RON GALLO
Website: rongallomusic.com
Facebook: facebook.com/rongallomusic
Twitter: twitter.com/rongallo
Instagram: instagram.com/rongallo
STARDUST BIRTHDAY PARTY (2018)
Press Release, Album and Tour Announcement – PDF
Album Cover
PRESS PHOTOS
Photo Credit: Chiara D'Anzieri
A Note From The Ron Gallo:
Stardust Birthday Party is about human evolution. Specifically, one humans evolution: mine, Ron Gallo. That’s the name my parents gave me. Hi.
At one point, I was a very lost mid-twenties person living in Philadelphia, in a relationship with someone struggling with mental health issues and crippling heroin addiction. I was asleep. I didn’t know how to handle my life. I was also writing songs for HEAVY META - my “frustrated with humanity” album. I laugh about it all now, but at the time it all felt like an absolute nightmare. It was the perfect doorway to look inside the place I’d been avoiding forever: myself.
Stardust Birthday Party is about what is happening underneath all of this life stuff. My path inward. The details of my path are pointless because everyone’s path is different. It is about me sitting with myself for the first time and confronting the big question “WHAT AM I, REALLY?” It’s about the love and compassion for all things that enters when you find out you are nothing and everything. I think at one point I wanted to change the world, but now I know I can only change myself, or rather just strip away everything that is not me to reveal the only thing that’s ever been there. And that’s what this album is about, it’s me dancing while destroying the person I thought I was, and hopefully forever.
In the liner notes of John Coltrane’s album A Love Supreme (which we pay tribute to on this album) he wrote: “During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music.”
That’s it. That is the pure essence of creativity. Someone embodying what they have realized about themselves and the world that surrounds them. That is why this album exists.
Thank you for letting me share this with you. -Ron Gallo
PRAISE FOR STARDUST BIRTHDAY PARTY
"...the beauty of Gallo lies in his ability to convey fun as the world’s on fire, to scream bloody mercy when everyone’s smiling." - Noisey
“…Gallo’s sophomore full-length confirms the praise heaped on him.” - American Songwriter
"Stardust Birthday Party showcases the singer-songwriter’s idiosyncratic synthesis of garage rock, ’70s punk and psych-pop. His lyrics are steeped in cosmic reflections of evolution and the broader human condition while his music is an amped-up bag of rock and roll tricks." - Paste Magazine
"Ron Gallo and his band excel at making incredibly gnarly, raucous rock that’s also extraordinarily thoughtful" - Nashville Scene
“God loves it when we work together,” he sings against the upbeat track’s rich, jangly guitars and vibrant percussion. While Gallo’s sentiments may resonate as saccharine, his infectious yawp and party-starting rhythms exude an authentic, urgent sense of exuberance.” - Consequence Of Sound
Really Nice Guys (2018)
Album Cover
press photos
Photo Credit: C.J. Harvey
RON GALLO TO RELEASE REALLY NICE GUYS JANUARY 19th, 2018
CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND PREMIERES FULL EP STREAM AND TRACK BY TRACK
TO APPEAR AT COACHELLA, BONNAROO, HANGOUT, FIREFLY MUSIC FESTIVAL AND MORE
Ron Gallo is set to release Really Nice Guys on January 19th, 2018 via New West Records. The 8-song set was produced by Joe Bisirri & Gallo and is a concept EP which pokes fun at himself and the year he spent supporting his New West Records debut, HEAVY META. Released in February of 2017, HEAVY META was met with critical acclaim with Billboard Magazine calling it “one of the year’s most searing and unfiltered alt-rock albums,” and Noisey stating that it “is Fun and Dark and Garage and Psychedelic and Nice as Hell.” NPR Music called Gallo an “insurgent poet and rock ‘n’ roll disrupter” while NYLON called him “A wordsmith of a writer who just so happens to have a knack for rock and roll.” Really Nice Guys also serves as hilarious commentary on the music industry. It features songs about rough mixes (broken into three parts: iPhone demo, live band demo, and overproduced, autotuned studio recording), the inability of saying a band is bad, so we say “they’re really nice guys” instead, all of your friends asking to be put on the guest list for your show, etc. It also features Gallo’s mother’s boyfriend Jerry’s amazing, real-time thoughts after hearing Really Nice Guys for the first time throughout the EP, captured by a hidden microphone. Consequence of Sound has premiered a stream of Really Nice Guys in full, along with a track by track from Ron Gallo. They state, “While the singer-songwriter continues to deliver poignant and snarky commentary through his blend of garage-y ’60s rock, Really Nice Guys redirects his cynical wit towards the very music industry of which he’s a part.” Listen HERE. Noisey previously premiered the video for the EP’s title track, which is based on an early 00’s skateboarding video, with Gallo performing super underwhelming tricks (watch it HERE). Really Nice Guys is available for pre-order HERE and will be available on compact disc and digitally (with a vinyl release slated later this year).
“Write what you know, Ron Gallo!” he says. “Being constantly on highways, in vans, on planes, on stages, in green rooms, on guest lists, turning a person into a brand, turning a real life human moment into a song, into content, into an asset to be monetized, talking to people about myself and stuff I wrote 3 years ago, watching it all unfold in the public eye from a phone in a van on a highway heading to a stage.” He continues, “It wasn’t what I thought it would be and it was beautiful and I am grateful, but mostly this whole world or pursuing music and the music business is hilarious. So how do you deal with that? Have fun by entertaining yourself with an EP of you laughing at yourself about all of it and call it Really Nice Guys, which is probably all I’ve been for most of this.”
