Gizmo Varillas (; born Guillermo Varillas Kortabarria on 9 January 1990) is a Spanish-British songwriter, musician and record producer currently living in Brighton. He was born in Spain and raised in Wales.
Music career & collaborations
In 2016, Varillas played all the instruments, engineered, arranged, produced and wrote each song on his debut album. He then sampled
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
on his song "No War" after getting permission from
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
. The dialogue is taken from an interview with Lennon, aired on BBC 2 as part of the arts program "Release" on 6 June 1968.
In 2017, Varillas released his debut studio album ''El Dorado'', which was named one of the top 10 albums of the year by ''
Classic Pop magazine
''Classic Pop'' is a bi-monthly British music magazine, which launched in October 2012. It was devised and founded by Ian Peel, who was also editor for the first 19 issues. Rik Flynn stepped in as editor until Issue 23 followed by current editor S ...
''. The title track ''El Dorado'' was featured in
Cafe Del Mar
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...
XXV Compilation album.
In 2018, Varillas' song "Losing You" from his second album ''Dreaming of Better Days'' was a response to the
Orlando nightclub shooting
On , 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man, killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. Orlando Police officers shot and killed him after a three-hour standoff.
In a 9- ...
. It was chosen as best song of 2018 by ''Songpickr''.
In 2019, Varillas' song "Losing You" was remixed by
Baio from
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson, ...
and it was featured on the ''
FIFA 19
''FIFA 19'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Vancouver and released by Electronic Arts on 28 September 2018 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows. It is the 26th installm ...
'' soundtrack. His song "Fever, Fever" was featured on the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
series ''
Special
Special or specials may refer to:
Policing
* Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force
* Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer
Literature
* ''Specia ...
'' in 2019.
In 2020, Varillas worked with legendary Afrobeat drummer
Tony Allen on his single Saving Grace, they recorded together at
RAK Studios in London. The music video was premiered and featured by
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
and Varillas was chosen by music correspondent Roisin O'Connor as her spotlight artist. In an interview with the newspaper, he said that he wrote Saving Grace as a homage to music. Throughout the toughest times in his life, music has always been one of the few things he could count on to lift him back up. ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' chose his song ‘Give a Little Love’ from his album El Dorado as their #1 most beautiful undiscovered 2020 summer hit of the moment. They also named the whole album as the perfect summer playlist.
In 2021, Varillas collaborated with
Calexico (band)
Calexico is a Tucson, Arizona-based Americana, Tex-Mex, indie rock band. The band's two main members, Joey Burns and John Convertino, first played together in Los Angeles as part of the group Giant Sand. They have recorded a number of albums on Q ...
member
Sergio Mendoza Y La Orkesta
Orkesta Mendoza is a Latin music band from Tucson, Arizona. It was founded by singer and guitarist Sergio Mendoza in 2009. Through the use of Latin percussion, accordion, brass, and steel guitars, the band's style, dubbed "indie mambo", is a combi ...
on his song A La Vida. In the same year, Varillas co-wrote the song 'Calling Me Back to You' with
Jack Savoretti
Giovanni Edgar Charles Galletto-Savoretti (born 10 October 1983), known professionally as Jack Savoretti, is an English acoustic singer, songwriter, and musician. He has released seven studio albums to date: ''Between the Minds'' (2007), ''Harde ...
. The song was part of Savoretti's album 'Europiana' which made it to number 1 on the official UK album charts.
In 2022, Varillas worked with Grammy award-winning producer and engineer
Noah Georgeson
Noah Georgeson is an American musician, producer, engineer, mixer and solo recording artist. Georgeson's debut album '' Find Shelter'' was released through Plain Recordings on November 28, 2006.
Early life and education
Born in San Anselmo, ...
on his song 'A New Dawn'. In the same year, Varillas composed the music for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
documentary ''Transfer: The Fate of Emiliano Sala'' and the podcast ''Transfer: The Emiliano Sala Story'' about the mysterious disappearance and death of Argentine professional footballer
. Varillas' song ''Freedom For A Change'' was also part of the
across Europe. He also played at Zermatt Unplugged in 2019,
in 2017. He was named Artist of the Month by
to Movember projects that tackle mental health, suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer.
*''El Dorado'' (2017)
*''Dreaming of Better Days'' (2018)
*''Out of the Darkness'' (2020)