In September 1994, Sónia Tavares, Nuno and John Gonçalves, Miguel Ribeiro and Ricardo Braga enrolled in the Bar Ben Music Competition in Alcobaça and took second place in the competition, to everyone's great surprise, given the band’s short time in existence.
The band performed its first show at the Alcobaça Monastery in July 1995. This was followed by the Belém Cultural Centre (Lisbon) in September 1996 and the Labirintho Bar (Porto) in November 1996.
The Gift masterminded their first record, with the intention of using it as a demo for the media and labels. From this effort, “Digital Atmosphere” was born, a six track enhanced CD featuring interviews and videos, recorded at home but not available in stores. In 1997 the band went on the road, playing at over 30 theatres (many of which sold out) and released video at the end of the tour at Belém Cultural Centre and the Alcobaça Cine-Teatro shows.
Soon after the Digital Atmosphere Tour finished, Ricardo Braga left the band and The Gift was now a four member group once again. In 1998, they established themselves as an independent band forming g their own label, La Folie with the visionary goal of releasing a next record as independents.
Sónia Tavares, The Gift - photo by João Loureiro
In November 1998, the band’s first true record “Vinyl” is released. "Vinyl" combined the potentials of new technologies (samples and synthesizer) with classical instruments (violins, cellos, trumpets, saxophones etc.). “Vinyl” , which was fully funded by The Gift themselves, was named Album of the Year by the Diário de Notícias newspaper a first for a Portuguese independent band and began courting the attention of the labels that previously ignored The Gift’s work. In spite of this, the band chose to stay independent, opting to to use distribution contracts.
From November 1998 through 1999, The band performs over 80 shows, including the biggest Summer Festivals, sells out the most important venues in Lisbon and Porto, wins several awards with the first hit single “Ok! Do You Want Something Simple?” and sells over 35,000 records.
At the end of that year The Gift performs for the first time abroad, in Paris (at La Cigalle) and a few months later participates in the prestigious music fair MIDEM 2000 (in Cannes), taking the first step towards the band’s career outside Portugal.
In early 2000, the band closes the “Vinyl” era, simultaneously releasing the photo book “A Single Diary” (by Ana Pereira) and the video “Single Hand Camera Documentary” (by Gonçalo Covacich), two artistic visions and documentary pieces on the Vinyl Tour. Once again, all the, costs incurred were covered by the band establishing The Gift once and for all as a solid DIY band.
The steps taken abroad continued to gain momentum in June 2000 with the band’s first mini-tour outside Portugal, including dates in Germany (Expo 2000 – Hanover), Macau and again, France (Paris).
At the end of the year The Gift take a break from touring and start writing songs for the next album, some of which are introduced later in 2001 at the Eurosonic Festival in the Netherlands, representing Portugal .
Howie B produces “Film”, The Gift’s second album released again through theirown label, La Folie Records. The band shows its “Film” throughout the country, playing at the Paredes de Coura Festival, the optimushype@meco Festival (sharing the stage with Howie B and Matthew Herbert), at the Interactive TV’s launch in Portugal, live for Sic Radical channel, and radio Antena 3.
“Film” goes Gold at 25,000 units and The Gift win several more awards for its videos (“Waterskin” and “Question of Love” – the album’s first two singles). At the end of 2001, the band was once more invited by Cap Magellan to promote “Film” in Paris.
In March 2002, The Gift flies to the United States to enter the South by Southwest Music & Media Conference in Austin, Texas; in June returned to Paris to perform at the Hôtel de Ville Square; in August Popkomm and Musikfest Am-Ring festivals in Germany; Spain followed in September with shows in Barcelona; in October the band was back in the USA for a short tour in a few north-American cities New York); and in November its first concert in Madrid, Spain, took place.
Of the few performances in Portugal, the Manchester Mad Remixers (which featured The Gift together with Rodrigo Leão and Pedro Oliveira) concerts are a highlight (first at the nightclub Lux, and later at the Frágil and the Clinic bars). This was a project specially created for the "24 Hour Party People" film's premiere.
