Page 11 - ION Indie Magazine MayJune 2018 Issue

Marty Havvik: Gabriel, thank you for giving me a little time with you. I see how busy your schedule is.
What is your inspiration for music?

Gabriel Ayala: Wow! Everyday life inspires me. It can just be a visual thing. You know, we live in a beautiful
place, the desert. Everybody thinks of the desert as just desolate. It's just a wasteland. But for me, there's so
much beauty. When you see our mountains or just the cacti as you're driving…there's beautiful things like
that. It doesn't need to be a certain little thing. I just get inspired by life. I'm thankful every day for life. It's a
gift. Lots of people just take it for granted, but for me, just the fact that I get to wake up to another day, it's
like, I've gotta do something good with this breath that I've been granted.

MH: So, a real quick brief history about yourself -- would you share how you got started into music?

GA: I was raised by my grandmother and started getting gifted instruments a little bit at a time, here and
there. It wasn't until I was age 14 that I got my first guitar. And as I strummed it. I just thought, “Wow, this is
truly the voice that I want to push out there. And I don't even have to speak. I can just play!” I was kinda shy.
And I just thought, "You know, you don't even have to speak if you want to convey that you’re sad. You can
just play it through music. Play a sad song. You can play a happy song.” And from there I was just instantly
addicted to music. I thought this is what I truly want to do for the rest of my life and luckily, I've been very
blessed in my career that I haven't had to do anything else. Being a professional musician is truly what I
became. What a blessing that is!

MH: I really love the story that you shared with me when you were attending the University of Arizona
where you had you made a life decision whether to party and drink or to pursue a career in music. That
has always stayed not only in my mind, but also in my heart.

GA: It's just a time in your life where you're making decisions of who you want to be, who you want to portray
yourself as. That's a very important thing too…image. Especially in a “professional” anything, your image is
everything; your brand is everything. And the people that I was associating with and the person I was
becoming...I didn't like that guy. And I thought, “Either you can be a great musician, or you can be a great
drunk.” There's no way to really do both in this industry. I mean, there's the exception. You know, what's his
name? Joe Perry. Good God! Or Keith Richards? Wow. And I'm not just laughing at them or anything. But
they're both great drunks and great musicians. But for me, I just thought, “I don't want to portray that.” As
a native, that's already expected of us -- "Ah, the drunken Indian stereotypes.” And, I said, “Nah, I can't be a
negative influence.” So, I chose to abstain from everything. I mean, I don't smoke. I don't drink. I've never
touched drugs. The hardest drug I ever took was a Tylenol. I even hate taking that. I would rather take natural,
traditional meds over anything else. My only addiction, very fortunately I can say, is music.

MH: Who are your musical and non-musical influences?