THE GBOT STORY
by: Dre Chahine
In the winter of 2003, Gareth Fewel (aka GBOT) embarked on a journey that few have the balls to take. The story of a Cruise Ship Musician is a noble one: sacrificing one's love of dry land to entertain thousands of [+]THE GBOT STORY
by: Dre Chahine
In the winter of 2003, Gareth Fewel (aka GBOT) embarked on a journey that few have the balls to take. The story of a Cruise Ship Musician is a noble one: sacrificing one's love of dry land to entertain thousands of tan-hungry tourists. Over the next three years, Gareth would be rewarded, enlightened, and sunburned by his adventures in 5 continents and over 40 countries. The contrast of witnessing real culture (World) and witnessing non-culture (Cruise Ship), provided for a surreal experience. GBOT needed an outlet and seeing the Earth in its truest and most revealing forms can only inspire...
During a 3 month "shore leave", GBOT began writing songs mainly for therapeutic purposes. As one would expect, musical entertainment on cruise-ships is inconsistent and generally cheesy as hell. It is also predictable, watered-down for the masses, and repetitive; these would be the characteristics that Gareth vowed to avoid. Trained as a jazz bassist at Depaul University, Gareth is also proficient playing keyboards and his compositions reflect his love and understanding of all musical genres. When it came time for some "meat" on the proverbial "skeleton" of his music, Gareth contacted guitarist Dylan Jones. Dylan has been knee-deep in the Chicago music scene for 3 years, lending his talents to a large list of groups including the South-side jazz-soul stylings of ZZaje and the "I-can't-beleve-it's-not-U2" tribute band Elevation. After Dylanizing the tracks, it was made clear that the music would need a tasteful yet technical drummer. They turned to Kris Myers, the virtuosic drummer from constantly touring jamband juggernaut Umphrey's Mcgee. Gareth and Dylan could not have made a better choice and were seen smiling and patting each other's back throughout Kris' studio session. The sparks flew and ignited GBOT's Body Rocket.
Body Rocket accomplishes what most albums claim to aspire to: achieve uniqueness through a multitude of influences and genres. The album's success is due to a continuity in diversity while maintaining a sustained vision and sound. Drawing from the well of contemporary music, Body Rocket exhibits influences from Indie-Art-Prog Rock, Pop, Jazz, and R&B Soul. Listeners have approximated the music to Ra
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