GABBY SIBILSKA

One of our favorite things to do is brag about the super cool stuff people in our community are doing. This past September, Nicole had the opportunity to chat with the lovely Gabby Sibliska about all the things - from where she got her start in the creative world to everything she’s working on right now. Gabby is a multidisciplinary artist based right here in New York. She is an animator and illustrator working primarily in the music video realm. Gabby has been working with GIRL GANG dare we say YEARS NOW and we are so grateful for the incredible work she has collaborated with us on and most of all, her friendship. We are so excited for the opportunity to show her off to the community! Without further ado… Gabby Sibilska! ✨

Nicole: I want to start from the beginning. Give us a little background. Tell us about where you grew up and kind of what your journey was to where you are now, both physically and also with your career.

Gabby: I grew up in Warsaw, Poland. I basically lived here until I finished high school and then I moved to London which is where I did my undergrad. When I was younger, I was always really passionate about film. I used to think I might end up being a film director one day, but pretty quickly realized that I might not really have what it takes, but I don’t think it’s sad because I found way more interesting avenues for myself.

My first degree was in Film Studies because when I was finishing high school, I thought I wanted to go to film school and become a director but first. But I needed to live a little and gain some wisdom because you can’t jump straight into directing, it’s a very high-level career to have.

I ended up dropping out from that college in London during my first year of studies because I felt like I was too divorced from everyday reality. I felt very isolated. College in the UK is a bit different than the states because there aren’t “majors”, you jump straight into one thing. I was in film studies and all I did was film studies. I quickly burned out. However, I do think that having that background is really important to me, I actually look back at it fondly now. I ended up back in school at Goldsmiths doing a course in media and communications. It was really interdisciplinary and really fun because they allowed us to take it as 50/50 theory and practice. You got to try out all these different disciplines like photography, illustration and filmmaking.

Which ties into how I ended up doing animation in the first place. It’s actually kind of a sad story, but I'll go ahead and say it. During my third year of undergrad, my sister passed away from cancer. It was on some level a pragmatic decision for me to step away from the collaborative filmmaking course. I had to shift my focus to something else in order to even be able to finish school. It was a really dark and sad time.

I wanted to get into illustration. They suggested that I try out animation as my focus. I didn't really know anything about it. When I joined the class, everyone there had already been majoring in it for two years. They knew all the softwares. They knew After Effects and Photoshop, and I had never used any of that. And at first, I tried to kind of approach it like everyone else and come up with a narrative that I would build on and make into a short animated film. Soon I found all of my grief and my pain at the time. I found them through animation. 

My graduation film was actually about my sister, and about what I was going through back then. It was a very simple, very simple animation. I drew it with oil pastels on paper because I didn't know how to use computers for animation yet. I was a late comer to animation for sure. I felt like I was so far from everyone else in the class. For the graduation film, all of the techniques that I lacked at the time I tried to make up for with my emotions. I felt that the emotionality and the honesty translated so well in that medium. I was really shocked to find that my film resonated with people. It ended up getting into a few festivals, I even won Royal Television Society awards for the writing on it. 

Nicole: Wooo!! 

Gabby: It was incredible. It was really unexpected, but it was also a very intense introduction. I connected with animation as a medium. It was just me, my studio, and sheets of paper. I was there for months. Obviously in the real world, outside of college, it doesn't really always look that way. Back then I was just exploring. It was really great.

Looking back at it now, it's been a few years. That was in 2019, no…2018. So that was four years ago. Now I basically do that for a living. It's pretty great. At the end of the day, I try to connect to other visions on a very deep metaphysical level because that’s how it all started for me. I'm sorry if that’s really sappy but that’s just how it happened.

Nicole: Do not apologize! What a way to honor your sister. Very cool that you found your niche, even through pain. Pain is a very powerful, powerful thing so having a space to feel through that is huge. 

