Daring to Try (with Gabriel Kazz)

Bree: Hi there. It’s your host Bree and welcome to the show.

Have you ever had this feeling where you’re completely terrified and excited at the same time? Maybe you’re like me and you volunteered to do a big talk or maybe it’s leading a project. And you do this without knowing what’s going to happen. You don’t know the outcome. 

Now these moments feel scary, but they’re also the ones that show us what we’re capable of.

Over 100 years ago, Theodore Roosevelt, who was the President of the United States at the time, said something that explains this perfectly, “the credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena, daring greatly.” This means that the honor goes to the people who try, even if they fail. 

Today, we’re going into the story of Gabriel Kazz. A Catalan-Canadian musician who stepped into his own arena on the TV show La Voz, Spain’s version of The Voice. This is a singing competition where judges listen without seeing the performer, and then they turn their chairs if they want to keep them on the show.

Gabriel: The stage lights are bright and colorful, shining in every direction. I walk up, and I stand in the center of the stage, One, two, three, go.

Bree: This is a story about daring to try, even when you risk being rejected By the end, you’ll be inspired to think about what it means to step into your own arena.

And really quick, before we look at the vocabulary for today’s story, do you want to speak English with impact and influence? Lead meetings, sell, and give presentations. Join my free newsletter for practical tips that will make people remember, you trust you, and want to hear more when you speak in English. Go to enter the story podcast.com to sign up.

Planning a trip, whether it’s a big adventure or a weekend getaway, you’ll need travel insurance. Last year, my son needed a doctor while we were in Canada. It costs a lot, but my insurance paid for everything without any stress. Plus, they offer the best prices that I’ve seen. Into the story listeners can get a 5% discount, just follow the link in the description or visit into the story podcast.com/travel.

Now it’s time to look at five words and expressions that Gabriel uses in his story today. 

The first, to hone, H O N E. And to hone is to improve a skill through practice and effort. For example, he honed his cooking skills by taking a class, or she spent years honing her craft as a writer. To hone. 

And then we have, to have a thick skin. And to have, or to get, a thick skin, is to be able to handle criticism or difficult situations without being upset. For example, you need to have a thick skin to be in show business. Or after years of rejection, she developed a thick skin. To have a thick skin. 

Next, a falling out. A falling out is a disagreement, Or an argument that damages a relationship. For example, they had a falling out and stopped talking to each other. Or the business partners had a falling out over money. A falling out.

Next, rekindle, R E K I N D L E. To rekindle is to bring back or to restart something like a feeling or a relationship. For example, they rekindled their friendship after years apart. Or the movie rekindled her love for acting. Rekindle. 

And finally the cherry on top. So this expression refers to that final touch that makes something perfect or even better. For example, winning the award was the cherry on top of an amazing year. Or the sunny weather was the cherry on top of their perfect vacation. The cherry on top.

To get the full learning pack for this episode, you can visit into the story podcast.com. 

And before we get to the story, I just want to let you know that apart from the music you’re listening to now, which is our vocabulary music, everything you hear in this episode is Gabriel’s original music.

Okay. Now it’s my favorite part. Let’s get into the story.

Gabriel: The double door’s open and I walk into the room. The stage lights are bright and colorful, shining in every direction. I walk up, and I stand in the center of the stage, my guitar in my hands, in front of the microphone. The room’s quiet, but I can feel the energy buzzing from the crowd sitting in the dark stands.

In front of me, there’s four big red chairs, their backs facing me. I take a deep breath, and I glance at the man to my left. He raises his hand and starts counting. One, two, three, go. This is it. 

I strum my guitar and begin to sing. The first few notes feel like jumping out of a plane, or what I think jumping out of a plane feels like, terrifying and exhilarating. But then, as the music takes over, I feel my feet touch the ground. I thought I’d be really nervous,

This is my blind audition for La Voz. But as I sing, I realize something important. This moment doesn’t define me. The real story is everything that brought me here.

Bree: Let me take you to the beginning. Gabriel was 23 when he left his small Catalan town of 7,000 people. Life there was simple, quiet and familiar. London was the opposite, big, busy. Gabriel felt small, like a fish and a big ocean. But London was also full of possibilities.

