jerry Seinfeld about if you can be taught to be a comedian vs natural talent. Listen for more entertaining conversation with Sean.  

Episode 10 features conversation with Sean's friend, artist Kelly Sullivan. They worked together in 1995 at a restaurant in San Francisco's Phoenix Hotel, Miss Pearl's Jam House. Any band that came to San Francisco at the time, stayed at that hotel, ate and partied at the restaurant. Many great stories were born in that place, and it was a big turning point for Sean's career as a photographer.  

Sean's guest on Episode 9 is Thomas Ramsey, a former Bote co-worker. The conversation gets a little wacky as Thomas gets Sean cranked up sharing stories about the club kid days from NYC's Limelight with characters like Superstar DJ Keoki and James Saint James. Sean and Ahmet Zappa coming up with situations for photoshoots with Gary Coleman and... the one and only Andy Dick. 

In Episode 8, Sean and his wife Raphye chat about many things... like her laundry list of Sean's stories, going postal & blowing up Las Vegas with Maynard from Tool, and Raphye embarasses Sean by professing her love for Tool on their trip to Maynard's winery. 

Episode 7 features guest Connor Cajigal, who asks Sean about bands he wished he shot, and they uncover stories about a Beastie Boys / Rage Against the Machine debacle, hot rods, beer, Miami Vice, and Portland. 

Sean's guest on Episode 6 is Gracie Luberto, a rad young lady with a big future ahead of her. She asks questions that uncover some super interesting stories about working with Christina Aguilera, Green Day, Hanson, Linkin Park, Shia LeBouf, Jake Gyllenhal, and Tom Arnold.