Aurora native Noah Gabriel has spent more than a decade as a regular in the Fox Valley music scene. His fifth album, Mercy Street, releases on September 30 at Two Brothers Roundhouse. “I’ve grown up listening to and studying all different types of music,” he says, “so while I tend to lean heavily on the blues and alt-country, I prefer to simply describe myself as a songwriter.”
Mercy Street is Gabriel’s first release on vinyl – mastered, of course, at Backthird Audio.
1. Why’d you make the move to vinyl?
Vinyl, as a medium, is something I had always wanted to dabble in just because I grew up in a house where we listened to records all the time. I guess the “Made In Aurora” album sealed it for me though. After hearing one of my songs on vinyl, I had to hear more.
Really, Mercy Street is only a step towards what I’d really like to do. While it is coming out on vinyl, I still recorded the project digitally. One day I hope to go full-out analog and record to tape, then master to vinyl.
The vinyl sound is much fuller and warmer. I’ve been told by people that really know what they’re talking about that that’s due to the higher bass response and the fact that there’s more breathing room. So the benefit is sound fidelity – but the downside is cost. Right now, because there aren’t as many vinyl presses as there used to be, it costs a hell of a lot more money to put something out on vinyl. Lucky for me, when I told Steve Warrenfeltz that I wanted to release it under his label “Waterloo Sunset Records,” he said he would love to help out. So for the initial release we are doing a limited run of 200, all of which will be packaged with a CD copy for those listeners who haven’t reverted to vinyl.
2. How long have you been recording and performing now?
Technically I’ve been recording and performing since I was about 16 – but if you heard any of that stuff you’d laugh, and rightfully so. It was bad.
It really began for me at River Lane Pub in Geneva about 10 years ago. That’s where I met a lot of the musicians I know now, and actually where I got my first record deal. I was only 18 and sneaking into whatever places I could, like River Lane and the Roundhouse. For me it’s always been the music that has driven me – if I don’t play or write, I go through withdrawal.
3. You talk a lot about mentors in your bio. Did that happen for you by accident or were those intentional relationships?
I would say they were accidents that I responded to with intent. I have been blessed in my life! I worked at Starbucks in Geneva when I was 18, and one of my regulars, Dennis, and I would always talk music. After a couple months he told me his buddy Dana ran an open mic at River Lane and that I should go down and introduce myself.
Dana heard me and immediately took me under his wing. He would give me pointers on things like how to use a microphone, how to wrap my cable through my strap so I didn’t step on it and pull out the jack on my guitar… basic stuff that I never even thought about. Eventually he was lending me guitars so I could play shows with him and stuff like that. All the while I was meeting other local musicians like Greg Boerner, Kraig Kenning, my original drummer Tim Polite, and countless other good people who cycled through there. River Lane was a hotbed for local talent back in the day, and I always gravitated towards the guys that were older than me, because I knew that they knew more than me. All I wanted to do was to learn and get better so that maybe I could jam with them.
4. Give it to us straight. What’s the state of local music in the western suburbs?
I can only give it to you from my point of view. I have noticed a lack of community amongst musicians in the area, especially those around my age and younger. I think everything is becoming more cutthroat and a lot of people are in the music business for the wrong reasons. They want glitz and glam; it’s not about music or artistic integrity, but instead, vanity. Like I said, this is just what I’ve experienced with a lot of the people I’ve worked with.
On the plus side, there seems to be a movement that’s starting to pick up, fronted by people like Steve Warrenfeltz, to bring together like-minded musicians. I really believe that that is the missing link around here. All the big movements in music came about through scenes – it wasn’t one band that would just pop up and shine, it was a group of bands and artists that got together and made a ton of noise, and created a scene. We’ve got the talent here, we just have to work together.
5. What’s your advice to musicians getting started in the area?
Keep your ears open, never stop listening to new and different music, expand your mind – and keep moving. It’s the people that give up that don’t get anywhere. And be mindful of your ego. Everyone’s got one; just make sure it doesn’t own you.
Noah Gabriel’s latest album, Mercy Street, will be released at a special event September 30 at Two Brothers Roundhouse. Lisa Dent of US99 will be the night’s guest MC. Festivities kick off at 8pm.
You can also find Gabriel’s music on Facebook, on itunes or at Kiss the Sky in Geneva.
Before some recording sessions there is a little bit of uncertainty on my end as an engineer when you’ve never recorded with a musician, songwriter or artist before. Sometimes I dread the artist coming in is going to be greatly talented, so I’d better be on my A-game, a welcomed challenge. Other times the greater dread being that the artist is more on the short end of the talent scale which can make for a long and somewhat torturous session. There’s a fine line of giving them a great recording experience that they’re paying for and leading them on into thinking they will make it big in the music industry someday. I’ve found it a little sad that the best musicians are usually the most insecure about their talent while the least talented somehow have the gusto and connections to blaze a path for themselves and and have a youtube hit that engulfs the world.
In previous years Steven has focused on classical piano pieces, but over the last year or so he’s been expanding his musical pallet to more jazz and pop musical pieces. After talking with his dad Kevin, I also learned that Steven has picked up the trombone and will be a member of his high school’s jazz band this year. Steve was the only freshmen to make the cut into the higher level jazz group.