Gabriel: And I started playing open mic nights and in bars, which was really fun. Seeing all kinds of wacky performers, including myself, you know, I was really inexperienced and that’s where I, you know, started honing my, my songs and really learning how to play my own music. And then I started busking on the streets, mostly on the South bank of the Thames.

And I remember my first time was in December, and it was freezing in the evening and, you know, spoiler alert, don’t really don’t do that. My fingers were freezing and every, every couple of songs I had to put my hands in my hat, I had to take my hat off, put my hands in there and rub them so that they wouldn’t, totally freeze and I’d have to chop off my fingers, which wouldn’t be good, given that I’m a guitarist. 

And so, yeah, I remember a guy came and gave me a tip and said, you know, you’re really brave for being out here this time a year. And, uh, so anyway, I decided to wait until summer that, uh, that was, that was more fun.

Bree: He borrowed an amp and a microphone from a friend. Finally upgrading from playing unplugged. And that’s when things got interesting. Sometimes girls would drop pieces of paper with their numbers, into his guitar case. Which felt like the classic play-guitar-and-meet-girls moment.

Gabriel: But yeah, busking, busking is hard. You get a lot of rejection, like every, every passing minute out there playing on the streets. You’re giving it all, you know, you’re trying to focus on your music, on your songs and, at the same time, you’re having to ignore the noise of the street. People who come by that are, you know, drunk and shout something stupid at you. Some people come and tell you you’ve made their day. You know, and, and that’s brilliant. 

But, um, it definitely makes you accept the fact that, you know, not everybody’s gonna engage with the way you do. Even if what you’re doing is the best you can do, you know, you’re putting it, you’re putting it all, you know, you want people to notice you, but it’s what it is. People are going to pass by. They’re going to ignore you and you have to deal with that.

You know, it really, toughens you, it gives you thick skin because, it teaches you how to keep playing no matter what, and smile and keep going.

Bree: About a year after arriving in London. Gabriel began recording an EP. This is a short album with a few songs. He put everything he had into this EP. He was excited and full of hope. This felt like the moment. He was in London, releasing an album. And then..

Gabriel: Nothing happened. I, um, I checked my phone every five minutes waiting for the world to notice. The world didn’t. I was heartbroken.

I kept writing songs, but I was scared to release them. I felt like the parts really weren’t coming together. Nothing was working out for me. I was just a, a kid who’d recorded an album in, uni and, uh, put it out without much help at the beginning of, uh, the social media craze. 

And tons of competition in London as well. You’re always playing gigs, competing with a thousand other gigs that are going on that night. You’re, um, you know, taking your album there, trying to sell records. You’re trying to promote. Promote, promote, promote, promote. It gets really tiring. 

And then, my bass player moved back home. I had a falling out with my drummer. I, um, I had a rough breakup. And so it was all a bit, it all went to, into shambles. You know, it all, It all fell apart. And I was full of self-doubt. And like, what’s the point? People aren’t going to care anyway. What’s the point of making these songs and putting this music out if people will ignore it?

 

Bree: Then in early 2020, the world changed for all of us. For Gabriel, COVID meant no more gigs or busking in London. Staying in the city, no longer made sense. When spring arrived, he decided to move back to his small hometown near Barcelona. When his plane landed, Gabriel felt like his dream of making it in London was over. It felt like he was moving backward. But sometimes what feels like going backward is actually a chance to reset. And try again.

Gabriel had a song that he had been working on in London, but left unfinished. One day, he called his old friend, Fran, a music producer. He asked Fran if he’d like to help him complete the song.

Gabriel: And he said, yeah, let’s do it. So we did, we, we started going through the song and he’s like, do you have anything else? And I’m like, yeah, actually I have like 20 more songs. You want to hear them? And he’s like, yeah, sure. 

And then, so what was supposed to be just finishing one song turned out to be a 12 song album that we started working on. And, and, uh, we spent months working on it all of, uh, the end of 2020 and the whole of 2021. We recorded and produced those 12 songs with fantastic musicians.

And it, it, it was a dream come true, but it was a dream come true back home, actually, you know, and, uh, I rekindled my love for, for my music. I had a new hope for, for, um, myself as an artist.

