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"When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece" -John Ruskin 
With the diligence of a quantum physicist, and the determination of an Olympic Gold Medalist, and the heart to match, Gabe Rosales has instinctually nurtured many different talents to progressive, breakthrough levels. As an only child hailing from the latino community of San Juan Capistrano in Southern California, Gabe began his artistic career by sketching at age five, studying the human figure at age eight, developing music skills on the piano at ten, to performing in many theatrical plays before the age of 12. Influenced by some of the mexican folk songs his mother would sing accompanied by her guitar playing, and the early hip hop of Young MC, Fresh Prince, A Tribe Called Quest, Gabe focused his time on reading, writing, drawing and recording joke "rap" lyrics on his family's tape recorder. At age 7, Gabe developed a taste for the macabre when he asked his mother to start reading the disturbing writing of Edgar Allen Poe to him at bedtime. Hearing stories such as "The Tell Tale Heart", and poems like "The Raven" before bedtime began molding his brain. These literary inspirations also aided his vocabulary for his own writing, as well as fueled a growing fascination with the occult, supernatural and darker aspects of life as he began questioning the capital punishment instituted in his private Christian school. In 1986 Gabe's family split due to alcohol problems, and irreconcilable differences between his parents. This was extremely hard on Gabe as he became increasingly masochistic and depressed about his life. Still dealing with alcohol in his family he developed a sense of responsibility to take care of his parents when he needed the care himself. At this time his music tastes began with hip hop artists DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince to the hardcore gangsta rap of Eazy E and NWA. When he was 12, the rock genre made its way to Gabe's ears in the form of the band Faith No More, which he became obsessed with. In 1990 his mother returned to college in Northern California Santa Cruz, forcing Gabe away from his father. This move placed Gabe in a new atmosphere which became conducive to growing in his art, theater performance, eventually music. He fully embraced his occult practices with sprinkling of eastern mysticism, purchasing books by Aleister Crowley, HP Lovecraft and Anton Le Vay. At age 13 Gabe began practicing a form of meditation. Using his sac religious poetry as the catalyst, Gabe became the lead singer of his own death metal band, but the only thing the band lacked was a bass player. Within 3 months, Gabe began gigging and taking bass solos at age fourteen with his new found instrument. After 2 years of developing new relationships and a new band, Gabe's obsession with the occult wore on his mother. When his rebellious, satanist based views became too much to bare, she sent him away to live with his father, returning down south in Laguna Beach California. Gabe moved to one of the 2 mobile home parks in the wealthy area with his father, stepmother and stepsister. Gabe found himself practicing rigorously 12-16 hours a day, for months during the summer. With sporadic bass lessons and 5 years of "formal" self teaching, Gabe increased his musical tastes from his old love, bands like Deicide and Suffocation, to a diversity of artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughn, Weather Report and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. This helped Gabe hone his skills in a wide arena of music from the "out" jazz of Art Tatum and Coltrane, to the repetative and groove oriented funk and R&B of Cameo and Zap. This would eventually prepare him for the myriad of top name music artists he would soon work with. During his high school career his talents flourished. From being the 1st freshman in Laguna Beach High's history to have the lead role in an award winning comedy production, to gigging regularly at high school functions, the young artist worked at developing a strong sense of self expression and a warped sense of humor. By his senior year he had taken part in numerous theater productions, played in 7 different bands and flourished in an advanced placement art class where he began receiving college credit for his work. With some of his assorted art pieces being showcased at the local art school, Gabe had a myriad of options to pursue for his future career. Music began playing a more prominent part as he began seriously studying theory on his own from university tonal harmony text books and the time he spent drawing eventually got taken up rigorous rehearsal schedules and instrument practicing. At age 17 Gabe matured and recognized inconsistencies in his occult way of thinking and realized that just like any other religion, it was simply one group of people pointing fingers in the opposite direction. At this time he crossed paths with session, touring, and production legend, Paul Pesco. Paul took Gabe under his wing and began showing him "the ropes" of the music industry as well as introducing him to a book that would send him on a path deeper into eastern thought, the Zen Guitar book. This also sparked an extreme interest in quantum physics and the order of all things which included the human experience. This new found interest made its way into his poetry-turned-hip hop lyrics. Just a year after graduating high school Gabe landed a voice on guitar hero George Lynch's eclectic 1999 release, "Smoke This". A 3 month tour followed the release. With new