MuzicNotez: First off, it’s an honor to be doing this interview with you, thanks for taking the time to sit down with us.

What motivated you to start creating music? What age did you begin?

• Gabriela: Thank you for having me! I feel so honored to be able to share my story with you. Music is something that has always been a function of being for me if that makes sense. I was always singing around the house, in grocery stores, pretty much anywhere and everywhere. I started writing songs since I was as young as 6 whether I realized it fully then or not. I grew up in a very musically diverse household and many of my family members influenced me in that way. As well, my dad taught me to play guitar at 8 years old. Around that time with the means to better translate the music in my head outwardly, I caught the bug so to speak and it’s been my life since then. I found that music is the great communicator; it speaks volumes across all barriers, heals, and inspires. I just wanted to be a part of that in some way.

Website: OfficialGabrielaMusic.com
Facebook.com/gabrielaariana.riojas
Instagram: gabrielaa.music/
Twitter: gabrielamusic_

MuzicNotez: Who were your musical influences, idols, or bands growing up that have helped mold you into the musician you are today? Or helped mold the music that you create?

• Gabriela: There are truly too many to count, but definitely a number of notable standouts. I was raised on Jimi Hendrix, The Cure, James Taylor, Nirvana, Aaliyah, Tupac, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eminem, Norah Jones, Selena, and of course Taylor Swift to name a few. I think what makes these artists so similar as well as essential in impacting me is the way that they all stood to change the music industry in some way. They pushed boundaries and experimented with mixing genres or trying out new artistic styles. As well, the lyricism of these artists has continued effect and depth. They were able to say something that hadn’t been said in that way before and do so boldly so that someone may relate. I want to do the same because I see how valuable that all is. I believe that while I may not make identical music to each of them, being able to transfer lyrical or instrumental styles into R&B or Pop is exactly what is pushing music into the genre-less and ever evolving wave that it is right now. Moreover, being a musician like the ones I mentioned, with a raw and complex identity, is what allows other people to feel known in your art and that is definitely something I aspire to.

MuzicNotez: What’s the ultimate goal you want your music to achieve, or for you to achieve in your career as a musician? Any particular message you wish to send?

• Gabriela: All I want is to be able to reveal a truth to someone that they may not have otherwise been able to verbalize or recognize. Whether that be positive or exposing, I want my music to have an impact in the way so much music has impacted me. As long as I can aim to do that and stay creative and challenged, anything else is just the cherry on top of it all.

MuzicNotez: What’s the greatest concert you’ve ever been to or performed?

• Gabriela: The greatest concert I’ve ever performed would have to be MXLAN Festival in 2020. It was my last big show before the pandemic, and I obviously had no idea of that, but I had the time of my life on stage. It was my first time with a full 6-piece band as well as choreo incorporated. More than my own experience performing, it was so fun to get to connect with the audience before and after. Truly a blessing and something I look forward to doing very soon again with my debut EP.

MuzicNotez: Your latest release is the EP ‘OUTTAKES’, what does this release mean to you?

• Gabriela: This EP is so meaningful to me, it’s almost impossible to express. I started working with my producer Scott in 2020 which is when ‘OUTTAKES’ happened almost all on its own. I knew I wanted to create a body of work to put out and I wanted a conceptual feel, but the details were hazy, so we just started writing and centered things around the idea of compare/contrast. Before I knew it life events and the world shutting down shaped the EP and gave me time to have the human experiences and realizations that led to ‘OUTTAKES’. ‘OUTTAKES’ as a whole is supposed to embody aspects of life that aren’t as openly said or that we go through so personally we wouldn’t necessarily broadcast it. For me the period of my life when I wrote this was in my transition from being a teenager to an adult. There’s a lot of meaningful grey area there: in love, loss, friendship shifts, and the overall process of what it is to grow up. Not only is it my first full release, but a time capsule of me coming into myself and that is so special for me. I feel so grateful.

MuzicNotez: You have worked with a lot of great producers, some of which are Grammy winning even. What have you learned from working with them?

• Gabriela: Offhand I have learned so much about discipline. The people I’ve had the honor of working with are some of the hardest working people I know with their eye on the prize and their priorities in all the right places. Beyond the music they are inspiring people, and they make me want to work twice as hard and give as much as they are to every song or project. Musically, I’ve learned so much about being willing to go until it’s perfect as well as knowing when something is done and being unafraid to be different. They’ve taught me so much about music that you only learn by being in it always and for that I am so thankful.

MuzicNotez: What inspires the music you make? How do you want people to feel when hearing it?

• Gabriela: I draw on my life experiences or aspects of life that intrigue me to write expand upon or imagine. I try to write down any thought that strikes me as something that is weird but true or honest in a way that feels unique. I am inspired by the idea of creating something new from the universal experience. I want people who hear my music to feel like someone is saying a truth they didn’t realize they felt or to simply feel, period. Music that moves you because it just is, that is the goal.

MuzicNotez: What else are you working on? What can we expect to see and hear from you in the future?

• Gabriela: I have a number of songs in the vault that I am excited to share when the time is right as well as getting ready for live performances again! I’m so stoked about it all and who knows maybe an album is just around the corner.

MuzicNotez: Anything else you wish to say about yourself or your music? Any message for your fans?

• Gabriela: I just want to thank everyone who has streamed or continues to stream ‘OUTTAKES’! The support and response to the EP has meant the world to me and allows me to do keep doing what I love. I hope to be able to see them in an audience very soon and I am so pumped for what is to come. Thank you again for everything.