Gal Musette opens for Ben Ottewell April 28 at The Coach House
Photo courtesy of Google Images
Whilst some of Orange County’s teeny boppers are cultivating a pseudo persona fuelled by Miley Cyrus’s husky voice (she’s a talented filly, but my god she is graceless when she speaks), benzyl peroxide pads and overly decadent/mawkish ‘sweet sixteens,’ there are a few who attempt to transcend the creatively repressed confines of the cyst that is Orange County. Enter Gal Musette, who is not only influenced by splendid grandeur and antiquity, but also some of the more modern outcasts such as Robert Smith. Musette will be playing at The Coach House on April 28 (opening for Ben Ottewell).
There is a lot to be said of someone who can denude their inhibitions on stage in front of such a judgmental society, especially at such a tender age. Upon listening to Gal Musette’s various tunes, one will come across innocent vocals, and perhaps an artist who has a lot of promise and growth to be fulfilled in the coming years.
Musette was kind enough to submit her energy to the banality of broad journalism-which perhaps isn’t such a bad thing, since being a performer has become interchangeable with the scrutiny of bored writers who are trying to create a composite of romantic tales. Gal was certainly straight to the point and very candid with the brevity of the situation:
OCCG: According to the bio on your website, you are only 14 years old; what influences you most in regards to your music? Songs such as “Already Gone by Moonlight” has quite a mature sound-like that of Sigur Ros-is this through your parents taste in music or your own?
GM: My influences come from my father’s elaborate collection of music, my mother’s love for french songs, and spending time next to my grandfather playing the old masterpiece’s from the 1940’s on his lovely baby grand. My taste in music is most likely a combination of all three.
OCCG: Do you write all of your own lyrics? and how do you balance the songwriting process with the pandemonium of school?
GM: Yes, I write all the lyrics and melodies for my songs. Balancing songwriting and school hours is challenging, but not impossible. However, there is not very much time for making friends as a freshman, nor for doing my old favorite hobbies such as dancing and swimming in the ocean.
OCCG: If you could jam with three musicians, dead or alive, who would they be?
GM: Robert Smith, Bing Crosby, and Roger Joseph Manning Jr.
OCCG: If you could sum up, in one sentence, why the public can’t miss out on the upcoming Gal Musette shows-why would that be?
GM: To be honest, I still wonder why the audience comes at all, as I’m only 15. But I’m so grateful!
OCCG: In terms of the music industry, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
GM: In New York, always writing songs. In love, I hope.
From her laconic responses, Musette comes across as a mature young lady who certainly has a solid idea of where she is going and where she’d like to be. I’m not going to butter you up with adjectives that stretch the imagination like taffy, or billow out awash of trite grayness-she’s no prodigy, but she’s better than most of the annoying tosh on the radio; I’d rather watch Musette’s melodic cadences accompanied by undefiled lyrics, rather than a one chubby Adele choke out another obsessive lyric about her ex-boyfriend.