ALICIA DC And Gabba On Joining Forces For “Fall” And What Makes A Good Collaboration

When two artists team up to create something together, there’s an entirely new realm of possibilities that opens up, enabling them to create the perfect collaboration piece. In ALICIA DC and Gabba‘s case, their new single “Fall” is the result of this, all thanks to a key ingredient they deem essential to making any collaboration work shine forth — balance.

Empowered by their individual songwriting techniques and experimental inclinations, the duo found a halfway point in piecing together their joint track, both of them backed by a sense of initiative that saw them uphold their personal artistic integrity while also pushing forward each other’s creative visions in the same direction. What results is a colorful and emotional math rock track — a vibrant mixture between two dynamic elements, resulting in an entirely new electrifying compound altogether.

Debuting “Fall” live for the first time last August 2 at A Spur Of The Moment Project‘s ‘Spur Labs,’ the Singaporean experimental pop artist and the Filipino math rock musician found the perfect experiment space to test out the new track. Ultimately, this was not just merely another gig for the two, but the live debut of the result of two artists finding common ground to capture lightning in a bottle.

A few days ahead of this show and the song’s release, Billboard Philippines caught up with ALICIA DC and Gabba in Manila to talk about “Fall,” the whole journey behind its creation, what they learned from each other during the process, and what other possible collaborations the two can create in the future.

Billboard Philippines: First and foremost, tell us about how this collaboration happened. What exactly drew you to working with each other on “Fall”?

ALICIA DC: This song was originally a song I had for myself. I was planning to release it alone at first. But then, when me and my manager were looking at people to collaborate with, I still had this song in the bank and I didn’t really know when I was going to put it out. So, I was looking for someone to collaborate with and I had songs for, like, very different genres. 

For this particular set of songs that I had, I was looking for a math rock-ish sound. I was looking at various artists on Spotify, just listening to a few artists like within the region, Singapore’s neighbors, and I came across Gabba’s stuff. 

It just so happened that last year, in January, there was this thing called Music Day Out! — an event in Singapore — and I saw [Gabba] perform. I listened to his discography and I thought, “Wait, I think this is, like, a good match for the songs that I have yet to put out.” And since I was looking for people to collaborate with, why not pitch my demos to him?

Our first interaction was during a call and discussing how he views working on a project and how I view working on a project. After that, the timeline was a bit delayed. It was because we weren’t sure how to continue the project until, I guess, stronger ideas came to mind. 

Gabba: I think we had to simmer with it first. 

What happened was that she gave me a bunch of demos to choose from. And I chose “Fall.” I really liked it as it is and I had some vague ideas at the back of my mind. So, that was the first step. 

Then, a couple of months passed with, like, nothing. I guess our schedules got kind of busy. I guess it wasn’t the right time. There weren’t any right ideas coming out. And then, I was able to send a demo that we were kinda happy to work on. I feel like that’s where it took off, two to three months after the selection of “Fall.”

Would you say, the way the song is right now, that it’s the best version it can be?

ALICIA DC: I think it’s a very good balance of both of our sounds. There is no “this is more Alicia” or “this is more Gabba.” It’s a very good balance. On my end, I let go of how I initially wanted the structure of the song to be like. I think for Gabba, he gave more space for my vocals. There’s a good balance. 

If someone listens to the song without thinking of how we did it, you can hear both of our strong songwriting. There’s space for both of us in the song.

Gabba: I guess to answer your question, yeah, this is the best version that we could’ve made. Thinking about the time that we simmered with it and then the back-and-forths that happened, I think this is the best it could be in terms of being able to contribute equally. We have different views on music so we had to hash that out by going back and forth. And this is the best meeting point for us and it’s super fun.

Tell us what the song is about. In addition, since you’re both multi-instrumentalists, how would you describe it musically? Did you take inspiration from any other artists or songs in particular?

ALICIA DC: Lyrics-wise, “Fall” is about lovers fighting, like a quarrel. From the girl’s side, the guy is not being real with her or being vulnerable, just hiding what he is truly feeling. Imagine the guy is hiding a sort of hurt deep down and is not expressing it but the girl can see it. So there’s the frustration that the girl is feeling because of that. She’s also more confrontational and the guy is more avoidant. So that clash is what the lyrics of “Fall” are all about. 

