INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND
Please introduce yourself and share a bit about your background.

My name is Anthony Gagliardi - a Canadian/Italian with a huge family background in music. My great-grandfather was a musical conductor for the Italian army, my grandfather was an opera singer, and my parents were avid music lovers.

I grew up surrounded by music of all genres. I was lucky enough to be able to learn a few instruments along the way too! (piano, saxophone, guitar, bass, drums).

Music just runs through my DNA!

I'm a guitar player first and foremost, but love getting my hands on all the other instruments I can find laying around.

Tell us a bit about yourself. (Location, artist name, the works!)

I made The Galley Project as an excuse to create instrumental rock music! I was always drawn to the bridge/solo section of songs. I remember hearing the song Welcome to Paradise by Green Day and wanting that bridge section to be its own song. "How could that bass solo just go to waste like that?!?!"

Not that I dislike vocals or anything, I just thought, why can’t all songs be one big awesome bridge?

So I make instrumental music now. Bridges be damned, we're making the whole dang song a bass solo! :)

Oh, and I’m located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada!

What's your musical origin story? (when did you start? What inspired you?)

I have many moments that define my musical journey, but the one true musical origin story comes from my grade 9 talent show. (picture at the bottom)

Imagine a shy, lanky 14-year-old, who was only just starting to get a grasp of how to play bar chords on his rinky-dink electric guitar.

Through some act of divine intervention, my best friend at the time (who played bass) convinced me to play in a talent show. I had a hard enough time doing presentations in front of a class, let alone standing in front of 600+ people. Doing a guitar solo…

Oh, and to boot, we were playing a medley that consisted of:

• Back In Black (AC/DC)
• Tom Sawyer (Rush)
• Working Man (Rush)
• Thunderstruck (AC/DC)
• La Villa Strangiato (Rush)

…in hindsight, I think you could tell I was a Rush fan pretty early on…

Anyway, I don’t know how I pulled that off. I even remember having to wear a bandana (Jimi Hendrix style) out of necessity because I was so nervous, I would sweat to the point where I couldn’t see.

Good times :)

What were the driving forces or pivotal moments that inspired you to pursue music?

I have a couple of chapters in my ‘pivotal moments’ catalogue:

Chapter 1: “THE BEGINNING” Hearing Green Day for the first time as a 5-year-old was extremely influential. I remember vividly that the song, Hitchin’ a Ride, was my first musical obsession. I wanted to listen to that thing until my ears bled. Just the raw power and energy of the guitar drew me in. “Music is awesome” crossed my mind for the first time.

Chapter 2: “THE CLASSICAL ERA” I remember picking up the Alto Saxophone at about the age of 12, and being blown away when the whole band class was playing different things, but making such a wonderful sound. You could make multiple beautiful melodies and intertwine them - the sum was greater than its parts. I leaned heavily into my saxophone for the entirety of my teenage years and loved every minute of it.

Chapter 3: “THE RUSH ERA” I heard Rush for the first time and was absolutely consumed by their musicianship. A combination of the power from chapter 1 and the blending of instruments in chapter 2. It really solidified my musical ambitions.

And there we have it. 3 separate chapters that make up the DNA of what I am, and what this band is.

MUSICAL IDENTITY
How would you describe your style of music?

A cross between Joe Satriani, Green Day, Rush, and a Mack truck

How is your personality reflected in your work?

• My Curiosity: Reflected in the songs that can be complex in nature
• My thirst for connection: reflected in the songs that are a bit more pensive and happy
• My sense of humour: reflected in the randomness and ridiculousness of some of the songs
• My sensitivity to all emotions: Heavy-hitting and raw songs
• My love of Rush and Green Day: like…friggen everywhere!

Describe your creative process when you write new music.

I find my strengths are in riff making. Most of the time, while I’m playing around on the guitar, I stumble upon a riff or motif that really interests me. I spend hours/days/months playing around with it until that riff sits nicely in a specific song.

Other times I catch a specific mood or tone that interests me, and I want to explore it further. For example, I remember hearing the song Battery by Metallica, and wanting to make a song that was fast, angry, and balls to the wall. Instead of having a riff in my back pocket, I had a personality I wanted to convey. So, similar to the process above, I would sit down and try to make a song that felt the way I wanted it to feel.

CURRENT WORK
What is the name of your latest release?

Insignificant

What was the inspiration for that release?

I’m kind of learning the craft as I go. I’m still a ‘baby’ when it comes to making music, but I feel like I’m starting to find my footing. With my confidence, I wanted to make songs that had deeper soundscapes and textures. I’ve pulled off the generic “verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge” etc before, but I wanted the music to have personality. I wanted the songs to be a journey and have their own existence.

This album is all about fleshing out each song as best as I could.

What challenges or unexpected moments did you encounter during the writing/recording process?

I was caught off guard by how emotional some of the songs made me. One of my songs in particular (little doll), came about completely by accident. I was playing around on my guitar and found a riff that made me cry. I had recently lost my grandmother, who was very close to me. This riff tapped into an emotional energy I’d never felt before.

For the first time, I thought I’d ride that emotion throughout the song. If I was playing around with that riff, and I didn’t expand the song while still feeling that emotion, it wasn’t the right way forward.

So that one song was created completely by my emotional connection. A super unexpected journey that I didn’t plan for.

Generally speaking, the challenges were in trying to learn more about mixing/mastering and perfecting the craft that way. It’s no easy task lemme-tell-ya!

PROMOTION & ENGAGEMENT
What strategies do you find most effective for promoting your music?

I’m most familiar with Reddit at the moment. I’ve been trying to maintain a bit of a presence amongst some of the specific subreddits.

I am very aware that the most effective way is to go on TikTok/Instagram and peddle your stuff through short-form videos. It’s a channel I plan on trying soon, but I feel more connected with humans via Reddit. It’s a lot more 1-to-1, and I can let my personality shine directly to users, rather than broadcast to the masses.

How do you engage with your fans online and offline?

I try not to hold back my personality. I make sure to be as thoughtful and genuine as possible. I like connecting with people, so I try my best to make the other person feel like they’re talking with an authentic person. Not just speaking to a long list of canned responses/platitudes.

What upcoming promotional activities or releases are you most excited about?

I’m kind of excited to start making music videos. It seems daunting to learn video editing, but I do enjoy learning new skills. I have some ideas that I can’t wait to see come to fruition!

How can folks contact you (socials/email/websites etc.)

People can contact me through my Bandcamp or Reddit accounts. If I ever get big enough, I’ll be certain to include my email address as well :)

ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS
Is there anything else of interest that we should have asked about? Please include it here.

Overall, I make music because I love music.

I think that, as I get older (and hopefully more ‘wise’), I’m learning that being alive is about connection. Whether that’s through family, friends, loved ones, or even music. Connecting with others is such a deep part of the human experience, and I’ve realized that I’d love to reach others through my music somehow.

I’m putting a bigger emphasis on ‘putting myself out there’ so I can be heard, because, at the end of the day, I just want to connect with the world more intimately.

Thank you for all you guys do, and thanks for reading my submission :)