Bob Gaulke

Habitus

Brand-Spanking Vintage from the 2010's

The internet says, “In sociology, habitus refers to the deeply ingrained habits, skills, dispositions, and tastes that individuals acquire through their background and social experiences. It is the "feel for the game" that guides how we perceive, react to, and navigate the social world without needing to consciously think about it.”

I probably was reading something about it. I wrote these songs a while back and then worked with Stephen Ulrich (Big Lazy) again. We had some problems going between DAWs or perhaps my own parts weren’t convincing enough, but he did a typically tight, dazzling job on the guitars and basses. He asked me what style I’d want the parts in, so I said, “Andy Gil”, and he obliged.

I dallied on putting this one out as I thought my post-punk roots were showing a bit too clearly on it. About a dozen years back, I was preferring working with lots of talented friends instead of playing things myself. Well, the savings account starts dwindling pretty fast and I’ve had to course-correct a bit.

I write pretty compulsively and then finally decided to release a few of these “Guitar God” albums this summer before I highlight my current approach of playing the guitars, basses, and keys myself in a sound that sort of could be a native tribe of primitive Gaulkes trapped in a Bronx Co-Op with decent lighting. More to come on that front. If you’re curious about their meanings, here’s what I remember:

Singing. I was hanging out with vocal teachers a decade ago while also visiting Brazil frequently; two groups of humans who sing at the drop of a hat. Why aren’t the rest of us like that?

Social Work. Working in lower-income areas can be quite fulfilling and draining at the same time. This comes out in the form of a prayer.

Misterbob. I taught adult basic education after being outed by the DOE for refusing to sign off on hours that weren’t delivered to kids. I really admired the adult students who were brave enough to go back and get their educations and put themselves in my hands for hours at a time.

Untrained Eye. Sexual tension with an old friend. These nuclear powers make the planet spin.

Daughters of Mars. Will humans ever evolve? How much longer will they continue being so stupid?

All Dressed Up. I took a songwriting workshop with the great Martin Briley. One of the assignments was to write a tune based around a familiar turn of phrase or idiomatic expression. I like how this one came out and can see the video in my mind.

Laughter. I read somewhere recently that people who take things lightly demonstrate a sophistication. About this.

Habitus. Title track as a sexy scene in an imaginary sci-fi film.

The musicians were:

Stephen Ulrich: Guitars and Basses

Kevin Cerovich: Drums and Trombones

Paulo LePetit: Bass on selected tracks

Leon Gruenbaum: Keys on selected tracks

Emilia Cataldo: Backing Vocals

Martin Scian: Mixing and Mastering

Photos by Scott Nasburg

OK. I hope you enjoy these and can catch me live around NYC this summer playing solo, or with the band, “RobBanksWithLeon”

Best,
Bob 06.03.26

Habitus on BandCamp

Walkitlikeyoutalkit

adventures in home recording

For the most part, I start albums in Logic on my laptop, then swap files with a pile of very talented friends. As everyone in the world is also currently doing this, it seems obvious that playing live is once again the final frontier for a songwriter. To that end, I've sucked it up and have gotten over my stage fright and am now appearing somewhat regularly at a small cafe in Jackson Heights (espresso77) and a friend's bookstore/cultural center in Williamsburg (GlobalLanguageReads). I thought I'd knock out a quickie just to preview what an acoustic set would look like, so here we are. Enjoy! Bob

Bandcamp

As if things weren't hard enough

More Shriekback

…and finally; “When Are These Not Difficult Times” This 4-track E.P. caps off the first of a set of collaborations with the UK Post-Punk group, Shriekback. Keyboardist Barry Andrews and drummer Martyn Barker are joined by songwriter Bob Gaulke on basses and guitars. “These songs seemed to work well together as a coda to “(S)words” and “(detail)” and perhaps are part of a different direction, separate from the first two.

Subject matter deals from the apocalyptic (“Emergency Romance”) to the mystical (“Time Matters”), to the interpersonal challenges of the opening track, “False Beginners”.

Like the previous two efforts, the recordings represented a set of overdub sessions aided by the expedience of passing Logic sessions between London (Barry and Martyn), New York, Amsterdam (Hans Croon, guitars and editing), and Patagonia (Martin Scian, mixing & mastering).

“Any shortfalls are my own. I work in a bit of a vacuum here in the Bronx; I have no idea how interesting or depressing these tunes sound like. I’m just reporting for inside myself”.

Preview the E.P. on Bandcamp by clicking the button.

