Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with PipoBeats

PipoBeats (otherwise known as Filippo Gabella) is a rising pop artist who’s always believed that anything is possible as long as you’re clear about what you want and are willing to work at it each and every day. That belief was proven true when he got the opportunity to present his original song “Sway” to Luis Fonsi on NBC’s Songland. The experience was affirmation for all the hard work that PipoBeats has put in. Pop Culturalist caught up with him to discuss his journey in the industry, his new music video for “Hate It,” and what his future holds.

PC: How did you discover your passion for music?
PipoBeats: I love that question. My mother is a talented musician. I grew up in a household where she played guitar and would sing all the time with her whole family. My dad is the definition of showmanship. Literally, we’ll get up in front of a million people without any substance, and he’ll go in and make a show out of absolutely nothing. He ran the talent show at my church back when I was a kid. He would put me on stage with diapers on. When they gave birth to me, I got my dad’s crazy showmanship and my mom’s musical talent. That’s what brought me to music.

I started playing drums when I was eight years old. I was obsessed with guitar, and I always had song ideas in my head. I was always playing piano and drums. I always thought to myself there’s no way for me to actually combine that on a platform to write a real, real song. I actually had this recorder—I still have it to this day—a super-janky classic tape recorder, and I would tape myself playing piano and add in drums. That was the closest I got to GarageBand, back in the day. [laughs]

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
PipoBeats: Wow. There have been so many influences. Like I was saying, from day one, it’s been my parents. I could sit here and say Michael Jackson, but if I’m talking way, way, way back, it’s them. If I didn’t see the way that my dad would have these shows at my house, if I didn’t see the way that my mother got up and sang, playing the guitar with her family, I wouldn’t have formed the subconscious structure that I have in my head of what it is to perform and make music. I literally have a karaoke set up in my living room because my dad’s obsessed with karaoke.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success already in your young career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out to you?
PipoBeats: Every single day is a complete blessing. Everything and anything that happens to me is a success. I would say one of my biggest accomplishments, which happened recently, hits home for me. My mom is going through chemotherapy right now because she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Before I got to Miami, I was in Mexico and I was singing a song live. This sounds cheesy, but I’m being so honest right now. I’m not even joking. This lady came up to me after I performed in Mexico and she said, “I want to come up to thank you because I have cancer. I haven’t had anything give me as much energy as the show that you just did tonight. So thank you for that.” I was like, “Are you joking?” It gives me the chills as I’m talking about it right now. It’s the ultimate reward to know that I’m a legal drug dealer and music is the drug.

If I have the power to do that, that’s scary amazing. It’s the biggest blessing. I feel blessed to have this talent. God gave me this, and if this is what God wants me to do, I’m going to keep going. If I have the power to do that, I’m going to keep doing it.

PC: What’s one thing that you know now that you wish you knew when you started your career?
PipoBeats: I would say absolutely nothing. I love the fact that every single day is an opportunity to grow. Everything that’s led me up to this path has been excellent: the challenges, the struggles, the wins, the losses. They’ve all made me who I am, and I wouldn’t change that.

PC: Great answer. Four years ago, you wrote down your goals and the people that you wanted to work with. Describe that feeling of being able to check off one of those names off your list and getting the opportunity to work with Luis [Fonsi, of NBC’s Songland].
PipoBeats: It’s so amazing when a goal that you have comes to life and the power of knowing the fact that if you want something, you can have it. It becomes a reaffirmation that you can do anything that you set your mind to is really what it is. It becomes more fuel to the fire. The only thing you need to do is get clear on what you want, write it down, and every single day do something about it and it will happen.

PC: Tell us about “Sway,” the song you pitched to Luis.
PipoBeats: This question is actually insane! The song was inspired by “Despacito,” which was produced by Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo. I used to listen to them when I was thirteen because my mom is a flight attendant. When I was young, I had the luxury of being able to fly back and forth between the United States and Chile because my family lives in Chile and I’m Chilean. I would go back and forth. I would listen to Spanish music. When I went to LA, I listened to a lot of pop.

I’ll never forget the first time I heard a Spanish song on the radio. It was Enrique Iglesias. It was his song called “Bailando.” When “Despacito” became the biggest hit, I started realizing that Spanish music hits the hardest. The numbers are off the charts. I started this scientific subconscious study in my brain about the numbers in Latin culture, and they’re ridiculous! When “Despacito” became a number-one hit, I became obsessed with the formula. I wanted to know why it was the number-one song.

I studied the beat. I studied the fact that it’s got a three-kicks on the downbeat that I’ve never heard in a song. It goes, do-da dum-dum-doom, one-two-three da dum-dum-doom. That one-two-three, I was like, “Dude, I want to do that!” So I applied that concept to the song “Sway.” It’s crazy to be able to have him listen to something that was inspired by him. It’s ridiculous.

