Aussie troubadour Gabriel Lynch needs no apologies

Gabriel Lynch was here before. 

 

“I had only been officially booked to play only two gigs,” he told GMA News Online, “but I met so many people. . .that I enjoyed myself and ended up playing here for two weeks straight.”

 

It was on March 2012 when I met the Australian singer-songwriter at Conspiracy Garden Cafe. It was also the first time I heard his music. I almost forgot that happened, until I went back to Conspiracy the night before his first Manila gig in Saguijo. His older work was on sale.   

This time, he was back in town, and with a new self-released EP, "Dependent States". He was in town the second week of January 2013, in a week that also saw dance act Swedish House Party, another act from overseas, play to a much bigger crowd.

 

In an intimate event also featuring  musicians Ebe Dancel and Hannah+Gabi, Lynch not only played songs from "Dependent States" and other past work, but also a cover of Rihanna's “We Found Love,” and Randy Newman's “When She Loved Me,” originally done by Sarah McLachlan for the "Toy Story 2" soundtrack. He also premiered a song, “Manila,” inspired by his two-week stay last year.

 

Some of the songs in "Dependent States," Lynch told me, were tried out in Manila last year. The EP itself was completed days before he left for his Southeast Asian tour. 

 

“I already had an album last year, and then it was a sense of trying to find my direction again,” Lynch said, “and the trigger was getting more invitations to perform in this part of the world.” 

 

He never liked to come to a place empty-handed, he said, and he wanted to start something new. The EP was recorded in preparation for this visit. The carrier single, “Another Apology,” was inspired by the need to be truly sorry, which he says is a challenge for people like him. 

 

“In Australia, we have a habit of apologizing for things beyond our control,” he explained, “so you don't have to go far to hear someone say, 'Oh I'm sorry about the weather today.'” 

 

When sincere apologies are given by him, he added, these become unbelievable. “I guess the song was an opportunity for being sorry for a couple of personal things, that wouldn't work by just saying the words,” he concluded, “The song itself is healing for me.”

 

Lynch feels that he had to return to the Philippines because, he said, “the music culture here is extraordinary. It's not like any other neighboring country [I have visited].” He further explained, “It's the appreciation. People just love [the music] here.” 

 

He clairified that in a place like Melbourne, where he hails from, there are a lot of musicians but not enough support from people outside the community. 

 

“Most of the time,” he said, “whenever a musician holds a gig, it's only other musicians that are in a crowd.” 

 

He contrasted this with the situation here, where there wasn't only great camaraderie among musicians, but “there are so many people who live on it, who breathe on it, who want to be a part of it, and who get their mojo, if you will, from the tunes that [musicians] write.” 

 

The goodwill he built on his first trip has gotten him a lot of fans – a third of the likes on his Facebook page, Lynch notes, are from the country.

 

Apart from the Philippines, Lynch's tour covered Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. Upon his return, he hopes to continue touring, especially around Australia, to promote the new record. 

 

“The biggest part is to find new places to go,” he grinned. – KDM, GMA News