Get to know me...

Bio & Album Release


A Canadian boy who grew up in Grand Bend, Ontario, Greg Gallello played piano as a child, and started helping out as the organist at his church.  As a teenager, he started learning other instruments like the guitar, alto saxophone, drums, and harmonicas to broaden his horizons.  He didn’t start taking music seriously until his early 20’s.  He explains, “I started writing songs in my head, but something was missing”.  He began to play local coffee shops, and bars, going through what he calls “the typical post-highschool lifestyle.” “I wasn’t interested in anything I was doing other than music, and I loved the wide-openness of my life.”


As his name grew in and around the area, the pieces began to fall into place for Greg.  Entering a citywide singer-songwriter competition “London’s Got Talent” in London, Greg won, which earned him some much needed cash and professional studio recording time.  Shortly after in 2007, Greg’s friends and family convinced him to try out for Season 5 of “Idol”, earning him his golden ticket and making it to the top 40 with fellow Canadian artists such as Carly Rae Jepsen.  


After his experiences on Idol, Greg took back to the studio, this time with long time friend Rob Mckercher @ Dig Production Studios, which allowed Greg the freedom to self-produce “Time to Start Living”, as well as the space to experiment while making it.  He reflects, “There was a lot of trial and error that went into the album.  The songwriting is far more detailed and real, and that was reflected in how I recorded”.  This album was broken up and recorded into two emotionally separate recording sessions.  “I needed to feel exactly what I felt back when I sang them for the very first time” he says.


Learning how to re-enact moments of his life and portray it the same way while in the studio was the most difficult part for Greg, because every original song written for this album was an exact moment in his life, transforming his feelings and emotions right on the spot into a song (most times it was even while he was onstage surrounded by an audience just full of energy). 


“People always ask me what comes first, the music or the lyrics?  It’s actually both at the same time.  It’s a one shot deal, when I’m in a moment, I take all the heightened emotions within myself right then and there, I don’t waste time with pencil and paper, I just start singing lyrics that are inside my head, transforming it from just an idea into audible lyrics out loud, and emotions from the heart, straight into soulful melodies.  In these moments surrounding this album, you don’t have time to write it down, when you feel it, you just play what you feel & sing it out loud” Greg says.


All of the songs on the new album “Time to Start Living” are genuine and serve a purpose, not just to his own personal life, but to anyone who has ever woken up in the morning and wondered, what am I doing here, where am I going, and how am I going to get there, all while still having to just do what you need to get by.  It’s your life, and life’s short, so don’t waste another minute of it, and start living!


Today Greg spends his time honing his live shows playing both acoustic solo shows and with the same band since the age of 15.  “There’s a lot of off the cuff stuff that happens on stage these days, and travelling all the time while singing about what I believe in is something I’ve always wanted.”  Greg Gallello is playing his songs precisely the way he’s always wanted, and creating a fully realized album that is the culmination of where he’s been and where he’s going, and that directly reflects the depth and quality of his songs.  Greg believes that life is too short, and it’s real, and it’s now or never, and that’s why it’s “Time to Start Living”.

Get to know the Songs...

Behind the scenes of how some songs came to be…



Track #7 “Yesterdays Tomorrows” started as just an idea while in the studio, we hit record and it just came out the way I felt it.  The song is about not living in the past, always looking forward towards the future in a positive way, and never holding back.  It’s about living every moment of your life to the fullest, and also living it true to yourself, not trying to be something your not.  


“Just another song” was a song recorded twice during both studio sessions while in two completely different mindsets.  The same song, two completely different outlooks, and meanings!  Both songs are about the transitions in and out of love, and how you deal with it.  Track #6 makes you feel the heavy weight and sorrow of losing someone you love, while Track #9 gives you the strength and power within yourself to wake up each day and know that it’s going to be ok, because it’s a new day.  This song shows the importance of there being two sides to every story.  It’s not about the story, but rather how the story is told.  It’s not about life, but how you live that life given to you that counts.


Track #10 “Thank You” was another very special moment in my life when my not so little sister anymore got married, I felt this song on the spot at her wedding, and sang it for her and our dad as the “father daughter dance”.  Having all my relatives there, and emotions filled throughout the room, the magic of the entire evening made the song really come to life.  When I closed my eyes and played that song and sang those lyrics for the very first time.  It was the most powerful and genuine thank you I had ever played. 

© 2014 by Greg Gallello.