THE INSIDER: GARY GO

The emerging pop sensation has a hit album - and a piece of Gaga's bubble dress.

When iTunes featured Gary Go this Fall, they introduced Americans to the British pop artist whose happy, smooth melodies and floaty techno beats suggested a fusion between Mika and James Blunt. 

But beneath the boppy surface was a musician whose interests in technology and human behavior brought about new ways of seeing music – including a Twitter challenge that resulted in a worldwide collaboration between Gary and his fans, and created a hit song (The Heart Balloon) with the results.

We spoke with Gary after he finished his world tour with Lady Gaga…

Had you been to the States before this tour?  Yes, but this time I got to see much more of America.  I really liked everywhere I went.

You’re just being diplomatic.  No! I really did like everywhere, but okay, I enjoyed Seattle a lot.  Obviously, cities where there’s always things going on are more exciting to visit, but I enjoyed Seattle a lot.  It just had a vibe about it, in the air, and with our show there, it felt like a really musical audience – obviously the history and the bands that grew up there must contribute to that.

We’re huge Twitter addicts at NYLON. But we’ve never used it to write a song…  Yeah, that wasn’t planned, it just kinda happened. I just did it!  But I want to get into using it even more, to see how it can go into the creation of an album.  Using [the internet] is a great way to have a dialogue with people, but so much of it is “I’m doing this, I’m going here” – I think it could be more about collaboration, instead of just updates about myself.

As an artist, do you fear losing control of your songs by inviting your fans to contribute?  I’m secretly a little control freak, but you can always sense when something is true and something comes from the artist or if it’s just manufactured.  And whoever creates something that’s true, I’m happy to be a part of it.  The thing with The Heart Balloon is, it was like a genuine thing, and everyone got inspired.  That’s different from someone handing my lyrics and music and saying, “Here, sing this.”

So you only want to do original material?  I don’t think I’d sing someone else’s song, but never say never.

Do you remember your first musical experience?  I was five and my cousin was in a band.  He was signed to Bjork’s label.  They were never famous, but they were doing it.  He had a synthesizer, and it was old school, like the ‘80s.  He used to let me rap over it.  It was so funny.  When you start, you’re doing it just because you love it – you don’t know it’s a career, you don’t know you’re supposed to be good. It’s just really innate.

What did you rap about? My first rap was called The Stomach Ground, and it was about this group of people who live on top of someone’s stomach. It was kind of inspired by Bart Simpson’s rap. 

Do you remember it?  You’re going to make me sing the song I wrote when I was five?

Uh, yes?  Okay.  The first lyric goes, “One day I was sitting in my rocking chair, and then I heard a grumbling everywhere!” I liked the word “rocking chair” because it had the word “rock” in it, like rock music, and I thought that was really clever.

You just came back from a Lady Gaga tour.  Did she inspire you to wear giant Hello Kitty dresses and neon headbands?  No, I’m kind of about the music to get more attention than what I wear.  My favorite item of clothing right now is a jean from April 77 – it’s a gray jean with a black piping down the side.  I like stuff with great detail, but it needs to be subtle.

So no bubble dresses for you?  Actually, Gaga gave me one of the bubbles from her bubble dress.  It fell off when we were in Hamburg, and she gave it to me. 

You should eBay it.  I couldn’t!  It’s in my hands right now.
--FARAN KRENTCIL

MySpace.com/GaryGo



This story was published on November 17, 2009.