Gabby: It was really cleansing. I worked on some short film projects before but the reason why I fundamentally changed my trajectory was because I needed to have full control over something and not be a part of the team. Now years later, it’s actually on the reverse. Right now I'm seeking to expand my practice and to work as a part of a team. Obviously, animation can go both ways. Right now I really love working with other people. In those early, early stages, I needed to be fully with myself. 

I graduated and I was in a rush to go straight into a master's degree. I moved to New York City. When I tell the story about moving to New York City now, it sounds like I'm fun and a spontaneous girl, because I just needed to go somewhere far away from everything. I'm definitely not very spontaneous… but that is exactly what happened. I moved in 2018. I did my Masters at Pratt in Media Studies. I did my very best to participate in as many animation classes as I could. I would take classes from the different departments and combine that with my humanities, liberal arts, media studies background. And yeah, I'm just really going off about the whole trajectory here. 

(we both laugh)

Nicole: Because of the timing of you diving into animation, were you able to do any work studies or internships? 

Gabby: I think it’s really important for me to note my feelings of being behind on technique and that “traditional animation knowledge” never really went away. I used to try to make up for my lack in training with aesthetic choices or whatever. Honestly, I still feel like I'm going on that. I never interned at an animation studio, or did any of the  traditional avenues for that. I wish I did. I honestly probably wouldn't even be accepted for a proper internship at an animation studio. It's true. 

During my master's, I took this really fun course called Experimental Animation with this amazing professor. He was really crazy about both experimental animation and analog techniques. He single handedly basically furnished an entire studio for stop motion animation at Pratt. The majority of students go into digital animation, but he ran this one class with analog techniques. He taught us so much. We learned about claymation and microscope animation which is where you use a microscope to photograph little things. He taught us about liquid light showers, which is something I took to very deeply. Liquid light stems from concert visuals they did in the 60s for Jimi Hendrix and stuff. It's where you basically have two little glass dishes and you have a little bit of water, oil and food coloring. You just kind of wobble it around and project it and you can make these insane, psychedelic things with that. 

As part of that class, for my final project, I want to do visuals for a band at a show. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do on some level. The technique that goes into light showers is not necessarily so complicated. It doesn't necessarily require you to be very neat or organized. I'm none of these things. It's more so about appreciating texture, color, and stuff like that. It’s more intuitive. That's what I was always drawn into most. I did my first show at our Wicked Lady in New York, with my good friends, Holy Vulture. 

Nicole: Heck ya! 

Gabby: They're awesome. We did the show together. After that, I came up to Moonkissed at a show and was like, “I really love your style. Do you guys ever need visuals?” We connected and I got to play their set at Elsewhere. It was so much fun. This was before the Pandemic obviously. But I would offer my services for live visuals to anyone. I would find one band that wanted it and would reach out to other bands that were playing that night and be like, “Do you want me to stick around for you as well?” I met quite a few people that way and played at some really cool venues. It wasn’t for that long, it was probably for the span of a few months. Then the Pandemic started.

During the pandemic, I was still trying to finish my master’s thesis. I had to take an extra semester because I was too terrified of what was happening to write it. I was writing about stuff that was again, removed from the reality of the situation. I couldn't handle that.

I think I posted on Instagram asking if anyone needs a coloring artist or some kind of animation assistance. And then one of the bands I did visuals for needed a music video and that was my first commissioned music video. That’s how my career started for real. They’re called André Salvador and the Von Kings and the song was called, I Love You (Don't Laugh). I did this hand drawn, frame by frame.

So that was my first project! I would say that music videos still are, as you would know, my area of choice. It's been really great. Since that first video, I’ve gotten to work on full featured music videos and lyric videos and also a few shorter visualizers. Nearly 20 of those things. It's been really, really fun. I'm really grateful to these guys for giving me a shot because once that happened, everything started moving from there. Someone else would see it, reach out, I’d get a new project, and so on. 

Obviously, many of the artists I've worked with don't get nearly enough credit or hype online. I really wish more people would see some of these pieces. It's pretty tricky to navigate the online space. I, for one, am horrible with social media and self promotion. It’s not a skill that I possess at all. Maybe I'll learn one day! Maybe I should start a TikTok account or something. 