The album was, I mean, I did everything I could to, to release it, um, better than the last time. You know, I reviewed everything I had done, quote unquote, wrong, in my first release. And I especially revisited and reviewed all my hopes and expectations that I had for the first one. And this time I was like, this is for me. This is for me. I’m releasing these songs because I need to, but, I’m just proud of releasing them. And yeah. nothing that the world says or doesn’t say about these songs is going to diminish that feeling. And everything that happens positively is just a cherry on top. Right?

What I didn’t expect and is the cherry on top is that I’ve had multiple songs from the album featured in two seasons of a very popular TV series here in, here in Catalonia called “Cites”. And That was just incredible — that’s a dream come true.

Bree: Gabriel then went on tour with his album, playing about 20 shows, meeting fans and connecting with people in a way that felt real. It was a success.

And this brings us back to his blind audition for The Voice. Gabriel is standing alone in the middle of the stage. The lights are golden and blue, shining and a web pattern across the room. He’s holding his guitar, playing with his eyes closed, focused completely on the music. Every note is perfect, and the judges are nodding and smiling as they listen. Gabriel is in his element. 

Gabriel: I’m singing my heart out. And as I finish, you know, as I, as I open my eyes. Because I usually sing with my eyes closed, but here I would be taking little peeks to see if, uh, the judges would have turned and, but they, but they didn’t turn. 

And I was finishing the song, and I was thinking, damn, I played well. You know, usually I’m really critical of my performances, but I thought, wow, that was good. But then suddenly I saw that, no, they hadn’t turned around. None of them had turned around, which means I go home, right? It’s a no, right? It means that you don’t make it onto the show. That they decide that they don’t want to work with you. 

And they had some really nice things to say. They thought that, my guitar work was really good and that I’d done a really good performance, but that it was not what they were looking for in the show. 

And another judge said, he thought that we’d meet on the street in Barcelona one day, cause he’s also from Barcelona, and that he would regret not having turned. And I thought, you know, well, one day those words will haunt you. 

And yeah, I mean, it felt like someone had just kicked me in the gut, even though outside I was smiling, and it all went by really, really quickly. So I really didn’t have time to engage with any, any of these feelings that were so fast, right? 

But then I walked off-stage, they asked me a few questions, and my answer was always the same, you know, it was like, I’ll be fine. You know, this is, I’ve been, I’ve been working for this moment. I’ve been… the whole point of being here was proving to myself that I can, that I can be in the arena, that I’m willing to step into the arena and put myself out there no matter what, to face rejection like I’ve done countless times when I was busking. This is not the first time for me that I face rejection. And it won’t be the last. But it’s about what’s inside of me. It’s about putting the work in, enjoying the journey and not planning the outcome.

Gabriel Singing: You’re a lonely fire, burning without a face to brighten

Bree: Being in the arena, isn’t about winning or losing. It’s about choosing to step forward, even when fear whispers, you’re not ready. Instead, you say I’m here, I’m trying, and that’s enough. This is where the magic happens — when you dare to try. 

Gabriel Kazz is a Catalan Canadian musician from Barcelona. He’s a singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer, whose music blends, folk and rock with heartfelt, honest lyrics. His songs have been featured on TV shows. And he’s worked extensively and music for film, TV, and advertising.

All of the music that you’ve heard on this episode is Gabriel’s music. And you can find him on Spotify and also follow him on Instagram. That is Gabriel Kaz. K A Z Z. I’ll also leave you a link in the description. 

Thanks for listening this week. Don’t forget to follow this show so that you never miss a new episode. And if your goal is to not only listen, but to actually speak English with impact and influence. Join my free newsletter at, intothestorypodcast.com where you’ll also find free learning packs for each episode. And if you’re enjoying the podcast, support the show by leaving a five-star rating on your favorite podcast app. I really appreciate your support.

Okay, that’s all for today, folks. Until, the next time, I hope that you have a good time. Or at least a good story to tell. 

Bree: Hi there. It’s your host Bree and welcome to the show.

