The Gift of The Gabys

Where to begin with The Gabys? A UK duo with no definable online presence, and two EPs to their name over the course of two years, both on small US labels, one out of Detroit, one out of California. They have garnered the respect of the San Francisco underground and now slowly but surely all the right heads are beginning to turn here in the UK. But who are they? What drives them to create the woozy lo-fi soundscapes that envelop the purest vocal melodies I have heard in recent memory? Don’t worry readers, I’ve got your back.

Using the kind of internet sleuthing skills that only a hardened shift worker with too much time on his hands can muster, I tracked down this most elusive of bands and reached out with a few questions, which they very kindly agreed to answer:

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It’s clear that you guys like to keep things very low key. I just wondered if there was anything you were willing to give away at this point with regards to your origin story?

Natasha: We started to record as The Gabys during COVID-19 lockdowns, finding ourselves at home so much we started to develop some songs and figured out a sound. There was such a shift in how we spent our time, causing us to re-examine what we were doing day to day and why, I think a lot of people perhaps had the same experience.

Matt: Yeah, it all started during the lockdown for us. It took a bit of wrangling to get Natasha to sing. A couple of the songs on the first tape are pretty old ones, but most were put together during that period. We mostly learnt how to use the 4 track on the job. ‘Gaby’s Daydream’ was our first song.

You are a UK based duo but both of your EPs thus far have emerged on small US labels. How did that come about?

M: It wasn’t really a conscious decision to only release music on US labels. We’ve been really fortunate that the people we have been in touch with are so generous and willing to take a chance on a band who have barely any online presence! Chris from All Gone, and Chris and Glenn from Fruits and Flowers put out (and make) such amazing music, we are very thankful. Also, I get an embarrassing amount of my listening from their social media recommendations.

N: Yes, thank you Chris, and thank you Chris and Glenn!

I have found your total lack of internet presence so far very refreshing. Was it a conscious decision to step back from that kind of promotion, or just the way things have panned out thus far?

N: Generally speaking social media has not been something I’ve used much in my personal life, I’m quite a private person, so it was natural for us to not have much of a presence in that sphere to begin with as it just doesn’t occur to me to use it.

However, it is good to communicate practical things and we’ve also been fortunate to connect with people over time, so we’re getting used to remembering that it’s there. Luckily my aversion to social media hasn’t stopped people from finding and hearing our music elsewhere.

M: I think because the nature of the music is quite intimate, it feels appropriate. But, it’s not quite a total social media blackout, I wouldn’t follow us for any especially riveting content in the near future though!

What’s next for The Gabys? Are there any plans to record an album or step out for live dates?

M: We’re working on a batch of new songs at the moment and thinking about the arrangements a bit more carefully this time. Life has got in the way over the last year or so, so we have a bit of a backlog that we are excited to record. We may play live at some point, but we want to put out more music first.

N: We’re enjoying recording the new songs and who knows maybe we’ll play live at some point, logistically speaking we need a couple more people to contribute, so that’s something we need to work on. I’m excited about the idea of making some visuals to go with the music, it seems like a nice way to connect with people, I love watching the self-made music videos that other people make. The Trish Keenan directed version of ‘Black Cat’ is such a wonderful insight in to her world.

What artists or albums have been the biggest influence on your sound and song writing thus far?

N: In terms of thematic influences, we look for inspiration in all kinds of places, in books and films and also people’s lives (ironically, including on social media), just everything around us that tells a story. I suppose we’re looking for the thing that is interesting about whatever it is that we’re engaging with, and then we try to capture that. For example, the song ‘Gardens’ came about when I was reading a magazine and I saw a little bio for a person called Emily who was a garden designer, the words “Emily designs gardens” just seemed like such a fixed statement it interested me to think about this person who was so easy to define, at the time I wished I could be summed up in such a short sentence, so matter of fact, and a little lament came out in song which was then built upon. I think the most important or valuable thing in art is that it is expressive, I really admire artists like Linda Smith and Arthur Russell for this quality, as well as many visual artists, writers, and poets like Celia Paul and Alice Oswald.

M: It’s hard to list influences as inevitably things that were really important when I was sixteen or even five years ago would fade in to the background, which wouldn’t be quite true to life. Having said that, mainstays are The Velvet Underground and Broadcast. Music wise, most things are built on top of what has come before and so the language already seems to exist for anything we’re trying to express, it’s just a case of listening closely and that seeps in and allows for something to be created.

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So there we have it, our first tentative steps inside the world of The Gabys, a band who, if you’re anything like me you’ll now find yourself even more endeared to and enamoured with. There is a real synergy between the answers they provided and the beautiful noise they create, and I find myself listening deeper, with greater clarity than ever before.

However, having said all of the above, every answer here could easily lead to another question and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The Gabys are giving us everything we need by keeping us wanting more. They have us in the palm of their hands and I for one can’t wait to see where they take us next.

Massive thanks to Natasha and Matt for agreeing to this interview.

LISTEN/BUY/SHARE:

s/t EP on Fruits & Flowers:

s/t EP on All Gone:

Further reading:

The Gabys – s/t