Biography

Museyroom guitarist and singer Jack Donovan and multi-instrumentalist Ben Cohen first wrote and recorded their own songs at age 13. In Cohen's Brooklyn basement, they produced intricately layered pop songs using a casio keyboard, tenor saxophone, acoustic guitar, and an old four track tape recorder. After playing together in a series of bands through high school, the two met drummer Matt Coppola and formed what would become Museyroom, named for an alternate dimension in James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake. Staying true to their name the group’s first full-length album, Pearly Whites, released in 2015, attempts to reach another world. Blending impressionist-inspired melodies with hip-hop rhythms, Pearly Whites “immerses listeners in otherworldly soundscapes with undulating harmonies blanketing punchy drum lines” (SPIN). Nerdist called it “one of those genre-bucking records that dabble in a lot of contemporary styles but don’t stick to one concept too quickly, sharing its ethos with jazz more than folk or indie rock.” The group’s forthcoming full-length, Sleight of Hand, reflects a similarly diverse sonic palette—from gypsy-jazz-like guitar melodies to motown choruses to West African syncopation to Elliott Smith-style 90’s pop swooning. Each song makes for a snapshot experience, like a solid, yet intricate, knick-knack that fits neatly in the palm of one’s hand. Taken together these tiny puzzle pieces create an expansive mosaic.