‘The place the Earth Bends’ is the monumental debut full size album from Gabi Gamberg, higher referred to as Daffo. Gamberg proves they’ll discover new sonic territory whereas conserving true to their roots with a document that’s as rigorously crafted as it’s biting and trustworthy.
Stream: ‘The place the Earth Bends’ – Daffo
Perhaps I’m happy with it. Perhaps I’m simply f*ing weak.
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When I met Gabi Gamberg for the primary time, we have been standing on the mouth of a mountain climbing path.
It was my pal’s twenty third birthday, and we have been in search of a waterfall to quell the heavy blanket of LA warmth. After exchanging pleasantries and sweaty side-hugs, we fashioned a winding path of ill-equipped hikers, weighed down by thick denim and jangly carabiners. We chatted about their work, which I had been a fan of for the previous few years. They inform me about their adjustment to LA and their sophisticated emotions in direction of touring, I inform them that is my first time in southern California however I don’t really feel like leaving.
I spotted even once they weren’t singing, Gamberg’s voice had a uniquely musical high quality, peaking and dipping in all the proper locations. They embodied music, and one thing of their actions was uniquely instrumental, from the way in which they stooped to tie their shoe to a delicate contact on my pal’s shoulder. The second time I met Gamberg was over Zoom for our interview, and regardless of being on reverse coasts, our dialog transported me again to the Malibu skyline. Their stark honesty and vulnerability is unwavering, whatever the context, and even probably the most fundamental of interview questions turned considerate meditations.
Gamberg began coaching on violin at age six. Just a few years later, their dad launched them to the guitar, and so they rapidly surpassed him in ability. “I received ok at it that I can play my very own songs effectively,” Gamberg admits to me with a chuckle. After combating undiagnosed ADHD in highschool, they transferred to Idyllwild, a residential music college in California. Idyllwild was a protracted methods away from the daffodil-dotted yard of their childhood house within the Philadelphia suburbs, but it surely was a wanted change.
“It was very a lot so a survival mechanism,” they assert, admitting that they Googled “music college” and went with the primary search end result. All of a sudden, Gamberg was confronted with the self-discipline and construction that had pushed them away from the violin, however this time, it was completely different. They discovered each technical and conceptual abilities that guided their work in a brand new route. “One of many issues I discovered at songwriting college was discovering what strains are obligatory. If you can also make each single line obligatory, then you definately’ve received your self an amazing f*ing track.”
The music of Gabi Gamberg, higher recognized by their stage identify Daffo, is laden with necessity.
Each chord change, choose slide, and imprecise metaphor is imbued with a way of objective that outcomes from the intensely private relationship Gamberg has with their work. This uncooked high quality might be partially attributed to the connection they search to forge between viewers and artist via transparency.
Of their second TikTok, which has now amassed 1.3 million views greater than two years later, Gamberg is in a warmly lit bed room carrying a sharp inexperienced cap. Leaning in direction of the digicam, they breathlessly declare, “I used to be having this loopy dream final evening the place my physique was increasing after which I wakened with this track in my head and it is unnecessary.” They lean again, gripping an acoustic guitar, frenetically launching into the primary verse of “The Experiment,” the observe that may catapult their music profession.
@daffoband that is what my thoughts is like at 4am (calling this track “the slit expiriment”) #indie #physics #music #bigthief
Now, at 21, Gamberg continues to be that keen musician that went viral a day earlier than their nineteenth birthday.
The distinction is that they now play sold-out exhibits with the likes of illuminati hotties, Annie DiRusso, and Blondshell, with their subsequent enterprise shall be becoming a member of Wednesday on their upcoming tour, and simply launched their debut album The place the Earth Bends, via Harmony Data. The document supplies refreshingly trustworthy reflections on rising up, psychological well being struggles, and confronting your vices accompanied by earthy strings, otherworldly Mellotron, and punchy drums.
That is their first full size album, and was produced by Rob Schnapf, who has labored with the likes of Elliott Smith, Beck, and Cat Energy. After releasing their critically acclaimed EPs Disaster Equipment (2021) and Pest (2023), Gamberg stays true to their folksy, melancholy sound with a brand new sense of vigor. Between soulful ballads and rumbling bass, Gamberg exhibits their truest self.
