Recently I interviewed Brandon Giannasi, a solo artist from Dallas, TX, who goes by the name "Gringo Soul." Brandon finds a great deal of musical inspiration in acts such as Nirvana, Sublime, Elvis, and Creedence Clearwater Revival, and also finds a great deal of inspiration from art itself, like from the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh for example. Theses artists and more inspire Brandon during his process of writing his songs, which he describes as "funky" and "soulful." Brandon's stage name, Gringo Soul, comes from a time is his past when we was working with a group of Hispanic people who referred to him and other Caucasians as "Gringos." The word rand with him and he decided to, as he puts it, "roll with it."
Brandon performs with his Korg Keyboard, guitar, loop pedal, K oscillator, and octopad. During a performance, the crowd gets to see him set up each and every component that goes into a Gringo Soul song, one piece at a time. At the time of this interview, Gringo Soul is at a whopping 4 album releases and 34 songs. I asked Brandon what songs ultimately are about. "As an average Gringo," Giannasi says he writes his songs about life lessons, celebrations, hardships, and his growth as a musician. When I asked him about his writing process, he tells me that "there's just something about driving that really gets me thinking, gets my creative juices flowing." He tells me that most of his lyrics writing and creative thinking comes to him while driving.
Brandon is hosting an event called The Trash Bash Music Stash on June 28th. It's an event that you volunteer and you pick up trash on three streets in Dallas TX. After the trash pickup is over, there will be free food, free beer and other drinks and a free concert. And if you don't fee like picking up trash, you can pay $15 and still have some food, drink and enjoy a great show!
I then asked Brandon if he could open for any band or artist, past or present, who would he want to play with. "Stone Temple Pilots," he says, "I have so much respect for the music they make. It would an honor for me to be able to play a show with them." Since Brandon has not had such an opportunity as of yet, he tells me that his favorite show he's played so far was at The Woodshed in nearby Fort Worth, TX. He tells me that at this show, he performed in front of around 500 attendees, all of whom seemed to respond well to and enjoy his music.
As a final thought, I asked Brandon what advice he might have for his fellow independent musicians. "If you're in a band and struggling to find an audience, or if you're interested in starting a band - if or when you get denied to play a venue or bar, you just need to stay strong. Get back up, and get on with your day."
Brandon performs with his Korg Keyboard, guitar, loop pedal, K oscillator, and octopad. During a performance, the crowd gets to see him set up each and every component that goes into a Gringo Soul song, one piece at a time. At the time of this interview, Gringo Soul is at a whopping 4 album releases and 34 songs. I asked Brandon what songs ultimately are about. "As an average Gringo," Giannasi says he writes his songs about life lessons, celebrations, hardships, and his growth as a musician. When I asked him about his writing process, he tells me that "there's just something about driving that really gets me thinking, gets my creative juices flowing." He tells me that most of his lyrics writing and creative thinking comes to him while driving.
Brandon is hosting an event called The Trash Bash Music Stash on June 28th. It's an event that you volunteer and you pick up trash on three streets in Dallas TX. After the trash pickup is over, there will be free food, free beer and other drinks and a free concert. And if you don't fee like picking up trash, you can pay $15 and still have some food, drink and enjoy a great show!
I then asked Brandon if he could open for any band or artist, past or present, who would he want to play with. "Stone Temple Pilots," he says, "I have so much respect for the music they make. It would an honor for me to be able to play a show with them." Since Brandon has not had such an opportunity as of yet, he tells me that his favorite show he's played so far was at The Woodshed in nearby Fort Worth, TX. He tells me that at this show, he performed in front of around 500 attendees, all of whom seemed to respond well to and enjoy his music.
As a final thought, I asked Brandon what advice he might have for his fellow independent musicians. "If you're in a band and struggling to find an audience, or if you're interested in starting a band - if or when you get denied to play a venue or bar, you just need to stay strong. Get back up, and get on with your day."
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For more band interviews like this, check out the Gorilla Music website. Visit EagleOne Entertainment and Gorilla Music for more information on booking your local band and the biggest local band events in your city.
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