The last time we spoke with Daffo was just six months ago, when the Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter (who resided in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection not so long ago) was on their very first tour, supporting alt-rockers Sir Chloe, which included a stop at The Foundry. However, Daffo (aka Gabi Gamberg) has done quite a bit since then… This summer Daffo released an alternate version of “Poor Madeline” (off of 2023 EP Pest) featuring Portland indie folk singer/songwriter Searows (Alec Duckart) and a remix of “Good God” (also off of Pest) courtesy of Porches. Last month Daffo re-released Pest and 2021 debut EP Crisis Kit as an LP, in addition to brand-new single “Get a Life,” produced by Rob Schnapf (Elliott Smith, Beck, Cat Power). Daffo is currently on tour supporting Sarah Tudzin’s illuminati hotties, which will have Daffo returning to their former hometown this Thursday, October 17th, for their first-ever trip to the legendary First Unitarian Church. A few weeks ago Gabi and I got a chance to catch up via Zoom, the night before the kickoff of the Can’t Be Still Tour with illuminati hotties…
Izzy Cihak: You just re-released your first two EPs as an LP and dropped a remix of Pest’s “Good God” by Porches. So, I’m curious to hear the origins of that track in particular…
Gabi Gamberg: The original “Good God” or the remix?
Izzy: I guess both! I know you are a big Porches fan!
Gabi: I’m a huge Porches fan! The remix, I still can’t believe that happened! I’d just signed to Concord Records, and my manager was like, “We should rerelease some stuff from Pest with new versions!” They were like, “What are some ideas that you have?” And immediately I was like, “It would be so sick if Porches remixed something like ‘Good God.’” And then a few weeks later my manager texted me like, “Oh, he’s into it!” And I was like, “What? What do you mean? You just hit him up and sent it to him?” So yeah, I guess that just worked out! But I wrote “Good God” after this horrible interaction with a man [laughs].
Izzy: As a lot of songs are written [laughs].
Gabi: Yeah [laughs].
Izzy: You also recently released a reimagined version of “Poor Madeline” featuring Searows, who is also so cool. How did the idea for that come about and how was it working with him?
Gabi: It was so amazing. I know that a lot of people wanted an acoustic version of that, and I wasn’t so keen on that, because I’ve been playing it live since high school full-band, and that’s how I’d imagined it. So, I was like, “If I’m going to do a new version of this, I want a new version, I don’t want it to just be an acoustic version!”
And I know that Alec likes the song. I opened for him in New York at Baby’s All Right a while ago and he was like, “I love ‘Poor Madeline!’ I’m a big fan!” So I was like, “It would be so beautiful to have Alec’s voice on this,” especially since I wrote it so long ago. I was like, “If I’m gonna do a new version, I wanna make it new. I want it to feel good to me.”
I recorded it with Philip Weinrobe. The whole take is live. He just got these amazing musicians in there and we literally did like three or four takes, and we were just like, “There you go!” It just felt so good. When I was recording it, it felt good to me, it felt new to me. I felt like the emotion was there, and I was really glad to have the live recording. I feel like my vocals were pretty raw.
And then we sent it to Alec, and he put all these amazing harmonies over it, and we gave him a second verse… We really didn’t wanna tell him what to do, because we just loved his sound. We wanted to let him take it where he wanted to and see what happened and it was literally just perfect. It was beautiful!
Izzy: You’re just about to kick off a really massive tour with illuminati hotties, who are so amazing and who also have a connection to Sir Chloe, who you toured with earlier this year. How excited are you for this tour? Were you previously a friend or fan of Sarah’s, who just does so many amazing things?
Gabi: Sarah does such amazing work. I love her production work, I love illuminati hotties… I don’t know if she DMed me, or if I just found out, but they just asked! They were just like, “We’re going on tour in the fall, do you wanna come with us?” And I was like, “Yeah, no shit!” I was on tour with Sir Chloe when they reached out about it. It was my first tour, and I was just like, “God, I hope this happens again! I hope this isn’t just like a one-off thing!” and they reached out in the middle of the tour, and I was just like, “Oh, my god! This is just a dream-come-true.” I’m so excited. We’re already in Santa Ana right now, and our first show is tomorrow!
