Estee Gabay Celebrates a Debut
“When I started playing the guitar, that’s when it all kind of clicked, and I realized that this is what I really wanted to do with my life,” says Charleston-based singer/songwriter Estee Gabay, an elegant up-and-comer celebrates the release of her debut album this week.
Gabay grew up in Charleston. She attended college at East Carolina University in North Carolina. She recently returned to the Lowcountry to pursue songwriting and performing music. “I had wanted to act at a very young age, and I did some plays and auditioned for commercials, but I was always a writer and I loved music,” she says. “As I got older, my poems turned into songs.”
Charleston songwriter Estee Gabay
Gabay started guitar when she was 17 and followed up with a bit of piano, but the her keyboard skills are still a “work in progress.” She learned how to sing on her own as well. She never took formal vocal training, but she worked hard to improve her technique and expand her range.
“I got a few guitar lessons when I was first learning, and I basically learned chords and a few techniques,” Gabay says. “I never learned the formal way. At my first lesson, I learned to play ‘Thank You’ by Led Zeppelin. From then on, I’d go in and say, ‘This is the song I want to learn today.’ I am glad I learned guitar the way I did, though. It made it more fun for me and made want to keep learning. My attention span is short, so I think if I’d learned how to read music before I got to start playing music I might have gotten bored.”
It didn’t take long for Gabay to master the basics on the guitar and gain confidence with her singing. She started putting her own song ideas and arrangements together while at East Carolina. She drew inspiration from an array of classic and contemporary songwriters, many of whom were women.
“I was always really influenced by women with guitars, which is probably why picking up that particular instrument was my first instinct,” Gabay says. “Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow, and Jewel were huge for me when I was growing up, and later I got really into Fiona Apple, Pearl Jam, and Coldplay. As far as the songwriting goes, I think those were probably my biggest influences. However, sonically there’s a really fun and upbeat element to my music — a very pop element. I think that just comes from the generation I grew up in. I love MGMT and Passion Pit, and I love hip-hop. You can definitely hear that in the songs, which is what I think makes my music a little different and interesting. I’ve kind of married a bunch of different genres together.”
In 2010, she entered a songwriting competition hosted by the college in which the top five would get to perform a song for acclaimed songwriter Suzanne Vega, Gabay made it to the top five.
“I got to play one of my songs for Suzanne and two guys from her touring/management team,” Gabay remembers. “They gave us critiques on our songwriting, and told us what they thought. They said my song was a little long but definitely catchy.”
The debut album from Estee Gabay
By the summer of 2010, Gabay started testing the waters on the Charleston club scene, playing open mics, talent competitions, and small venues. “I got a Thursday spot playing as a solo acoustic act at Rita’s on Folly and then started getting shows at other places like Home Team BBQ, Juanita Greenberg’s, Blu, Smoky Oak Taproom, the Crab Shack, and Poe’s Tavern,” she says. “This year, I got to play at the Hippodrome and Awendaw Green, which were both awesome experiences.”
Earlier this year, Gabay recorded a batch of songs for her first proper studio collection, a six-song mini-album titled Green. She and local singer/guitarist Jamisun Hodge tracked tunes with local musician Ryan Zimmerman (of Brave Baby) at Zimmerman’s downtown home studio.
“The album is an entirely independent and self-funded project, so I basically went in with the songs and with a ton of ideas and Ryan engineered it with a few suggestions here and there,” Gabay says. “We really took our time finding what my sound was. The production took about five months. I decided that Green would be the title of my first album, not only because I was young and new to this industry, but also because the stuff I was writing was a product of a relationship I had when I was very naive. As I went through the process, I realized that it was actually very fitting in a new way. ‘Green’ is a symbol of growth and abundance, and though it does also represent that this is my first album, the theme is no longer naivety; the theme is that this is only the beginning. I feel like Green is the genesis of my career and to get to this place I have grown considerably.”
Taking a sneak peek at Green, there seems to be two sides of pop to Gabay’s overall sound — a modernistic, electronic side (check out “Hold Me Close”) and a more classic, acoustic guitar-driven side (as in “Taste the Night”). Her soulful singing fits the music well, either way.
“It’s really hard for me to define my own sound,” she says. “I’m constantly asking my friends and peers how they would define it because, for me, that is one of the hardest things to do. I guess I would say that I am just influenced by two different eras: the alternative ’90s and the more modern indie-synth-pop trend.”
As budding songwriter and musician, the future looks bright for Gabay. She’s anxious to get her music out into the public, and she’s eager to take the next big steps as a professional performer and songsmith.
“I spent the better part of this year making the dream of releasing an album happen. Now, I’m ready to let people hear the album and enjoy the fruits of my labor,” she says. “The next steps are trying to get radio play, getting some professional video together, and, hopefully, finding some really great representation. I want to see how far I can take this career. Of course, I don’t know where that is, but I trust that there is a path for me and whatever happens will be best for me. All I can do is continue to set goals and work hard towards them.”
Estee Gabay celebrates the release of Green with support from Jamisun Hodge and Rawberry Jam at the Tin Roof on Sat. Oct. 6 at 9 p.m. Admission is $7. Visit esteegabay.com for more.
Photos by Ruta Elvikyte and William Dunlap.
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About the Author
Ballard Lesemann is a musician and writer. Born and raised in Charleston, S.C., he spent years playing in bands and working for Flagpole Magazine in the bustling music town of Athens, Ga. He returned to his hometown and served more than seven years as the Charleston City Paper's music editor. He's better at drumming than he is at playing guitar.
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