Gabriela Konstancja Kulka-Stajewska (known as Gaba Kulka, born in 1979 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

) is an independent artist,

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

, and

performer The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfor ...

Biography

Gabriela Kulka comes from a family of musicians, with her father being a renowned

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

violinist and professor. Although she initially trained in

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

for eight years, she eventually gravitated towards the piano for her songwriting and performances. Her early albums, "Between Miss Scylla and a Hard Place" (2003) and "Out" (2006), were independently produced. Additionally, she contributed to a compilation of covers titled "Songs for Wolf." In 2009, her third album "Hat, Rabbit" was released by the major label Mystic Production, which garnered her wider popularity. The album achieved gold status in Poland, and Kulka's singles "Niejasności," "Kara Niny," and "Got a Song" gained success on alternative-oriented radio stations. That same year, she collaborated with Polish singer Konrad Kucz on the album "Sleepwalk."

Musical style

Over seven years of writing and recording, Gabriela Kulka developed the singular style of dark musical theatre mixed with a jazzy attitude and a focus on poetic and quirky lyrics - influenced by Danny Elfman and

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...

in equal parts. Her output is strongly influenced by classical music,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and pop. Artists she names as her closest inspirations are, firstly and undeniably -

and

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

, but also Peter Gabriel, Kurt Weill, Danny Elfman, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo,

Chroma Key Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to ...

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group ...

, Bruce Dickinson,

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

(whose songs she performs live) and Madonna.

Discography

Solo albums

Collaborative albums

Video albums

Music videos

References

External links

Gaba Kulka official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kulka, Gabriela 1979 births Living people Musicians from Warsaw Mystic Production artists Polish jazz singers Polish pop singers English-language singers from Poland 21st-century Polish singers 21st-century Polish women singers