Gabba: So, Alicia sent the lyrics beforehand. If you listen to the song, there’s, like, ups and downs. I kinda mirrored it to how a fight would go. Like, it feels like it’s gonna be okay then it’s not. So that’s like the mirroring I did with the production. 

I intentionally did not ask Alicia what the song meant because I didn’t want it to be, like, see-through. So, she sent the lyrics and, based on what I understood, I made some sort of arrangement, which was very refreshing to me. All my songs have no lyrics. They’re open to interpretation. There’s no one thing. But now, there’s a certain theme that I can follow and build around, which was a new experience for me. 

For you Alicia, when you first heard what Gabba had come up with, what was your reaction?

ALICIA DC: Genuinely, I was really surprised. Well, it was because the way [Gabba] expresses himself is different from the way I express myself. Gabba likes to work with the grit, while I like to work with the flowy-ness more since he’s a guitarist and I’m a singer. It was only natural that there was, like, a clash. 

I suggested what it could sound like and he was like, “I’m gonna do it but my way.” (laughs). He was like, “I’m gonna follow your suggestion but I’m gonna do it my way. Which was great! Because, a good collaboration to me, it’s when both artists are really sure about what they want, like how they show up in the song. So, I saw that as a good sign!

Gabba: That’s why I think there’s a good balance, it’s because of our back-and-forths. Doing it her way and doing it my way. If it were just one way, it’s gonna move towards one or the other’s sound more. But because of that all process, it feels like 50-50.

ALICIA DC: For me, I tracked some keys and guitar. It wasn’t like full parts. Just bits. 

Gabba: But structure-wise, it was kinda all her idea. Like the odd timing was her and I was like, “Whoa, this is hard.” 

ALICIA DC: ‘Cause the original demo actually had those meters in place.

Gabba: It was so cool ‘cause the odd timing was done so smoothly that you don’t notice it. It made sense to how the lyrics were. It was the way it should be. 

ALICIA DC: That’s because when I write, I actually do the words first then I do the melody. The rhythm and how many words are in a bar, I do that last. 

Did you take inspiration from any other artists or songs in particular?

Gabba: For me, when she explained to me that she wanted a particular sound, I referenced my “old” [sound] from the Recollections era. My sound has shifted a bit with “Pockets,” so I kind of referenced and listened to the old elements that Alicia liked from the album. But for the most part, it’s just me with the usual guitar-driven stuff.

ALICIA DC: I mean, for me, I was referencing [Gabba’s] music. Because I just wanted to see how we could work together. I didn’t want to copy anyone. I was thinking about the fluidity that I had in my own songwriting for specific songs that I wrote and the way Gabba organized his music in Recollections and just thought about how that could go together. That’s the direction I wanted the collaboration to go in.

Speaking of direction, walk us through what it was like writing and recording “Fall.” When did you begin and how long did it take to complete the track?

ALICIA DC: I’m just gonna say it was finished last June?

Gabba: Yeah!

ALICIA DC: Because our first call was, like, February or something.

Gabba: And then March and April, nothing (laughs). The selection of “Fall” was in February and then, crickets (laughs).

From my end, I really needed to simmer with it. I was trying out stuff but I would never send it because it didn’t make sense to me at that time. I didn’t want to share something that I didn’t want her to listen to. So it took me a while. (laughs)

ALICIA DC: On my end, I was like, “What is going on?” (laughs)

Gabba: But I feel like that needed to happen for the song to become what it is now. Or maybe I’m just making excuses (laughs).

Separately, you’ve both teamed up with other artists in your past releases. For both of you, in making “Fall,” what would say makes this new song unique or different from your individual past collaborations?

Gabba: Well, for me, this is the first time I’m having a song with full-on lyrics. It was really refreshing for me ‘cause there’s already a theme stated, which I don’t usually have. I mean, it’s not usually explicitly stated for me, so I can go anywhere. Like, during the process, I could go happy or sad. 

