Pittsburgh local music spotlight: PosterChild

Gibson Musisko is barely 21, yet his band PosterChild is already on its second full album.

That album, “Leaving New Mexico,” will be out Jan. 30 and marked with a release show the next day at Haven in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood.

“I was exploring the feeling of getting closer and closer with someone you care for, but knowing you can’t stay. There’s a certain terror that comes with caring and being cared for. I wanted to write a story of a person who had a real reason for feeling that way,” Musisko said. “He always has to be on the move, juggling his feelings of duty or higher calling with the selfish, but possibly righteous, desire to go back home and experience the end of the world with the person he loves most.

My setting is a (slightly) exaggerated version of post-apocalyptic America, where truth is a thing of the past and people are scared, desperately searching for answers. The album took on a life of its own and gained an atmosphere that I didn’t even fully understand while writing it. It’s not a bleak album, though. It’s satirical, it’s fun, it’s heartfelt. I see it representing the sometimes absolutely impossible task of choosing love over something much easier, like anger or hate.”

Musisko said the single “Michael’s Sword” is an outlier from the rest of album lyrically, even though it has some of his favorite words.

“It’s about the biblical end times, and I thought of the song because I was like ‘Isn’t it weird that only the faithful will be saved? Aren’t we all God’s children?’” he said. “So I did a song about how weird faith is — although I do wanna make it clear that I think faith is an exceptionally valuable/powerful thing to have in one’s life. It’s just funny when it becomes twisted into an ‘us’ and ‘them’ like so many other things tend to.”

The band itself takes a simple approach to the music.

“For us, writing and then representing the songs honestly is a million times more important than being impressive as musicians (even though that’s still valuable),” he said. “We try really hard to stay humble — no shreddy solos or over-the-top vocal runs. I think that’s always been a part of the appeal, and it’s what makes our live performances feel more like music an average person might want to listen to instead of a nerdy jam session for other musicians.”

With his family, music is in his blood. His father, Gary Musisko, is a musician, and his mother, Jenn Wertz, was a longtime member of Rusted Root.

“They’ve been spectacularly and uniquely supportive. I even co-wrote our song ‘Major Arcana’ with my dad,” he said. “Some of my earliest memories are of my mom playing her guitar early in the morning on our porch back in Regent Square. That sort of thing just soaks into a kid’s brain.”

When it comes to live performances, Musisko has a goal in mind.

“I want to make the audience work, without telling them what to do. That’s my favorite part of our shows,” he said. “Even though I consider myself a pop music songwriter, it satisfies me to sneak in weird moments that make people go home like, ‘what was that guy’s deal?’”

Haven, the venue for PosterChild’s release show, is a favorite to play.

“A place I know I can absolutely be me is Haven. People know what they’re in for there,” he said. “Haven shows, for us, are kind of like standup comedy combined with unceremonious song starts, and people joining in on choruses where they can. You’re just never gonna catch me asking the audience to sing along though, I always want them to feel compelled to do so.”

Musisko filled in TribLive on what else we should know about PosterChild:

Band: PosterChild

Band members: Gibson Musisko (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards); Vanessa Prentiss (vocals, guitar); Seamus Quigley (guitar); Gabe Escalante (bass); Aaron Kibler (drums)

Founding story: PosterChild started when I was 16-ish. I was writing a lot of songs then, and I started noticing that the music I loved was all super layered, with pieces coming and going all throughout. I needed a band. You can always do your own layers on the computer, but there’s definitely magic in the performances different people bring to a song. Gabe started playing the bass and we decided to team up. We’ve been friends since we were 8, so we had great musical chemistry. I knew Seamus from school, then we found out he was a secret guitar player with a great ear! We played (sometimes comically) low-level shows until 2024 when we suddenly became organically serious. The cohesion that we now take for granted took shape through those shows, which we’re grateful for. We then brought Vanessa in on guitar and vocals because she’s next level. We found common ground on The Strokes, but we were able to work together to emulate a lot of the other sounds I love, and learned how to sing in harmony as a team. We picked up Aaron through his band 9FiftySeven, who were already making big moves in the Oakland college scene.

Origin of band’s name: It came from a notes app brainstorm session as a teenager. I liked the way the words felt, bold and fearless, like our band was the PosterChild for the music I was trying to channel.

For fans of: Spoon, Radiohead, The Strokes, Jeff Buckley, Wilco, The Verve, Pixies, Pavement

Influences: Mk.Gee, Frank Ocean, Blondie, Jackson Browne, Michael Jackson, The Cure, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M.

Releases: “Leaving New Mexico” album, January 2026; “Michael’s Sword” single, November 2025; “Victimizer” single, May 2025; “Vengeance Says” album, August 2024

Next shows: “Leaving New Mexico” release show, Jan. 31 at Haven; with John Kolar and Mother of Earl, Feb. 6 at Mr. Smalls Funhouse; March 27: with King Blue Heron and Heading North, March 27 at Haven

How to find them: PosterChild can be found on Instagram, Bandcamp and their website.

Three other Pittsburgh area bands to check out: Zack Keim; King Blue Heron; More Than Adequate

Favorite pizza shop: We banned pizza — too greasy. We’re big on Mexican food at shows these days.

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