The album is available in swinging with “Get a Life,” a spiteful but tender ode to rumination. The tough riffs of electrical guitar lead us into the observe, and rapidly, the drums kick in with a way of urgency. “The flower at your toes was alive till you stepped on it,” Gamberg spits. “However you have been in a rush in your method to nowhere / Now when you end up wanting again on all of the paths you’ve been / There shall be no flower there.”
As Gamberg sings, their voice flips over hi-hats and tumbles down again beats, trembling and solidifying in any respect the proper moments. After they attain the refrain, they let go of all reservations, demanding themself and the listener to “Decelerate!” The music builds on high of itself, then out of the blue comes crashing down round Gamberg’s warbling croons.
The second observe, “Behavior,” is a heavy-handed grappling with their OCD. “It’s about cyclical considering and getting excessive off of your ideas,” they inform me. The darkish, earthy strings coupled with discordant whines and pulsating drums present a stark distinction to Gamberg’s mild, easy harmonies, punctuated by relentless cymbals. Because the observe continues, Gamberg’s voice turns into extra strained as they admit they’re determined for a launch from this repetition, whereas acknowledging perhaps they only can’t let go.
The primary half of the album investigates this phenomenon, delving into intrusive ideas and the perils of an overactive thoughts. “I might chunk my finger off like a carrot,” Gamberg opens with in “Carrot Fingers.” In subsequent tracks, they invoke repeating metaphors, like that of a “dangerous canine” or a dagger, to color this image.
This skilled lyricism is most apt in “Fast Repair,” the place using assonance and vocal inflection weave a somber sonnet. To Gamberg, a cigarette is a “Cancerous candle fuming,” whereas they admit, “I’m a whore for a fast repair.” This observe deviates from a number of the heavier manufacturing in earlier tracks because of the sheer energy of Gamberg’s writing. Simply shy of two minutes lengthy, they handle to weave in photos of spoon-feeding and dissociative intercourse atop a repetitive, muted guitar. With “Absence Makes the Coronary heart Develop,” Gamberg has deserted all sentiment, turning offended and vengeful. This observe marks the second half of the album, which slowly devolves into absolute despair. “This second half of the document is rather like, ow,” they inform me.
“Ow” is one method to describe it. Absolutely the masterpiece that’s the pairing of “Unveiling” and “Sideways” stands out as the spotlight of the whole document. The duo shifts the album in a darker route, with much less room for self-pity or spite. Gamberg’s vocals twist on the finish of each line, sounding like a half-question, and the lyrics themselves are heavy and tactile. The track describes Gamberg and their father attending an unveiling for an prolonged member of the family Gamberg by no means knew, assembly a pregnant cousin, and feeling hope for brand spanking new connections. The somber underpinnings of the primary verse lighten, and the violin sings.
“There may be nonetheless part of this household that’s untouched, that I might be part of,” they are saying when reflecting on that second. The track takes a sudden flip with tough strings and Gamberg quietly buzzing, “Discovered Tuesday that the child died.” After this line, you’ll be able to hear their breath catch earlier than they proceed. “I don’t know if I can say her identify now … Adalie,” The observe ends with a litany of grief as they repeat her identify time and again, their voice light and weighted. “Sideways” carries this grief sonically, and scribes an epic poem lyrically. The observe is clean, and permits listeners the room to take a seat with the remainder of the album.
Total, The place the Earth Bends is an exceptional proof of the expansion Gamberg has made whereas conserving the integrity of their earlier work.
Its reception has been excellent, and Far Out Journal dubbed the newest document as “the perfect of a brand new technology.” Daffo is an artist to look at, with a novel taste of folks that’s laborious to return by. You may catch them on a stacked tour invoice that begins in October, the place they may play headline exhibits earlier than supporting the likes of Wednesday, Jay Som, and Mali Velasquez.
