There are a lot of different ways to make an impression as a performer. At her Studio Milwaukee Session ahead of a sold-out gig at Vivarium opening for Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners, Gigi Perez pulled off what might be my favorite.
The session started simply enough, with Perez strumming an acoustic guitar and almost cooing into the microphone. Then she really put her vocal instrument to work and made you wonder why she needed a microphone at all.
In other words, Perez has a powerful voice. So when she started talking during the mid-set interview about getting singing lessons as a kid that leaned heavily on theater and classical training, it was sort of a “Ooooooooh, that’s why” moment for everyone.
“I took voice lessons from my teacher, Mrs. Santiago — she’s the best — and it was much more in this theater, classical lane,” Perez explained. “One day after practice, I saw the piano was open, and you weren’t supposed to touch the director’s piano. But it was just one of those things like I really wanted to touch it. So I taught myself a C major chord.”
We all benefited from that act of musical defiance because it set Perez on a path to sharing her gifts (and hard work) with the big, wide world. In her music and in this session, it comes across most significantly through her voice — both singing-wise and the lyrics she chooses for her songs. There’s a depth to her writing that stems from a curious nature she exhibited way back as a 6 year old standing in the hallway of her Florida home.
“I asked my mom … ‘Where was I before this?’” she recalled. “I don’t know why it was something I thought about when I was so young because I didn’t see anything that would kind of make me this way. But I think from a very early age I’ve been very concerned with why I’m here, how I’m here. …
“It’s so intense being a child because you don’t have the vocabulary to understand your feelings, but you’re still feeling them. This is the thing that helps me be like, ‘This is what it is, and that’s OK.’ Because, sometimes, just getting it out is enough.”
Studio MKE: Gigi Perez set list
- “Sailor Song”
- “Please Be Rude”
- “Fable”