(we both laugh) 

Nicole: The internet is a very interesting place to dabble. I feel like no one really knows what they're doing online. It's definitely tough to be in a position where- I want to get to this specific question later- but where you're taking someone else's baby and you're putting visuals to it. Then you’re sending it off and then it's their job to take care of it online. 

Gabby: Yeah, definitely. I wouldn't say that any of my music videos have really blown up. But as far as working with musicians and giving visuals to their work, I've been really lucky and honestly really spoiled by my clients. More often than not, we immediately get on the same page. I think I had one failed project where it didn't work out. Most of the time, I get completely free hands to do whatever and they are into it and it works out. The creative freedom that I have been given… it's been amazing. 

I'm really grateful for having that kind of workflow. It can be a lot of pressure too sometimes. In the early development stages, every single time I start a new project I feel like I can't do it, I can’t give them their money's worth, I can't deliver. But once I get started, it just happens. It’s funny because animation is also a really tedious medium. You spend hours and hours drawing frame by frame. I also use a lot of these experimental techniques I spoke about earlier, which allows for more intuitiveness - it's almost like playing an instrument. There's a lot of improvisation and seeing what looks cool. It’s kind of like what you would do with music, hearing what flows well and what doesn't. I think maybe that's why my work is so in line with the music world and that's why I keep gravitating towards musicians as clients.

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PART 2

Nicole: I want to talk a little bit more about your specific style of animation. Where did your illustration style come from? Do you have any specific sources of inspiration?

Gabby: I told myself I would write down names of people.

Nicole: You don’t need to pull them out now!

Gabby: I can send you some inspirations later too! I've lived in London and New York but I am a Polish girl. I am from Poland, I am a Slavic girl. All of these influences, growing up, shaped my idea of aesthetics. Slavic folk art and stuff like that really, in a way that I can’t describe in words, shaped the way I portray reality.

Recently, I got approached by this violinist called Zoe Aqua. She was on a Fulbright scholarship in Romania for two years, studying Transylvanian folk music. She's a Klezmer musician. She's dropping an album this Fall and needed a visual for her Klezmer violin track. We hopped on the phone and she said, “Gabby, I'm not really a visual person. Do what you want! But you know, I've been in Romanian this whole time and there's all these things I keep seeing here…” for example she brought up storks.

Storks are these really fun and sort of creepy birds. There are plenty of them in Poland too. We started talking about the storks, horse carriages, and things like stacks of hay. She was an American visiting Romania and witnessed these things or maybe was more sensitive to these slavic things because they looked unique to her.

I was like, “Oh, yeah! These are all things that I've seen around growing up.” We talked a bit more about the overlap between what landscapes look like in Romania and Poland and what their folk art looks like. I got to really lean into the folk aesthetic, traditional embroidery patterns, and again, the storks, and the hay, and all that stuff. It was the first animation piece in a while that I got to really hand draw everything frame by frame and really spend a good amount of time on it, really go traditional with it. It was also sponsored by this Jewish culture organization. The language is really cool. I really enjoyed it so much. I always sneak in my aesthetic into whatever I do but this one was so heavily up my alley. While working on it, I realized I’ve started developing some techniques in my drawings that I want to replicate. I'm trying to carry on some things I've learned on that last project to my next music videos. We'll see how that goes. I'm still learning, even after having been freelance basically full time for two years now. I'm still hungry, I think I'll never stop learning. But I'm still trying to make up for the - what I perceive to be anyways - these big gaps in my technical knowledge that I've had since I started animating as a 23 year old.

Nicole: Ugh yeah, we are all still learning all the time.

Gabby: It's important, it’s a cool part of being a creative.

Nicole: But being a creative, sometimes there are certain skills that you have not learned because you weren't exposed to it until a client asks you if you can do it. Does that make sense? And then you say, “oh, damn, I gotta learn to do that!”

