Gala

Gala Bio

Proudly original and ever defiant, singer/song writer Gala has always been the kind of woman to forge her own path.

Named by her parents after Salvador Dali’s and Paul Eluard’s eccentric muse, Gala was raised in Italy following her mom to feminist meetings, art galleries and Patti Smith’s concerts, She in turn would drag her parents to empty movie theatres to see re-runs of Help.

An outsider from the get-go, Gala left Italy as a teenager and landed in Manhattan. A stranger in a strange land, a rocker in a club land Gala was seduced by booming sound systems, crazy parties and the underground gay scene. She wandered the NYC night life photographing artists and eccentric club-goers. Ultimately, her camera was the key to her success. In exchange for a photo of a European deejay she recorded her first demo. In no time, with no formal training, no industry connections, but huge amounts of attitude and determination, Gala became a dance floor icon.

Mailed overseas on a cassette tape, Freed from Desire became an international pop classic. In 1997 Gala was nominated for the Best Dance Act at the Mobo Awards in the UK next to Prodigy, Chemical Brothers and Orbital, and was awarded Best Foreign Artist of the Year at the Midem in Cannes, France. Her album Come Into My Life was released in 1998 with four singles charting in the Top 20 across Europe, selling a combined six million records worldwide. She was awarded a Gold record in the UK and Platinum and Diamond records in Belgium and France, and performed in venues such as Bercy Stadium in Paris; she also appeared on TV shows such as Top of the Pops in the UK with artists such as Janet Jackson, Oasis and Paul Weller.

Referred to by her fans as a “cult artist” for her minimalist looks and haunting voice, Gala suddenly disappeared at the top of her success leaving behind an air of mystery. While performing Let a Boy Cry on the French TV show Taratata, Gala met Prince’s manager Steve Fargnoli who began representing her. After his unexpected death in 2001, Gala found herself locked into a deal with a record company that left her no control over her music. Longing to break free from her constraints and return to the excitement, adventure and freedom that had fueled her initial rocket to success, Gala left her European record company and moved back to NYC, this time settling in Brooklyn.

She immediately formed her own label, Matriarchy Records, and set out to redefine her sound, her life and her career. In 2005 she signed the independently-produced song Faraway to EMI in France and Greece, where it reached #1 on iTunes and #6 in CD sales. The song has been covered by the Greek singer Tamta (winner of the Greek Idol TV show) and has been featured on a TV ad campaign in the US.

Gala then teamed up with producer Marcus Bell and put together the Tough Love album spanning the best of five years of collaborations with a wide range of musicians from platinum-selling Lil Wayne, helmsman Revin Rudolf, avant-garde drummer Deantoni Parks (John Cale, Meshell Ndegeocello, Mars Volta), guitarist Joseph Friedman (Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Beyonce) and Tamir Muskat (ex-Gogol Bordello, Balkan Beat Box).

Starting to book herself independently through her own label she set out to perform around the world again from the Antique Theater in Arles to the Highline Ballroom in New York City, from the Palais du Sport in Paris to the Ethias Arena in Belgium where 40 000 people demanded more. In 2010 she was invited as the only artist to perform her album Tough Love at 24 Heures Vélo, the biggest student party in Belgium at Louvain La Neuve. In 2011 Gala headlined at Forest National in Brussels and a tour of the Zenith Theatres in France.

In the past few years, Gala has produced over five music videos such as I’m the World which incorporated the video installation The Song I Love To by the Argentinean artist Sebastiano Mauri.

In 2012 Gala is planning the release of her new single Lose Yourself In Me and a new album.

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