The band performs in numerous places, Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, Bilbao, Vigo, New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston, San Diego, London, Caracas, Dunkirk, amongst many other cities.
The Gift was invited to open for The Flaming Lips and Cousteau, and at the end of the year, in December 2003, get an invitation to perform for the recently launched Portuguese MTV, recording one of the first MTV Live shows in the history of MTV Portugal.
In 2004, The Gift celebrated its first 10 years in music and returned to album releases. By the end of the recording sessions, The Gift was faced with a double album, where two distinctive but complementary environments surfaced (one more intimate and introspective, the other more euphoric) and in which duality was the key word. The new relese, the first in three years, is entitled “AM-FM”.
“AM-FM” was released in November 2004 with great expectation from the group's fans, who rapidly sold out the presentation concerts in Alcobaça, Lisbon and Porto (a few days after the band's shows in London, New York and Los Angeles. A week after the retail release, “AM-FM” goes Silver and not long after Gold, selling more than 25, 000 copies.
In 2005 they won the MTV Europe Award for Best Portuguese Act.
The album Fácil de Entender, their first live album was released in 2006. Sells over 25,000 units.
The Gift acted with great success on the Expo 2008 Zaragoza, the day of Portugal at the exhibition.
In 2008 and 2009, The Gift's Sonia Tavares and Nuno Goncalves along with fellow musicians, Paulo Praça [Plaza]and Fernando Ribeiro record and tour with their side project Hoje’s: Amalia Hoje. Amalia Hoje garners triple platinum status selling over 85,000 units and is the Portuguese runaway Album of the Year.
2010 The Gift returns to record Their 5th Album explode and invite Ken Nelson [Coldplay, Gomez, Kings of Convenience, Badly Drawn Boy to produce the Album. The Gift spends three months in Madrid recording
2011 is the year of Explode. Explode is released in Portugal on 1 April and immediately goes to number one in the charts where it holds top ten for over 10 weeks.
Explode is scheduled to be released in North America on 27 September 2011
www.gift.pt
2) THE GIFT are a Symphonic Prog band from, London, formed after Mike Morton (vocals, 6/12 string acoustic guitar, piano and string arrangements) and Leroy James (lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals, samples, effects and programming, piano and string arrangements) came up with the idea of creating a band and making a concept album at the same time.
The concept was devised by Mike Morton and was initially meant to be just one piece.
They brought in other musicians to help with the recording, viz. Jim Thomas (bass), Rod Haverhill (keyboards) and David Storey (drums) and THE GIFT was born.
The band made some initial demos and pressed on with the idea. They sent the demos out to various places and general opinion was positive. So positive in fact, that the Cyclops label (responsible for bands such as Mostly Autumn, Pineapple Thief, Saens and Tr3nity) gave them a deal.
THE GIFT had the desire and conviction to record the album itself. The idea initially was to record one multi-themed piece (a suite called Awake and Dreaming), about “savagery and war and the final triumph of piece” (as their MySpace biography notes), but Cyclops felt it need to be longer and asked them to record a slightly extended finish. This ended up as another suite (of 30 minutes in length), called Fountains of Ash about “domestic violence, again seeking solace in the human spirit” (from their MySpace bio).
Their sound is quite varied, but takes on a definite symphonic rock air to it. They have hard rocking sections, pastoral songs, and “complex time signatures, wild key changes and ambitious concepts.”
Their progressive rock influences include Pink Floyd, Genesis (Gabriel era), Yes, David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Porcupine Tree, King Crimson, Tangerine Dream, Rush and Dream Theater. They also take influence from non-prog bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, The Who, Beatles, Massive Attack, U2, Sex Pistols and Prince.
Their debut album (a double CD) Awake and Dreaming, was released on October 9, 2006, by Cyclops.
3) The Gift is a funeral grunge band from Washington, DC featuring members of Turboslut, Exosus and Tradition Dies Here. Their debut LP "Mostly in Sickness" is out now on Amor y Lucha Records, www.amorylucha.org. Free tracks can be downloaded and streamed at their website, www.thegift.bandcamp.com.
