Quiet Parade

"Anyone that’s been around the Halifax music scene for the last few years has probably stumbled upon Trevor Murphy in some form or another. I mean, Sleepless Nights is a rotating collective of some of the best musicians in the city and The Establishment is another stellar outfit, but with his latest musical incarnation – the aptly named Quiet Parade – Trevor shows a much softer, reflective side.

The special thing about this project is that even though this would probably be viewed as Murphy’s journey into a more classic singer/songwriter mode, his songs are bolstered by local talent (including Richard Lann on drums and killer photos, Jeff Pineau on bass, Jason Methot on guitar and Megan Hennigar - vocals/piano) and the sound, while spare, is thickened by interesting textures at just the right times. The end result is a collection of songs that sound more like a conversation with friends than an isolated outpouring.

It’s easy to picture a man sitting eyes close at a piano when you hear the beginning of Exile, but Megan’s backing vocals offer support and reassurance and the lead guitar dances around the melody nicely. Even a confessional like Only Bones, a track about his tennis elbow (but maybe more so about the fragility and fear we all face) starts out as just a simple backbeat and a few guitar notes, but the band slowly adds to the arrangement. It’s only a two and a half minute track, but the flow works perfectly and they never oversaturated the mix. When Quiet Parade reaches the finish line behind the strength of the pseudo-choral harmonies and organ, you kind of wish the song went on for another two or three minutes.

Trevor is comfortable exposing darker emotion and slower sounds, like the Exile and Martin Luther, but never lets the songs become stagnant. Instead of derailing the listen, he fuses in a moment of lightness or optimism (like the horns that accompany the simple idea of salvation on Martin Luther) and as a result, Labour Day simply plays like an intimate look into Murphy’s thoughts instead of painful diary entries. Even at the most emotional points, like when the sadness escapes from the banjo driven The Eight Year Lullabye of Sgt. Tony James - perhaps the most traditional solo affair - they use backing vocals, a spoken word breakdown and some surprising horns to completely contrast the solitude of the vocals.

Many songwriters could benefit from a little of Murphy’s brevity. He is incredibly successful introducing sketches instead of fully crafted stories. By keeping the songs spontaneous, honest and constantly evolving, even his longest efforts ( (We're Not) Home Free and The Eight Year Lullabye of Sgt. Tony James) don't fall victim to the over-indulgences that plagues most solo artists. At the end of the day, I'm not sure this is the vehicle that Trevor wants to be known for, but it's one that shows remarkable talent and promise and Labour Day is a record you can't help but let repeat over and over again."

- Herohill.com (Halifax, NS) - Herohill

Hailed for his "bleeding heart pop songs," Trevor Murphy is able to carve out a certain "easiness," if you can call it that, with his band Quiet Parade.

Murphy also serves as a member of rock n' roll combo Sleepless Nights, so while he is no stranger to the world of indie rock, Quiet Parade affords him the opportunity to be master of his musical domain.

In listening to the newest record from Murphy and Quiet Parade entitled Please Come Home (We Hate It Here Without You), the listener is bound to quickly notice the intimate, stripped down nature of many of the record's tracks. A big part of the subdued recording, which shows influence of notable singer-songwriters including Hayden, Nick Drake and Elliot Smith, came thanks to the location where the record was made - a cabin in the country in Yarmouth County, N.S.

"Dan (Ledwell, the record's producer) and I were stuck out in the middle of the woods with no transportation and only five days to make an album so we were kind of thrown into a setting that dictated how quickly we had to work," Murphy begins.

He admits that previous Quiet Parade efforts were largely made at leisure so being given a limited amount of time in which to work was a new but not a necessarily unwelcome change.

"I never felt rushed in the recording process. Dan and I had a nice leisurely pace that usually involved us getting up around 9 a.m., cooking breakfast, and then starting to work on a song. It was the middle of the summer in rural Yarmouth and we were right on a lake, so needless to say we took some swimming breaks. Feeling very at ease during the whole process made the album sound a lot more natural and subdued, which is what I was aiming for.

"I ultimately wanted to make a Quiet Parade record that was quiet, something that reflected both what I do when I perform solo and with a band. Prior to this album, Quiet Parade had been more of a louder pop-rock band and with this record, I wanted to take things down a notch to be more reflective of who I am as a songwriter."

Murphy says Ledwell, of In-Flight Safety fame, had no shortage of unique ideas when it came to the making of the newest Quiet Parade effort.

"Dan has a great knack for coaching," Murphy shares. "Before we recorded each song, we would sit down and just play them together in the kitchen of this cabin and he would give me notes. Plus, he has an incredible ear for harmonies so he coached me through a lot of that. I had never worked with a producer before, so the process seemed daunting at first, but the second we started working on music, he put me at ease.