endorsements with ESP guitars, Dean Markley strings and Hughes and Kettner bass amplification systems, Gabe began living his dream at age 19, a few years younger than George Lynch's son. After the chaotic lifestyle of the hard rocking 1999 US tour which included excessive alcohol consumption, Gabe returned home where even his closest friends recognized and worried about his destructive, indulgent lifestyle. Gabe went on a spiritual search and attended a 10 day Buddhist vipassana meditation course, where he took a mandatory oath of silence for the courses entirety. This experience changed his views on his existence drastically. A deeper sense of universal understanding vanquished the young artist. An inner peace enveloped Gabe's life and everyone noticed it when he returned. From that point on, the southern California native landed other high profile gigs and tours in the music world through networking and word of mouth. From heavy rock band Lynch Mob to pop megastars like Jennifer Lopez and Christina Milian, to fusion legends such as Prashant Aswani and Joey Heredia, Gabe has graced stages from country to country, continent to continent. Even with his growing resume and promising future, alcohol and drug consumption crept back into Gabe's life which led him to a deathly destructive path. From drug dealing, health issues to excessive alcohol consumption, this volatile chicano found himself incarcerated several times. After being incarcerated for months, Gabe observed the sub culture of jail life, and drew from it inspiration for his work. The different phases of emotions fed concepts and stories about doing time which Gabe in turn focused back into music. He wrote sheet music, lyrics and vigorously worked out to pass the time productively. He sympathized with the trials and tribulations of the dominant hispanic race in the facility and he was even asked to hold a position. During his sentance a gang war broke out and Gabe was faced with the choice of participating and getting an extended sentance or stepping down and facing the consequences as disgrace to his gang. The facility was immediately put on lockdown a week before he was released leading to the longest lockdown in Orange County jail history. He was pepper sprayed and kept confined for days but he soon fulfilled his sentance and was released with no extension. This experience drastically altered Gabe's view on society and the law. He became inspired to put his efforts towards helping the community and bring awareness to various injustices. There became new meaning to his life and the appeal of playing with commericial pop acts contributing to the distraction of the human experience seemed frivolous and almost a crime. Even before his incarceration, Gabe's addictive personality proved that there was no room for any substances in his life and his first hand experience of the level of addicts in jail reinforced his drive to rise above all mind altering substances. After years of trial and error, Gabe has redefined his existence in a positive, completely clean and healthy environment. He has established a name for himself in the music world, and earned street credit along his path. He has survived to tell many great stories about his chaotic lifestyle and the characters he's encountered. This has aided him in instructing young and older players alike with the skill, knowledge, touring, production experience and invaluable life lessons he has endured over his life span thus far. Working as a solo artist, musician, and dedicated teacher, Gabe has proudly accepted the honor of passing on his music knowledge to many hungry individuals. With over 9 years of teaching experience, Rosales caters to each students needs with awareness and encouragement. Using a zen based philosophy, he cultivates awareness, technique and heart. With Vipassana meditation, and a taxing, physical and mental work ethic as a catalyst for his self expression, and utilizing the negative and positive aspects if his life, Gabe has kept his love pure and honest in his life's art. At age 29, he finally harnessed his skills to release his first explosive album that encompasses all the styles he has grown to love as a part of him. "Vital Nonsense" can be purchased now on the music page of this site. Be on the look out for performances, locally and on the web. In 2009 Gabe Rosales became a devout member of Afrika Bambaataa's Universal Zulu Nation and in 2010 Gabe became a proud member of the Anti-Injustice Movement known as The AIM. He is now the West Coast General of the A.I.M. as well as officially becoming a Guerrilla Republik warrior and Real Hip Hop Forever affiliate. These organizations have aided Gabe in successfully dedicating his life to others and helped him to further his activist agenda by collaborating and learning from many different artists with the same visions. The organizations websites can be found on the "links" tab below. Along with the inspiration from his new found revolutionary brothers and sisters, Gabe went back to school in 2010 to begin the lenghty process of obtaining a civil rights law degree. "Living with the science-backed reality that I'm connected to everything, and the reality that I must spend my energy picking up my fellow man, I have all the spirituality I need. If I'm going to be judged and sent to a hell for not believing in something specific, then I did myself a service in not worshipping a jealous and spiteful god."- Gabe Rosales List of Recording Artists Gabe has worked with:
Gooch Endorsers
Tours
Lynch Mob US tour 1998-1999 INTERVIEWS
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