Nowadays
The Gift Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Everyday the same songs
The same sounds
Produced by the same people
With their same smile tours
Even the strangers are always the same strangers
I would like to tell you something new
I can't cause I'm exactly the same
Does any man or any woman
Does anyone change anything?
Does any man or any woman
Does anyone change anything?
I would like to sing something
Not a love song or a sad song
I would like to make you smile
Because I think you've had enough
Nowadays you've had enough
Nowadays
Does any man or any woman
Does anyone change anything?
Does any man or any woman
Does anyone change anything?
Nowadays
I'm tired
I would like to tell you something new
I can't cause I'm exactly the same
Something new
Does any man or any woman
Does anyone change anything?
Does any man or any woman
Does anyone change anything?
I'm tired
I would like to tell you something new
I can't cause I'm exactly the same
Something new
I'm tired
I... I'm tired
I'm... I'm tired
I'm exactly the same
The Gift's song "Nowadays" reflects the monotony and weariness of life in the modern era. The singer is tired of the same songs, sounds, people, and tours. Even strangers feel like the same strangers. The singer longs to offer something new to the world but feels incapable of doing so as they, too, are becoming just like everyone else. They want to sing a song that's not sad or about love but would make people smile. The repetition of the phrase "Does any man or any woman/ Does anyone change anything?" highlights the singer's frustration with the lack of innovation and progress in society.
The song can be interpreted as a commentary on the state of the music industry, where many songs and artists seem homogenized and formulaic. The line "Produced by the same people/ With their same smile tours" suggests the commercialization and commodification of music, where art is created solely for profit. The lyric "Even the strangers are always the same strangers" could refer to the globalization and homogenization of culture, making every place and person feel indistinguishable from the next.
Overall, "Nowadays" is a powerful reflection on the tedium and conformity of modern life, and the singer's desire for something fresh and new.
Line by Line Meaning
I am tired
I am exhausted with the same repetitive routine every day.
Everyday the same songs
I hear the same music every day, with no variation.
The same sounds
The noises around me remain unvaried day in and day out.
Produced by the same people
Even the music I listen to is made by identical artists, with no change in the producer or production team.
With their same smile tours
I encounter the same performers repeatedly, and each time, they put on the same show with the same smiles and expressions.
Even the strangers are always the same strangers
Even the people I encounter outside my regular routine are always the same people, and I don't meet anyone new.
I would like to tell you something new
I wish I could speak to you about fresh ideas, but I cannot because I am stuck in the same cycle.
I can't cause I'm exactly the same
But it is impossible to bring up something new since I'm not evolving myself.
Nowadays
Presently, the current scenario is like this.
Does any man or any woman
Do any individuals take different measures to differentiate themselves?
Does anyone change anything?
Is anyone attempting to alter the situation or status quo in any way whatsoever?
I would like to sing something
I want to present new music, something that varies from the ordinary.
Not a love song or a sad song
Something that is not mainly about love or something melancholic and lonely.
I would like to make you smile
I want to produce something that will make you grin or laugh.
Because I think you've had enough
Since I believe that you, too, are tired of the same monotonous routine.
Nowadays you've had enough
This can be reassured by the current scenario; people are fed up.
I'm tired
I'm just really sick of everything; everything feels like a never-ending loop.
Something new
A fresh new approach to life.
I would like to tell you something new
I desire to discuss new things with you that we've never come across before.
I'm tired
Lack of novelty makes me feel fatigued and bored.
I... I'm tired
I have lost the energy to explore new things and get stuck in the same rut.
I'm... I'm tired
This repetition of events and experiences has left me feeling exhausted and unenthusiastic.
I'm exactly the same
I have not evolved, I have not embraced anything new, I am stagnant.
Contributed by Micah K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Pedro goncalves
Pena já não as tocarem mais ao vivo. Canção excelente com uma profundidade maravilhosa.
Fá Alves
Sou brasileira e através de uma amiga portuguesa, tive o prazer de conhecer suas músicas, me apaixonei assim que ouvir a primeira vez, voz abençoada por Deus... Parabéns. Meu sonho é está presente em um dos seus concertos.