Although the primary time I met Gamberg I used to be a bit starstruck, our most up-to-date dialog confirmed what I had felt on the time: to Gamberg, there isn’t any hierarchy of musician over fan. With a purpose to create this work, they have to construct a relationship with their listeners that’s deeply private with out room for disgrace or separation.
To hearken to Daffo’s music is to know Gamberg, and all their quirks and vices. To hearken to Daffo’s music, it’s essential to disidentify from embarrassment and develop into probably the most actual model of your self. This has by no means been extra true than with The place the Earth Bends, a uncooked masterpiece about what it means to be human.
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Stream: “Behavior” – Daffo
A CONVERSATION WITH DAFFO
Atwood Journal: You have been classically skilled on violin, then principally self-taught on guitar, after which went to a music college. What was this development like, and did you discover that you simply most well-liked one technique of studying over the opposite?
Daffo: I assume beginning in the beginning, I’ve at all times been musical. With the violin, I actually did adore it, however the self-discipline I didn’t actually like. I favored taking part in within the college orchestra, however I didn’t wish to observe. I do truly love classical music, however simply not as a lot as I like different music. I began taking part in guitar once I was eight or 9, however I by no means took classes. My dad taught me. So once I was going to play guitar and write songs, it was simply me alone exploring, and I felt prefer it was simpler, or extra fruitful, for me to discover on guitar. I received ok at it that I can play my very own songs effectively. I can’t actually play a lot else. Then I went to highschool. I had ADHD, undiagnosed, and it was actually robust. I wasn’t actually that considering something. All I used to be considering was the subsequent weekend once I was going to go play a present. That’s what I might take into consideration to get me via.
It was a really determined factor to go to music college. I actually Googled songwriting college after which went to the primary place on the checklist. It was very a lot so a survival mechanism as a result of I knew I wanted to alter one thing. I needed to drop out of faculty however my mother and father wouldn’t let me. [Idyllwild] posed this robust factor the place, swiftly, I used to be getting that self-discipline and construction that I used to be getting initially with violin classes, the place folks have been telling me what to do with my songwriting. That was robust at first. I keep in mind I had a extremely huge author’s block for a couple of months. After which, finally, one thing clicked and I spotted that I had gotten this vocabulary that I used to be capable of pull from with out actually fascinated with it.
Completely different concepts of why a track works and likewise my modifying abilities turned so much higher. I might go and write a track the identical manner that I at all times did, after which return and be like, ‘How can I make this more practical.’ Though I used to be being taught pop strategies, it was useful in no matter style you needed to write down in. Then everyone was going to school, so I made a decision to go after which dropped out.
Yeah, I used to be gonna say you lately dropped out and made the transfer to LA to give attention to music. How are you adjusting, and do you may have something on the horizon except for touring?
Daffo: Adjustment has been unusual. Though I hated college, it was the primary time in my life I wasn’t at school. And faculty undoubtedly provided me construction. As a neurodivergent particular person, that’s actually useful for me. It’s been robust to determine what to do with my downtime. The factor that I needed for therefore lengthy [was] to have the ability to write my music and f* off and do no matter I needed. However now it’s been so toxic to only sort of sit round.
I’m nonetheless making an attempt to determine what to do with myself as a result of I actually can’t simply do music. Then I’m in some type of echo chamber and I’m not that sort of particular person. I have to have a break in any other case I sort of lose my thoughts.
After which on the horizon, I’ve simply completed making a canopy that’s going to return out after the document, an Arthur Russell track. In order that’s going to be enjoyable. However I primarily did that simply because my label needed me to do one thing after the document. I didn’t need to do an acoustic model of one of many songs. That’s simply so foolish to me. I made the songs the way in which that they’re and that’s how they’re.
Since I completed the document, I’ve simply been having bother writing as a result of I really feel like I’m a lemon. I squeezed a lot of myself out, so I’m making an attempt to sponge again up proper now.
Nicely, you touched some on neurodivergence. I really feel like “Get a Life” particularly actually jogs my memory of how necessary mindfulness and being current are while you do have OCD, and the entire album appears to be pushing to be current and pulling in opposition to “fast fixes.” Is that one thing such as you have been training and combating whereas making this document?
