Gabriel Leath-Yates: Unpretentious Simplicity

If you passed by the fringe of Deansgate in Manchester on the 2nd December 2018 at around half past seven, you might have come across a small music venue, but ‘larger-than-life’ Irish Pub named Kiely’s, holding an intimate acoustic gig fronted by an emerging local musician, Gabriel Leath-Yates. I’ve discovered a lot of things since starting my degree in journalism, and; I’ve met a countless amount of talented musicians that beg the question “Why aren’t you famous yet?” Gabes is indeed one of them.

The crisp smell of stale booze and oaky bar furnishings warmed Kiely’s as the faint hue of Christmas began to set in. The Christmas Tree fairy lights illuminated Gabes’ guitar, swaying slowly as he grooved to his jazz chords played over some well known covers. I arrived at Kiely’s at quarter to seven, Gabes was already playing by then but whether I was 45 minutes late or 15 minutes late, we’ll never know. Regardless, the warm welcome I received from the intimate venue and smooth acoustic melodies confirmed for me that it was a good time to arrive. He gave me a passive smirk to let me know he’d seen me. God, the boy’s cool.

Gabes’ ‘I don’t give a fuck’ appearance and style is the antithesis of what his musicality represents. He plays with soul and sings with a raw, untrained, unpretentious simplicity, becoming complete when his Guitar is on his shoulder and there is an audience in front of him. His Tanglewood acoustic is decorated with old bracelets on the neck - it doesn’t look scruffy, it oozes confidence, embellishing his signature and persona on stage for appearing complacent, but undoubtedly ‘giving a shit’. I was sitting down with my Guinness (when in Rome) as he began to sing his beautiful rendition of Sam Cooke’s ‘Change is Gonna Come’. He hit the first phrase and immediately the bar began to quieten down. His style consists of broken chords which relaxed the ambience in the bar, allowing him to express his full ‘belt’ vocal range, gradually the “wow, this guy’s good” from the unexpecting audience unintentionally provided a marching bass line for Gabes’ performance.

Ignorant audiences to Gabes’ solo performances are constantly blown away by how impressive he is. ‘Change is Gonna Come’ is one of his more recognisable covers, with his stripped back arrangement consisting of just broken chords and the odd knock on the body of his guitar, which allows him to express his full musical range shamelessly. “It’s just such a powerful song, and a lot of people know it, so it just lets me show off my range and projection. What I hope to do with that song is build on it - jazz it up a bit more or play it in a higher register just so I can really give it some, and give a performance that gives the song justice.” He said later that night, as he lit a cigarette and sipped on a tin of Carling.

His musical portfolio doesn’t just include dramatic Sam Cooke songs. He continued his set by performing an eclectic selection of covers and originals, and seems to enjoy the positive response he gets from the audience, who, at Kiely’s were progressively becoming more intoxicated. Gabes reminded me later on that he “like[s] to spice everything up a bit.” simply because I was so impressed with how one can switch from a slow, dramatic song to ‘Lady - Hear Me Tonight’ by Modjo on demand. He explained the theory behind his strong performances, and also mentioned how being in Manchester has allowed him to improve thanks to playing with other talented musicians, “Being in Manchester has kind of forced me to be better. When you’re playing with good musicians, you want to bring something good to them.”

The end of his set at Kiely’s meant it was time for him to experience something he’s never had to do before: an interview. It says a lot about an artist who feels more exposed being talked to in a one-on-one situation over them standing in front of a full bar of people, playing a guitar and elegantly singing lyrics of their own and of their inspirations’.

When discussing the music scenes in Stoke and Manchester, he paused, like a war veteran thinking back on harder times (could Stoke really be that bad?) “I’ve played with a lot more people here, a lot of really good musicians. It’s broadened my understanding of music through just playing with people and understanding how other people play. But gigs-wise, in Stoke they can be quite intimate, small gigs, but the quality here is a lot better and more people turn up for them.” He continued to drink his beer and looked comfortingly at his flatmates and friends, who were in the room at the time watching the interview take place, skipping song after song on their Spotify ‘BIMM’ playlist, host to the music the group enjoys to get drunk to, which inevitably follows with a ‘flat 16 jam session’.

“I have a lot more time on my hands, so writing with other people has given me more opportunities to play with people as well. That’s helped me write more interesting stuff. So ‘freedom-wise’ it’s kind of forced me to write better and more often. Especially when you’re playing with good musicians, you want to bring something good to them. Like I want to turn up and play some interesting chords for Sam to play over, and a nice rhythm so Danny isn’t just playing basic beats.” Sam and Danny jokingly gesture to each other which Gabes laughs along with. The bond he forms with musicians he enjoys playing with is obvious, including the respect he has for all forms of artistic expression.

Gabriel Leath-Yates is the kind of artist you can listen to and forget about your own problems for however long he plays. Of course, he’s no exception to making musical ‘errors’ from time to time, but an artist that can enjoy playing ‘wrong’ chords then turn them into melodic devices deserves recognition, and that’s what I’m giving someone who has a very bright future ahead of himself, should he continue performing the way he did at kiely’s on the 2nd December. Adam Levine said in an interview with Rolling Stone “Rap is responsible for all music industry innovation.” Well if there is anyone who is going to prove him wrong, it’s Gabriel Leath-Yates.