We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gabe Valle a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Gabe thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
Pursuing a creative art is the one of the biggest risks an individual can take. To others in the world it may appear short sighted. selfish, and delusional. While some characterize this life in a negative light I like to flip it it upside down. I choose to focus on long term success, collaborative work, and big dreams Pursuing the creation of music is more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. At age 6 I began my violin studies. By 16 I was training at the highest levels surrounded by music night and day. When I was unsure of my career choice at such a young age I would often look to my teachers for advice. Every single one believed in me and that made me make the jump and since age 18 I have been a full time working musician. at age 27 I opened a commercial recording studio in NJ. Working with artists every day has changed my life for the better and I hope to do this for my entire professional life
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
At age 16 I was studying jazz violin at The New School In New York. I asked my teacher one day if he thinks this is something I should seriously pursue. He told me he never had a doubt. This made me lean harder into the world of music and specifically the scene in NYC. Jazz musicians Scott Tixier and Jon Batiste have been guiding lights for me. Scott has turned into a good friend who I go to for advice often. After opening my recording studio Big & Tall Recording in NJ we have gone on to garner more than 500 million streams on music we have worked on. We just past our 500th song in just 2 years. TI aim to produce high quality recording associated with high budget studios while offering the comforts of producing music with your friends. Big & Tall works with a shared vision for ultimately letting the artist create in an environment where they can most be themselves.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When the pandemic hit in 2020 I lost all my professional playing gigs. I was stuck at home with my roommate Tom and decided to start recording and making music with our friends. It slowly grew to take up our whole living room. Within one year we rented a commercial space in our building to take on more sessions. Within 2 years my roommate Tom went full time with the studio and now are opening our second studio. I am still working on finding a healthy balance between playing out and working at my studio. But the best thing that I had ever done was pivoting into recording. We have built a huge community of friends through making art. I could not think of something more positive to happen out of something so challenging for all of us.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Our mission is to make good sounding music. We want people to be comfortable in a space where they can most be themselves.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bigandtallrecording.com/
- Instagram: @bigandtallrecording