ON THE RISE
CHICAGO — Singer-songwriter GBO wears his heart on his sleeve and talks about the grief and loss of beloved friends while talking about the positive memories these relationships left behind in his latest single “Gone Too Soon.”
GBO has long found music to be therapy, helping him cope with a hard childhood in family struggling to keep its head above water when it came to money, and as an adult he used music once again to help him cope when he lost some friends who passed on far too soon.
“A couple of my close friends I grew up with, they passed away and so I was thinking about them and I was hearing that melody and it made me think about writing a song,” GBO said. “That’s how it started. It’s really about the people I’ve loved in the past that passed away. At first I was going to make it specific to one person, then I had a couple of other people pass away so it made more sense to make it broader.”
GBO said his stage name, pronounced Gee-Bo, was inspired by a four-year stint in the U.S. Air Force, when his fellow service members had a hard time with his given name, Gilberto.
“They were butchering my name so they said we’ll just call you GBO,” he said. “I kind of stuck with that as a pen name.”
GBO grew up in a musical family and started writing music when he was 12. He even had a song he wrote produced when he was 14 years old.
That’s when music became his therapy.
“I grew up in a bad neighborhood, I grew up in what people would say is an economically challenged situation,” GBO said. “Then I just wanted to get away and I would listen to music for therapy. Music was one of my outlets when I was really young. I just always liked it and that stuck with me. It was happiness, I listened because it was fun, like therapy.”
GBO said people reacted positively to his music when he was young, giving him the confidence to pursue it as a profession.
GBO said he’s working right now to find his brand in his music, and “Gone Too Soon,” is part of that search.
He said he weaves in and out of different genres of music, including hip hop, trap, pop and R&B.
“My older songs are more like hip hop songs, more energy songs, more energetic,” GBO said. “Different kinds of music attract different kinds of emotions, it can be fun or sad. I think mainly my sound is laid back, that’s a good word, they’re laid back sounds.”
GBO said he hopes people learn a simple lesson from “Gone Too Soon.”
“I think the message is like you love someone and you miss them and you try to be positive and know that’s not the end yet,” he said. “Don’t let it drag you down, you’ll have your grief period obviously but I think in the end I think there’s positivity in your memories.”
This single is a taste of more music to come in the new year. Listeners can expect to hear more of the vivid stories GBO tells, all connected by the string of empathy that laces his music together.
Make sure to stay connected to GBO on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
Websites:
Spotify
Soundcloud
Youtube
Elvis Presley – ‘Mystery Train’
“My first love was Elvis, no question. In our house, we had a French-release compilation album of his songs called ‘Le Roi Du Rock ‘n’ Roll’. As a small kid, I was obsessed with ‘Mystery Train’. The way Elvis held his guitar like a gun and the percussive way he attacked the strings made me fall in love with the guitar. Many years later, I went busking around Europe on my motorbike with a tent and played my guitar in the streets. But it was all because of Elvis and those early Sun [Records] recordings – and ‘Mystery Train’ in particular.”
Blondie – ‘Autoamerican’
“There was an Our Price on Finchley Road, North London that I’d go to with my older brother and sister. That’s where I bought ‘Autoamerican’ in 1981. Blondie – what can you say? Apart from the fact that as a young boy, it was impossible not to be in love with Debbie Harry. I love the variety on this particular record – it goes through different genres. Years later, I saw Blondie play [in 2013] at a private function in New York with Kanye West. Debbie Harry was still magnetic.”
Queen, Wembley Stadium, 1986
“Queen were supported by INXS. It was before they released ‘Kick’ [in 1987]. I only went because it turned out my friend Kieran’s dad was a big-shot in the music industry and he got four tickets. I was around 17, it was a year after they played Live Aid and Queen were phenomenal.”
The Beatles – ‘Eleanor Rigby’
“All through our early teenage years, my younger brother and I were always at the top of the house listening to The Beatles. ‘Eleanor Rigby’ reminds me of the ‘80s and the views out of our house in London: looking at the grey, rain-drizzled skies. I always felt its melancholy, looking out of the window back then as a teenager. Not that I was unhappy, but I definitely responded to that in music.”
Ever meet Macca?
“I have met Paul McCartney and he was a complete gentleman. At a political party, we were watching the American election on TV and he came up to me and said [Lewis does a pitch-perfect Macca impersonation]: ‘Oh, you understand a bit or two about the TV, don’t you?’. And I just realised he’d seen me on TV and I melted. I went to bed grinning. That McCartney knows who I am is incredible. I was completely tongue-tied.”
David Bowie – ‘Heroes’
“I know 173 other people will probably also have picked ‘Heroes’ for this, but from the opening note, it’s just relentlessly brilliant. It’s the most evocative, triumphant, euphoric song – and unbelievably cool. The second album I ever owned was Bowie’s ‘Hunky Dory’ – and he’s remained a touchstone for me.”
The Rolling Stones – ‘Little T&A’
“I listen to the Stones a lot and I can never get ‘Little T&A ‘ out of my head. Keith Richards is quoted as calling the song ‘dumb’ and that it’s just about rock ‘n’ roll energy. It’s a celebration of carnality, I’m aware of that, but that’s the one that stays in my head!”
Jive Bunny And The Mastermixers – ‘Swing the Mood’
“I can’t fucking hear Jive Bunny again! But I don’t mean that in a pejorative way. When I was in my twenties, I would go out on my own dancing to old-school rock ‘n’ roll at rockabilly nights. Then Jive Bunny came out and cut up my favourite songs into snippets and put them into this endless [novelty] medley. And then it was never off the radio, so I’d have to put it into the Room 101 of music.”
Crazy P – ‘There’s a Better Place’
“It’s an ambient rave tune with a fantastic Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory sample. I’m just that age. I left school right into the dance culture of the ‘90s and that will still always get me up on the floor.”
The Weepies – ‘Gotta Have You’
“It reminds me of moving to LA as a family with my late wife Helen [McCrory]. My daughter was one year old and my son was about to be born. We were living in Venice Canals – and I was filming out there. We had a babysitter who was a 23-year-old roller-skating, already-Botoxed sunny Californian girl. We asked her, are you listening to any good music? She gave us two great bands. One is The Shins but the other was a lesser-known band called The Weepies. That song will always get me going.”
Elton John – ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’
“I can’t say I do karaoke but I will proudly divulge that I was at karaoke in Fulham Broadway once. I went in there with a friend and I got up and sang ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’ and I won a bottle of champagne for best karaoke of the evening! Very chuffed I was too. If I was back looking for another bottle of champers, I’d pick it again.”
Talk Talk – ‘It’s My Life’
“I was an ‘80s kid and I liked electronic music. I’ve always loved ‘It’s My Life’ and Andy Hollis’ vocals, as well as its slightly bombastic nature. Life’s what you make of it – seems like a good sentiment to have.”
Damian Lewis’ UK tour begins on October 2. His album ‘Sweet Chaos’ is out now via Thin Red Duke
