Musicians Interviews (Jose Gabriel Morales, Guatemala)

Helo Lads, Back again, in this year 2020, I will introduce one of my friends from far away country, Guatemala, Jose Gabriel Morales! He is super cool person, Bassist, also producer of Beatle International Day in His country, playing bass for The Rubber Souls (Beatle tribute band from Guatemala)
I remember when we met in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Having meals with all the band, Singing and speak about some stuff and He is collecting some Beatles stuff like all The Beatles Fans all around the world. He is playing lefty, so it definitely make Him, Legit to be Paul McCartney's in a Beatle tribute band! and I know some of Left handed people have advantage in many aspect of life. So here it is, my Interview with Gabriel.

Helo or Should I say Hola Gabriel, Please describe yourself!
My name is Jose Gabriel Morales, and I'm the producer of a festival called BEATLES INTERNATIONAL DAY GUATEMALA, Which is the biggest Beatle event in Central America. In Addition, I'm the bass player of THE RUBBER SOULS, whose mission is to pay tribute to The Beatles, in the way this legendary band deserves it.

How do you get into Music? How long have you been playing?
In 2006 I had the intention to learn how to play an instrumen for the first time. I choose the bass, because at first glance, it looked less difficult than the guitar (laughs). At the beginning, it was difficult for me to buy my first bass, since I'm left handed and these variations are extremely difficult to get in my country.
In my first band (called "DeLaNada") we had a female singer, and we played very varied covers such as Guns n Roses, The Cranberries, The White Stripes and Lenny Kravitz, among others. Later, I was part of another cover band called "Gulliver", whose repertoire consisted mostly of Brit Rock (The Beatles, Coldplay, Oasis, Radiohead and U2, to name a few). This stage of my life coincided with the first editions of The Beatles Day Festival, Which later made me involve myself fully to this project until today.

Do you have a favorite musicians or role model?
Beside of The Beatles, I've always been a rock fan in all it's genres...among my favorites, I can name some bands like Queen, AC/DC, Van Haeln, 3 Doors Down, Creed, Audioslave or Velvet Revolver among many others. I don't think I have a spesific role model, since I am fan of the music rather than it's performers. But if you ask me about my favorite Beatle, It's definitely Paul! (Both with The Beatles and Wings, and of course His solo career).

What's instrument do you play and have?
Currently I have four basses: The first was a very cheap "Rogue" bass, the one I bought for learn and how to play and still using it to rehearse. The second one is my favorite, a modified "Fender Jazz" bass; I'm deeply in love with it's performance, the look and the sound. I also have a 5-string "Schecter Stilleto" Bass, whose sound is more suitable for heavier music genres. Due to my work in bands who pay tribute to The Beatles, my last acquisition was a "Hofner Ignition" bass, but to be honest, despite being the most "Beatlesque" and a very recognizable icon, I don't like it's sound very much... it seems to me that's more suitable for small or acoustic gigs, and I really enjoy playing on bigger stages.

What Band are you playing now?
At the moment, I'm only part of The Rubber Souls, but I'm always open to explore other projects and possibilities. With the band, we recently made a collaboration with Fabiola Raudha, a very famous and talented Guatemalan singer, with our own version of "With a little help from my friends" Joe Cocker style, which has begun to open many doors to us, and the possibilities of keep doing amazing stuff with Fabiola are endless. Also with other friends, we're considering the possibility of making a symphonic tribute to Coldplay, make versions of Beatle songs in marimba (the native musical instrument of Guatemala) and some other ideas Here, There... and Everywhere.

What do you think about music scene today?
At least in Guatemala, despite the fact that right now we have a large number of local bands (more than ever) That play their own music, I feel that the local scene is still very dominated, for better or worse, by tributes (either in band or symphonic format). Nostalgia definitely prevails, altough in general, the region has always been strongly (and sadly, I guess) influenced by latin rythms like reggaeton, trap or cumbia.

Can you named 5 albums that change your life?
Since The Beatles Day movement began to grow in our country (much more than we have imagined), I decided that I was gonna get deeply involved in the matter, so I took on the mission thoroughly exploring the music and the history of this band. a few album such as
"Abbey Road", "Help!", "Rubber Souls" (which gave the name to my band) influenced me a lot, and motivated me to know more about the Fab Four. Other very varied albums such as "Toxicity" (System of a down) "Hybrid Theory" (Linkin Park) or "Random Access Memories" (Daft Punk) to name a few, have marked very different and specific times of my life.

What do you want to say to fellow musicians around the world?

Please, don't let anyone tell you that it's not possible to make music your way of life. I can fully attest, both in my own experience and with many of my friends and/or colleagues, that you can get involved in the music business as a career (either as a musicians, a sound engineer or a producer, as well as in the field of education or music marketing).

What is your biggest achievement so far?

Being the producer of a festival like The Beatles day, which has become the largest Beatle event not only in Guatemala but throughout Central America, and bringing amazing Beatle bands to our country like Blac Rabbit from the United States, The Jukebox Beatles from Puerto Rico, The BeaGirls from Costa Rica and many others, is an achievement that fills me with great pride and joy. The Beatles changed my life forever, for better or worse (I must say that I also had some difficulties and bad experiences related to the event in all these years, but happily the vast majority of these experiences have been highly satisfactory, besides that we definitely have to learn from all the bad things that happen to us). In addition, being part of The Rubber Souls allowed us to proudly represent Guatemala, in an event as great and prestigious as the 2018 edition of the Latin American Beatle Week in Buenos Aires (Argentina), which was a dream come true and a fascinating journey for all of us, having contact with the richness of the Argentine culture and meeting so many beautiful and amazing people. In this little corner of the world, we do our best to keep alive the musical legacy of the greatest band of all time, and speaking for myself, it has been an incredible experience that I would not exchange anything in the world.