Gabby: The really cool thing about working with Zoey, she asked me to do something that no one's ever asked before. She came to me and said she wanted there to be a horse in the video. She asked me, “are you okay with drawing a horse? Because I know that’s probably tedious to draw.” And I was like, “Oh my gosh! I’ve never done that. I guess…definitely…!?” But no one has ever been sympathetic like that, like it really might be really out of my comfort zone to draw the horses! I appreciated her asking. But the horses are in the video. I'm not too happy about how they came out to be honest. She was right to ask... but we pushed through it.

Nicole: You pushed through! You know if there comes another time someone asks you to draw a horse… at least you have a little experience.

Gabby: No, yeah, definitely. But horses…not my forte.

(We both laugh)

Nicole: That's really neat though, that you can weave aspects of your culture into your work even if it's not necessarily about Poland itself.

Gabby: It was really cool. Again with that one, especially looking back at it now, I feel like there's a lot of parallels between how I worked on my first ever animation and this project. I don't think there's necessarily a trend in my work or anything because every project I do is very different but with this one, there was a nice little circleback around to where I came from.

Nicole: How would you describe your aesthetic? If you were to sell yourself as a creative, what should people expect from working with you and the type of work that you'd produce?

Gabby: I would say that I am really focused on and interested in analog techniques. I work digitally a lot, but what I like about analog is the tactileness of it, drawing on paper or doing the liquid light stuff. Something that I try to incorporate in all of my work is the texture, the grittiness, and the unexpectedness of the medium. I have this strong sensitivity to textuality of animation, it's a big part of my style. I really want my animation to feel handmade. I think that's the cool part about what I do. It's never perfect, but the imperfections are what I think is the most interesting part of the process. I am still in awe of animation. Like WOW, you can make little things move!? I'm obsessed with making transitions. Because it is one of those things that is specific to animation that you can't really replicate with live action mediums. All these things are very, very crucial to my practice. I also like to work with color. Colors are really important to me. Especially finding the right palette or finding out how color affects you emotionally. I think that animation can cause strong emotional responses, whether you understand where they're coming from or not. And, again, I experiment a lot, even if I'm not using experimental techniques, per se. I always try a bunch of different things and see what feels good. That’s why I do animation. Gosh I am rambling again.

Nicole: Ramble away! This is all so good!

Gabby: I think that is why people go for animation, you know, the handmade-ness of it.

Nicole: Exactly.

Gabby: When I was in school, I had unlimited time and mental resources. Now it's a bit different. I do need to think about stuff like paying my bills. It is such a privilege to freelance as a creative, to sustain yourself with your art. But at the same time… it can change the way that you look at your projects. One thing that I really notice and that I try to fight a lot is thinking about how to be cost effective with animation. From time to time, I have to find ways to “automate” or speed certain processes up to be cost effective (for the client). At the same time, it can be kind of bad for my practice when I spend too much time thinking about how I can do everything in the least amount of time. I find myself sort of finding that just starting to create and going with that is so much more productive then trying to plan anything out too deeply. And sometimes, I think if I draw it all frame by frame, it's gonna take forever. But the product ends up being a lot more organic and finished quicker than trying to emulate the work in some other ways. There are many things about handmade animation that can't really be replicated in any way.

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PART 3

Nicole: Let’s talk about the different spaces that you're currently dabbling in or looking to get into.

Gabby: During the Pandemic, I briefly collaborated with my friend Kat doing live visuals. We took part in this DJing competition, for a minute there that was a pretty big part of my practice. I learned a lot about VHS and again, analog things, but in a different sense. I do want to get back into the live visuals. I feel like I found a nice sort of equivalent to doing those live shows within the kind of work that I do now. Whether it's live music or if it's digitally released music, there's a lot of potential for visuals. People are always looking for things like Spotify canvas’ and little visualizers. One thing is that I don't really like the word “visualizer”. Oftentimes, I'll go on YouTube and see these beautifully executed really quick videos that took a lot of work - like full animated music videos - and they're just called a “visualizer”. I feel like it sounds a bit… not derogatory, but it diminishes the weight of the content. I don't want to talk about it in a negative light though, I personally have been doing a lot of “visualizers” and enjoy doing them.

