If Passion Pit and Chromeo got together in a motel along the Vegas Strip, Gibbz would be that sweet, sweet baby child offspring. He wowed us all with his electro-pop studio session today; you can watch him perform “How It’s Supposed to Be,” “Stay For a While,” and “I Really Love You” above.
We asked to share what he’s most excited about for this year. Turns out, he’s a bit of a jokester in interviews:
Let’s see… I think the Pistons are going to the Super Bowl; my cats are getting bigger; Elvis has to get neutered, that sucks. 6 months is the prime time… snip. – Gibbz
His coy, self-depreciative sense of humor doesn’t get in the way of all that he’s also accomplished. Gibbz just finished an international tour with Cherub and Mike Floss. He’s also collaborated with Gramatik and Haywyre, and, with the help of a successful Kickstarter campaign, his full-length debut album, Above Water, dropped last month to critical acclaim.
Speaking of his Kickstarter, his approach to garnering donations was quite inspirational and inventive. Incentives to choose from included Gibbs green-screening himself in front of an exotic location, calling your name; performing a song on stage to a picture of you; a Skype songwriting lesson; even printing an poster of an elementary school picture of you, hanging it above his bed for 30 night.
Fresh out of Berklee College of Music with an music production degree, Mike Gibney originally signed himself up to be an audio engineer. After 5 years of, in his words, a “thankless miserable existence,” Gibney was transformed into Gibbz, and we’re all the more thankful for his transformation.
—Cory Healy