Gabby Young and Other Animals

Gabby Young’s twisting roots have carried her and that stunning voice from her native Wiltshire around the UK to land with a bang at the centre of London’s music scene. One of the youngest recruits to the National Youth Choir at the age of 12, Gabby was on track to become an opera singer until Jeff Buckley and the jazz greats inspired her to switch teams.

Whilst still in her teens Gabby frequented open mic nights and played with a spectrum of bands before recording her first solo record in her bedroom before she turned 21. Gabby’s unique perspective of the world around her is inspired as much by imagination as real events, but when thyroid cancer threatened to take her classically trained voice at the age of 22, she got serious about recording her stories. Using her recovery time to pen her melodies, Gabby took in global influences to fuel her heartfelt emotion, which shines through her beautifully haunting songs. ‘I feel blessed rather than afflicted,’ she says simply.

It was crowd-funding her first album that really put her on the map. The Evening Standard ran a story on it, and the piece was picked up across the board – with an interview even on Sky News, and positive write-ups by many of the UK’s major newspapers, including the Guardian, The Sunday Times and the London Evening Standard.

Clearly not a case of style over substance but, like many a frontwoman before her, Gabby loves to play dress up – and as her double page spread in Artrocker magazine, titled “How to dress like Gabby Young” will attest, there are plenty of women out there who find her charismatic looks as inspiring as her music. Last year she set up Gabberdashery, a collective of creatives: artists, designers, milliners and other talented people selling there wares at gigs and events: ‘it’s important to support up and coming British designers,’ she says.

‘Touring and travelling the world has changed me as a writer: before a gig is often when the kernel of a song comes to me. Also meeting so many different people and experiencing their cultures has changed my outlook on life – especially in Japan, Australia and Germany.’

Following her critically acclaimed 2010 debut album ‘We’re All In This Together’, Gabby Young’s highly anticipated second album, ‘The Band Called Out For More’ leaped straight to No 4 on the Amazon download chart when it was released in June 2012.

Written by Gabby and her partner Stephen Ellis, who also produced, this 13 tract work represents a giant sonic step forward. Its colourful avant-garde sound, with lush orchestration, horns and quiet melodies, exudes the best bits of music hall, burlesque, 1920s flapper music, Nouvelle Vague cinema and torch songs. Indeed, Gabby comes across like Rufus Wainwright’s other younger sister – bred perhaps on a diet of Bjork, Imogen Heap and Joanna Newsom – as she sets out winningly to reinvent her own genre, Circus Swing. “My sound’s matured”, is all she’ll say. “I’ll admit that. I’ve honed my craft. I’m very happy and settled where I wasn’t before.”

The London Guardian gave it a four star review:
“This is her second album, and it's filled with often unexpectedly thoughtful, sophisticated songs that continually switch direction, from cool guitar, accordion or piano-backed balladry to furious trumpet and trombone-backed workouts.”

She appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Loose Ends recently and Clive Anderson refers to her as “The finest purveyor of Circus Swing”

Graham Norton is a fan, and has played her singles “In Your Head” and “Walk Away” on BBC Radio 2. He says, “We are playing this a lot because we love it. She is terrific live, really big wall of sound”

After headlining KOKO last October, Gabby was asked to headline and curate New Year’s Eve at the South Bank. This year the band have been busy touring Germany and Holland with sold out shows at Scala and Bush Hall in London and Salisbury Arts Centre. Other notable appearances- ZDF Kultur in Germany 1hr TV concert, House band for London’s Children In Need event shown on BBC1, Live radio session for biggest pop radio in Holland 3FM, 2 hr special on Radio Bremen, live Breakfast TV on Germany’s biggest TV channel and performing at Munich’s Video awards.