Interview with Gabriela Geneva

This week we are joined by Gabriela Geneva, a local girl who originates from Bulgaria and now lives in the Tri-Cities area, who is currently one of the vocalists of Greentree. A band who consists of 6 members and has a big following across Lower Mainland, even as far as Western Canada. While the Band as recently announced that as of 2014 that they will be going on hiatus,(we will get to that in the interview) however they will still be pursuing careers in music. With that being said lets go deep into the mind of the lovely and talented Gabriela Geneva, or as we have come to know and love her as Gabby.

ITS - So tell us Gabby what artists or bands inspired you to get into music? And why?



Gabby - "Actually, it wasn't either one of those! I'm a lover of all things Disney and as a child I used to want to sing and act as one of the Disney princesses on Broadway - I still do, let's be serious. That was always a dream of mine, but having music as my career was never really something I saw as realistic or possible until GreenTree took me in and introduced me to the local music scene."

ITS - So recently your band Greentree announced that as of 2014 you guys are going on Hiatus. What does that mean for Your future in music?

Gabby - "It means a lot of scary and equally exciting things. I'm basically taking all the weight and pressure that was shared between six people onto myself alone which is terrifying, but I get to call all the shots, which is incredibly liberating and exciting. That doesn't go to say that I had no say in my band, but a band is like a marriage; a lot of compromises are made by everyone in it. This next chapter just means I get to create something that's exactly what I want, no compromises."

ITS - At this stage of your career what are your long term goals?

Gabby -  "My goal is to actually make this my career. No part-time jobs, no safety nets, no "back up plans". I want my music to sustain me and take over everything else that society thinks I should be doing instead."

ITS - So a lot of bands and artists have nicknames for their fan bases, for example you have the Ithacans, Planters, Townies, Chasers, and even lady gaga has her little monsters. Do you have a nickname in mind for your fan base?

Gabby - "Wow. I love that question. I wish I had an answer! Haha. Honestly, I want my "fans", or whoever supports and enjoys what I do, to be a part of my journey as much as possible, so I think I would let them choose a name for themselves. I want this to be a give and take between me and them, so we'd probably have a Twitter debate over it or something!"

ITS - Now you recently did a cover of Rhianna's song "What Now" what was the significance of that song to you?

Gabby - "When I first decided to do it, it wasn't because it held a particular meaning for me, but sometime during the recording process I realized how appropriate it is for what's been happening with my band and with my career, etc. It's been a crazy roller coaster of emotions and I think even just the title sums everything up perfectly. What now? Where the heck do we go from now, where do I go from now, what happens after all this? So I thought it was really interesting how the song slowly grew in meaning."

ITS - What can the fans expect from you in 2014?

Gabby - "My own music! The opportunity to share it with the home grown lovelies and outside. I hope they're just as excited as I am for it! We'll see what happens."

ITS -  Now I'm sure the fans want to know. Is there a possibility of Greentree reuniting in the future?

Gabby - "I mean it's definitely not out of the question. As we were making our decision we all agreed that we definitely did not want this to be an outright end to everything we've built. That's why we chose a hiatus over a break up, even though to some people that may be the same thing. To us, a hiatus means we'll always have this band to come back to no matter what. Whether that happens or not, only time will tell."

ITS - Final question. What advice do you have for the other young women that want to pursue a career as a solo female musician?

Gabby - "Oh dear. I'm in no position to be giving advice since I've only just began walking down this path, but I think there are many things to be learned from going at it alone. There's only so much you can learn about yourself and other people by being in a team or a band. Some things you can only discover on your own, and I think that's the most exciting thing about it. All your mistakes and your successes are your own, and I think both are beautiful things that should be embraced not feared."

Thank you so much for sitting down and taking the time to talk to us and let the fans know a little bit more of what Gabby is about. If you want to follow Gabby on what I'm sure is going to be an amazing career you can find her on...

Twitter - @GabzGT
Facebook - Gabriela Geneva
Instagram - GabzGT
YouTube - Gabriela Geneva



Seeing as its fitting the we talked about her new cover What Now here is her music video for the song below