"He's just so damn nice and so good at what he does. He really believed in getting organic sounds and using unorthodox methods whether that meant banging on a wood stove for percussion, using a Strongbow can filled with dirt as a shaker, or playing a terrible guitar I found at my parents' house really loud to get a particular tone. We ended up really meshing when it came to the tonal vision of each song."

Murphy says that when he had the idea to form Quiet Parade, he has intended the group to be a pop group first and foremost which in turn inadvertently pushed the reflective material he was writing to the backburner.

When assembling material for Please Come Home... however, a lot of the songs he had pushed away over the course of the past few years were given new life.

"The song Bury My Bones was written approximately six years ago while the final song on the record, An Island, is approximately two years old," Murphy says. "When I had decided that I wanted to take a different route for this album, I dug up a lot of the older stuff and sifted through my back catalogue to find some old favourites." - The Times & Transcript

Trevor Murphy is enjoying the quiet life.

“With this record,” the Sleepless Nights rocker says of his latest project, “I made a conscious decision to go and make something that is quieter, that reflected what I could perform as a solo artist, but also as a band. Something that allowed for that diversity in the music, but also allowed the songs to shine no matter what capacity I perform in.”

It was perhaps inevitable, for a side-project now into its fifth year under the moniker Quiet Parade. But it’s taken Murphy three albums to resist rock and roll temptation enough to put the Haligonian composer’s thoughtful lyrics and playful approach to meter and melody first. There is much to savour on the new Quiet Parade release, Please Come Home (We Hate It Here Without You). And Murphy wants you to indulge.

“I tried the rock and roll thing, or the pop-rock thing with the first couple of albums, and I was really finding that — and I have nothing against bars, I’m from the east coast so I love a beer or five — it’s really hard for us to play our music in a bar. Typically, when you play in a bar, first of all it starts really late, and then you have to deal with all the people who are around you drinking and maybe not paying attention. Quiet Parade’s music is really the kind of music that begs for your attention; the heaviness in the songs is in the lyrics. If you’re not really paying attention to the lyrics, you’re not getting the most out of the experience.”

Raw Sugar, he is quick to add, offers “the best of both worlds — it’s an early show, you can drink, but it’s small enough that people will sit down and pay attention.”

And in the interest of ensuring you get the most out of your Quiet Parade experience, Murphy and Acadian Embassy — the label he co-founded with Quiet Parade and Sleepless Nights drummer Josh Pothier — have come up with a nifty package that allows you to acquire with your vinyl Please Come Home purchase, digital downloads of all three Quiet Parade releases, plus a home-recorded bonus album’s worth of covers.

The covers of familiar songs, Murphy helpfully adds, are “mostly really slowed down and in a different key. It’s interesting.”

All part of expanding the Quiet Parade audience during Sleepless Nights’ extended vacation. (“The band’s not dead,” Murphy insists of the group that calls him bassist. “I don’t think that band will ever die, after the things we’ve been through together.”) And of enjoying the quiet life.

“The songs I write, they’re pretty honest,” Murphy concludes. “They’re not convoluted messages or big metaphors. They’re pretty out in the open. Maybe that adds a little bit of extra nerve to the package, but it’s worth it.” - The Wig

Well, wouldn't you know it? I got a letter with that sentiment in it when I was 22 and moved to Newfoundland! Hee hee, it was enough to make me move back. That's a good way to start with a new album. For the rest of you without that coincidental connection, there are other charms that may help you form a bond. However, you better be into sleepy music. Me, I love a parade. But this one is about the softest celebration you'll ever hear.

The parade is also a very short one, as this is a one-man band, Mr. Trevor Murphy. Going out on a limb from his usual crowd, Nova Scotian rockers Sleepless Nights, here Murphy chills out to some gentle plucking and a few atmospheric touches in behind. Over the course of its 35 minutes and nine tracks, the disc approaches significant volume all of two times. Cut 2, the lovely End Of Days, actually employs drums that start thumping two-thirds of the way in the song, joined by horn section. And I Never Wanted To Live Like That employs a huge choir, which is quite joyous.

I'm not the biggest fan of acoustic low-fi shoegazing, but Murphy actually has some good stuff to write about, and also has a musical trick up his sleeve on each number. Instead of just strumming away, there's an added instrument or bit of production that makes each number different and interesting. I Will Try is his pledge to "make this life alright", which involves buying his partner "a real house on the lake". Cute. - Bob Mersereau

In The Coast's recent Best of Music feature, a band with a relatively low profile swept the votes to win the "best band to listen to quietly" award. That band is Quiet Parade, a solo recording venture by Halifax music veteran Trevor Murphy (Sleepless Nights, The Establishment) who has slowly been creeping his way through three albums of tender acoustic pop songs.

