On Being Gabbo with Gabrielle Franks of Moon By Moon
“At some point during undergrad, close friends of mine started calling me ‘Gabbo’ and it kind just stuck,” outsider pop creative Gabrielle Franks of Moon By Moon told Wormbrain when asked about the origins of their Gabbo solo project / nickname / identity. “Previously, I've released music as Frankie Goes on a Walk or Frankie, and I put out my first Bandcamp release when I was 14 under my full name. It [Gabbo] became the name for my solo project soon after.”
“Gabbo became a kind of identity or ideal persona for me to strive towards, which helped me with coming out last year as nonbinary,” Franks said, clarifying their evolution into our modern Gabbo before us now. “Having all the different neutral pseudonyms has helped me to explore my gender identity in a huge way. Gabrielle Franks is what I put on job applications or whatever — still me, but an earlier, eggy version of me.”
“Music for me has always been an outlet for processing life. I don't really want to put boundaries on how I make, produce, or release my own stuff,” they stated, speaking on their solo musical efforts as Gabbo. “I am kind of all over the place organizationally. I tend to post a lot of what I'm working on in the moment, which maybe seems unprofessional, but I'm an impulsive person.”
“No gatekeeping or girlbossing here. I mostly do it to make myself feel better, and folks enjoy it, and that rules.”
In comparison, their contribution to Baltimore, MD fuzz rock unit Moon By Moon is more collaborative and premeditated. They told W.W that, “it's very different from working on solo stuff, mainly because it's easier to be more organized when you're working on a group project. We have checks and balances, talk over most everything we're doing as a group, etc. Working with Moon By Moon is such a group effort! Etai, Seb and I all take huge roles in the writing, recording, and general output of MBM content.”
Photos courtesy of the artists.
The difference in music being released by Gabbo and Moon By Moon are as similar as they are dissimilar, sonically a few inches left of expectation but infectiously pop adjacent. To hone in on their distinctive sounds and influences, we sourced each project’s fantasy lineup to appear on directly.
They told us that Gabbofest would pit Gabbo alongside Sky Ferreira, Nnamdi, and Bjork headlining at Merriweather Post Pavilion — by contrast, the dream MBMfest would find Moon By Moon performing with Animal Collective, The Microphones, and Spirit of the Beehive at NYC’s High Line, naturally. Got it now? If we can all manage to manifest this for them, Wormbrain will most certainly be in attendance and front row.
Until then, we were told to keep an eye out for new music and show announcements from Moon By Moon, while Gabbo can be found solo IRL on April 3rd, 2022 in Washington, D.C. or on-air on April 4th, 2022 being interviewed by Gutsy Radio’s Not A Phase from 9-11PM EST.
Photos courtesy of the artists.
“No gatekeeping or girlbossing here. I mostly do it to make myself feel better, and folks enjoy it, and that rules.”
W.W: What is Wormbrain?
GF: Wormbrain is a very cool and inclusive music collective org! Wormbrain is also be so dope people crave your vibes. Y’all rule. xoxo
W.W: Thank you for sharing with Wormbrain.
Gabbo EP and other solo releases from Gabbo are out now and streaming everywhere.
