Gabriel da Rosa
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Press: Paste | Aquarium Drunkard
Gabriel da Rosa’s fascination with classical Brazilian music began when he was growing up in the rural farmland of Cruz Alta in Southern Brazil. His father, who worked at a radio station, brought home records by the likes of Antônio Carlos Jobim and Caetano Veloso, while his poet mother taught him about music, art, and writing. Though his father discouraged him from pursuing a career in music, saying it would never put food on the table, in his early 20s Gabriel became a founding member of a Brazilian covers punk band. They toured all over Brazil, but decided to call it quits after being burned by their major label.
Gabriel decided to start over by traveling to Los Angeles, where he DJed and curated Brazilian records, and met Stones Throw’s founder Peanut Butter Wolf. The two bonded over their shared love for Brazil, bossa nova, and records. Gabriel says: “Bossa nova was always a dream for me to play one day. It was always this untouchable, unimaginable type of music that I perceived myself to be incapable of playing, till I slowly started exploring and getting comfortable with it.” While living in L.A. Gabriel reconnected with long-time friend and musician Pedro Dom, who's worked with some of Brazil's best internationally known artists (Seu Jorge, Rodrigo Amarante and Latin Grammy Award winner Ian Ramil), and began collaborating with him on new songs. Deepening the Brazilian connection, Azymuth’s drummer played on the record, and the Beastie Boys' engineer Mario C mixed it.
Sung in Portuguese, the lyrics on É o que a casa oferece tell personal stories about Gabriel’s life. “Jasmim Parte One'' follows the enchanted feelings of first meeting someone but having doubts about whether the connection will last – it’s about “wanting to remain in an eternal fairytale.” “Dona Chica”' immortalizes Gabriel’s grandmother. He remembers how she would “wake up everyday at 5:30am before the rooster, start a fire on the wooden stove, boil some water, make herself a Chimarrão (yerba mate tea) and then start her day. She would then slowly prepare lunch for whoever was working around the house. From her stove, she made the best black beans I have ever tasted in my life.” “Indiossincrasia'' walks us through the recurring patterns Gabe has noticed in his travels around the world, “How things go off-script most of the time and how things work out the way they have to. That’s the way I take my life.”
It took moving away from Brazil for Gabriel to deepen his connection to home via music. For Gabriel da Rosa, the appeal of bossa nova is its emotional as well as musical depth. He says, “When you listen to it, you feel blissful – it evokes happy memories. That’s what I’m trying to do on the album.”
Gabriel decided to start over by traveling to Los Angeles, where he DJed and curated Brazilian records, and met Stones Throw’s founder Peanut Butter Wolf. The two bonded over their shared love for Brazil, bossa nova, and records. Gabriel says: “Bossa nova was always a dream for me to play one day. It was always this untouchable, unimaginable type of music that I perceived myself to be incapable of playing, till I slowly started exploring and getting comfortable with it.” While living in L.A. Gabriel reconnected with long-time friend and musician Pedro Dom, who's worked with some of Brazil's best internationally known artists (Seu Jorge, Rodrigo Amarante and Latin Grammy Award winner Ian Ramil), and began collaborating with him on new songs. Deepening the Brazilian connection, Azymuth’s drummer played on the record, and the Beastie Boys' engineer Mario C mixed it.
Sung in Portuguese, the lyrics on É o que a casa oferece tell personal stories about Gabriel’s life. “Jasmim Parte One'' follows the enchanted feelings of first meeting someone but having doubts about whether the connection will last – it’s about “wanting to remain in an eternal fairytale.” “Dona Chica”' immortalizes Gabriel’s grandmother. He remembers how she would “wake up everyday at 5:30am before the rooster, start a fire on the wooden stove, boil some water, make herself a Chimarrão (yerba mate tea) and then start her day. She would then slowly prepare lunch for whoever was working around the house. From her stove, she made the best black beans I have ever tasted in my life.” “Indiossincrasia'' walks us through the recurring patterns Gabe has noticed in his travels around the world, “How things go off-script most of the time and how things work out the way they have to. That’s the way I take my life.”
It took moving away from Brazil for Gabriel to deepen his connection to home via music. For Gabriel da Rosa, the appeal of bossa nova is its emotional as well as musical depth. He says, “When you listen to it, you feel blissful – it evokes happy memories. That’s what I’m trying to do on the album.”
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