the robbie gil band

The Robbie Gil Band has been performing in NYC and the Northeastern US and California for over a decade. Their music has been featured in film, on television, and on stage. They've built an audience through incredibly energetic live shows and had a bi-weekly residence for 2 years at Rockwood Music Hall, one of New York City's premiere music venues every other Saturday night. This helped them to garner over 20 thousand likes on their Facebook Page fb.me/robbiegilmusic and they continue to play there and at other fine clubs. Robbie has received a "Best Emerging Artist" award from the National Songwriter Hall of Fame.  The band is incredibly close and plans to continue make music together for a very long time.

So we are doing things a little differently than some other bands have done in the past. We are going to release our Double Record digitally, one side at a time. Instead of releasing so much material (20 songs) all at once, we are allowing you, the listener, to digest it in smaller bites. We will release Side 1 in December of this year, followed by Side 2 three months later. In another three months you'll get Side 3, followed by Side 4 three months after that. Think of it as the gift that keeps giving! We will then release the physical Double Vinyl Album and ship it out to our Kickstarter backers, and have it available for sale at shows and on this website. SO, you will continuously have great music coming to you all year long and then have an incredible double vinyl record set to enjoy and re-enjoy all of the songs you have been loving. 

by Robbie Gil

What's in a name? 

The album is named "Happy?", because the content encompasses & explores the notion of happiness or the lack thereof. Though this recording is not a concept album per se, these thematic elements weave their way in around the record. What makes us happy? How do we keep happiness? We know when we've lost it, but how do we go about finding it again during those times of despair, loss and heartbreak. Do we seek instant gratification, regardless of the consequences, even when we know we are being self-destructive? Even when the "good" events, circumstances and relationships in our lives are supposed to make us happy, they can sometimes lead to more anxiety, fear and apprehension about what comes next. We try desperately to cling to the notion that things will stay the same or that things will change dramatically. As we travel on the highway of life and the end of the road approaches nearer and nearer, we wonder, will we have enough time to achieve our goals and dreams?, and will that be enough for us? Could it potentially hurt us? Will we become the best versions of ourselves? Will we finally be Happy? 

Or is happiness just the light in between the shadows and the darkness. Is happiness the momentary reprieve from the complicated, chaotic and sometimes disheartening, gut-wrenching, heartbreaking world in which we live? 

Or is happiness hope and love? I would like to think so. That the mystery of our purpose here and that the meaning of life exists right there in between love and hope, in the places in between all of the hard stuff. Where we are innocent and beautiful, carefree, able to love and to be loved, and at ease with ourselves. Those moments aren't always so easy to come by and perhaps that is what makes them so very precious. Having said that, a lot of great and beautiful art can come from those dark places before the light can shine through again. There is a certain kind of happiness that comes from fighting through the adversity, sticking to your guns, and trying to be who you were meant to be. So there's that. 

Here are the first lyrics on our new record, from the title track, which sum up my thoughts on the subject rather succinctly. 

I think I'm Happy or otherwise distracted 

Don't try to trap me with an offer more attractive 

Were you not impressed?, I've had to go through Hell 

I used to be depressed, I think that all is well 

It's still too early to tell 

Happy/lyrics and music by Robbie Gil ©2017. all rights reserved.