CarloWorld lost files

CARLO BIO Carlo is an unsigned singer/songwriter with an ear for beats, a voice with soul, and a last name that looks unpronounceable. “It’s actually really easy if you just sound it out,” he laughs. In the end, he dropped his last name, “Gebilagin”, and decided to introduce his unique offering of urban grooves as a one name artist. So in the tradition of Madonna, Prince (and later when he became that squiggly drawing known as “Symbol”), and Nelly (not Furtado, but the Nelly that wore the band aid on his face), Carlo brings you his first independent LP, Obsessed. Obsessed, which sees hip hop clash with house and electro elements, was recorded over a one year period at Funky Electro Studios in Sydney’s west. Carlo’s influences range from the Neptunes for their unique mix of urban hip hop and contemporary sounds, Timbaland for his grooving beats, to The Beatles and Stevie Wonder. “Touch Me”, “Obsessed” and “Take Em Off” are a handful of the standouts on this album. Carlo says, “When I was writing the music to all three I had the Neptunes and Timbaland in mind and I think it shows.” The album also features a number of collaborations with Sydney’s best new hip hop talent. “Collaboration-wise, when I write music, I can already see a picture of what it sounds like. I also think of the type of people I see when I write the songs and that’s how I choose people to collaborate with. They help paint the picture of the song.” Carlo adds, “Sometimes I just need more attitude in the songs and I don’t have it!” Carlo grew up in the Sydney suburb of Bossley Park, a place more famous for its huge Woolworths than anything else. But it was there in suburbia that he developed his love of music and performance. He always wanted to entertain: when he was in year one he told his concerned mum that he wanted to be a clown. Although he was a comedic hit with his six-year-old classmates, he decided not to follow through with that career path and started singing instead. It wasn’t until he was in mid-high school at Patrician Brothers College in Fairfield that he started taking music seriously. He picked up the mic and guitar and began performing as the frontman of the school’s band. “Performing in high school was the best. It was great practice for future gigs and I could always just muck around on stage and have almost no stage fright ’cause all my boys were in the crowd.” After he left high school, Carlo studied audio engineering at JMC Academy where he honed in his producing skills. He also managed and performed in dance group Flip Mode which came second in Groove 2005 (a national hip hop dance competition). Carlo is currently completing his Masters in Audio Acoustics at Sydney University. Now that the 20-year-old has completed his first independent release, he is looking forward to playing gigs around Sydney and finding more ears for his music. “I love music because it has the power to evoke feelings in people. I listen to a lot of fun music because I like to live a fun life. I can’t wait to write more music in the future with even better equipment. Who knows what kind of crazy compositions I’ll be able to come up with then?”

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