Click Here

Shriekbacking

Music Minus One

Shriekback

On those first records, you never knew what would come next, but it was compelling. Like artifacts from an unknown civilization. Information was at a premium- behind the solid colored covers, there might be an insert. Or not.

We’d go down to the Rundell Library where they had NME & Melody Maker subscriptions. Checking the record store bins like lottery addicts. Who did what? Was that one voice or two? The pedigree. “Tench”; “Care”; “Jam Science”. They felt like very personal secrets committed to vinyl. Complete with messages on the run out grooves.

Decades later. The wonders of social media, fast uploads, and Logic software. It’s xmas when the overdubs arrive from Barry and Martyn and the sometimes the songs just have to dry for a while like canvasses.

It’s getting late. Friends are gone. Got to get it out before there are no listeners left.

“(S)words” and “(detail)” stream June 6th.

Bob 04202025

(S)words

Stupid

Streaming Now

Stupid link:

https://srsr.li/bob-gaulke-stupid

I try to be simple. I try to be understood. I can always get simpler. I can get stupid. That was the goal with this record- try to break it down. I played bass and guitar and used the dub principles of “when in doubt, leave it out”…just a short rundown:

Advertisements for Life: I’m at that age where I’ve still got energy but friends are dropping like flies

Dr. Panglossian: If I get to bed by 9pm, anything’s possible.

The Ghost of Phil Ochs: He might’ve been wrong, but his later work still shines to me.

Even if Only: Peopling. It’s what we do.

General Obvious: What are we fighting for, Captain Obvious. I see that you’ve got a promotion.

The Radical Bureaucracy: Teaching. I could be teaching pornography to my students and they’d still be bored out of their minds. The schoolification of everything. How dare anyone demand anyone else’s attention.

On It: The closest I can get to a love song in these times.

My Entire Adult Life: Self-explanatory.

Thank you: Kevin Cerovich- Drums and Trombones/Leon Gruenbaum-Keys/Martin Scian-Mixing and Mastering and a very special thanks as always to my sister in this mission, the famous Emilia Cataldo, aka Nehedar.

Artwork by Lucian Cian!

I'm happy with the music I released in '23 and have more to put out next year. Hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday season. B

Listen Now...

Double Fold-out Gatefold Concept Album, "The Humanities"

It wrote me-

I can’t make any claim to musical virtuosity, vocal prowess, or poetic genius, but I think I just made the best record of my career.

I have no idea how it happened, what I did, or how the pieces fit, but this thing just came out of me and I can almost pretend it’s not mine and I think it sounds pretty good.

I wrote my own parts quickly- I don’t really remember the “how’s” and “why’s” of these songs, but somehow, after a year of putting out work or 30 years of making home recordings, or 55 years on the planet, things fell into place.

And this thing is one slick beast. It’s called “The Humanities” and comes in two parts. Each part is a 25 or minute chunk of poetry and funk and jazz and dub about what I experience in my Bronx existence as a former middle-class gringo traipsing around a 21st century environment where people lurch from crises to crises, make love, work crushing jobs, raise children, scream in pain, narcotize themselves, dance, shit and never fall asleep.

I can hear pieces of my record collection. I can feel places I’ve never been. I can sense how somehow I’ve been able to triangulate a lot of stuff I process daily and make some reasonable guesses about others.

I send these paper airplane plans over to Kevin and he works up a frame on the drums and then drops a roof with his horns.

Leon comes over and does a lot of the drywall work on keys. Before you can say, “wtf???”, you’re bent over double laughing at his deadly accurate choices of sounds and parts.

Then comes Kenny bridging, reconciling, twisting and adding lights and plumbing on guitar.

Emilia does the finishing work, adding the vocal furniture and whatever metaphors follow, then

Martin inspects everything, tweaking here and there and gets it ready for your arrival on January 6th.

Click Now

Redux

Hindsight

Who wants be stapled to split-second decisions forever.? With the magic of digital, the tweaking’s easier. I’m showering last month thinking, “fuck-I’m not building songs around a series of bad puns (“We took off”), quickly-sketched situations (“You Crazy”), or mixed metaphors (“More Blood”).

Luckily there were a few songs from a different project with the same team that I could use in their places (“LMD”, “I have no secrets”, “Happiness Headquarters”). These were pulled from other albums because I like short records. I don’t think my voice is strong enough that you need more than twenty minutes of me at a time.

Well, to do any of this I’ve got to assume I possess a modicum of objectivity about my own abilities. I feel the new GQZ is tighter and harder in the right places. I hope you agree.

Bob Nov 22nd 2022

Lick this