Buckley, WA’s Gabe Kubanda is a voice on the rise, specializing in acoustic indie pop and smiles. As a former founding member of Letters Burning, the singer is taking bands out on road with him on his very own Epic Proportions Tour and has appeared on VH1 Classic’s Rock N Roll Fantasy Camp. We got to chat with Kubanda on reality TV, upcoming projects and of course, his favorite tracks at the moment.
Introduce yourself to our readers! What would people be surprised to know about you?
Hmm, well, I was home-schooled, my friends say, “that explains a lot!” haha 🙂 I didn’t go to public school till halfway through my freshman year, which was pretty tough as an introverted kid. I also really love broccoli.
You were a cast member on VH1 Classic’s Rock N Roll Fantasy Camp. Tell us what that was like. Would you ever venture down the reality TV route again in the future?
That experience was amazing. We’d shoot for 15 hrs a day for a week straight, practice old rock songs all day, try to write our own songs, and play all of them in a venue that night. Then we’d go home, and learn more cover songs for the next day. It really gave me confidence in my musical ear, and playing with legends like Sammy Hagar and Paul Stanley, and recording live at East West Studios, made me realize that I could hold my own with the big dogs 🙂 I would definitely love to do more reality TV, and we’ve actually been talking about filming a reality around our crazy little tour, and all the insane things that we go through on the road. It would be pretty “epic”. 🙂
You were recently in a band for 7 years. How has the solo life treated you and is there anything you miss about being a part of a band?
Man, I love the freedom that the solo life affords me. I can make quick decisions, I don’t have to wait for a vote, and I don’t have band members dragging their feet and weighing the entire band down. But I do miss the musical collaboration, the creativity, and the vibe that magically happens when you put a few musicians in a room and turn your amps up to 11.
Tell us about any upcoming projects you have in the works! What can fans look forward to?
I’m really glad that this new album is being so well received, it’s pretty much the culmination of all the songs I wrote on the road over the last few years on tour. I’ll be releasing more music videos, more cover songs, more collaborations with songwriters, and will be be touring overseas for the first time next year! I’ll be releasing more details on that soon.
Give us your Top 5 favorite songs at the moment!
That’s so tough! I try to listen to entire albums instead of just singles, and I love interludes too, but OK, here goes:
The entire Twenty One Pilots album Blurryface is REALLY good.
The new Failure album is really good
Kendrick Lamar’s new album is insane!
FKA Twigs has been in my top 5 for a while
D’Angelo – “Black Messiah”
Beartooth – “One More”
This list could go on forever…
