Gabriel Mann (singer)
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Gabriel Mann (January 17, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter, famous for his songs written for TV series and movies. He was born and raised in San Antonio, TX.
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[edit] Biography
Mann was the fourth of four children of a physician who doubled as an Orthodox Jewish cantor and a pianist mother. Since he was young, he had this influence in his life, although his songs are of a different kind of music. At the age of seven, he began to study piano. His teacher was not a such gentle person, and every mistake was punished.
Two years later, Mrs. Kocurek became his piano teacher. She taught him how to learn songs by listening to the radio. Training his ears and hands, Mrs. Kocurek realized the gift of Mann. His classical music studies were based upon Debussy, Bartók and Crumb.
According to him, his experiences with pop music were self-guided, being that his parents didn't listen to this kind of music. His first LP was Billy Joel´s Glass Houses, bought from a friend. He also listened to his sisters collection of records, which included The Cars, Rolling Stones, Eagles, Yes and Elton John. Reading and typing out the lyrics of the songs he listened to opened his eyes to the songwriting process.
Composing songs during the Middle school, almost all influenced by Elton John, he became so frustrated: nobody heard his songs. At the end of his senior year, Mann signed up for the annual Alamo Heights High talent show as a way to show his talent. When he performed Billy Joel's Vienna, it was a sensation.
[edit] Career
It didn't last long, because in the following year he moved on to Israel, during the Gulf War crisis. Now he was playing songs in public places. This time, too, he interacted with other musicians, like Josh Ross.
In the next year he enrolled in University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in musical composition. As a freshman, he joined Off the Beat, the campus a capella group for which he ultimately became musical director and then went on to join the university choir.
During the college years, he was approached by a functionary of Philadelphia-based Ruff House Records who gave him the chance to professionally record four songs.
After college, he moved to Los Angeles where he enrolled in USC's Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television program. The course of the study was headed by Buddy Baker, a prominent composer for TV and movies. To get into the program, Mann had to write arrangements for orchestra, big band and pop. Though he had never done it before, he did and was accepted.
He launched his own band while in school, named The Electric Sausage Nightmare Band. He began to work for various composers for TV, like David Schwartz and Russ Landau. But it wasn't enough, and he began to record his own compositions. So, he launched another band: The Gabriel Mann Situation, a trio that included Adam Marcello and Carson Cohen. They´ve opened for the Rolling Stones as a sidemen with Tim Burgess of Charlatans UK. Their work was also showed on TV show Arrested Development.
Living in Los Angeles, he has performed live in Hotel Café, where an entire community of singer-songwriters has been performing, too.
As of 2004 he started to record his new album.
His band has also performing as part of Alanis Morissette´s European Tour in April 2005, with Glenn Tilbrook in the USA in May of the same year, and for Jamie Cullum, across North America.
[edit] "Remember" Song
The soundtrack for the movie Sleepover included the Gabriel Mann song "Remember", which has become a popular song with teen audiences:
Remember, the moment you face
Is it all straight ahead or behind you
Well maybe, if you look around
You'll see everything's perfectly clear
Picture it all in your mind
Chorus
Remember where we are now
Open your eyes
Take it all in
Remember where we are now
This is where your life begins
You feel like, you're lost in the crowd
Watching life go on without you
Well baby, it's your turn to shine
Everything's starting right here
Don't leave this moment behind
[Chorus]
Don't look away
It's the life that you choose now believe it
There'll come a day
When you look up and see how good you are with me
[Chorus]
Remember
Remember
Remember
Remember
Remember where we are now
Open your eyes
Let it begin
Remember where we are now
This is where your life begins
Ohh, Remember
Remember
Ohh, Remember
This is where your life begins
[edit] Discography
- Careen (2000)
- Tug of War (2002)
- Lighted Up: Live in Studio EP (2004)
- Gabriel Mann (2005)
[edit] References
Bob Merlis provided the biography and discography with Gabriel Mann´s authorization.
