Gabriela is a 20 year-old singer, songwriter and performer born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. She was born under the sign of Leo on August 19th, 1994. (Gabriela loves all things Zodiac, and thanks the stars in part for giving her her bold personality and love of the spotlight). Though she hails from the Midwest, she is half-Mexican on her father’s side and from her mother, has ethnic roots in Germany, Ireland, Sweden and France. She lived in the Chicagoland suburbs for 18 years before packing up her songwriting notebooks, black Seagull guitar and impressive shoe collection and moving to Boston to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music on a talent-based scholarship. In her third and final year at Berklee, Gabriela majors in Professional Music with a focus in songwriting and performance, and plans to graduate early this spring.
Gabriela grew up in a musical household that fostered liberal thinking, imagination and creativity. She grew up with three older siblings: Nathan, who is a policeman and pilot, Megan who works in property management (who happens to be an extraordinary classical pianist) and Justin, an actor who has been featured on shows such as “Revenge,” “Emily Owens MD” and “Smallville.”
Though no member of her family is a professional musician, her parents always had music ringing through the halls of her first home in Palos Park, IL. She fondly remembers listening to Celia Cruz, The Gipsy Kings, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor and The Four Seasons. Gabriela’s first introduction to a musical instrument was at age 3, when she began violin lessons. Soon, on her 8th birthday, she began piano lessons and in high school, she taught herself guitar.
She has always been a creative soul, from very early on. She began writing poetry and fantasy novels in composition notebooks when she was just 7 years old, and around age 12, began to write songs. Writing on both guitar and piano, she found that her early years of songwriting manifested in an exciting blend of folk, pop and rock. In 2012 while she was a senior in high school, she released her first EP, “Insomnia (Knows My Secrets)”. The summer after her first year of college, Gabriela released single titled “Money Gone.” Both records are available on iTunes, Amazon, Bandcamp and Spotify.
Since she started writing, Gabriela has developed her songwriting skills and has moved toward a pop, R&B and electro-pop sound, and has been compared to the likes of Karmin, Gwen Stefani, Sara Bareilles and Jessie J. Since high school, she’s written for electronic producers and even collaborated with Chicago rapper Kenn Retro, with her voice and songwriting featured on his record “Holdin’ It Down” and in the corresponding music video. She has performed in venues in both the Midwest and on the East Coast, such as Chicago’s Hard Rock Cafe, Penny Road Pub, Heartland Cafe and at the Palatine Streetfest and Windy City Ribfest. She’s formed a band of Berklee musicians and is preparing to take Boston, and soon the world, by storm with her captivating lyrics, one-of-a-kind voice and undeniable stage presence.
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