Swing When Your Winning
Circus swingers Gabby Young & Other Animals explain why their music is for all ages, dish the dirt on their new album and reveal why now is the right time to pop their Irish cherry.
Edwin McFee, 18 Oct 2012
Formed in 2007 and inspired by the likes of Rufus Wainwright, Louis Armstrong, old Disney songs and that notoriously naughty dance known as the hokey-cokey, British-based inventors of the ‘circus swing’ genre Gabby Young & Other Animals have been earning rave reviews and steadily recruiting hundreds of converts to their cause ever since their inception. Currently on tour and armed with their second record And The Band Called Out For More, the nine-piece arrive in Ireland for their first visit this month. When we caught up with flame-haired front-lady Gabby, she tells us she can’t wait for the trek to start.
“It’s been a long time coming and an Irish tour has been top of my wish-list for ages,” she enthuses. “We’ve just added an Irish drummer [Niall Woods, who also plays in CODES] and he’s so excited about us coming over. It feels like exactly the right time to do it.”
Released in June, via her family run label Gift Of The Gab Records, And The Band Called Out For More sees Gabby & Co. adopt a Baron Frankenstein-like approach when it comes to creating songs and showcases a group that aren’t afraid to buck conventions, break boundaries and generally march to the beat of their own drums, incorporating all the best bits of ‘20s flapper music, jazz, pop, music hall and more. While she admits she’s more of a live animal, Gabby informs us that she loved making her latest opus.
“I’m not a huge studio person because I love to perform live,” she begins. “For me, it’s all about the connection with the audience and the spontaneous things that can happen when you have a few hundred people all in one room. So getting in a box and singing is pretty tough for me because I don’t have that energy to bounce off. But I finally found a place I could tap into that I’ve never found before. I’m really pleased how everything’s turned out and I’m so proud of this record.”
Album highlight is the recent single ‘Walk Away,’ which is a touching tribute to Gabby’s father inspired by Mr. Young’s battle with a brain tumour. The singer tells us that he also appears in the video for the track.
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