(We both laugh)

Nicole: No, that's totally valid. That's interesting you say that. Because a “visualizer” could mean a whole different scope of things. 

Gabby: I know, it's like the new word. 

Nicole: The biggest blanket umbrella for content these days.

It's not in the cards for me yet right now but it's been on my mind to not make a sequel to my graduation film from college but to revisit that pure, creative energy that comes with giving your personal project your all. I love working with clients, I am so glad I have them. And I'm so glad I can make money (we both laugh) but it would be really great to focus on the short again. I’d need a grant for that because animation does take forever. What I'm saying is I wish I could take like six months of my life and draw on paper. Probably not anytime soon but hopefully sometime in the future. 

Nicole: I will manifest that for you over here. Let's give you some time and space to be creative.

Gabby: Before I got into animation, I was really into filmmaking. I have since developed such an appreciation for short form content. Even within animation, I'm actually not really interested at all in features, or long form pieces. I think I'm really, really tied to the short form stuff, like music videos or even adverts. Stuff like that. Well, maybe not adverts. But, you know, short form is something that I see as the end game. For example what I'm doing right now, I don't necessarily see it as a gateway to something bigger, I just want to keep getting better at what I do. There's some artists that I am absolutely obsessed with. There's two music video artists in particular where I am like, “yeah, that’s it.” Being able to get to that level and to do that forever, that would be great. 

_______________

Gabby: I have created quite a few pieces where the name “visualizer” actually does apply, for example when the content a client has is not feasible to produce a full length music video from. I don't want to say that visualizers as a whole are a bad thing. I've had some really good experiences working on them.

How did we get here? What was the question about? All the different spaces that I want to explore? I'd say something that's on my mind which probably any animator will tell you is that I would love to kind of go back to that space where I am working on a short where it's not a commission and it's just a personal project (think my graduation film).

PART 4

Nicole: Can you break down your creative process for us? What happens when a client comes? What goes into that first step for you? How do you get these projects started? 

Gabby: It depends. It also depends if I'm working directly with a client or if I'm working with a creative director. Sometimes I work with an art director or a creative director who comes to me with a full body pitch. Sometimes if I'm starting from scratch. One of the first things would be to comb through references and look for things that I can show to a client and be like, “is the vibe we're going for?” That's usually a very tricky stage. I've been at that stage quite a lot recently. A big part of the process is me going on YouTube. I have this really long, full list of music videos that are inspiring, I get stuck in that. I watch other people's things for a really long time. I usually stress quite a bit. I listen to the song on the loop and pace around. Of course there's a lot of sketching that goes on and on while I'm listening to the music.

Recently I was listening to a song and I did not know what to do, I could not come up with anything. I was pretty nervous about producing a pitch that would be accepted on a very high level. I took my phone with me and I went to take a shower. I listened to the song on loop and an image finally came to me. A simple image, like one frame. I came back to my desk and started sketching. Sometimes I will listen to the song in the car and an image of an object or something will come to me and I'll kind of go from there. Another big step for me is combining a moodboard. It's also a bit of a trap. I use Pinterest boards, I don't know if that's tacky…

Nicole: No!! We love Pinterest!

(we both laugh)

Gabby: Maybe it is millennial of me, but I do love Pinterest. It's a very big part of any creative brief I produce. That moodboard stage, I can also get trapped in for a really, really long time. After that, I usually produce some concept art. Looking at my earlier pitches vs me now, I'm trying to keep it more structured. I include the concept drawings with the references, but with my first few music videos, I would write out a paragraph explaining what I think will happen. I'm really lucky that in the past, people got it just from the text. I can't imagine doing that anymore! 

Nicole: I feel like I remember that being a part of the process for the “I Got Low” video you did for M’lynn. With that little moodboard, it was perfect. That video is so cool. I show it to people all the time. When people ask what types of projects we do at GIRL GANG, I always go back to that one.

