The last time we saw Blondshell in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection was when she opened Franklin Music Hall for Exile in Guyville’s 30th anniversary tour, which — I find out during a recent Zoom chat — was apparently the first encounter our phriend, and one-time Philthy resident, Gabi Gamberg (AKA Daffo) had with the indie rock singer/songwriter. However, tonight Daffo will kick off a little more than a week of dates supporting Blondshell on If You Asked For A Tour, including a stop at Union Transfer this Saturday, June 21st. The date will be Blondshell’s first stop at Union Transfer since opening the Eraserhood venue for Suki Waterhouse in January of 2023, and it will be Daffo’s first-ever time playing the room… although, earlier this month, they were also announced as support for Wednesday’s upcoming East Coast dates, which kick off November 10th at UT.
Late last month I got a chance to catch up with Daffo for the first time since fall of last year, just prior to kicking off a run supporting illuminati hotties (which featured a stellar show at The Church). In the time since, Gabi moved from New York to LA, recorded a bunch of new music with Rob Schnapf (including recent singles “Absence Makes the Heart Grow” and “Quick Fix”), and just wrapped a round of dates supporting Annie DiRusso. Read what else they had to tell me during our most recent chat, get your tickets to see them open Union Transfer for Blondshell and Wednesday (ticket links below), and listen for Daffo on the June edition of Philthy Radio, which airs tomorrow, 6/20, 9-11pm ET on Y-Not Radio.
*Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Izzy Cihak: The last time we spoke, you were just about to kick off your tour with illuminati hotties. How was that tour? Your show at The Church was totally great.
Gabi Gamberg: It was really great! Playing with illuminati hotties was really fun! And the crowd was really fun! Every tour that I go on, there are more people coming to see me. It’s really invigorating to have an audience that is really stoked about live music in general and the illuminati hotties’ crowd was really excited to see music and really welcoming to me.
Izzy: At the time, you had just started recording with Rob Schnapf, and you were telling me you were getting ready to head back out to LA after the holidays to do some more with him. And you’ve obviously dropped a few tracks since then. How was that time with him earlier this year?
Gabi: It was a really wonderful experience. Rob really knows how to serve the song, to produce in a way that builds the song up, rather than just throwing shit at it. It feels like all of his production enhances the song so much more. All the production, even though I didn’t do it, feels really true to me and feels like me. He did such a wonderful job including me in the process and also making sure that everything fits really well. It’s not very overstated. I wouldn’t call it understated, but everything serves a purpose in a way that feels really good. It feels like we were just adding pieces of a puzzle that were already meant to be there. It just feels incredible to work with him, especially since he’s worked with some of my favorite artists. It’s surreal, honestly.
Izzy: On that note, do you have any favorite records that he’s worked on, in addition to your own?
Gabi: Of course! Figure 8, literally one of the best records ever! From a Basement on the Hill, that’s my favorite Elliott record right now. I think maybe my favorite Elliott record is Either/Or, but right now my favorite Elliott record is From a Basement on the Hill.
Izzy The first time we spoke – which I think was just like a year ago, during the Sir Chloe tour – you mentioned having a lot of big ideas for music videos, but not yet quite having the resources to always execute them like you may want to, but you do have super cool videos for both “Absence Makes The Heart Grow” and “Quick Fix,” so I’m curious what kinds of things inspired them, which are basically as cool as any videos I’ve seen this year?
Gabi: The fun thing about having resources, now that I’m signed, is that I get to include people in my life to make these projects with me. I made the “Absence” video with my sister. We were able to have the budget and the resources that we wanted, but also I was able to come up with the concept with my sister and we were able to figure it out together, which was really fun, and I love that video so much. Working with my sister can get a little bit difficult, because we’re sisters [laughs], but it turned out absolutely incredible.
