Gabby's World (formerly Ó and Eskimeaux) is the recording project of Gabrielle Smith, an American singer-songwriter and producer from

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. Smith began making and releasing experimental ambient music in 2007. Since then, the solo project has turned into a four-piece indie pop band made up of

Bellows A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtig ...

's Oliver Kalb, Told Slant’s Felix Walworth, Sharpless's Jack Greenleaf and Smith. Felix Walworth has since been replaced by Ian Cory of Lamniformes.

Early life

Gabrielle Smith grew up in New York City. Born in Corvallis, Oregon, Smith was adopted at a young age and to this day knows little about her family history except that her birth father is of

Tlingit The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; ...

descent. Smith spent her youth singing in choir and playing

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, but did not start writing and performing her own songs until after dropping out of

Bard High School Early College Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) is a series of early college schools with multiple campuses in the United States, enrolling approximately 3,000 students across all campuses. The schools allow students to begin their college studies two y ...

. Growing up in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, Smith also spent many of her late-teen years going to DIY shows in

. Inspired to be a part of the DIY scene, Smith started writing songs under the moniker Eskimeaux, but in 2017 changed her band name to Ó following criticism from Inuk singer

Tanya Tagaq Tanya Tagaq ( Inuktitut syllabics: ᑕᓐᔭ ᑕᒐᖅ, born Tanya Tagaq Gillis, May 5, 1975), also credited as Tagaq, is a Canadian Inuk throat singer, songwriter, novelist, actor, and visual artist from Cambridge Bay (Iqaluktuuttiaq), Nun ...

before finally using Gabby's World.

Career

In 2008, Smith enrolled in the

University of the Arts (Philadelphia) The University of the Arts (UArts) was a Private university, private Art school, arts university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its campus made up part of the Avenue of the Arts (Philadelphia), Avenue of the Arts cultural district in Center Cit ...

but dropped out in early 2009. During these two years, Smith met many of their current collaborators and friends, forming an artist collective based in Brooklyn that Smith later co-founded. These artists opened up Smith's eyes to new music stylings and influenced much of her work. Her early recordings from around this time were more

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

, experimental and

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

heavy than her more recent releases. In 2011, Smith released ''Two Mountains'' and formed an artist collective with friends as a way to support each other and release art under one umbrella. A year later, Smith released a self-titled album, which was almost entirely made up of re-recorded songs from an extensive collection of demos. It was with eventual collaboration from friends' bands, such as Told Slant, Bellows, and

Frankie Cosmos Greta Simone Kline (born March 21, 1994), also known by the stage name Frankie Cosmos, is an American musician and singer. She is known for her independent releases, inspired by Frank O'Hara's poetry, Do it yourself, DIY ethics of K Records and ...

, that inspired Smith to overcome a long writing block. She began to write and record new material through a song-a-day project with

Japanese Breakfast Japanese Breakfast is an American indie pop band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 2013. The project is fronted by vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter Michelle Zauner; she is joined in its current iteration by long-serving music ...

Florist Floristry is the production, commerce, and trade in flowers. It encompasses flower care and handling, floral design and arrangement, merchandising, production, display and flower delivery. Wholesale florists sell bulk flowers and related s ...

, and Small Wonder. Many of the songs written during this time appear on ''O.K.'' By 2014, the live line up was cemented, and the band's sound began to resemble the

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

sensibility it has now. While trying to put together ''O.K.'', the band worked on old songs already written by Smith, adding dimensions and layers that would make the songs more suitable to play live. ''O.K.'' was released on May 12, 2015 on

Double Double Whammy Double Double Whammy is an independent record label founded by Dave Benton and Mike Caridi in October 2011 whilst studying at SUNY Purchase, a liberal arts college in New York state. History Double Double Whammy was founded by Dave Benton and Mi ...

Records and received favorable reviews from

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, and

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

. In 2018, Smith released her first album under the moniker Gabby's World, ''Beast On Beast'', on Yellow K Records. Its singles received positive reviews from

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

and

. In 2021, Smith began collaborating with

Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...

and executive produced the album ''Barbara''. Gabby later began touring with Barrie internationally to promote the album. In the same year Smith toured with and recorded several live performances with

, contributing synths and backing vocals. In late 2023, Smith released the lp ''Gabby Sword'' on Carrot All Records, marking the first full length release in five years. The album contends with themes of friendship, aging, autobiography and newfound queer identity. In the interim years Gabby began her first same sex relationship with collaborator Barrie and the two married in 2021. In October of 2024, Smith embarked on a US tour to support ''Gabby Sword''.

Discography

*''iglu songs'' (2008) *''Doubt'' EP (2010) *''I Am a Spiral'' (2010) *''Ixsixán'' (2010) *''Grain of Sand'' (2010) *''Two Mountains'' (2011 and reissued in 2015) * ''Eskimeaux'' (2012) *''Arms Apart'' (2013) *''Walk Away From Me'' (2013) *''Ingluenza'' (2013) *'' O.K.'' (2015) *''Year of the Rabbit'' EP (2016) Eskimeaux: Albums
. ''Last FM''. Retrieved 18 April 2016. *''Beast on Beast'' (2018) *''GABBY SWORD'' (2023)

Current members

* Gabrielle Smith – guitar, vocals * Oliver Kalb – keys * Ian Cory – drums * Jack Greenleaf – bass

Past members

* Felix Walworth

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabbys World Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American women guitarists American women rock singers American women singer-songwriters American folk guitarists American folk singers American indie pop musicians American indie rock musicians American multi-instrumentalists American rock guitarists American rock songwriters Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Guitarists from New York City 21st-century American women