Have you ever had this feeling where you’re completely terrified and excited at the same time? Maybe you’re like me and you volunteered to do a big talk or maybe it’s leading a project. And you do this without knowing what’s going to happen. You don’t know the outcome. 

Now these moments feel scary, but they’re also the ones that show us what we’re capable of.

Over 100 years ago, Theodore Roosevelt, who was the President of the United States at the time, said something that explains this perfectly, “the credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena, daring greatly.” This means that the honor goes to the people who try, even if they fail. 

Today, we’re going into the story of Gabriel Kazz. A Catalan-Canadian musician who stepped into his own arena on the TV show La Voz, Spain’s version of The Voice. This is a singing competition where judges listen without seeing the performer, and then they turn their chairs if they want to keep them on the show.

Gabriel: The stage lights are bright and colorful, shining in every direction. I walk up, and I stand in the center of the stage, One, two, three, go.

Bree: This is a story about daring to try, even when you risk being rejected By the end, you’ll be inspired to think about what it means to step into your own arena.

And really quick, before we look at the vocabulary for today’s story, do you want to speak English with impact and influence? Lead meetings, sell, and give presentations. Join my free newsletter for practical tips that will make people remember, you trust you, and want to hear more when you speak in English. Go to enter the story podcast.com to sign up.

Planning a trip, whether it’s a big adventure or a weekend getaway, you’ll need travel insurance. Last year, my son needed a doctor while we were in Canada. It costs a lot, but my insurance paid for everything without any stress. Plus, they offer the best prices that I’ve seen. Into the story listeners can get a 5% discount, just follow the link in the description or visit into the story podcast.com/travel.

Now it’s time to look at five words and expressions that Gabriel uses in his story today. 

The first, to hone, H O N E. And to hone is to improve a skill through practice and effort. For example, he honed his cooking skills by taking a class, or she spent years honing her craft as a writer. To hone. 

And then we have, to have a thick skin. And to have, or to get, a thick skin, is to be able to handle criticism or difficult situations without being upset. For example, you need to have a thick skin to be in show business. Or after years of rejection, she developed a thick skin. To have a thick skin. 

Next, a falling out. A falling out is a disagreement, Or an argument that damages a relationship. For example, they had a falling out and stopped talking to each other. Or the business partners had a falling out over money. A falling out.

Next, rekindle, R E K I N D L E. To rekindle is to bring back or to restart something like a feeling or a relationship. For example, they rekindled their friendship after years apart. Or the movie rekindled her love for acting. Rekindle. 

And finally the cherry on top. So this expression refers to that final touch that makes something perfect or even better. For example, winning the award was the cherry on top of an amazing year. Or the sunny weather was the cherry on top of their perfect vacation. The cherry on top.

To get the full learning pack for this episode, you can visit into the story podcast.com. 

And before we get to the story, I just want to let you know that apart from the music you’re listening to now, which is our vocabulary music, everything you hear in this episode is Gabriel’s original music.

Okay. Now it’s my favorite part. Let’s get into the story.

Gabriel: The double door’s open and I walk into the room. The stage lights are bright and colorful, shining in every direction. I walk up, and I stand in the center of the stage, my guitar in my hands, in front of the microphone. The room’s quiet, but I can feel the energy buzzing from the crowd sitting in the dark stands.

In front of me, there’s four big red chairs, their backs facing me. I take a deep breath, and I glance at the man to my left. He raises his hand and starts counting. One, two, three, go. This is it. 

I strum my guitar and begin to sing. The first few notes feel like jumping out of a plane, or what I think jumping out of a plane feels like, terrifying and exhilarating. But then, as the music takes over, I feel my feet touch the ground. I thought I’d be really nervous,

This is my blind audition for La Voz. But as I sing, I realize something important. This moment doesn’t define me. The real story is everything that brought me here.

Bree: Let me take you to the beginning. Gabriel was 23 when he left his small Catalan town of 7,000 people. Life there was simple, quiet and familiar. London was the opposite, big, busy. Gabriel felt small, like a fish and a big ocean. But London was also full of possibilities.

Gabriel: And I started playing open mic nights and in bars, which was really fun. Seeing all kinds of wacky performers, including myself, you know, I was really inexperienced and that’s where I, you know, started honing my, my songs and really learning how to play my own music. And then I started busking on the streets, mostly on the South bank of the Thames.

