Interview with Gavin Bradley

Interview with Gavin Bradley

Ottawa’s own Gavin Bradley has remixed and produced music with and for the best of them. From Nelly Furtado, Tori Amos and Esthero to Dido, Britney Spears and Joss Stone, Bradley’s career has been filled with top notch collaborations (his remixes of these divas are dubbed by A-list Djs as clubland gold). His impeccably self-produced first album, Deep Freeze, has him snagging the spotlight for himself.

If we could peak into one of your iPod playlists, what would we see?
“I have this killer summertime playlist I love called Blurred/Humid/Slow Motion. I update it every year to add newer songs that give me that hot summer day feeling.”

What is your biggest style pet peeve?
“The faux-hawk is quite painful to see these days.”

What was the first album you ever purchased?
“I think it was Blondie, Parallel Lines.”

In your opinion, what successful pop artist has been able to stay at the top of his or her game?
“I’m going to give a prediction instead: I think of all the newer school pop artists, Pink will be able to stay at the top of her game long-term. She’s smart and real.”

What’s your musical guilty pleasure?
“Without question, Anne Murray. My mother programmed me by playing her albums during the afternoon when I was an infant. There is nothing more soothing than that honey-and-oats voice.”

What first made you get into the music business?
“As long as I can remember, nothing else was more interesting to me. There were never ‘alternate’ careers up for consideration.”

How long did Deep Freeze take to make?
“It was written and recorded over a period of a year and a half, then various kinds of red tape held back the mixing and release another two years.”

What outside influences helped you write Deep Freeze?
“There tend to be a lot of references to films in the songs, though they aren’t very direct. ‘Good Friend’ came about after thinking about some of the relationships on Six Feet Under and realizing how myself and everyone I knew had similar friendships.”

Where can people buy Deep Freeze and Righteous remixes?
“Deep Freeze is available digitally on iTunes, and the CD version can be bought via my website.” www.gavinbradley.com

Righteous tracks can be found at www.righteousremix.com, www.xpressbeats.com and www.traxsource.com

– Elio Iannacci