By Nada Sewidan

Features Editor

To Gian Caballero, music is more than lyrics and guitar strings, but rather an art that he hopes will move and inspire people.

Caballero recalls his first performance as a child when he would stand on the kitchen table, Beatles track playing in the background, singing along to the lyrics “Shake It Up Baby.”

He is a self taught singer/songwriter who previously released an album and is currently working on producing a second. Caballero’s music is inspired by memories of real people who greatly impacted his life.

“Anything that deals with struggle and pain inspires songwriting,” Caballero said. “I like writing about the human condition, fall of man, heavy details, all kinds of relationships and religion.”

In further discussing his future goals with music, Caballero explained that when it comes to his music, he doesn’t like to get ahead of himself. He prefers to take it one step at a time. When constructing music, he also believes in taking time to create and write a song.

Future plans for Caballero’s music include recording his songs live and producing an album in the upcoming year. He hopes to produce the new EP (an extended play album) in vinyl as well as regular CD format. His next step will include promoting his music and gaining support by playing local shows.

“My big dream for my music is to hopefully tour the West Coast,” Caballero said.

When asked who influenced his pursuit for music, Caballero quickly spoke about his family.

“My mom taught me the first four guitar chords but after that I became self taught,” Caballero said. “But it was my dad who taught me how to be a fan of music.”

When performing a song on stage, he expressed how a song always transports him back to how it felt when he first wrote it.

“Normally I like to close myself off and close my eyes,” Caballero said. “All I hear is my guitar and vocals.”

Caballero produced an EP in 2012 called A Hint of Feeling. Some of the songs off the album includes Feathers Float, Dirty Girls and Sheep. He is currently working on recording a new album for the upcoming year which will include his new song My Mind is North.

Some of the places he has performed include Normal Height “The Sats” Coffee House, 5th Avenue in Gaslamp, Kettle Coffee and Tea in Escondido and Hill Street Cafe in Oceanside.

Caballero’s musical influences included The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Elliott Smith and Damien Rice, among others.

Caballero advises other student artists interested in pursuing music to just get out there.

“Do it for the love of it,” Caballero said. “Write a lot because the more you write the easier it is to figure out what about you works.”

Caballero will be performing some of his new songs off his upcoming album on Friday, Sept. 26 at Kettle Coffee and Tea in Escondido. Caballero’s music is available for purchase on giancaballero.bandcamp.com.