Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabrielle Mills.
Gabrielle, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am from Lexington, a very small town in Nebraska. I grew up singing and dancing, always moving and full of energy! I began singing when I was very young and developed a passion for writing as I grew older in elementary school. I was involved in music constantly throughout my life while being apart of band, choir, show choir, and even producing mashups of popular songs for my dance team to perform our routines too!
I have always had a passion for entertaining a crowd and performing on stage, and I don’t see myself doing anything else in life but just that. I attended the University of Nebraska Kearney for two years trying to do college the traditional way, but always felt that I needed to be in a bigger entertainment-based environment to become a more experienced artist. I decided to move to LA in fall 2018 with two suitcases and a big dream in my hands, where I attended Los Angeles College of Music as a vocal performance major.
After four quarters of vocal training, I decided to switch over to the songwriting department, where I had the opportunity to dig deeper into writing and discover myself as an independent artist. In between work and school, I attend as many studio sessions as possible, find as many gigs as I can, make connections and friendships with other musicians, and write more music. As soon as the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and more performance venues open, I plan to get back to performing live and attending more studio sessions. In the meantime, I will keep writing and recording more music to release in the safety of my home! While I’m still considered somewhat of an undiscovered artist in LA, I have come so far and can’t wait to share my music with the world!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like every other artist, I have had my fair share of struggles too. In a city where everyone is hungry to be the next big thing, there are so many misleading “opportunities” that arise. As well as just being a woman, has it’s own struggles. I have had my music stolen by companies that promised to protect my intellectual property, wrote and rehearsed tirelessly for performances that were stripped away from me, “lost” opportunities because I was unwilling to wear revealing clothing or perform in ways I wasn’t comfortable with. I feel as though women especially, get taken advantage of in the entertainment industry. Though I have been wronged in this industry, it has been a learning experience and has taught me what red flags to look out for in the future. I have always been a strong believer in never taking part in something that makes you feel less than you know you’re worth, and being able to stand up for yourself, even to people of power.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
As a singer/songwriter, I am known for writing music for myself and others. I listen to a VERY wide variety of music, anything from pop, rock, EDM, folk, funk, hip hop, r&b, indie, and more, from all different eras. This has given me more knowledge for writing in several genres as well, while I mainly consider myself a soul singer, I love to sing and write pop, r&b and some funk music. I feel as though I stand apart from others because I can write for more than one genre, and understand the style/vibe different artists may be searching for when writing songs.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment in my career was releasing my first song in 2018, simply because it was the first time I was really putting my own words and voice out officially to the world and it felt so good to finally take that step!