OriginS of gubbaroo

Paul and Gabriel have known each other since before they could walk, both growing up in the beautiful Dandenong Ranges of Victoria, Australia. Most weekends were spent together, exploring the forests that adjoined their houses—climbing trees, bike riding, and wading through the creek. Not burdened with social media, and only having TVs that could barely get two channels, their childhoods were immersed in nature, imagination, and an appreciation of the world around them. 

At age four they both began playing musical instruments and instantly started writing. This began a decades long partnership that has taken them both around the World performing with a multitude of line ups. At ages 12 and 13 their band Flavus, with Mathew Cantle on drums, won the Rock Eisteddfod National Battle of the Bands culminating in a performance at Rod Lava Arena in front of 15,000 people and a recording stint at JMC academy recording their first EP. The following year they were runners up in the national finals of the Hard Rock Cafe Battle of the Bands performing at both the Melbourne and Sydney venues. 

As Paul and Gabriel switched focus to furthering their abilities on their instruments, their careers and lives diverged. Paul attended the Victorian College of the Arts School and then Monash University while Gabriel went to Melbourne Universities Conservatorium of Music before heading to the US to complete a Masters of Music at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Life long friends, they have remained in touch yearning for a project that would bring them together once again...  

During the COVID-19 pandemic the two found themselves in quarantine after a camping trip couldn’t go ahead. Twiddling their fingers, they began playing and singing songs they had written as teenagers, switching out the words to be kid-centric, the goal, to send them to their nieces and nephews to brighten their day. 

Entering a kid’s headspace was nothing new though. Paul had been teaching for over 20 years, inspiring the next generation of saxophonists and piano players. Gabe too had extensive teaching experience and had found himself working in child care for the different musical communities he had been a part of during breaks from performing. 

While the pair have graduated into adulthood, neither have lost their joyous wonder of life and the world that surrounds them. Instilled in their childhoods, their outlook on life is infectious and now comes through in the songs they have written for GubbaRoo. 

In a world that seems precariously placed, dominated by division, GubbaRoo wants to remind kids and adults alike what it is to lift people up instead of put them down, treating all as equals. They hope everyone can take a step back and start to care for and prioritize the natural world around them, and get outside to enjoy it’s wonderment instead of watching it on a screen. 

From the moment when GubbaRoo was born, it has been an incredible journey to get the album ready for streaming and the videos ready to rollout on YouTube. Years in the making, GubbaRoo is ready to launch! Time to get on board and enjoy the ride.