Early Gonzales: Anthony Michelli on Chilly

Gonzales recently said that his early musical career was a “roller coaster” – presumably it travelled at a high rate of speed, was simultaneously thrilling and scary, with lots of ups and downs (and you had to be strapped in to survive the ride). We recently had a chance to sit down and discuss Gonzales’ early days in his band ‘Son’ with someone who was in the same coaster car – the original drummer from Son – Anthony Michelli. Anthony certainly corroborates the ‘roller-coaster’ metaphor, and reviews from a television appearance at the time indicated that ‘Son’ was “too crazed to even fit in the TV screen.” Continue reading

Classical Analysis of Gonzales: Part 2

In our previous post, we took a close look at half the tracks on Chilly Gonzales’ summer Mixtape – Classical Selections Vol. 1: Piano Music. In Part II, we analyze the rest. The complete mixtape is available here.

By examining the track selections in greater detail, we hope to uncover some of the reasons why Gonzales selected those particular tracks and composers for inclusion in his mixtape. Continue reading

Classical Analysis of Gonzales: Part 1

Mixtapes are a great way of expressing a love for music and at the same time, allowing people to peer into the type of music that drives and inspires entertainers, such as Chilly Gonzales. When Gonzales released Vol.1 of a 3-volume set of classical selections, we weren’t disappointed. Although the set does come with a tracklist, we felt like there was a back-story to the selections that was missing – why these artists, and why these songs? We set out to analyze each track to try and find the elements that Gonzales finds appealing. Continue reading