Gabriel T: A Lifelong Journey in Music and Community
Photos provided by Gabriel Teodros
By RayJaun Stelly
Starting his musical journey as he walked the halls of Garfield High School, Gabriel Teodros found the love of music, grabbed hold of it, and didn’t let go. As a student in 1996, he started writing music and taking the art seriously, and a year later, after moving to Las Vegas, he eventually took the stage for his first performance. Despite moving to Nevada for some time, at 18, Gabriel found his way back to Seattle in 1999 and started performing there.
Putting out his first official release in 2001, Gabriel has never stopped. “I just try to put everything in life into my music. I have always wanted to give back the feeling that hip hop gave me,” said Gabriel. “Music is something that made me feel like I was not alone nor crazy when I was growing up; it’s a reflection of life and everything in it.”
Performing and producing music since the late 90s, Gabriel enjoys the process of not only performing but also putting in the legwork of creating a song. “I like both; they are very different. For me, working in the studio is the time I have to be really creative and come up with new ideas, new sounds, new stories. It’s a safe place,” said Gabriel. “It’s like the place where I put down my diary entries into music, and I love that. I can do that forever. Performing is different; it’s all about connection. It’s like taking those ideas from the studio and testing them out in the world.”
“I love performing new material and just connecting with audiences, seeing what resonates. Bringing people together is one of my biggest joys in life outside of performing. Performing is just one other tool that I have to bring people together. That’s just one of my joys in life, and I can’t pick one over the other.”
In a society where the NBA or NFL is what the youth gravitates towards as symbols of success, other avenues such as music have become a lost art, especially in our schools. It’s very rarely heard of youth participating in music courses throughout grade school anymore. Going to a school like Garfield, Gabriel understands how important it is for our youth to be a part of this field and to support them.
“The youth are already the cutting edge, so how do we support the music the youth is already doing? How do we create spaces that they feel like are theirs?” said Gabriel. “Spaces where they can perform, spaces where they can connect with each other. As older folks in the community, it's about supporting them.”
“Young people are making music no matter what, and they’re going to make music that may sound and look different than what we think it should look or sound like. But the music we made when we were young also looked and sounded completely different than the generation that came before us. For me, it’s not even a question; it’s about how do we support the music the youth is making,” Gabriel expressed.
From 1996 until the present day, Gabriel T has put pen to paper, voice to beat, and performed in front of numerous crowds. His passion, dedication, and countless hours devoted to his craft are the reasons why, 28 years later and counting, he is still in music. Consistently intentional on making albums as opposed to releasing singles, he displays how much he cares to give his audience full-length projects.
Gabriel T currently has an album out he released in September titled "From The Ashes Of Our Homes," which he produced and made the majority of the beats for. The album is centered around the pandemic that took place in 2020 up until now, losing family and friends, and a war that took place in Ethiopia, where his mother’s family is from.
“I just want people to listen, press play. I make albums, I don’t make singles,” said Gabriel. “If people are new to my music, I would want them to listen to an entire album from beginning to end and realize every piece of it is intentional, and I’m telling stories I don’t hear anywhere else. If they’re hungry for stories they don’t hear anywhere else as well, my music may be a thing that resonates.”
