Local Talent: Gilanares

 Local Talent

Gilanares

Briana Gil, a second-year Music Industry major at Northeastern University, is the voice behind Gilanares. The songs on her first EP Theres Not Much to Know About Me are a collection of class projects, quarantine endeavors, and the occasional TikTok hit. Gilanares is equal parts honest and dramatic, infusing her guitar-driven pop songs with lyrics reflecting the insecurities akin to being a teenager.

“You know how everyone has kind of a shitty time in high school?” Gilanares half-jokes over a Zoom call. “All the things that I went through in high school and all of the growing pains that I’ve had… the healthy part of me is healing from that stuff, but the artist side of me is like ‘I’m just going to scream about it and be dramatic.’” This theatrical storytelling intertwines with Gil’s raw emotions, working itself into a poetic reflection on teenage angst and insecurity on Theres Not Much to Know About Me. In “Good Person,” Gilanares questions her self-worth, asking “Do you still think there’s hope for me?” “Bad Role Models” explores Gil’s relationship with the media and the glamorization of drugs in pop culture. “She is the product of all the media and the bad role models,” Gil says in reference to her musical persona. Gilanares’ hyperbolic charm fades with the final track “Baby Hoop Earrings,” which opens with the titular line Theres Not Much to Know About Me. The song is a stripped back account of the anxieties associated with growing up. “I’m being vulnerable without being too much. I’m just like… ‘I just want my mom to be proud of me, and sometimes I’m scared it won’t happen.’”

Gilanares cites pop superstars Taylor Swift and Lorde –as well as iconic emo bands like Twenty One Pilots – as the inspirations behind her lyrical tact. She laughs as she tells me “My name on TikTok is ‘emo Taylor Swift.’ I talk about emotions that emo bands talk about, but I do it in a Taylor Swift way. At least that’s what I try to do.” Darker lyrics about drugs, self-doubt, and depression overlay melodic tracks driven by guitar and piano, both of which are played by Gil. The result is exactly what she hopes for – a delicately crafted pop album featuring deep-cutting lyrics reminiscent of emo artists.

In addition to being her first solo release, Theres Not Much to Know About Me is Gilanares’ first time working with a producer. “When I had been writing music growing up I didn’t want to learn how to produce, and I was very snobby about it,” Gilanares reflects. “I wasn’t pushing my boundaries at all with production.” After working with a producer for Theres Not Much to Know About Me, Gilanares has found that musical production pushes her creative process to new levels, and fits the character she is working to create. “It’s hard to get super creative with just a guitar and lyrics. I can be creative within the lyrics but the sound itself is not going to be too experimental at all.”

Gilanares first received widespread attention for her music on TikTok, where she has garnered a following for acoustic versions of the songs on Theres Not Much to Know About Me, covers, and unreleased side projects. In addition to amassing hundreds of thousands of views for songs like “Good Person,” the app has helped her to connect with the Boston community. Gilanares is working with the Boston University-based group FRNDLY media, after one of the members reached out to her following one of her viral videos. “They’re helping me figure out how to gauge more of an audience and how to market myself,” Gilanares tells me. “I know what I know about social media and making music but they have this whole other skill-set that I can access with them.” Gilanares has also connected with other Northeastern students, particularly Sanah Roy. Prior to the release of Theres Not Much to Know About Me, the two collaborated for the single “Snow on Halloween.”

Though she’s had the opportunity to connect with other artists and release music virtually, Gilanares has not yet been able to experience performing live, with the pandemic posing obvious boundaries. “I’m excited to have that first experience at a random bar or random coffee shop where nobody knows me and I can kind of just not do great on stage for the first time,” Gil says, acknowledging the difficulty of performing live. “I’m going into it with the mindset of ‘I’m prepared to fuck up if I have to.’” Until the day comes where music can be performed live again, Gilanares is busy working on future musical pursuits. “I’m trying to make a new album now and I’m ready to go all out,” she tells me.

When asked what she hopes comes from this first release, Gilanares paused for a moment. “I hope that it’s something that I look back on and I really think about fondly,” she concludes. “I hope that I think about it as the beginning of something.”