Quick Facts
Biography
Pascal Gabriel is a Belgian-born musician based in London and France.
Background
His musical career began in 1977 in the punk rock band The Razors (bass guitar and backup vocals). He left Belgium for London in the late 1970s and worked as a freelance sound engineer in various studios, earning a reputation for innovative remixes for artists like Marc Almond (Soft Cell) and Yello.
From 1981 to 1982 Gabriel was half of Music for All, a collaborative project with John Lipnicki. The first performance was in an operating supermarket in west London on 21 March 1982. Following further improvised electronic performances Gabriel left to concentrate on studio work while Laurence Hughes joined Lipnicki in Music for All.
Toward the end of the 1980s, Gabriel was a producer and co-writer for S'Express and Bomb the Bass—two of the first sample-heavy dancefloor artisans of that era. He claimed a number one UK single with the S'Express track "Theme from S'Express" and a number two with Bomb the Bass' "Beat Dis."
Following the success of S'Express and Bomb the Bass, Gabriel embarked on a series of projects, mixing, producing and writing with a variety of artists, including Claudia Brücken (formerly of Propaganda), Erasure, and Debbie Harry from Blondie.
In the 1990s, Gabriel departed the breakbeat industry and into pop music, collaborating with EMF, Inspiral Carpets, Kitchens of Distinction and Falco.
From 1996 to 1998 he wrote, produced and performed with the Mute Records-signed band Peach (known as "Peach Union" in the U.S. due to another band already using the name). Their song "On My Own" was featured prominently in the film Sliding Doors.
From then until 2006, Gabriel collaborated with a host of popular artists, including the then unsigned singer Dido (with whom he wrote several songs: "I'm No Angel" and "Here with Me" from her multi-million selling debut album No Angel), Kylie Minogue (including "Your Love" for her album Fever), Dot Allison, Natalie Imbruglia, Rachel Stevens, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Skye Edwards (Morcheeba), Bebel Gilberto and many others.
Since then, getting back to his more electronic roots, he has co-written and produced Miss Kittin's solo album BatBox and five tracks on New Zealand star Ladyhawke's debut album, Ladyhawke (including the singles "My Delirium", "Dusk Till Dawn", and "Magic"). He also co-wrote "Tune Into My Heart" on Little Boots' début album Hands.
He carried out additional production Goldfrapp's fifth album, "Head First", and co-wrote and produced three tracks on Marina and the Diamonds 2010 album "The Family Jewels", and the song "Can't Beat the Feeling" on Kylie Minogue's 2010 UK number one Aphrodite album. In 2010, he co-produced Non-Stop the Andy Bell's second solo album.
He has recently co-written five tracks for Will Young's 2011 UK number one album Echoes, including the single "Losing Myself", and has co-written and co-produced and mixed all tracks on Ladyhawke's 2012 album Anxiety, recorded in his studios in France and London.
Selected production credits
- S'Express - Co-wrote and produced no.1 single "Theme from S'Express".
- Dido - Co-wrote "Here With Me" and "I'm no Angel" from 1999's No Angel.
- Kylie Minogue - Co-wrote "Your Love" and "Tightrope" from 2001's Fever.
- Bebel Gilberto - Co-wrote and produced Ceu Distante from 2004's Bebel Gilberto album.
- Rachel Stevens - Co-wrote So Good and "I Will Be There" from 2005's Come And Get It.
- Freeform Five - Co-wrote "No More Conversations" (2005).
- Miss Kittin - Co-wrote and co-produced Miss Kittin's BatBox album (2008), including the single "Kittin Is High" and "Grace".
- Dot Allison - Co-wrote "Cry" from her 2009 album "Room 7½".
- Marina and the Diamonds - co-wrote and produced "Shampain", "Girls", "Rootless" and the unreleased "Sinful" from her 2010 album The Family Jewels.
- Goldfrapp - Additional Production on "Rocket", "Believer", "Dreaming", "Head First" and "I Wanna Life" from their 2010 album "Head First".
- Kylie Minogue - Co-wrote and co-produced "Can't Beat the Feeling" from her 2010 album Aphrodite
- Andy Bell's Co-wrote and co-produced his second solo album Non-Stop.
- Example - Co-wrote and produced "All Over Again".
- Will Young - Co-wrote "Losing Myself" and "Happy Now" from his 2011 album Echoes.
- Ladyhawke - Co-wrote and produced several songs for 2008's Ladyhawke, including the singles "Dusk Till Dawn", "My Delirium" and "Magic". Also co-wrote, produced and mixed all songs for her 2012 album Anxiety.
- Little Boots - Co-wrote "Tune into my Heart" from her album Hands (2009).
- Peter Murphy - Produced Cascade (1995).