Gallo’s HEAVY META garnered considerable year-end accolades including The Observer calling it one of the “Best Pop Albums of 2017,” American Songwriter including it in their “Top 25 Albums of 2017” list, John Mulvey of UNCUT naming it one of his “favourite albums of 2017,” and Glide Magazine including it in their “20 Best Albums of 2017” list, among others. Paste Magazine named him #3 in their “20 Best New Artists of 2017” list and also included his song “Temporary Slave” in their “50 Best Songs of 2017” list as well. Last year saw Gallo support Spoon, Hurray For The Riff Raff, The Black Angels, Thee Oh Sees, Twin Peaks, and co-headline with White Reaper between his own headlining tours. He also appeared at multiple music festivals including Lollapalooza, Governor’s Ball, Austin City Limits, Voodoo Music Fest and more. Gallo has announced his initial 2018 tour dates which include appearances during both weekends at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Hangout Music Festival, Firefly Music Festival and more (please see dates below with many more to be announced).
Ron Gallo Really Nice Guys Track List:
1. Rough Mix
2. Really Nice Guys
3. Related Artists (For Fans Of…)
4. I’m On The Guestlist
5. YouTubular
6. The East Nashville Kroger Conversation
7. Emotional Impact For Sale
8. Pull Quote (feat. Jerry)
praise for really nice guys
“...the singer-songwriter continues to deliver poignant and snarky commentary through his blend of garage-y ’60s rock, Really Nice Guys redirects his cynical wit towards the very music industry of which he’s a part." - Consequence of Sound
Album cover
press photos
Credit: Tom Bejgrowicz
praise for heavy meta
“Fun and Dark and Garage and Psychedelic and Nice as Hell” - Noisey
“...insurgent poet and rock 'n' roll disruptor…” - NPR Music
"...the music on Heavy Meta is often as catchy and cathartic as the lyrics are dark -- and the songs were made to be played live." - Billboard
"A wordsmith of a writer who just so happens to have a knack for rock and roll." - NYLON
“...rollicking, glam/garage rock and roll, heavy on multiple guitar riffs and a roaring attack that spews confidence, making this sound like Gallo’s fifth album, not his first.” - American Songwriter (4/5 stars)
"When Gallo and his bandmates shift into high gear on 'Young Lady, You're Scaring Me,' 'Please Yourself,' and 'Put the Kids to Bed,' the fusion of Gallo's dirty but melodic melodies and waves of lyrical swagger suggests how Bob Dylan might have ended up if his primal influence had been Black Francis instead of Woody Guthrie." - AllMusic
“The guitar riffs on Heavy Meta are electrifying and head-spinning – the perfect match for Gallo’s unhinged madman vocals. He plays with fuzziness and distortion like a giddy kid in a candy store, creating his own oddball world of sound that is totally intoxicating.” - Glide Magazine (9/10 stars)
“HEAVY META infuses the fury of the Stooges with the dynamism of Zeppelin." - Nashville Scene
"It comes across as a little Experienced, a little Crazy Horsed, a little White Striped and entirely everything great about rock." - Jambase
PREMIERES/EXCLUSIVES
Billboard – "Put The Kids To Bed" Video Premiere
Noisey – HEAVY META Album Premiere
NPR – "Please Yourself" Video Premiere
Brooklyn Vegan – "Young Lady, You're Killing Me" Video Premiere
American Songwriter – "Kill The Medicine Man" Video Premiere
"BEST OF 2017" ACCOLADES
Paste Magazine – "20 Best New Artists of 2017"
The Observer – “Best Pop of 2017”
Paste Magazine – "50 Best Songs of 2017"
UNCUT – “Favorite Albums of 2017”
American Songwriter – "Top 25 Albums of 2017"
Glide Magazine – "Best Albums of 2017"
KCRW – “Best of 2017 (DJ List)”
UNCUT – "The Best Albums Of 2017: Halftime Report"
PERFORMANCE REVIEWS
NYLON – "Don’t Skip Over These Five Acts This Festival Season"
Consequence of Sound – "Voodoo 2017 Festival Review: Top 10 Sets"
Glide Magazine – "Ron Gallo provided what might get my vote for best artist of Voodoo"
Austin Chronicle – "ACL Review: Philly garage rocker’s aim is true"
TimeOut Chicago – "The five best things we saw on Saturday at Lollapalooza"
WXPN's The Key – "NonCOMM Recap: Ron Gallo rocks the socks off of day two"
SXSW Performances – Philadelphia Inquirer, Raleigh News & Observer, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Glide Magazine, The Line Of Best Fit, Play Back Stl, Riverfront Times, JamBase
Nashville Scene – "Ron Gallo Brings Rock ’n' Roll Wisdom, Healthy Snacks to The High Watt"
SESSIONS/APPEARANCES
Sound Opinions Interview + Performance
Paste Magazine Session NYC –
"Young Lady, You're Killing Me" "Kill The Medicine Man" "All The Punks Are Domesticated"
Paste Magazine Session SXSW – "Please Yourself/ Black Market Eyes" "Put The Kids To Bed"
East of 8th Session – "Why Do You Have Kids?"
ALBUM REVIEWS
American Songwriter, The Guardian, AllMusic, Glide Magazine, Old Rookie, God Is In The TV, No Depression
TOUR DATES
CONTACTS
Management
Chris Sunday – chris@bedlammusicmgt.com
Alex A. Collier – alex@bedlammusicmgt.com
Press: New West Records
Brady Brock – bradybrock@newwestrecords.com
Radio: New West Records
Joel Habbeshaw – joel@newwestrecords.com
Booking: Paradigm (US)
Jackie Nalpant – jnalpant@paradigmagency.com
Carly James – cjames@paradigmagency.com
