If you are a fan of the Decemberists, Beirut, or Yann Tiersen you’ll probably really dig the indie/gypsy folk sound of the Seattle band, Hey Marseilles. As you can see in the photo above, the band consists of seven members, and they play a bunch of super sweet instruments like trumpets, cellos, accordions, and a sousaphone.

Hey Marseilles’ 2008 self-released debut, To Travels & Trunks, is phenomenal, and unfortunately hasn’t gotten the exposure that it deserves because of its limited release.  If you are looking to boost your productivity today, listen to the tracks “To Travels & Trunks” and “Rio.” Hey Marseilles makes intelligent music that will inspire you to do great things (not to sound like a fortune cookie, but it’s true).

And if you’re like me, you may be wondering how  the collaboration process works in a large, instrumental band like Hey Marseilles. Of course it varies from band to band, but I often think, who was it who decided to put that little horn there? How did you decide to put it there instead of here? Why can’t I be this talented!

When asked about the writing process in a Three Imaginary Girls interview, Hey Marseilles frontman Matt Bishop said,

There’s kind of a few different ways that we do it. Some of the songs were songs that I brought to the table and then we would fill in the spaces and integrate it into the Hey Marseilles sound. A lot of the songs these days are coming out of the instrumentals that we’ll put together and then I’ll sit down and write melodies and lyrics on top of that. So it’s pretty dynamic in terms of the way they come together.

I can’t wait for the sophomore album to come out, and highly recommend you buy this album!

To Travels & Trunks (2008):

(MP3) Hey Marseilles- To Travels & Trunks

(MP3) Hey Marseilles – Rio

Official Site | or buy it at MF, where artists earn all the money (a new project I’ve been working on!)