Az Samad Lessons

I first met the amazing singer-songwriter Gabriel Lynch via our mutual friend Froya. At that time Gabriel was still based in Australia and wanted to do a Kuala Lumpur tour. We connected and then Yin and I organised a music workshop for Gabriel at International College of Music in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Since then, we’ve kept in touch and some time ago, Gabriel relocated to Malaysia. We’ve performed together twice and I’m a fan of his music. I’m so delighted to have him be a part of this week’s Creative Fridays.

Let’s learn more about Mr. Gabriel Lynch!

And now for the interview! 🙂

1. What’s your latest project?
Over the last two months, I’ve released two singles to Spotify/iTunes/all the regular suspects. “TRIPPING WIRE” and “Love Can Conquer Anything”. There’ll be plenty more to come too for anybody following me on those platforms.I’ve also got two YouTube series people can check out. “A Bit About…” is a Vlog where I talk about anything and everything that I find interesting or funny. Sometimes I tackle a subject, sometimes I recount a story. It’s all just for a bit of fun.”Single Shot Songs” is a new series of musical collaborations filmed with a single roving camera. Expect a mix of originals and covers with each video showcasing some of my favourite musicians (both locally in Malaysia, as well as abroad).

2. What inspires your music?
I get inspiration from almost everything. Whether it’s a place I’ve visited, somebody I’ve met or a smell I encountered on the way to work in the morning, everything we stumble upon is – in some way – its own self-contained story. To me, music is just glorified storytelling. I love the challenge of using the facilities available to us – lyrics, harmony, rhythm – to try and capture these stories in a unique way. I also think this is one of the fundamental reasons people listen to music; to feel a connection to somebody else over a shared experience. Whether that experience was a bad break up, a fun holiday or some other life event, it is always comforting to hear an artist perform a song that tackles a similar experience. It makes us feel less alone.

3. What’s your 5 Desert Island Albums?

1. Ben Folds – Songs For Silverman

A lot of people prefer his old Ben Folds Five records. But for me, this is a songwriting tour de force. The tone of the album is a little more serious overall than his previous outings, but the storytelling is infallible and the arrangements are those of a master craftsmen. Simple, beautiful, piano-centric pop.

2. Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid

This album is inspiring for so many reasons. Musically, it is stunning. Guy Garvey has one of the most distinctive male voices on the planet and it simply soars from start to finish. This album – in particular the song, “One Day Like This” – is what broke the band out into the mainstream. Here’s the thing, though, this was their fourth album over a career that had spanned more than a decade. They’d been picked up and dropped by labels, they’d grown a loyal cult following… But this blew them up. Let that be a lesson to all of us fickle musicians… Don’t give up!

3. Radiohead – OK Computer

I have to include this. After having really studied the ever-loving hell out of this album (presumably listening to it well over 1000 times), I don’t think I could ever listen to it again. But when I heard this record at age 12 for the first time, it changed everything. Rock and roll was so much more than four chords on a guitar. It could be a symphony (check out “Paranoid Android”). It could be a lullaby (“No Surprises”). OK Computer was everything a kid in the 90s who wanted to write songs ever needed to hear.

4. Dan Croll – Sweet Disarray

A relatively recent release compared to the others on this list. But Dan Croll is a hero to me. A multi-instrumentalist who writes brilliant indie pop covering a broad spectrum of sounds. He is the definition of a modern songwriter and arranger. Listening to his songs, I often hear an acknowledgement of what has come before, as well as the sound of somebody embracing all the wonderful new toys and facilities we have to play with in this current age of music production. Brilliant.

5. Eels – Daisies of the Galaxy

It’s hard to describe this record in any way that does it justice. Mark Oliver Everett (or “E”) is one of the most prolific musicians out there. His output is at times heartrending, at others humorous, but always sincere. I think he just understands the human condition better than most others out there. This album has some of the most beautifully sad and harrowingly hopeful material I’ve ever heard. And it’s all delivered with an almost childlike playfulness without ever coming across as dishonest. I cannot recommend this album enough.

4. Who’s one artist/musician that you love but most people probably don’t know of?
Little Barrie.

Vintage sounds, funky tunes, good times all around. I love these guys for one simple reason: The music is fun. We’re allowed to have fun sometimes playing music. Sometimes we singer songwriters like to spend too long loitering in the ballad badlands. I love expressive introspective music as much as the next acoustic guitar player, but Little Barrie knows how to make you feel good. They got some attention in the last few years after they contributed the opening song for the Breaking Bad spin-off, Better Call Saul. But for me, it’s all about that self-titled first record of theirs.

All the cliches. “Don’t expect to get famous”, “Don’t expect to make money”, “Don’t expect to be anything other than miserable in every single capacity except for the small amounts of nourishment that your craft in and of itself may provide you if you’re lucky”

I think basically, the idea is this: if you have any other calling in life, or any remote interest in something other than the art you’re pursuing, do that other thing instead. Seriously. Being a musician mostly sucks. Mostly. You have to really be in it for those tiny, fleeting moments of satisfaction. They are, honestly, few and far between.

Forgiving myself for my failures. I have put out so much terrible music and content over the years. I’ve blown opportunities because I was out of shape, drunk, unprepared or simply incapable. I’ve promoted shows that, looking back, I am ashamed I ever played.

How did I overcome all of that? Easy. Never stop. So that one record I released a few years back is truly terrible. So what? I’m working on my next one! The tour I organised was a failure and nobody came to see me play? So what? I’m going to tour somewhere new next year!

You can’t spend too long looking back. It’s nice to do sometimes. But creators only truly go crazy if ever we stop creating.

Website: gabriellynch.com

Facebook: facebook.com/gabriellynchmusic

Instagram: glynchmusic

YouTube: youtube.com/gabriellynch

Twitter: @glynchmusic

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5i6wj7GOnXrvxEnNxDZLB3?si=W77_wFl0Q2uHSv_FlDSXsA

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