Brandon Giannasi, better known as Gringo Soul, is a solo artist out of Dallas, Texas. I asked Brandon where he got the name of his band, and he said it he was working with a bunch of Hispanic people and they all referred to white people as “Gringos.” The word “Gringo” just rang with him so he “rolled with it,” and he is now known as Gringo Soul. He gets most of his inspiration from the late and great Elvis, Nirvana, Sublime, Creedence Clearwater Revival and even from artists such as Vincent Van Gogh. All of those artists fuel to inspire him to write his funky and soulful songs.
In keeping with his performing name, Brandon tells me that he writes his songs about “being an average gringo” – the celebrations, the life lessons, hardships, and his growth as a musician. “Most of my creative thinking and lyrics writing come while I’m driving,” says Brandon. “There’s just something about it that gets me thinking and really gets my creative juices flowing.” At 4 independent album releases and 34 songs to his credit, Brandon must do his fair share of driving. “On stage, I use my guitar, Korg Keyboard, loop pedal, K oscillator, and octopad. The crowd watching me perform get to see me set up each song using these components, and then I go into the song itself.”
Brandon is hosting an event called The Trash Bash Music Stash on June 28th. It’s an event that you volunteer and you pick up trash on three streets in Dallas TX. After the trash pickup is over, there will be free food, free beer and other drinks and a free concert. And if you don’t fee like picking up trash, you can pay $15 and still have some food, drink and enjoy a great show!
Brandon says if he could open for any band right now it would be the Stone Temple Pilots because he has a lot of respect for the music they make and it would be an honor for him to be able to play a show with them. “Since I haven’t gotten that opportunity, I would have to say my favorite show so far has been at the Woodshed in Fort Worth” Said Brandon. He said it was his favorite because he ended up performing for around 500 people who responded well to him and his music.
To finish up this interview, Gringo Soul had a little advice for people that want to start bands and bands struggling with finding an audience: “When you get denied to play a bar or a venue, you need to stay strong and get back up and get on with your day” said Brandon.
At the time of this interview, Gringo Soul was scheduled to perform on this year’s Dallas Music Festival, presented by EagleOne Entertainment and Gorilla Music . Stop by Gorilla Music for more information on this and other events.
