The Gift

The Gift are a group from the United Kingdom. The name is used by more than one act, but one version is identified as UK punk. Another version is a band formed in London and described as symphonic prog, and a separate project uses the name for a funeral grunge group from Washington, DC. The biographical details here mainly concern the Portuguese alternative pop and electronic band that forms the core of the available information.

Formation and early line-up

The Gift form in 1994 as a side project of the Dead Souls, the band of Nuno Gonçalves and Miguel Ribeiro. The project grows out of a wish to move beyond the Dead Souls’ limited setup of guitar, drums and bass and to explore more varied sounds. In September 1994, Sónia Tavares, Nuno Gonçalves, John Gonçalves, Miguel Ribeiro and Ricardo Braga enter the Bar Ben Music Competition in Alcobaça and finish second. The band gives its first concert at Alcobaça Monastery in July 1995, followed by shows at the Belém Cultural Centre in Lisbon in September 1996 and Labirintho Bar in Porto in November 1996.

After the Digital Atmosphere Tour, Ricardo Braga leaves and the group returns to a four-piece line-up. The band later includes Sónia Tavares, Nuno Gonçalves, John Gonçalves and Miguel Ribeiro among its members. Nuno Gonçalves is also one of the people behind the group’s early development.

Early releases and independent work

The Gift make their first recording as a demonstration for media and labels. This becomes Digital Atmosphere, a six-track enhanced CD with interviews and videos, recorded at home and not sold in shops. In 1997 the band tours, playing more than 30 theatres, many of them sold out, and issues video from the end-of-tour shows at Belém Cultural Centre and the Alcobaça Cine-Teatro.

In 1998 the band forms its own label, La Folie, and releases its first full record, Vinyl, in November of that year. The album combines samples and synthesiser work with classical instruments such as violins, cellos, trumpets and saxophones. It is financed by the band themselves and is named Album of the Year by Diário de Notícias, a first for a Portuguese independent band. The group keeps its independence and uses distribution deals rather than signing fully to a label.

From late 1998 through 1999, The Gift play more than 80 shows, including major summer festivals, and sell out important venues in Lisbon and Porto. Their single “Ok! Do You Want Something Simple?” becomes a hit, brings further awards, and helps the album pass 35,000 copies sold. They also perform abroad for the first time, in Paris at La Cigale, and later appear at MIDEM 2000 in Cannes.

Film, touring and wider European activity

At the end of the Vinyl cycle, the band releases A Single Diary, a photo book by Ana Pereira, and Single Hand Camera Documentary, a video by Gonçalo Covacich, both documenting the tour. The group pays the costs itself, reinforcing its DIY approach. In June 2000 it undertakes its first mini-tour outside Portugal, with dates in Germany at Expo 2000 in Hanover, Macau and France.

By 2001 The Gift begin writing for a new album and introduce some of the material at the Eurosonic Festival in the Netherlands, where they represent Portugal. Howie B produces Film, which is again issued through La Folie Records. The band tours the album across Portugal and appears at the Paredes de Coura Festival, the optimushype@meco Festival alongside Howie B and Matthew Herbert, the launch of Interactive TV in Portugal, and broadcasts for SIC Radical and Antena 3. Film reaches gold status at 25,000 units, and the videos for “Waterskin” and “Question of Love” receive further awards. The band also returns to Paris through an invitation from Cap Magellan.

In 2002 The Gift travel to South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, then continue with shows in Paris, Germany, Spain and the United States, including New York. They also appear in Madrid for the first time. Around this period they take part in the Manchester Mad Remixers project with Rodrigo Leão and Pedro Oliveira, created for the premiere of the film 24 Hour Party People. The band performs in many cities across Europe and North and South America, including Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, Vigo, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston, San Diego, London, Caracas and Dunkirk.

The group is invited to open for The Flaming Lips and Cousteau. In December 2003 it records one of the first MTV Live shows in the history of MTV Portugal for the newly launched Portuguese MTV.

AM-FM and later work

In 2004 The Gift mark ten years together and return to album releases with AM-FM, a double album built around two contrasting but complementary moods. It is released in November 2004 and is followed by sold-out presentation concerts in Alcobaça, Lisbon and Porto, after shows in London, New York and Los Angeles. The album goes silver, then gold, and sells more than 25,000 copies.

In 2005 the band wins the MTV Europe Award for Best Portuguese Act. Their first live album, Fácil de Entender, appears in 2006 and sells more than 25,000 units. They also perform at Expo 2008 Zaragoza for Portugal Day.

Side project Hoje

In 2008 and 2009 Sónia Tavares and Nuno Gonçalves, together with Paulo Praça and Fernando Ribeiro, record and tour with the side project Hoje, released as Amália Hoje. The release reaches triple-platinum status, selling more than 85,000 units and becoming a major Portuguese album of the year.

Explode

In 2010 The Gift begin work on their fifth album, Explode, and ask Ken Nelson, known for work with Coldplay, Gomez, Kings of Convenience and Badly Drawn Boy, to produce it. The band records in Madrid over three months. Explode is released in Portugal in 2011, reaches number one, and remains in the top ten for more than 10 weeks. A North American release is also planned for that year.