the oldest and wisest of the greek muses, calliope was associated with eloquence and epic poetry, and was said to have inspired homer’s iliad and odyssey. when mispronounced, her name refers instead to a circus instrument that produces sound by sending steam through large whistles. as it is impossible to control the pitch or volume, the thing is unyieldingly loud and out of tune. we hope our work finds the middle point between these two extremes, where the poetic meets the profane, where the refined meets the raw, where words become noise but the noise is music.