Exploring Gabba's Musical Journey

“I missed your sound, man!”

“All along it’s only you! Wow <3 more vids!”

These are just a few of the comments posted on YouTube under the “Puzzle” music video, the very first single Gabba released as a solo artist back in December 2020. “Recollections”, his 14-track debut album is the culmination of all the experiences and ideas in his head–with all parts written and recorded by himself.

For a multi-instrumentalist whose main song-writing instrument is the guitar, Gabba’s favorite track of his debut album is a song called Paradigm, a drum-centric piece that starts off with a twinkly guitar-riff, building up and finishing it off with lyrical drum parts. It was an unpopular opinion, he says, as most of his fans were driven towards the songs with more complicated guitar parts. 

“Recollections” was launched in Makati on a gloomy July afternoon. Despite the unforgiving rain, the venue was packed and the crowd was eagerly anticipating the show. That night was the first time he played the song Interim live, and yet people knew the melody. The crowded room chanted the intro along with the looping parts, while Gabba tuned his guitar and tried to hide his smile.

“Nakakataba ng puso (It’s heartwarming).” says Gabba.

He remembers coming up with that specific melody intended merely as an Instagram post during the height of the pandemic. Somehow, it ended up as a 3-minute track in the album. The weeks that followed became so busy for Gabba as he embarked on an album tour that was well received by fans, even reaching Baguio and Lucena City.

“Recollections” co-producer Francis “The Ringmaster” Lorenzo recalls being shocked that Gabba was an equal skill level drummer as he was a guitarist. “We call those Promil kids,” he shares—an allusion to overly gifted kids popularized by the famous milk brand.

Gifted as he is, Gabba is surrounded by excellent musicians for the majority of his tour and live performances. These musicians are rhythm guitarist Patrick Roxas (Sound Architects and Trippy Oh!), a classical guitarist and a senior guitar lecturer at the UP College of Music; drummer Chico Macorol (Trippy Oh! and Debonair District) who is also a percussion major graduate from UP; and bassist Dan Calingasan (Padayon Rondalla and UP College of Music) who also teaches kids rondalla.

“Masaya yung experience for me as a drummer kasi napaka-lyrical ni Gabba mag compose ng drum parts (It’s such a good experience for me as drummer because Gabba has such a lyrical approach in composing drum parts).” shares Chico. “Yung drum parts niya either highlights the riff or elevates the feel. Dami ko natutunan sa pag-aaral nung tracks. Lalo lang tumaas yung admiration ko for Gabba as an artist (His drum parts either highlights the riffs or elevates the feel. I learned a lot studying his tracks. My admiration for him as an artist grew even bigger).”

For someone who graduated from an IT course, Gabba did not know how to read notes on a music sheet, and yet somehow, was able to craft the beautiful melodies that we hear now and his fans are enamored with.

“Reading notes is a tool lang naman na magagamit mo sa musicianship. Pero it doesn’t define how good you are in terms of producing and making your music (Reading notes is just a tool in musicianship. It doesn’t define how good you are in terms of producing and making your music).” echoes Patrick.

“He does things that I or other bassists wouldn’t have thought of—things like playing a non-chord tone as the bass note,” says Dan. “He knows how to make his audience feel things. They don’t exactly teach that in music school,” he adds.

From one aspiring musician to another–paying it forward to a new generation of Filipino musicians

Shortly before going solo, Gabba already amassed a considerable number of fans because of his guitar work with instrumental rock act Degs and Gabba (formerly Tom’s Story). Hence, it wasn’t new for him to hear people chanting his guitar parts. 

28-year-old Ian Awdrey Santos considers himself as one of Gabba’s biggest fans since 2015. “I consider him as my musical hero. Kung di dahil sa kanya di ko pinursue mag-play ng guitar or worse, baka di ako marunong (If not for him, I probably would not have pursued playing guitar or worse, I probably would not have learned).” 

He recalls that when he first saw Gabba play, he was hit with the realization that it is not always about shredding on the guitar that made music impressive. This realization ultimately changed how he perceived music. From then on, he made sure that he attended almost all of his gigs and eventually befriended his idols. “Sinasabi ko nga lagi na swerte natin kasi Pinoy siya (I always say that we’re so lucky he’s Filipino),” Ian exclaims.

His music transcends style, gender, and age group. Gabba’s fans surely know their stuff when it comes to his music. Ian is just one of many who have discovered a renewed appreciation and view towards music.

Agatha, a fan from Baguio city reflects on her favorite track. “It has to be a two-way tie between Zoomies and Overcurrent. Zoomies has this one part towards the end of the song that legitimately makes my hands and arms tingle every time I hear it, it’s insane.” 

Lastly, if you’ve been to one of the gigs, one would immediately a young man, bouncing up and down and jumping and singing to all the wordless songs in all its odd time signatures. That man is 18-year-old J. Andrew Quintua, one of Gabba’s youngest (and probably loudest) fans who, arguably, may be the most expressive during performances. Just like Gabba, J. Andrew learned to play the guitar at 11 years old. Coincidentally, J. Andrew discovered Gabba in 19 East—also during his first time watching a gig.

“Nung 19 East, parang mapapaiyak ako nung unang rinig ko nung kantang Overcurrent kasi grabe yung impact nun sakin as a musician. Ininspire niya ko na magpursue ng music talaga, kahit di ko sya gagawing career talaga. (At that time in 19 East, I almost teared up when I first heard Overcurrent because of the immense impact it has on me as a musician. It inspired me to pursue music in general, not necessarily as a career).”

Translating time stamps of his life to music

Gabba describes his music like time stamps in sonic form. Most of his songs are inspired by key moments every time he visits family in different countries. His song Fridge Magnets literally refers to the magnets on display on refrigerators as souvenirs from different places, and talks about the emotions he feels during those visits.

On his 30th birthday, Gabba flew to Sydney, the place where most of his family resides and a place he holds close to his heart. It is also the place where he found the inspiration for his song Fridge Magnets. 

“Medyo surreal kasi October 26, 2022, first gig ko as Gabba sa Saguijo. Tapos almost a year after, tumugtog ako sa Sydney. (It’s surreal because October 26, 2022 was my first gig as a solo artist in Saguijo),” Gabba muses on his achievements in just a couple of years. 

With his solid grasp of storytelling through music notes to his technical prowess in drums and guitar, Gabba’s achievements come as no surprise. From coming up with ideas in his solitude to harvesting organic ambience of places he’s been to, there’s still so much that Gabba can unfold through his music.