Happy Monday, everyone! Since it’s a brand new week, we’re introducing you to a fresh-faced artist named Gabi Sklar.Â
Gabi is a 17-year-old pop singer that is on the fast track to becoming the world’s next pop obsession. Over the past couple of years, Gabi has worked with renowned producers such as, JR Rotem, Matt Squire, Jonas Jeberg, Tofer Brown, Frequency, Ryan Marrone, and more. Additionally, she’s been training with vocal Coach Don Lawrence (Lady Gaga), and working with performance coach, KJ Rose (Diddy).
Earlier this month, Sklar released her edgy new single “Liberteens,” which you’ll absolutely love if you dig Halsey’s “New Americana.” With similar themes of being rebellious, Liberteen’s sharp lyrics reflect on times of reckless adolescence from high school while also recognizing the power that today’s teens have.
The Long Island, NY native-turned freshman at the University of Miami says that “the inspiration for the song comes from every experience I’ve had in high school – the parties, the friends, the boys. The song talks about being sixteen, but beyond that, it’s meant for people to think back to their teenage years.â€
Celeb Secrets met up with Gabi in New York City not to long ago to talk about the song, balancing school and music, and what makes her a “liberteen.”
You can keep up with Gabi by following her on Instagram at @gabisklar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PId-CVy3v8w
CS: Can you tell us how you got involved with music and what lead you to where you are now?
Gabi Sklar: “When I was younger, it was always something that I would say I wanted to do. I started playing piano which led me to writing my own music. As I got older, I took music more seriously and realized it was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. At fourteen, I got signed to a management and that’s when I really got involved in the whole music scene.”
CS: We know you’re in school right now, so how are you balancing school and your music career?
Gabi Sklar: “Now that I’m releasing music and started my freshman year of college, it’s a really big thing to juggle. But, my experiences at school can relate to my music and be an inspiration to write about my life. I mean, yeah, it’s a hard transition but music is what I want to do, and at the end of the day, if I have to miss a party or not go out because I’m in my room writing music, that’s what matters most.”
CS: How would you describe your sound for people who haven’t heard your music before?
Gabi Sklar: “It’s very edgy-pop. It’s kinda like Dua Lipa-influenced.”
CS: And would you say you draw your inspirations from her? Who are some of the artists that you look up to?
Gabi Sklar: “I love Dua Lipa. Arctic Monkeys, Lana Del Rey, Melanie Martinez, the list goes on…”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BaMue9rB7se/?taken-by=celebsecrets4u
CS: Your song “Liberteens†is out now! Can you tell us about the song and the writing and recording process for it?
Gabi Sklar: “For ‘Liberteens,’ my co-writer Troi Irons and I went back and forth about our high school experiences and it was cool because she was always very introverted in high school and I wasn’t; I am very introverted now, so it was cool to go back and forth and share our experiences in high school and incorporate everything we experienced into one song. ‘Liberteens’ is about free spirits and being sixteen, making mistakes, and basically your life before adulthood. It’s okay to make mistakes and to be free-spirited and rebellious and it’s kind of for people of all ages to think back to a time that they were sixteen or a teenager that just made a mistake and had fun. It’s not just meant for people who are sixteen; I’m almost eighteen singing about being sixteen.”
CS: What is a liberteen?
Gabi Sklar: “A liberteen is a rebellious, free-spirited person, so that’s kind of what drew the concept for us. The whole song itself is very visual, like you could make out a lot of pictures and memories that you might have from the lyrics that I’m describing. So it was really easy to like create the concept and Mary Antoinette was really ahead of her time with this, so we decided to incorporate that.”
CS: Would you say that you are a liberteen yourself?
Gabi Sklar: “Yeah.. *laughs* I’d say that.”
CS: Is there one goal on your bucket list that you want to achieve before the end of the year?
Gabi Sklar: “I definitely want to have a few more singles out and hopefully an EP. My ultimate goal is to have an album out; I just don’t know if that would happen within the year, but things are in the works.”
CS: Since we are Celeb Secrets, what’s a secret or fun fact about you that people don’t know?
Gabi Sklar: “I’m really good at impressions. I can nail an impression of Nevel Papperman [Reed Alexander] from iCarly.”