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Singer/songwriter Dianne Gato brings her music back to her alma mater
Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Rhythm Mistress
Presentation High alumna Dianne Gato lets passion for music guide her future
By Suzanne Barnecut
Dianne Gato apologizes to me that she hasn't cleaned up around the house. She's left her mixing board out on the table--a box covered with tiny magic knobs that can turn a simple tune into a fantastic variance of sounds--and a couple of standing microphones next to the piano. "I meant to, but I didn't think you'd mind," she says.
Actually, I don't mind at all. In fact, the tools of her trade--singing and songwriting--are imbued with a sort of awesome mystery for me. I want to ask her to plug them in and play for me, but I remind myself I can see Gato perform at her alma mater, Presentation High School, on Aug.18. She will give an evening concert on the back lawn of campus, beginning at 7 p.m. The venue offers a grassy spot to spread a blanket or picnic tables if listeners want to bring along a snack of crackers and cheese.
It's been just over four years since Gato left Presentation High in 1995 toting a diploma and big dreams. After spending two years at Santa Clara University, she decided to plunge headlong into her passion and transferred to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Recitals were mandatory. Being forced to play made her grow bolder, and she began participating in open-mic nights around Boston.
"I'm over my stage fright," she says comfortably, "but it's always kind of strange in front of a new audience. It's scarier at small venues or in front of people you know." Since she's been home this summer she's made appearances at the Saddle Rack in San Jose and City Lights Espresso in Santa Clara. Also, in preparation for her concert at Presentation High, she's been prac- ticing with a band of family and friends.
"Practicing with other people is the most fun thing in the whole wide world," she says. "I can experience what others put into my music and can see all their gifts and talents."
Gato has been surrounded by creative energy for as long as she can remember.
"I've been singing since I was 2," she explains. "My dad plays classical guitar and had me harmonizing with him ever since I could get a pitch out of my voice." She says she has a recording of herself and her father singing "Teenager in Love" by Dion and the Belmonts. "That's my first memory," she says.
When I ask who else has influenced her musical growth, Gato hesitates for fear she'll leave someone out. After a moment's pause she easily concedes that her mother, an artist and writer, is her greatest inspiration. "She's always encouraged artistic creativity, whether visual or audio. She's taught me to be my own person and be happy with that," Gato says.
Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Melody Makers: Dianne Gato (center) and her fellow bandmates, guitarist Peggy Schrader and bassist Patrick Morriss, rehearse in preparation for their concert at Presentation High School on Aug. 18.
Gato's talent came out at an early age, yet she didn't become serious about music until she was 13 and sat down to teach herself to play piano by ear. Under the influence of Elton John and pop radio of the 1980s, she composed her first song. Gato continued writing pop music throughout high school, using music as a form of natural therapy, but once she arrived at Berklee, she picked up the guitar and began playing the blues. Now her style has expanded to incorporate jazz, blues, pop and even a little country as of late. What box does she fit in?
"Folk," she says bluntly. "I'm a singer/ songwriter, so I don't know what else my music could be called, but I try to use it all." She describes her music as generally upbeat--though, she admits with a sense of humor, "I have my little sad songs ... oh, my sad relationships." Sigh. Then she says with sincerity, "I just try to create good balance by paying attention to both the music and the lyrics." Her favorite song--though any new song is always a favorite at first--is entitled "I've Never Seen You This Happy Before."
"I didn't know what mood I was in when I was writing it and so it's a compound sound. The vocals are jazzy, but the music is something else," she explains. "The easiest material for me is self-experienced. Some people write really well about outside subjects and I long to do that someday, but I don't want to write from an ignorant standpoint."
Going to Berklee has helped with her musical process. While she describes her early writing years as spontaneous bursts of music and lyrics, she is now able to put more thought into each piece and the kind of elements she wants to weave into a song. Come May, she will hold a degree in songwriting, so I can't resist asking her every near-graduate's most dreaded question: What's next? Only, for Gato, the answer isn't painstaking or cloudy. She's going to play music.
"I plan on promoting myself in Boston. Here at home, I've had lots of help from encouraging friends, but in Boston it will be a test of strength and my PR abilities," she laughs. "I'll be putting together a band there because I can't take my friends and family back with me."
Naturally, she has to keep a day job, but in the way of a true artist Gato will probably continue to work at the Secret Garden, a flower shop in Boston where she doubles as florist and performing artist, singing and selling her self-produced CD outside. It seems a romantic and natural environment for growth. "People are usually happy when they come in," she comments, unable to resist the urge to add a positive note to each turn of our conversation.
Gato admits to listening to the female recording artists of the Lilith Fair genre, but she can't help musing, "I'm kind of wondering when it will go back around full-circle. But once women have pushed their way through, they'll keep finding a way to stay on top."
Nonetheless, despite ever-changing musical trends, Dianne Gato is going to continue forging ahead into the fickle music industry, trusting in the words and melodies she has to share. She says with a frank yet humble honesty, "Everybody dreams of being a huge rock star. I have a dream of being a big rock star, but I'd be really happy with just touching as many people as I can."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
