GALA DROP

"Originality, as it becomes less easy to discern nowadays, is a rare quality. The singularity in relation to what came before and what is happening right now that some are able to reach, at a certain point in time, in a particular circumstance, is something that derives in its highest moments from serious, ritualized, open, dedicated work. It is a matured product of spontaneity, the tangible authority in strangeness, a result of time and of a continuous progressive spirit. Gala Drop self-titled debut record (Gala Drop Records, 2009) is a classic of a Lisbon that is difficult to understand at first glance (as is always the case with moments of progression). It is a perfectly finished, thought out, matured, rehearsed and laboured work, which unites aesthetical fields, rituals and practices that were previously distant from each other. The record is that rarest of documents, where new trajectories, possibilities of stylistic fraternity and genre reunion agglutinate into a record of the purest freedom, bravery and dedication. It is a classic of contemporary Lisbon, but above all it is a classic of this decade in contemporary urban music." Pedro Gomes, 2008.

 The band distinctively supported their debut album live on a subsequent European tour with north-Americans Religious Knives, and then on another UK and European tour with Six Organs of Admittance, and a handful of shows in their hometown on the last couple of years, opening for acts as Sonic Youth at the Coliseum and Holger Czukay in club Lux. In 2010 a new EP followed,on the criterious Golf Channel, showcasing the band as production unit as a band idiosyncratic and seductive aesthetic on dance music field of sonic research and aural appeal. Like Philip Sherbune aptly put it on his Resident Advisor review, 'this music overflows with voice and vision, an almost excessive sense of sheer feeling that's matched only by their considerable skills as both instrumentalists and producers'. They were the lauded guests of a No Ordinary Monkey party in Chinatown, NYC that September, a day before they opened for Panda Bear, by his personal request, on a massive outdoor event at Governors Island. This year Gala Drop have been hard at work and already undertook a sprawling European tour in June, spent time at their studio in September with guitarist Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance) for a future collaborative release, and initiated works on their next full length, tentatively expected to be released early next year.  

Band members:

Afonso Simões – Drums Guilherme Gonçalves – Electric Guitar and Synthesizer Jerrald James – Percussion Nelson Gomes – Synthesizers Rui Damaso – Electric Bass