Gabby: People reached out to me after that one being like, “I want something like M’lynn!” Obviously, M’lynn has a special special place in my heart. You were kind of the Creative Director on that project. I used to gravitate towards animation because I wanted to be on my own and have all of the power. But I appreciate having input so much more now. Even when working with you, you had these really spot on notes on what can be tweaked or added near the end. You would be surprised how hard it can be for people to efficiently communicate what they want creatively to happen. 

Nicole: When you doodle - are you doodling on physical paper, are you doing that on an iPad? How and what are the steps?

Gabby: You know, I wish I could say I have my sketchbook with me everywhere. I think that’s something that most animators do, they sketch all the time. I don't really do it as much. I think a lot about things, I look at things, and then when I actually sit down to produce art, it's at my desk with my Cintiq. I have this little tablet that I work on, you can draw directly on it. I was thinking about getting an iPad, maybe, but that's me being spoiled. Even though I go on and on and on about how I love analog, the sketching part, it's not obligatory that it be on paper. Definitely not. In the early stages, looking and absorbing things is the main thing for me. Usually, there's a bit of a rush with getting things off the ground. I have to have some kind of a concept early on. A lot of the time, that concept evolves over time. I've been trying, at least recently, to streamline my process a bit more. If we're committed to something, let’s go with that. I'm not very good with “traditional workflow” as in producing a storyboard first and then going from there. There's a lot of room for improvisation. With my latest music video, I did have a full on storyboard. It was smooth sailing because I could keep reverting back to it. I think that's definitely something I'm going to try and implement, just be a bit more organized.

Nicole: Let's talk about your experience throughout the Pandemic trying to be creative but also a person and take care of yourself. Especially considering Visa stuff, having to go back to Poland but keep operating via an US working time zone depending on where your clients are. Even in these situations, how's it going? How are you doing it? Because the volume of work you are producing is impressive!

Gabby: The Pandemic is when my practice kicked off because that's when I did my first music video. Not to sound cliche, but animation at that time definitely gave me purpose. It's funny because you know, I work as a freelancer, I work from home. Often it's a pretty solitary experience still even though the world has opened up. I feel like there's a big dose of solitude involved because it's just like you and your tablet, and you're all holed up and alone. I realized I kind of ramble about my work a lot to like my friends, because I don't really have co-workers to share my stuff with. Working from home, it's really cool in the sense that I'm not tied to any one place. Even recently, I was traveling and I was in Zurich with my friends and I had to deliver something. I was able to sort of work from there and create a storyboard, I really appreciate being able to do that. At the same time, I mean, I don't want to complain about the fact that I am freelancing from home but sometimes I think working from an office would be great. 

Nicole: We always think that the grass is always greener on the other side, don't we? I know that there's people who have gone back into the office who were like, “Oh man, I wish I was at home” and then they spend all day at home and are like, “Oh man, I wish I was in an office.”

Gabby: At the same time, I enjoy freelancing because I get to start a whole new project every couple of months whenever something comes in. The work I do is incredibly varied even though my day to day, surprisingly, isn't that different? Because it's always me and my little desk. Like with GIRL GANG for example, like you guys built this network of creators who operate in that freelancing sphere. Like, “you’re not alone!” It's really great to connect with other individuals who feel like that. I don't know, though... I might look around for a studio space sometime soon. I feel like I'm starting to really be done with working from home. Even if I’m like a one person operation, just being in a shared workspace… it’s different. 

Nicole: That’s ideal at this point. Two years post pandemic, everyone's kind of burned out. I think it's okay to recognize that and recognize that it is hard to be your own boss! 

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One other thing that I mentioned before is that I'm trying to grow my practice to where I can work with a team so that I'm not as limited by my own logistical capabilities. There is definitely so much one person can do. For that kind of thing, it's also important for me to be a bit more organized so that I can delegate work. My latest film was like the first one I ever got to work with someone on. I really hope to continue doing that in the future.

