Treasure Mammal

Abelardo Gil is a mild mannered, motivator of the entity called Treasure Mammal from Phoenix , Arizona. Abe was born in Valencia, Venezuela, raised in Los Angeles, and has lived in Phoenix for the last two decades. Abe started performing by playing in noise bands in Phoenix in 2001. Musical projects started and ended for two years. One day in 2002, while Abe was helping move drum gear after practice with his slow emo band called Clementine, he decided that he had enough of writing sad songs and being miserable. Because Abe realized that the world itself was miserable already and he didn’t want to add to it. So, this thought was the catalyst to start Treasure Mammal. Abe wanted to play music that was fun, allow people to dance & feel welcome, to have the best time possible playing the music live, and to not be easily categorized by any particular genre. In 2003, Abe started Treasure Mammal along with a drummer named Nicholas Kroll. Abe utilized the guitar, and a sampler, while Nick played the drum machine and real drums. They played about 20 shows until Nick moved to Ithaca , NY to pursue a degree in philosophy at Cornell University . After Nick left in the summer of 2004, Abe decided to transform Treasure Mammal into his genre bending solo project. A Treasure Mammal show now consists of Abe with a sampler, a rotating cast of drummers but for now they have Jef Wright and Connor Adams on drums, Joel Crocco on bass, a dancer / percussionist Holly Hall, an inflatable archway, a Roomba, and a microphone. Performances are funny, abrasive, interactive, inspiring, motivating and leaves the audience feeling as if they have traveled a great distance, coming out better people on the other side. Treasure Mammal’s music is hard to categorize because he uses circuit bent instruments, children’s toys, Casio keyboards, guitars, drum machines, and loops made on a variety of computer programs. Some people have described Treasure Mammal’s music as a mix of dance pop, early 90’s hip-hop, power noise, chill wave, hardcore, and motivational rock. Treasure Mammal is meditation; It is an entity that brings people together through love and chaos. This entity that gets created at shows empowers the people by making them realize that each individual has something great to offer their community. Although Treasure Mammal can be personified by one, Abelardo Gil, Treasure Mammal is actually a mixture of every person in the world simultaneously laughing and eating Smarties.