Daffo: Completely. It’s sort of cool that you simply caught on to that. “Behavior” is about my OCD. It’s about cyclical considering and getting excessive off of your ideas as a result of it’s not all dangerous. It’s principally dangerous. It’s principally dangerous ideas, however you sort of get into this rhythm that feels comforting in a manner. It’s a behavior to begin doing that. And then you definately come off of it and it feels dangerous. And then you definately’re making an attempt so laborious to repair every thing in your thoughts. That’s what “Get a Life” is about. I’ve loads of bother feeling my feelings loads of the time. I’ve been in remedy for therefore lengthy that I simply intellectualize every thing
I’ll simply be like, oh God, I really feel like shit. Why do I really feel like shit? What’s inflicting it? Did I do one thing? Did I do that? As a substitute of simply sitting there and being like, I really feel like shit. I at all times assume I can assume my manner out of one thing and I can’t, it by no means works. Or it simply retains coming again if I strive to try this.
I at all times assume I can assume my manner out of one thing and I can’t, it by no means works. Or it simply retains coming again if I strive to try this.
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I used to be studying in a single interview, you have been speaking about the way you shaved your head and also you modified your stage identify and your complete trajectory sort of shifted. How did it really feel to have type of created this persona, or this Daffo model of your self?
Daffo: I feel I actually simply sort of stepped into myself. I had laid the groundwork. I used to be taking part in exhibits each weekend. I had the songs. I used to be able to take a step. I needed to have a profession and I needed to alter my band identify and no matter. The pinnacle shaving was utterly unrelated. All of it simply sort of occurred on the identical time. It was so attention-grabbing as a result of I shaved my head after which swiftly I had all this consideration, these eyes on me, and I felt so weak. I couldn’t do something however simply be myself as a result of I used to be so bare.
I feel I used to be simply rising up. I used to be simply able to take a step with my music and my profession. I had laid the groundwork in a manner that I used to be prepared. I used to be prepared to try this. And I additionally simply received f*ing fortunate. If I had posted that first track at a unique time of day, or if I wasn’t carrying a vivid sufficient coloration, or I didn’t begin the video with me saying, “I wrote a dumb track”… for some motive, every thing was proper and I simply received fortunate, you realize?
The second TikTok I’d ever posted was “The Experiment.” I had simply downloaded the app every week earlier than. I’m fortunate. I’m fortunate and perhaps I’m just a little good, however I’m additionally very silly.
I shaved my head after which swiftly I had all this consideration, these eyes on me, and I felt so weak. I couldn’t do something however simply be myself as a result of I used to be so bare.
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You have gained reputation tremendous rapidly. How do you grapple with out of the blue having a platform?
Daffo: It’s robust. Having extra folks listening to your music and having expectations. I met all these folks on tour that basically resonate with my music and it means so much to them. Now I really feel like I’ve a duty to them to make one thing price their time. The factor I’ve been combating is sitting down to write down a track and I’m not writing it alone. I’ve different folks in thoughts once I’m writing my songs and it’s been inflicting bother for me, but it surely additionally is de facto cool.
I’m nonetheless on the whims of the algorithm. I’ll have like 50,000 TikTok followers, however I nonetheless will solely get a thousand views on a video. It undoubtedly feels very futile till I’m taking part in a present and persons are exhibiting up. There’s additionally lots of people who don’t even observe me, which I like. I’d moderately you not observe me and also you identical to my music.
How do you’re employed to maintain your music genuine to you?
Daffo: I feel it’s sort of the character of it. That is very tacky, however I’m actually simply publishing my journal. After I write a track that’s posing as one thing else, I don’t prefer it. It’s not an excellent track. I don’t essentially should work so laborious to be genuine as a result of it simply is. That’s why I’m so nervous about this document, as a result of I really feel so bare. In one other interview, I mentioned, “Placing out this document appears like I’m working bare in entrance of a bunch of individuals.” Perhaps I’m happy with it. Perhaps I’m simply f*ing weak.
What are a number of the sonic moments within the document that you simply’re most enthusiastic about?