Izzy: What can be expected of the live show when you play First Unitarian Church next month? Has it evolved in any notable ways since the last time you were here, with Sir Chloe.
Gabi: Yeah! We’re tighter! We’ve been playing together for longer and everything just kind of sounds better to me, and we’re playing some new songs. It’s really hard because I really just wanna play a set of all new songs, but I know that everybody wants to hear the stuff that we have out [laughs], so we’re doing most of the songs that’re out, other than Crisis Kit, except for one show I think we’re playing “waste,” because we have one person that wanted us to play it, so we’re playing it in, I think, Milwaukee. But yeah, we’re playing some new songs, and we have a new setlist order, and we’re just tighter, so I’m stoked! And there’s one song I’m going to attempt to play a guitar solo on. I don’t think I’ve ever played a guitar solo live. So, we’ll see how that goes [laughs]. But yeah, I’m just excited to play!
Izzy: On a related note, do you have a particular favorite type of venue or setting to play? I know you’ve done a ton of DIY shows, which I know The Church technically is, but it’s a bit bigger, to put it mildly… But yeah, do you have a favorite type of venue to play?
Gabi: Really, the DIY shows are just the best! Everybody is just so excited and enthusiastic and there’s dancing and it’s no pressure. So, I feel like I’m really able to connect with the audience in a DIY show, because we’re usually on the same level, there’s no stage. But playing the bigger shows is really awesome, but does feel like kind of separating to like be up on a stage…
Izzy: Considering that you’re about to spend so much time on the road, I’m curious what you’re planning on listening to a lot of this fall, whether albums that just dropped, albums that are about to drop, or just stuff you enjoy listening to all the time, or specifically in the fall? Anything you’re really digging or looking forward to at the moment?
Gabi: Yeah, totally! My friend Veronica Everhart just dropped the first half of her album and that’s super cool. It’s such an innovative sound, and I love her songwriting and her voice, so I’m super stoked to listen to that. My friends all make music, so I’m so lucky to have them! My friend Kali, his project is called Superfan, his album Tow Truck Jesus is absolutely phenomenal! It’s my favorite thing right now. I’ve just been listening to it nonstop. And then I’ve been listening to the new Hello Mary record and it’s really great.
Izzy: I love them! I haven’t listened to the new one, but I absolutely loved the first one and covered them back when they were on that album cycle.
Gabi: Yeah! They’re so sick! I remember I saw them live for the first time on the Sir Chloe tour in Boisie at Treefort Music Festival. It was actually the first festival I’ve ever been to. We played it, and I was like, “This is crazy! This is awesome!” We saw them the same day we played, and I was just like enthralled. They’re so great live and so cool. After that I just started listening to them a lot, and I’ve been really enjoying their new record.
Izzy: What’s next for you? What are you hoping and planning for after these dates wrap, early in November? Anything you’re especially excited about?
Gabi: I’ve been recording with Rob Schnapf in LA… After tour’s over, it’ll be kind of holiday season, and so we’re gonna take a break and write some more songs. And then, in January, I’m going back out to LA. I’m super stoked about that.
Izzy: Well, thank you so much for taking the time to chat. It was a pleasure!
Gabi: Of course! Thank you for having me!
Izzy: Yeah! And I will definitely be at your show next month at The Church. I’m so excited for it! I’m stoked on the lineup! Both of you are so amazing.
Gabi: Yeah! It’s gonna be really fun! I can’t wait! I’ve been wanting to go to that venue for so long. It’s funny, a lot of my first music experiences, like my first festival, and my first time being at certain venues, is my first time playing them, which I think is kind of fun! It’s an interesting perspective!
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