Emmerald: We’ll start with the basics; who are you--other than being who I like to call the Yam Who of the states. What roles to you play in the music world?
G.B.: My name's Gabriel Reyes-Whittaker, otherwise known as GB (which stands for Gifted and Blessed). I'm an up and coming musician from Los Angeles with an emphasis on production. I also dj here and there and play a few instruments, but those come secondary to the beats.
Emmerald: How did you get started making music and producing?
G.B.: I've been playing instruments all my life, but I really I got my start in the music world through radio. I used to volunteer as an intern at KCRW (89.9 here in Los Angeles) back in high school. From there I went on to join the Usual Suspects radio show at KUCI (88.9 in Irvine, the UC Irvine campus station). I did that for two years but we all decided to focus on our strengths. I had already been making beats on my PC since high school, so I went full force with that. Still, it hasn't been too long as I'm only 20 years old.
Emmerald: What is the music scene like in L.A? I know there's a huge underground hip-hop/funk scene there, and I think your music probably crosses over into that. At the same time, your remixes tend to lean toward dance music tip.
G.B.: Los Angeles is an interesting place to be right now for musicians. The scene is definitely growing, but it isn't where I'd like to see it yet. There is a large underground hip hop and funk scene, but the problem that hinders our growth out here is the mentality that people aren't allowed to cross genres. It seems to me that in a lot of other metropolitan areas djs are starting to play a little bit of everything, and I'd love to see more of that here in L.A. The music I make challenges that attitude because it doesn't really fit into any specific genre, which is a great thing because that is what artistic freedom is about.
Emmerald: You’re still very young in your career, yet you've worked with some major heavy-hitters like, King Britt, Daz-i-kue from Bugz in the Attic, who else?
G.B.: As you said, I have worked with King Britt and Daz-I-Kue. I've also worked with a few others including Jody Watley, Caural, SA-RA creative partners, and Wildchild (Lootpack). On my forthcoming LP for the Sound In Color label entitled "Soundtrack for Sunrise," I worked with some really amazing musicians, among them Steve Spacek, A Race of Angels, Ricci Rucker, Joy Jones, Flora Purim and her husband Airto Moreira. Currently I'm working with a slew of L.A. emcees and vocalists who are about to take this music to the next level! I'm also planning some projects with :brownstudy out of Detroit, Lizz Fields, and a few surprises. Aside from that, I'm working on a handful of projects under different monikers. Oh, and MainFrame and I have a latin-influenced side project called Doble Ooh, which makes for a really interesting live show that we've been taking to a few cities! Watch out...
Emmerald: Flora Purim and Airto? You recorded the upcoming release “Livre” with them. That one’s a stunner, by the way. How exactly does a 20-year old kid from L.A. end up recording for Flora Purim and Airto? That kinda thing doesn't happen everyday. (laughs)
G.B.: (laughs) I really appreciate the compliment. Basically what happened was the label reached out to Flora to sing on some tracks, one of which was mine and the other was a track that Mumbles did. She was very receptive, and she was really moved by my track so she asked if she could bring Airto along to add the live element to the groove, and it came out ridiculous! It was AMAZING working with them, both of them are legends are far as I'm concerned and I've always been a huge fan of their work, so it was a dream come true. They actually live in Santa Barbara, which is about 2 hours or so from L.A., so it was pretty convenient. Looks like that track, “Livre”, will be released somewhere around July. King Britt's workin on a remix; it’s gonna be killer!