Daffo: Oh, I received you on this. In “Sideways,” there’s that little break the place the piano goes, [vocalizes]. That’s one in every of my favourite elements of the document. We have been principally carried out with “Sideways.” After which I used to be like, “It simply wants one thing. Can we simply put some piano on it?” And we had this man, Jerry, are available in and he’s f*ing implausible. He sat down and he was identical to, I’m going to be f*ing Vince Graldi on this factor. It was so good. It simply made it breathe. I like the start of “Unveiling.” When the upright bass is available in, it simply hits you. It’s such as you’re floating, unsure, and it brings within the flooring. I like that second.
There’s a extremely humorous second in “Behavior.” There was a choose slide. We have been doing it as a joke, however we ended up conserving it as a result of it was enjoyable and it made it in.
“Carrot Fingers” is so easy, but it surely additionally nearly received like just a little Bowie. It wasn’t my intention, it was very a lot so uncooked, but it surely that track floats in a manner that I like. The spoons in “Get Alive.”
That is very tacky, however I’m actually simply publishing my journal. After I write a track that’s posing as one thing else, I don’t prefer it. It’s not an excellent track.
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You undoubtedly have so many of those enjoyable sonic moments that assist lighten very heart-wrenching lyrics, however I did not really feel like that was as current in “Unveiling.” I feel it is such a lovely uncooked depiction of various types of grief. I don’t actually have a query, I simply need you to speak about it.
Daffo: That track, I feel, is perhaps top-of-the-line songs I’ve ever written. And it’s so unlucky as a result of every thing is true. I truly wrote the primary half of the track earlier than the child died. Like proper earlier than. So I really feel like there was this factor of hope within the first half, after which it sort of simply turns into plain grief. It began out being about my dad and his household that I didn’t actually know. There was a funeral. It was an unveiling. It’s while you unveil the grave after a funeral. The funeral occurred throughout COVID on Zoom. So they’d an unveiling the place you go and also you unveil the grave. They’re all Jewish. We did these prayers. I’m not notably non secular, however I used to be following the prayers. It was very attention-grabbing, it was for any individual that died, that I didn’t know. It was my dad’s aunt, and all of his cousins have been there, or my cousins, apparently, and I actually hit it off with these two folks, the mother and father of the kid.
It was very hopeful. It was like, “Oh, there’s new life. There may be nonetheless part of this household that’s untouched, that I might be part of.” It’s robust to speak concerning the track.
How was working with Rob Schnapf?
Daffo: It’s humorous when in your head, you’re like, “Oh my God, oh my God.” And then you definately meet the man and he’s only a f*ing goofball. I like him. He’s so enjoyable to work with, but additionally very, superb at what he does. I feel he actually is aware of tips on how to give a track what it wants, no extra, no much less. I really feel like that allowed the songs to actually communicate and have the voice that they want. They’re not overshadowed by manufacturing. They’re simply sort of held, supported. That felt actually good as a result of these songs particularly are simply robust ones, apart from perhaps “Go Fetch.”
The way in which that he approaches his work course of could be very relaxed. We spent a lot time on it as a result of we have been sitting round letting issues sink in. Numerous time was spent hanging out as a result of he by no means needed to power something. You simply let issues occur and I feel that’s a really cool manner of doing it. I really feel like previously once I’ve labored on a track, I’m like, “Okay we now have someday to trace this and this, after which tomorrow we now have to complete this and this, and with Rob, we’re simply going to make a track and hang around. I had time to breathe and to actually take into consideration issues and be extra intentional with the manufacturing.
After which I additionally met this engineer. [Matt Schuessler] was an enormous a part of the method as effectively, cultivating the vitality within the room. Making the document with the 2 of them, I felt so supported and liked and protected.
How has your course of modified with an entire group of people who find themselves working with you versus simply making music by yourself?
Daffo: It’s a lot much less disturbing, but additionally a lot extra disturbing as a result of I’ve folks counting on me.
However I like everyone that I work with. I’m so fortunate. I’ve the perfect group on the earth. I like my managers. I like my label. Everyone is simply looking for me and there to help me, but additionally there to push me. There are specific issues I don’t should do anymore. Like, I don’t should learn my emails. They’re principally doing their finest to make it in order that I can give attention to making music, and that’s actually nice.
