Gala

Proudly original and ever-defiant Gala has always been the kind of woman to forge her own path. An outsider from the get-go, Gala left Italy as a teenager and landed in Manhattan. While studying at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Gala wandered the NYC underground photographing artists and eccentric club-goers. Ultimately, her camera was the key to her success. In exchange for a photograph of a European DJ she recorded her first demo. In no time, with no formal training, no industry connections, but huge amounts of attitude and determination, Gala became a dance floor icon. “Freed from Desire” became an international pop classic. Referred to as a “cult artist” for her minimalist look and haunting voice, Gala suddenly disappeared at the top of her success leaving behind an air of mystery. After her manager Steve Fargnoli’s (Prince’s former manager) unexpected death, Gala formed her own label, Matriarchy Records, and set out to redefine her sound, her life and her career. In 2005 she signed the independently produced song Faraway to EMI in France and subsequently in Greece, where it reached #1 on iTunes and #6 in CD sales. The song has been covered by the Greek singer Tamta (winner of the Greek “Idol” TV show) and has been featured on a TV ad campaign in the USA. In 2008 Gala teamed up with producer Marcus Bell to create theTough Love album, spanning the best five years of collaborations with a wide range of musicians from Lil Wayne’s platinum-selling helmsman, Kevin Rudolf, to avant-garde drummer Deantoni Parks, as well as Tamir Muskat from the Balkan Beat Box. Eventually she started booking herself independently through her own label and set out to perform around the world, in venues such as the Antique Theater in Arles, the Highline Ballroom in New York City, the Palais du Sport in Paris, and the Ethias Arena in Belgium where 40,000 people pleaded for more. In 2011, Gala was invited to perform at “Dance in the Summer” in Beirut, where she presented her new single, Lose yourself In Me. In just a few weeks, it reached N#2 on MIX FM (Official N#1 Radio in the Middle East), and premiered on the front page of France’s #1 online video portal, Daily Motion. Taste of Me was the second single of her conceptual singles trilogy. The music video was choreographed by Benoit Swan, Artistic Director of New York’s avant-garde dance company, Cedar Lake, and directed by Alexandre Moors (Kayne West’s Runaway, Blue Caprice). In February 2014 Gala headlined in Medals Plaza during the Sochi Winter Olympics. During the live broadcasting of her set on Europa Plus TV, Gala also debuted her single The Beautiful. After it received a phenomenal response on the live circuit, it was released in November that same year as a collaboration between Gala and Todd Terry’s legendary In House Records label in New York. In 2016 Gala recorded an acoustic version of Freed from Desire at Les Studios Saint Germain in Paris for the movie “Un homme à la hauteur,” directed by Laurent Tirard with Jean Dujardin (Academy Award Winner for Best Actor 2012 in The Artist). That same year, a Wigan Athletic supporter uploaded an adaptation of “Freed from Desire” on YouTube titled ‘Will Grigg’s on Fire,’ in recognition of the player’s recent goal-scoring feats. The song has become the unofficial chant of the UEFA Euro 2016. The song has since become a worldwide viral sports anthem, spanning its reach across all sports genres. From World Boxing Champion Tyson Furry to national soccer teams such as Ajiax and the Red Devils have used the song as their hymn. Among many notable events, Gala headlined the 2017 Gay Pride party at Teatro Barcelo, as part of the WorldPride festivities in Madrid, and the 2018 Gay Pride concert held in Plaza De España in Barcelona. Gala also wrote and composed two original songs for the movie Favola, a surrealist comedy about gender identity and liberation from social constraints in 1950’s America. The film premiered at the 2018 Torino Film Festival, and was screened at the prestigious 45th annual Flaiano Film Festival in Pescara, where it won the Flaiano Award for best “Opera Prima.” In 2019, Gala performed at Roi Baudouin Stadium in Brussels at the last game for the qualifications for the UEFA Euro 2020 (Belgium-Cyprus) live streamed worldwide and was honored by Eden Hazard on behalf of the National Belgian Soccer Team, THE RED DEVILS with a national team jersey after her live performance. PARALLEL LINES is Gala's most recent release in 2021. The PARALLEL LINES video is a collaboration with American animator, TED speaker, and free culture activist Nina Paley. Paley is the creator of the animated musical feature film Sita Sings the Blues, which has been screened in over 200 film festivals and won over 35 international awards ( Berlin International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Independent Spirit Award, New York Critics pick) Her adventures in our broken copyright system led her to produce a series of animated shorts about intellectual freedom.