"It's the first time that I'm presenting songs that I'm writing to the public where I step away from the side stage and put myself to the front," says Murphy of the solo project.

But with his new album Please Come Home (we hate it here without you)---released April 19, with an official live launch at 1313 Hollis on April 23---Quiet Parade is increasingly becoming the focal point for the local musician.

"This album has really helped me hone what I want Quiet Parade to be and---sorry to bring the reference up again---something to listen to quietly and enjoy," says Murphy.

To capture the hushed soundscapes for his new album, Murphy decided to rent a cabin in the woods of Yarmouth for a week in August with producer Daniel Ledwell (In-Flight Safety). The remote location allowed the pair to fully capture the quiet sounds of the countryside, something that was impossible to do on his previous two records.

"I used to record in my bedroom on Robie Street and would pick up the signal from CKDU in the recording process," Murphy laughs.

But the cabin managed to provide its own form of natural sonic interference during the recording.

"Even though there was a heat wave we would have to close the windows all day because hundreds of birds would just be outside chirping their heads off," says Murphy. "If you listen really closely you can hear them when the songs fade out, but it lends an endearing quality to the record because you know it was recorded in the woods."

And what else would you expect from Halifax's best quiet band? - The Coast

It’s the perfect name for this album and it goes along with a perfectly-named act.

Please Come Home is nine songs filled with passion. But this passion is very quietly stated by Quiet Parade, aka Trevor Murphy. And Quiet Parade is a perfect name in that the sound is soft but powerful at the same time, much like a parade can be.

More often than not the songs of Please Come Home start off quietly, with perhaps a few acoustic chords, but then erupt into something larger about halfway through. It makes every song sound fresh even if you’ve listened to them over and over again.

The album opener “Buying Time (A Hymn)” is a great introduction to the album. It features unusually soft percussion and very gentle guitar riffs. It later, surprisingly, adds a xylophone to create a soft-rock song that takes me by surprise every time I take a listen.

Many of Murphy’s songs end up becoming anthemic in their own right. “End of Days” features the very catchy hook: “We’ll keep our beds unmade/Until the end of days.” The song “I Will Try,” meanwhile, comes off as a bleeding-heart pledge of a lover wanting to buy his mate “a real house.” And he’ll do it even if he has to “fake my death to pay the mortgage” among other things.

Murphy also channels a little bit of the Chad VanGaalen vibe on songs like “Bury My Bones” and “March of the Centuries.”

Murphy shows a slightly deceptive side with “In Your Arms.” Looking at the title, one might assume it is a ballad about how in love he is with a girl. But it isn’t so. Murphy goes on to describe a girl he’d never want to be with. In the chorus he sings “The truth is I am filled with faults but I know where I belong/And it’s not here with you in your arms.”

On this album Murphy strikes a very delicate balance between quiet, acoustic pop and loud, anthemic rock. The result is a profoundly striking release that can easily be put on repeat. - Grayowl Point

It’s the perfect name for this album and it goes along with a perfectly-named act.

Please Come Home is nine songs filled with passion. But this passion is very quietly stated by Quiet Parade, aka Trevor Murphy. And Quiet Parade is a perfect name in that the sound is soft but powerful at the same time, much like a parade can be.

More often than not the songs of Please Come Home start off quietly, with perhaps a few acoustic chords, but then erupt into something larger about halfway through. It makes every song sound fresh even if you’ve listened to them over and over again.

The album opener “Buying Time (A Hymn)” is a great introduction to the album. It features unusually soft percussion and very gentle guitar riffs. It later, surprisingly, adds a xylophone to create a soft-rock song that takes me by surprise every time I take a listen.

Many of Murphy’s songs end up becoming anthemic in their own right. “End of Days” features the very catchy hook: “We’ll keep our beds unmade/Until the end of days.” The song “I Will Try,” meanwhile, comes off as a bleeding-heart pledge of a lover wanting to buy his mate “a real house.” And he’ll do it even if he has to “fake my death to pay the mortgage” among other things.

Murphy also channels a little bit of the Chad VanGaalen vibe on songs like “Bury My Bones” and “March of the Centuries.”

Murphy shows a slightly deceptive side with “In Your Arms.” Looking at the title, one might assume it is a ballad about how in love he is with a girl. But it isn’t so. Murphy goes on to describe a girl he’d never want to be with. In the chorus he sings “The truth is I am filled with faults but I know where I belong/And it’s not here with you in your arms.”

On this album Murphy strikes a very delicate balance between quiet, acoustic pop and loud, anthemic rock. The result is a profoundly striking release that can easily be put on repeat. - Grayowl Point

Musician Trevor Murphy will be sharing his talent in an unorthodox way at Th’YARC on Good Friday, April 22.

Murphy, lead singer in his band - Quiet Parade - will be playing songs from his new album ‘Please Come Home (We Hate It Here Without You)’ in the lobby.