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PART 6

Gabby: The Pandemic was also not too tough on animators, that's for sure. Obviously now the world's opened up and everything's back to business, but a couple of years ago, all these major artists started releasing animated music videos because there was no other thing you could really do. I feel like this animation revival is still going on now. Even though people are back on sets and back to live, I feel like the animation revival is something that will last for a  long time, you know?

Nicole: It's really interesting to watch the music video concepts that people are coming up with these days, because now there is an increase in the combination of live action and animation. I am specifically thinking of the Kiss Me More (Doja Cat ft SZA) video. Animation really opens up the door for all kinds of creative expression.

Gabby: Definitely. Animation is a way of thinking in a sense but also of perceiving the world. When I first was approaching animation, it was from the naive standpoint of someone who felt like a late bloomer. Animation can really catapult you into these fantasy worlds but it also can really ground you in reality. Especially when you start to really think about how things are animated in the real world.  I would try to understand how a plant moves in the wind or how a cloud moves through the sky. 

I'm a pretty scattered person, I'm really absent minded. Animation is the one thing that I can literally sit down and deal with despite the tediousness of it. It's a different state of mind. It grounds you at the same time as it allows you to kind of drift out. I think that's a really awesome thing about it. I sound like a maniac. I sound like such a fucking fanatic.

Nicole: You are passionate! You're doing what you love!

Gabby: I don't know, it's incredible as a freelancer that people trust you and your vision. I've been lucky that I'm getting clients who have seen my other stuff and they kind of know what they're getting into. It's really, really, really great. It's also really humbling more than anything, because every time I start a new project, I'm starting over. There is the feeling of “there's no way I can pull that off.”

Nicole: But you always pull through!

Gabby: That's true, I do think that pretty much every time though. I think my friends must be really tired of listening to me say the same things every single time. All the time. Yeah. It's just how I operate. So sometimes I'm like, I don't know, if I can keep this up, I don’t really see another career path for myself. I feel like I found something I really love doing. Sometimes, I can't quite believe that, you know, that this is like, my job.

Nicole:  So very lucky!

Gabby: To be honest, there's good months and bad months. Right now is freaking crazy, I'm getting a lot of stuff. There were recently a few months when nothing really was happening.

Nicole: It's interesting to see the way that the world ebbs and flows in these creative spheres. 

Gabby:  One thing that I noticed from social media, is that it obviously fools people. Like you said earlier, we always think “Oh god, so and so is so busy,” because when we have something to show, we post about it, right? Very often I see these amazing projects from these people that I admire and it seems to be popping up out of nowhere and then we're like, “Wow, they're making content so fast!” You never really know behind the scenes, maybe there's like months and months of development and a lot of lonely nights by the desk. But it's all worth it in the end when you can show it with the world. 

Nicole: I don't know, I think what you do is very cool. I personally feel like your work contains a little more humaness with its slight imperfections. I like when things are slightly imperfect because it reminds you of the emotion of what you're bringing to life. I think it helps to create a better painted picture of the whole shebang. Alright Gabby, I have exhausted my list of questions. Are there any hopes or goals or dream projects you are wanting us to manifest for you? Anything exciting on the horizon you would like us to brag about!?

Gabby: I feel like I kind of answered it in the sense that I do want to keep doing what I'm doing. I want to dream big but never want to jinx myself. Each new project is an opportunity for me to try out new things, soak up inspiration and further define who I am.  Some of the artists I’m most painfully obsessed with and I keep coming back to are  Ruff Mercy and Rhymezlikedimez - their visual styles are quite different but each is so unmistakeable, defined and full of personality. That is something I value the most.

For now, there are a few things in the works that I cannot talk about quite yet. I recently pitched a few music videos and I am always looking for new people to work with. I am also looking to focus on and strengthen the relationships I have with people I have worked with in the past. I do have a very cool music video coming out soon that I am so so excited about! I will let GIRL GANG know when it is out and where to watch it :-) 

Nicole: Yes! You must! Amazing Gabby, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us. We are so looking forward to all of the incredible things that you do! WE LOVE GABBY!