INTERVIEW WITH: Gio Levy

During my last visit to Vancity a couple months ago, I checked out the Samsung Galaxy S4 launch event, where I got to see some awesome performances, hang out with some cool people, and play with the new phone. One of the performers who took to the stage was local musician Gio Levy, who was the winner of the Galaxy S4 Infinite Possibilities Casting Call.

Gio Levy on the Samsung stage in Vancouver

I recently caught up with Gio over the phone and we had a great chat - check it out:

Q: What have you been up to since the Samsung event?

Gio Levy: I’ve been working on writing as much as I can. The show on August 8^th, I’m trying to raise enough cash to record some music. Yeah, so writing and organizing shows is what I’ve been doing.

Q: I thought that was a great event, how was that experience for you?

GL: It was really cool. I was talking to Jesse Giddings that night, we ended up hanging out there a bit. They offered me a driving service and they didn’t even offer him anything, which was pretty hilarious. I was treated more like a king than Jesse was. He's such a massive rock star, like who is this pretty-looking tall dude? He said he didn’t even get a phone. I got hooked up. Thank you Samsung.

Q: When was that moment you decided you wanted to pursue music as a career?

GL: I used to work in sales and I thought that was the thing for me. I just wanted to have a lot of money. So I did that for a couple years and I had a lot of cash like in my early twenties but I remember waking up in the morning and I hated it. I saved up some money and decided to live off of it and moved back in with my parents to focus on my music. 

Photo via Facebook

Q: Highlight of your career so far?

GL: I had a big show a couple years back. I just recorded an EP and it was the first time I recorded in a studio and I was just being really ambitious and wanted to book a venue before finishing recording all these tunes. And we made it happen. It was awesome.

Where do you find your songwriting inspiration?

GL: I find inspiration through relationships mostly and traveling, inspired just by the experiences you have when traveling and meeting people. It’s mostly interactions. The things I write about are all interactive, whatever happens to me in my life. I also tend to exaggerate. Like I’ll go pick up somebody’s scarf they dropped and as soon as I give it to them I’m like wow, that’s a song right there. The way her hand touched mine even we didn’t touch hands and the way she said goodbye even though she didn’t. I’ll just go on a tangent. I never really know when a song’s going to come, but it just happens spontaneously.

Q: Being from Vancouver, has the west coast influenced you at all as an artist?

GL: I lived in Toronto for three months and I love it over there. It’s so dense with culture. But my influences come from all over the world. So I wouldn’t say that the west coast was a huge influence at least in my song writing. I prefer to be a bit grey if I can help it. I want my music to be international and not have a “west coast” sound.

Q: What role has social media played into where you are today?

GL: Social media has made me who I am. Without it, I would not make it as an artist for sure. Most of my connections are virtual, my fans are virtual and this conversation right now is not even real. Somehow it’s going to show up on a blog. I wouldn’t exist without social media.

Q: Who would you love to collaborate with someday, let's say your top 3?

GL: Bruno Mars, Leona Lewis and Cee Lo Green.

 Be sure to check out his next show coming up on August 8th!

You can find him at www.giolevy.com and on Facebook & Twitter.

- Christina

Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28