The origins of this somewhat mysterious quartet date back to the mid eighteenth century, at a time when Franz Anton Mesmer was sensationalizing Vienna with his controversial enquiries into hypnotic mysticism. A lesser known colleague of Dr Mesmer known as David O’Callaghan fell into public disrepute over allegations of malpractice, where by he allegedly used his hypnotic abilities to indoctrinate a vast number of patients with socialist ideologies and an obscure philosophy which he called aesthetic elitism. The most recent evidence suggests that the allegations were false but O’Callaghan was nevertheless surrounded by controversy over his suspect esoteric interests for most of his early life, and was considered by most to be a man of questionable moral integrity.
After escaping from the Austrian authorities, O’Callaghan travelled through the Ukraine scratching out a living as a busking guitarist and an artist. It was during this time that he became acquainted with Matthew Gorgula, a prominent land owner and professional alchemist who was known to dabble in the occult and certain forms of percussion that were forbidden at that time. Together they worked in secret on musical ideas combining elements of eastern mysticism and the hypnotic influences from O’Callaghan’s past.
Gorgula, despite his wealth and notoriety, held strong anti-materialist and, anti-elitist beliefs which eventually led him to relinquish all his assets and his family ties in order to become a kind of Erasmus. He declared that ‘being an orphan should be the right of every man, not merely the privilege of a few’ and the pair set out to become international drifters.
After a hundred or so years of travelling the world, curiosity brought the pair to Asia in search of a certain green tea that had been rumored to cure spiritual disillusionment. Instead, somewhere in Seoul the pair became acquainted with another musician who they promptly included in their musical experiments, thus forming a trio. The virtuoso violinist and trapeze artist known only as Miss Sophie was the daughter of a wealthy but noble local merchant, but recent evidence suggests that she descended from a royal bloodline, which would make her a princess. Local legend has it that at night she would sneak out of her room and secretly teach homeless children music. Eventually she noticed that as well as showing extraordinary musical ability, some of the children exhibited tendencies toward psychic behavior. This discovery prompted her to found the beginnings of what was later to become an organization aimed at protecting the rights of these ‘Indigo Children’.
The story of how the group acquired a fourth member is the subject of continual speculation, but the most famous version is as follows: Over time, the trio began to feel as though there was something missing from their music, a missing element which would otherwise have made it feel complete, so they set out on a journey in search of another member.
They travelled by boat to many countries in search of a musician that they felt would blend with their style, but to no avail. Until one day, providence led them to the Leizhow Peninsula of the coast of China. There, the trio was playing music on their boat in the harbor when they noticed a luminous purple light shimmering under the water. It was soon discovered that the light was caused by the moon reflecting on the tail of a purple mermaid, which had ventured to the surface to discover the source of the music she heard from the depths. The mermaid introduced herself as Michelle and the group talked for some time.
After a while, it became clear that Michelle was no ordinary mermaid; the unique purple color of her tail which was very rare, made her more beautiful than all the other mermaids. So, when she was young, wishing not to incite jealousy from other mermaids, she left her origins in the Pacific Ocean to go on a great journey around the world. During one of her many adventures she had discovered an old piano in a cave on the shore of New Zealand. No one knows for sure how the piano arrived there but it appears likely that it was the result of a shipwreck during the first British settlements. In any case, the discovery inspired Michelle so much that she travelled around for many years seeking out the tutelage of the masters of the piano and eventually she became the best mermaid pianist in the entire ocean.
O’Callaghan, Gorgula and Miss Sophie were very intent on Michelle becoming the fourth member of the group, so after a little persuasion, Michelle decided to let Gorgula concoct a potion that would give her legs so that she could join the band. She no longer has a purple tail but her aura is purple. Over the centuries the group has seldom been known to play to members of the general public, but recently they have decided that the time is right.
Monkeys Puzzled about Trees 