As I sit down to write down a track, all these folks be a part of me, you realize? And that’s been robust to navigate, nonetheless figuring that out.
What was touring with Blondshell like? And are you excited to be supporting Wednesday?
Daffo: I’m so f*ing excited to have the ability to see that present each evening. That document, their new document, is f*ing unimaginable. They’re one in every of my favourite bands. I’m actually so excited. It makes me dread tour much less. Individuals aren’t mendacity once they say tour is tough. I’m a really delicate particular person throughout. My physique just isn’t at peak well being. So touring and never consuming effectively and never getting sufficient relaxation is de facto robust on my physique and due to this fact my thoughts. The nice a part of it’s I get to play music and meet folks. The exhibits make it price it. However every thing in between principally sucks.
I’m actually excited to get to a minimum of be with one in every of my favourite bands, doing my first headline tour, going to Europe for the primary time. There’s all this novelty that makes my ADHD mind go like, “Oh, that is going to be completely different.”
Touring with Blondshell was nice, but additionally robust. It was such a brief run. I want we might have gotten to know one another just a little higher, but it surely was cool. Each new band that you simply open for is a unique crowd. It was attention-grabbing.
I really feel like ADHD and OCD should make touring troublesome.
Daffo: Oh my God, that’s the worst half. The worst half is sitting within the van for hours considering. It’s so dangerous. ADHD, hyperactivity isn’t essentially outward. It’s not like I’m bouncing off the partitions. It’s psychological. I’ve hyperactivity in my mind. And with OCD, it’s simply cyclical ideas and intrusive ideas. It’s simply brutal. That’s the worst. That’s the worst a part of the tour, an excessive amount of considering. So if anyone has any good hobbies, I feel I would like it. The issue with listening to music is it permits an excessive amount of room for thought. And I can’t watch something within the van as a result of I get automobile sick. So I would like some audio books or podcasts or one thing. That’s what I have to faucet into. I feel that’ll make an enormous distinction.
I am considering the way you organized the songs. Did they arrive out within the order they’re organized?
Daffo: That was so robust, truly, as a result of the entire songs are so completely different and a few of these songs must be padded in a manner. I can’t have “Go Fetch” go into “Unveiling,” you realize? So it was actually robust. It’s a must to give attention to, how do you need to open the document? How do you need to shut the document?
This second half of the document is rather like, f**okay. It’s like, ow. I truly made observe playing cards of the entire songs to see the entire attainable combos. I actually needed “Unveiling” to enter “Sideways,” however I wanted one thing earlier than “Unveiling.” I might draw strains from the underside of 1 card to the highest of the opposite card in several colours in order that you can see which of them matched up. It was actually methodical. I attempted to determine each attainable mixture. After which I used to be on a aircraft and I used to be identical to, like, “F* it, let me do this.” And I put them in that order, simply on the aircraft. That is the one manner it really works. Some other manner doesn’t work.
Earlier than we wrap up, I simply need to know the story behind these lyrics from “Absence Makes the Coronary heart Develop”: “I have been burning for you for 5 raining years / I’ve come to study that I is perhaps a chandelier.”
Daffo: In order that line, you’re burning but it surely’s raining. The whole lot has sort of been in opposition to us, and the chandelier half is like, I burn for different issues too. I burn for different folks. I’ve many flames.
I made that metaphor and I used to be like, “Oh, that is good. That is so apparent.” After which there was a remark that was like, “What does the chandelier line imply?” After which folks have been like placing all of their meanings in. It’s just a little bit extra fundamental. The whole lot has been in opposition to us, after which additionally this isn’t the one factor that I burn for. I don’t know tips on how to preserve it like, it’s not the one factor. I used to be additionally on the time exploring non-monogamy.
Nicely, I am glad I might convey some readability to these lyrics for people who find themselves curious.
Daffo: One of many issues I discovered at songwriting college was discovering what strains are obligatory. If you can also make each single line obligatory, then you definately’ve received your self an amazing f*ing track.
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