LCD Soundsystem Frontman James Murphy Recalls Sitcom Writing Days on ‘Fallon’

He’s out promoting the imminent release of the documentary that captured his former band’s final gig, but when LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy visited ‘Late Night With Jimmy Fallon’ last night (July 11), the discussion of music took up only a small portion of the interview.

What Fallon really wanted to talk about was a little-known stage of Murphy’s early career, when he thought about trying his hand at writing — and ventured out to L.A. looking for sitcom work. That’s a common journey for writers, and it usually ends with a lot of ramen meals and frustration, but Murphy was actually given the chance to join the writing staff of a new show at NBC in the early ’90s.

The rest is history, of course; Murphy turned his back on comedy writing and devoted himself to music, ultimately ending up leading LCD Soundsystem through its decade-long successful run. But that sitcom Murphy passed up turned out to be pretty successful too — as he explained during his ‘Fallon’ sitdown, he later realized that the show he turned down ended up being ‘Seinfeld,’ one of the biggest TV hits of the decade.

All’s well that ends well, right? You can celebrate LCD Soundsystem’s legacy with the release of the documentary ‘Shut Up and Play the Hits,’ arriving in select cities for a one-night theatrical run on Wednesday, July 18.

Watch LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy on ‘Fallon’