PC: Besides Songland, tell us about “Hate It” and the inspiration behind the song.
PipoBeats: It’s funny. I’m actually out here in Florida, and I came out here about a year ago. I started an album called Singing Hills. Two of the songs were written in Los Angeles. Then I came out here to Florida in this very home that I’m at right now, which is my uncle’s home, and I continued writing the album. I was going through this up-and-down situation with a relationship. Being out here humbled me so much because you don’t hear cars. It’s the countryside, the total opposite of Los Angeles.

I had the opportunity of writing “Hate It” here. While I was here, the only thing I had was a guitar and piano. That’s how it came to life. It makes me feel like I’m in the ’70s. I don’t know why, but the way it came out, it was the most humbling experience to be able to write a song out here in Florida in the very place that I am right now.

PC: Speaking of Singing Hills, if you had to pick one song that best encompasses you as an artist off that album, what would it be and why?
PipoBeats: “Too Fresh”! I love that song. Every time the song “Too Fresh” comes on, I get hyped. I don’t know why. I have no clue. There’s something that has always caught my attention, and that is funk. I love funk music.

One of the biggest instruments in funk is the bass. You can’t neglect the bass. So when the bass line comes in hot and the vocals come in, which is like this breath that goes like “ah, ah, so fresh,” I’m like, “Whoa, let’s go.” The snaps come in and it just gets me excited, man. I don’t know. I love it. It’s hard though because if you think about it, it’s almost like you were to ask me which one of my children do I love most. Gosh, dude, I don’t know how to answer that. Another thing that’s actually a really amazing fun fact is that I’m really blessed to have the opportunity to have a new song coming up, and it’s called, “I’m Thinking When.” It’s going to be my next single that’s going to get released because I have the “Hate It” music video out now.

It is the most amazing video you will ever watch. I promise you that. It will blow your mind. “I’m Thinking When” features a young lady by the name of Caroline Cole, super-talented singer based in Nashville, Tennessee. She’s amazing.

PC: You’re very much a career-driven artist. As you look ahead in your career, what do you hope to accomplish?
PipoBeats: It’s so funny because I could literally read you the list of what I have planned as far as accomplishments. I want to work with a lot of different artists in different genres, including Bruno Mars, J Balvin, who’s a Spanish artist, Bad Bunny, and Drake. I would love to be able to work with some country artists like Luke Combs and also some slower-driven R&B-ish music like John Mayer. I want to win ten Grammys this year. That is the ultimate plan. That’s something else that I wrote down. Biggest and most of all, if I can do that thing that happened to me in Mexico over and over and over and over again with people, that’s going to be the ultimate return because I know for a fact everything that’s usually materialistic as far as goals, you’re always going to want more. The sensation of helping other people and having that really be one of the core values that I’m really, really, really trying to strive for—there is no higher return on investment. It’s pretty insane.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
PipoBeats: I’m obsessed with rock and roll and I mean like heavy rock and roll. I’m talking AC/DC. On a regular, I will be listening to straight up rock when I work out—when for the most part that is what my playlist consists of. AC/DC, I mean I’m talking like Wolfmother. I’m talking heavy rock music.

PC: First album you bought?
PipoBeats: That’s a great question. You want to hear something crazy? Now that I think about it. Oh my gosh. I remember I was a kid, and this is going to be crazy now that I think about this. I was a kid playing drums in my room, and I remember specifically the day that me and my dad bought a CD and it was Lenny Kravitz. I would play one of his songs 100,000 times on the drums all the time, every single day. It was the only CD that was stuck in the CD player in my room. So technically, that could be the first album that I purchased with my father at the same time.

PC: First concert you attended?
PipoBeats: Kiss! I was thoroughly confused. I was like, “Does this means that if I want to become a music artist, I have to have paint on my face and have my tongue sticking out like ninety percent of my concert?” [laughs]

PC: An album that changed your life and why?
PipoBeats: Logic’s The Incredible True Story. It was amazing how he structured that album. It’s almost like when you listen to the album by Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon, how it almost sounds like one song because the whole thing is structured to be continuous and merge together very, very smoothly. I decided to take that inspiration subconsciously without even me knowing this, and I applied the exact same concept to my album Singing Hills.

PC: A venue on your bucket list to perform at?
PipoBeats: Madison Square Garden and the Rose Bowl. I could walk back to my place from the Rose Bowl.

PC: A must-have on the road?
PipoBeats: Water, coffee, and protein.

To keep up with PipoBeats, follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and Spotify.