“We're hoping to set it up so that people can enjoy a nice, quiet intimate show,” he said.

“I'll be performing by myself - so it will be a really raw, and stripped-down atmosphere, which is conducive to what Quiet Parade is really all about, and what I try to accomplish musically.”

The band composition varies from time with assorted players but Murphy maintains the lead singer, songwriter, guitarist roles.

“I'm just lucky enough to have a bunch of friends who consistently want to help me fill out the songs musically,” he said.

In addition to a download file, the album is available on 12” vinyl - a format Murphy says is seeing resurgence for several reasons.

“Vinyl is making a huge comeback. It sounds amazing. The records are all about experiencing the music in an intimate way. The warmth of music on a vinyl record is undeniable,” he said.

The album was recorded last summer at a camp in Quinan with his friend Dan Ledwell. The line up includes several songs about growing up in Yarmouth.

Murphy has been performing for close to a decade in several bands including Sleepless Nights, The Establishment, and Alan Benjamin.

Natalie Lynn will be opening the evening.

Cover charge is $5, or $15 with an album.
- The Yarmouth Vanguard

Trevor Murphy - who has been a fixture in the Halifax music scene for years playing in some of the best received bands in town – has been trying something a little different with his solo project Quiet Parade. With “Please Come Home”, Murphy has weaved an album that sounds unlike anything else in the local scene. It is a record overflowing with beauty.

The production is sparse and the instrumentation is stripped down, but each song builds in complexity transforming from an intimate singer-songwriter ballad to a full blown anthem. It sounds like an album of another time and place. Murphy shows perfect restraint and an unflappable desire to let the songs speak for themselves. The songs are so strong and well written that they don’t need any bells or whistles. The bells and whistles are there but they are tastefully arranged and happen so gradually that instead of muddying things up they really elevate the songs. The choir in “I Never Wanted to Live Like That”, the Xylophone in “Buying Time” and the sing-along breakdown in “Bury My Bones” are some of my favourite pepperings on the album. Such subtle arrangements help make this album something amazing. It has the feel of an Eliot Smith album produced by George Martin.


There are lots of folks out there writing sad, intimate songs, but what makes murphy’s songwriting stand out is his fantastic lyric-writing. He comes across as funny, humble, honest but never self-pitying or finger pointing. There is something so damn real about the way he expresses himself in these songs that make them feel undeniably personal but universally relatable. “I Will Try” is a perfect example of this. It is a song that is heartbreaking and funny and cute and crushing. Most artists can’t convey such diversity in an entire album, Murphy does it in one song and makes it look easy.

While this album is and emotional trip, it’s also full of fantastic pop hooks. Every important aspect of songwriting has been gone over with a fine-tooth comb. It’s amazing that this album was recorded in less than a week because it sounds like something that has been laboured over for months – maybe years.

“An Island”, the final song on the album, is the perfect closing track; it brings the album full circle starting as a lovely, stripped down ballad and turning into something that sounds like it would be right at home on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band. I can’t recommend this album enough, it’s touching and enjoyable. It’s a sad album that you don’t have to be sad to listen to.

Please Come Home is one of the most beautiful albums I’ve heard in a long time and I for one cannot stop listening to it. - Noisography

Quiet Parade is Trevor Murphy's baby, and what a lovely baby it is. “I've been playing bass in Halifax for six or seven years,” says Murphy, “but Quiet Parade is the band where I'm at the front of the stage and I write all of the songs. It’s very much is my pet project.” If the tender crafting and up-front honesty of Quiet Parade's first two albums is any indication of their forthcoming vinyl release, then Murphy and company have a busy summer of touring ahead of them. The album, titled *Please Come Home. We Hate it Here Without You,* is being released on Acadian Embassy, the label Murphy co-runs, and is set to hit the streets April 19. For those lacking a turntable, as with all Acadian Embassy releases, Quiet Parade's latest will also be available for download by donation. - The Coast - 2011 Best of Music Reader's Poll

“Pop gold from the city of huge explosions!”
Vue Weekly (Edmonton)
- Vue Weekly

"Quiet Parade, the latest group to emerge from the Halifax indie-pop pool, are well versed in pop music niceties and bleeding heart lyrics. The group apply instrumentation and dynamics fluently to these eight formulaic indie tunes, but keep it fresh with small doses of harmonious female vocals or horn interludes to keep listeners hooked on every catchy note. The collection comes off as intimate—as if frontman and Halifax music scene reveller Trevor Murphy is playing just for you—but professional and industry-savy at the same time. This friendly group will inspire you to delve into the Halifax music scene all the more.

SOUNDS LIKE: All-Canadian indie-pop for the bleeding heart"

SoundProof Magazine (Toronto, ON) - SoundProof Magazine