A gifted vocalist, sharp-tongued narrator and ambitious musician, Brit import Gary Go and his epic, stadium-ready pop/rock redefines the notion of a singer-songwriter: Gary Go isn’t a guy with an acoustic guitar – he’s a composer with a musical army.
And now, Go is poised to win over U.S. audiences with his own singular brand of unforgettable pop hooks and life-affirming lyrics. His self-titled debut album is due out September 15th on Decca Records (but available exclusively on iTunes a month earlier), with a fall tour to follow. The UK publication The Sun put it best when they described Go as “The musical love child of Chris Martin and David Gray, with an added dash of bespectacled charm,” while Q Magazine called Gary Go’s disc a “gigantic pop debut.”
Go’s infectious tunes, keen lyrics and unique voice have already made Gary Go a massive commercial and critical smash in England, where he’s currently on the road supporting Take That – with a rather curious instrument in tow: his iPhone. The Apple virtuoso wrote several tracks – including the special non-album cut, “Superfuture” – using iPhone software to produce an authentic, full-band sound. He plans to recreate such songs on stage this summer. "I think it's pretty amazing that I'm going to be using a mobile phone on stage at Wembley Stadium in front of so many people,” says Go, who has a special connection to the legendary venue.
As a child, the London-born singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist would sit by his bedroom window, listening to U2 and The Rolling Stones play around the corner at Wembley Stadium and penning his own songs on a toy Casio. Go’s first original composition – written at age 8 – was about a village of people living on someone’s stomach. He called it “Stomach Ground.”
“I grew up in a wacky artistic world where anything is possible,” says Go, whose father was a producer for Jim Henson’s Muppets.
And there’s no doubt about that. After leaving school at 17, Go worked entry-level positions at a string of record companies and recording studios, like Eurythmic Dave Stewart’s Artist Network and London’s legendary Townhouse Studios. Go even interviewed for a job at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, but was told by Gabriel himself that maybe he “should concentrate on songwriting.” Luckily, Go took his advice. He traveled to America, where he worked at a New Jersey recording studio and rented a room in Frank Sinatra’s old house in Hoboken – there he composed many of the songs that appear on Gary Go.
After a string of writing/recording sessions in Prague, the Catskills, New York City, Los Angeles and finally his own Canvas Room studio in West London, Go completed his impressive debut album. “I want my music to affect people in some way beyond telling ‘I love you, you love me’ kinds of stories,” says Go, who draws as much inspiration from David Bowie, Paul Simon and Bob Dylan as he does from TV on the Radio and Death Cab for Cutie. “I’m trying to talk about emotions, and trying to be a better person, and that’s the kind of stuff I want to talk about through the music – I’m trying to say something.”
And he’s succeeding. But not just through song – Go also uses the Internet as a way to maintain a constant connection with his fans. His official website, GaryGo.com, boasts his Twitter feed, an online diary called Left Side of the Brain, real-time photo updates from his Flickr and a video blog so fans can follow Go’s adventures on the road and beyond. In fact, Go even used his site to write a song – “The Heart Balloon.” After snapping a pic of a heart-shaped balloon caught in a tree outside his window and posting it to Flickr, Go asked his Twitter followers to contribute lyric ideas. He has also generated a ton of buzz for his Who Is Gary Go initiative – WhoIsGaryGo.com – where thousands of people around the world are able to create online profiles, share their own life stories and learn more about Go in the process.
But here’s one thing about Go you should know now: his debut album, Gary Go, is a soaring and infectious ride – as much an exercise in pop songcraft as it is a narrative on the human condition. Fraser Kennedy, Assistant Producer of Live from Abbey Road, calls Go “a brilliant songwriter with a great pop sensibility. He’s an adult pop artist, and all the songwriters who’ve been successful lately… should be looking over their shoulders.”
Standout tracks like the deliciously cynical “So-So,” the sweeping, shimmering positivity of “Open Arms” and the album’s first, and undeniably uplifting single, “Wonderful,” are musically and lyrically radiant – complex, anthemic pop songs that speak to dashed hopes, realized dreams, daring optimism and crushing apathy. “A lot of the themes on the album are about light and dark – trying to see the positive side of a darker situation,” says Go. “… Like ‘Open Arms’ is a list of things I wanted to be, and ‘Wonderful’ is about reminding yourself that you’re wonderful. That was kind of the theme of the record – every cloud has a silver lining.”
Engineered by Kevin Killen (U2, Elvis Costello, Tori Amos) and mixed by Chris Lord-Alge (U2, Green Day), Gary Go also features the Waking Vision Trio, Living Colour’s Will Calhoun and Doug Wimbush (also of the Sugar Hill Gang), acclaimed singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur and singer Carina Round.
Go and his band have already won fans on the live circuit with summer festival appearances at Brighton’s Great Escape, V Festival, Latitude and T in the Park and support slots with The National, The Feeling and Fratellis. Up next is a European tour with Lady Gaga later this summer. Go is no stranger to the platinum-haired songstress – "I love her and I hope someday she loves me too,” says Go, who recently recorded a darker, stripped down version of Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” as an exclusive for iTunes in the UK.
So get ready, America – because this Gary is ready to Go.