And my friend Weston and I were hanging out and I was like, “Do you wanna help me make a video? I have to make a video for ‘Quick Fix.’” We were coming up with ideas, and we were like, “It sounds like a cleaning spray! Oh my god, we should make like one of those 2000s infomercials!” We got super excited about it, and then we got super excited about the merch that could go along with it, and the number that you get to call on the screen! That one was kind of like a whole world that we got to to build around the video. I just moved to LA in December and he’s my friend from New York, but he flew out to LA and we made the video in like a day. He’s a brilliant film and video maker. I’m just so lucky to know him.
Izzy: You always seem to tour with such amazing acts, from Sir Chloe to illuminati hotties, and you’re about to hit the road with Annie DiRusso and Blondshell, back-to-back, who are equally amazing. What are your thoughts on each of them?
Gabi: Oh my god, they’re both incredible! I saw Blondshell open for Liz Phair in Philly! I got V.I.P. tickets, and I’d never heard of Blondshell, and I go to the show and she kills it! I was right up front, and I was like, “This is absolutely electric! This is incredible! Her voice is insane!” And Liz Phair is one of my favorite artists of all-time, so when I got the offer for the tour, I was like, “Oh my god, this is so cool! This feels like I’m opening for Liz Phair, by association [laughs].” I’m just so honored to be even in the world of these artists, to even be considered is so incredible for me. Sabrina seems like such a wonderful person, so I can’t wait to get to know her and go on tour together and hear her music every night!
And then Annie, we found each other on Instagram and hit it off and are both fans of each other’s music. I was so excited when she offered me the tour, and then she asked me to write a verse on one of her songs, “Back in Town (On the Road).” It was really fun stepping into a poppier genre and being able to write something in that vein. I was just in the UK doing some headline stuff and festival stuff and she was there at the same time and we finally got to meet in person. We were playing The Great Escape Festival, and we met, and she feels like an old friend to me, already. I’m so excited to be on the road with her. I’m going to see her tonight at Webster Hall. I totally love the music, she’s incredible live, and I’m just so excited.
Izzy: Your dates with Blondshell are going to be some of the biggest rooms and stages you’ve played. What can be expected of your live show, in terms of how it translates to such huge spaces?
Gabi: I think we’ll find out… I hope it translates [laughs]. It’s a new band. Unfortunately, my last band all had other things they had to do. One was on a different tour, and the other two had to focus on their own music, and we just weren’t able to make it work this time. So, I’m playing with people who’ve all been in the band before, but they were all in the Gabi Gamberg band, pre-Daffo. Two of them are from my band in high school and one is from my band in college, so it’s been really fun to get everybody back together. It’s cool to have different players, it brings a different side to the songs. It’ll be fun to play with the new band and see how that translates. I’ve got a 30-minute set and I have about a 30 minutes of released music. We’re playing “Quick Fix” full-band, which is a really fun arrangement! I might throw a new song in there, if I’m feeling excited about it!
Izzy: I saw that you’re going to be playing Pitchfork Festival Paris in November, which is so amazing!
Gabi: I can’t even believe it!
Izzy: Yeah! How excited are you for that? The last time we spoke you mentioned that you’d only started playing festivals relatively recently.
Gabi: Yeah, the last time I spoke to you I think I was telling you how the only festival I’d ever been to was the first festival I played, Tree Fort Music Fest… I’m really, really excited. And, my friend quinnie is playing the same day, the 7th, at a different venue. Wombo is playing; I love Wombo! I’m just so excited to get to go. I also just announced that I’m playing London Calling in Amsterdam around the same time. I can’t wait to just see all the good music.
Izzy: Finally, in addition to these major overseas festivals, what are you most excited about in the second half of 2025?
Gabi: I am releasing some more music and I’m doing some more touring… I’m opening for Wednesday, which is fucking insane to me, because they’re one of my favorite bands. We’re playing Union Transfer again! I’m excited for more music and more shows!
*Get your tickets for 6/21 at Union Transfer (supporting Blondshell) here.
**Get your tickets for 11/10 at Union Transfer (supporting Wednesday) here.