But for this one, I was in a box — a good type of box, which is fun because I rarely get to do that. So everything — from the decision-making to the guitar tone, the delay settings — was tailored to the words that were already there. It was new for me because I’m usually a blank canvas when I write songs.

So you usually go with a small idea and start from there?

Gabba: Yeah, it grows. This one was more consistent because we had this, like, central theme that we were working with, so it was super fun. Definitely a different experience than what I’m used to.

How about you, Alicia?

ALICIA DC: I’ve already had a few collabs. One was with a very experimental producer and my role was just the vocals and he just did the production. It was very eclectic-sounding. And one time, I worked with this artist who did a very pop song but she didn’t produce it. The producer had a very strong vision and I just followed along with it. 

For those, I was just following what the producers wanted, which made sense to me at that time because I was trying to collaborate with them but I also wasn’t sure what I wanted for those songs because they weren’t really my songs. But because this was a song I’d written before and I had an idea of what I wanted to do with it and Gabba had an idea of what he wanted to contribute, I guess the difference was that it felt, to me, effortless. Even if it was challenging, there was a good flow to it. 

In a post announcing the song’s release, Gabba stated that “it’s been a breath of fresh air trying out new things and bouncing off creative ideas” with each other as you made this new song. 

With that, what would you say are your favorite parts or particular moments when you were bringing “Fall” to life?

Gabba: There was this point where I sent the demo that kinda jumpstarted the project. That was fun ‘cause it felt like we were going in the proper direction. Actually, everything after that was fun. I sent in the demo, Alicia liked it, the back-and-forth.

The way our perceptions of music interrelated during the whole process, she would view a certain part differently, I would view it differently, and then us finding the middle ground and creating something we’re both proud of was really fun.

ALICIA DC: I felt that our differences were fun. The way Gabba interprets how, like, he wants to play the guitar this way and he’d come back with something and I’d say, “Oh this is good too!” That’s my favorite part.

Gabba: It’s not like she asked me to produce a song. It’s more like, “let’s collaborate.” I feel like if she hired me to produce it, I’d just be like, “Okay, let’s do that,” but this was a bouncing of ideas.

ALICIA DC: I actually enjoy when people have different ideas ‘cause then it makes the collaboration a lot more interesting. 

In relation to the previous question, what did you learn from each other that you believe has helped or greatly improved your artistry and understanding of songwriting?

Gabba: I learned a lot from how it was arranged. I don’t think I arrange songs that way but this was very refreshing. Actually, I picked up stuff that I might apply to future songs. And a lot of Alicia’s views on musical things as well,  down to the tone choices and the keyboard patch she chose made me learn more about her as a musician, which is something I can take to any future project of mine.

ALICIA DC: I think from this project, I learned the importance of standing your ground in a collaboration. Because our collaboration was like that, it turned out great. I think that’s the biggest takeaway I had.

It also exposed me to a lot of sound collections I don’t normally use and trying to be more open minded to different sounds and possibilities. It will help a lot in planning future projects whenever I’m working with producers — that I should have a firmer idea of what I want so that it will turn out better as well.

I can tell that when you two worked on this song, both of you learned a lot from each other, while also having fun in the process. So, with that, can we expect more collaborations from you two in the future?

Gabba: I hope so! I’m super down for it.

ALICIA DC: Honestly, yeah!

Gabba: I think it’s gonna be fun and it’ll be easier since we kinda know what our tendencies are as musicians already, so I’m down for it.

ALICIA DC: I feel like what would make sense is if I feature on something that Gabba is doing ‘cause the direction I’m going after this is completely different. So I don’t know if I will come back to this genre with my own stuff but when it comes to features, I’m absolutely down. Most likely, I won’t write the song first so it’ll be a new scenario if I were to collaborate with Gabba again.

Gabba: That’s why I like this song. Because after this, we’re going on different paths and I also feel like moving towards a different type of sound as well, so this is like a time stamp and that’s just pretty cool to think about.

Listen to ALICIA DC and Gabba’s “Fall” below: