About

Parlormuse was born from a moment's curiosity. After having collected some antique sheet music to use for display purposes in his historic home, Gavin Goszka decided to play through a few of the songs one day and was delighted to discover how well-written they were, both musically and lyrically. One of the first songs he happened upon was the infectiously-hooky "McCarthy's Boarding House," which immediately sparked the idea to put together a full-length release of Victorian popular songs. The only question was how to approach the material: from a pure, historically-accurate standpoint, or with an eye toward making it more accessible to modern audiences.

"Many times, the arrangements consisted of nothing more than a piano and a singer," Gavin explains. "Familes would gather together in the parlor for an evening's-worth of song, using whatever instruments or singers happened to be on hand. The style of singing was typically more lyrical as well: very formal - almost operatic. My idea was to take what were essentially the popular songs of the day, and bring them forward in time through the arrangements. While I didn't want to lose that wonderful sense of nostalgia, I thought that blending it with some modern instrumentation to create more of a folk-rock sound would make it something that modern audiences could relate to more easily."

Parlormuse's 2007 debut album, It's Not The Coat Makes The Gentleman, incorporated a range of musical influences, from pop and rock to traditional Irish. But along with the modern strains of electric guitar and drums lie more traditional instruments like fiddles, pump organs, and piano, ensuring that the songs don't stray too far from their Victorian roots.

A Day Before The Feast, the project's sophomore effort, was built upon simplicity. This EP-length release consisted of ten period piano pieces and was designed to allow the listener to truly step back in time and experience the music in a way that was as close to its original form as possible.

Gavin had already selected the songs for a second full-length, fully-arranged Parlormuse album shortly after completing A Day Before The Feast, but it was around this time that another, anime-based project (Subtle Inversion) came about: a project that has been the focus of his efforts for the past two years. He is currently considering revisiting those selected songs again, however, possibly for another release in early 2012.