Oregon Music News: Oregon’s all-genre music magazine since 2009

03/19/2020

Premiere: Gabby Holt “Did I Make This Up” Music Video

By C. FRANCIS O’LEARY // Exclusive OMN premiere: Gabby Holt “Did I Make This Up” Music Video

Portland rocker Gabby Holt has her debut EP on the way. To hold fans over until the EP’s release, today she’s releasing the music video for her lead single, “Did I Make This Up.” The EP, titled The Star and The Devil, will release this fall.

Holt has been a musician all her life, she said in an interview with OMN. The story her family tells is that as a toddler walking through a toy store she fixated on a plastic guitar. Every year from then on, she got toy guitars for Christmas. At seven, though, it was time for the real deal. An uncle taught Holt a few chords and she learned more in church, but due to her tireless drive to “learn to shred the geetar” she is largely self-taught.

Holt’s vocal and guitar-playing skills improved over time as she seized every opportunity to perform. During her late teens she took to sneaking into 21+ open mics to play for crowds and throughout the early 2010s she played in several bands including Gabby Holt & The Hedges and Hivemind. In 2012, while Holt was a member of Hivemind, a bandmate introduced her to Daniel Riddle of King Black Acid. She’s been singing, playing guitar and cowriting songs in KBA ever since.

Though Gabby Holt & The Hedges disbanded several years ago, Holt said it was only ever a matter of time before she started her own band up again. She did just that in 2018. The eponymously named band includes Charley McGowan, drums; Sean Tichenor, bass; Aura Zorba, guitar; and, of course, Gabby Holt; singer/songwriter and guitar. Together, they are now working on the band’s first EP, The Star and The Devil. The EP is slated for release this fall.

Holt wrote “Did I Make This Up” in response to a string of bad dating experiences a few years ago. She found herself “dating the same person over and over again,” she said. And though the person she was dating may have been great, there was something preventing her from connecting with them. She came to realize that there might be something else preventing her from taking pleasure in their company, something she had created herself.

In the music video, that creation takes the form of a figure clad all in black. It doesn’t threaten or menace Holt, but it’s always present in the background. To Holt, that shadow represents the things our psyches make up that block us from experiencing life. We all have them and realizing that provides an opportunity for introspection and self-work.

Holt was planning a music video release party at Bunk Water Bar in Portland on March 21. That show has been tentatively rescheduled for Aug. 21 due to COVID-19.

To stay up to date on the upcoming EP, follow Gabby Holt on Insta and Facebook. You can support Holt during Coronavirus shutdown by donating to her Venmo.  

 

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Comments

Summer Menkee

THIS is SO BADASS Gabby - amazing artistry in every aspect of this video direction and YOUR MUSIC!

Bettyjean Fernandez

Looking forward to your music!!

Jeri

Gabby so intense, so real so proud of what you do. The feeling in this goes to the heart

Kollibri

SOOOOOO cool!!

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