And I remember my first time was in December, and it was freezing in the evening and, you know, spoiler alert, don’t really don’t do that. My fingers were freezing and every, every couple of songs I had to put my hands in my hat, I had to take my hat off, put my hands in there and rub them so that they wouldn’t, totally freeze and I’d have to chop off my fingers, which wouldn’t be good, given that I’m a guitarist. 

And so, yeah, I remember a guy came and gave me a tip and said, you know, you’re really brave for being out here this time a year. And, uh, so anyway, I decided to wait until summer that, uh, that was, that was more fun.

Bree: He borrowed an amp and a microphone from a friend. Finally upgrading from playing unplugged. And that’s when things got interesting. Sometimes girls would drop pieces of paper with their numbers, into his guitar case. Which felt like the classic play-guitar-and-meet-girls moment.

Gabriel: But yeah, busking, busking is hard. You get a lot of rejection, like every, every passing minute out there playing on the streets. You’re giving it all, you know, you’re trying to focus on your music, on your songs and, at the same time, you’re having to ignore the noise of the street. People who come by that are, you know, drunk and shout something stupid at you. Some people come and tell you you’ve made their day. You know, and, and that’s brilliant. 

But, um, it definitely makes you accept the fact that, you know, not everybody’s gonna engage with the way you do. Even if what you’re doing is the best you can do, you know, you’re putting it, you’re putting it all, you know, you want people to notice you, but it’s what it is. People are going to pass by. They’re going to ignore you and you have to deal with that.

You know, it really, toughens you, it gives you thick skin because, it teaches you how to keep playing no matter what, and smile and keep going.

Bree: About a year after arriving in London. Gabriel began recording an EP. This is a short album with a few songs. He put everything he had into this EP. He was excited and full of hope. This felt like the moment. He was in London, releasing an album. And then..

Gabriel: Nothing happened. I, um, I checked my phone every five minutes waiting for the world to notice. The world didn’t. I was heartbroken.

I kept writing songs, but I was scared to release them. I felt like the parts really weren’t coming together. Nothing was working out for me. I was just a, a kid who’d recorded an album in, uni and, uh, put it out without much help at the beginning of, uh, the social media craze. 

And tons of competition in London as well. You’re always playing gigs, competing with a thousand other gigs that are going on that night. You’re, um, you know, taking your album there, trying to sell records. You’re trying to promote. Promote, promote, promote, promote. It gets really tiring. 

And then, my bass player moved back home. I had a falling out with my drummer. I, um, I had a rough breakup. And so it was all a bit, it all went to, into shambles. You know, it all, It all fell apart. And I was full of self-doubt. And like, what’s the point? People aren’t going to care anyway. What’s the point of making these songs and putting this music out if people will ignore it?

 

Bree: Then in early 2020, the world changed for all of us. For Gabriel, COVID meant no more gigs or busking in London. Staying in the city, no longer made sense. When spring arrived, he decided to move back to his small hometown near Barcelona. When his plane landed, Gabriel felt like his dream of making it in London was over. It felt like he was moving backward. But sometimes what feels like going backward is actually a chance to reset. And try again.

Gabriel had a song that he had been working on in London, but left unfinished. One day, he called his old friend, Fran, a music producer. He asked Fran if he’d like to help him complete the song.

Gabriel: And he said, yeah, let’s do it. So we did, we, we started going through the song and he’s like, do you have anything else? And I’m like, yeah, actually I have like 20 more songs. You want to hear them? And he’s like, yeah, sure. 

And then, so what was supposed to be just finishing one song turned out to be a 12 song album that we started working on. And, and, uh, we spent months working on it all of, uh, the end of 2020 and the whole of 2021. We recorded and produced those 12 songs with fantastic musicians.

And it, it, it was a dream come true, but it was a dream come true back home, actually, you know, and, uh, I rekindled my love for, for my music. I had a new hope for, for, um, myself as an artist.

The album was, I mean, I did everything I could to, to release it, um, better than the last time. You know, I reviewed everything I had done, quote unquote, wrong, in my first release. And I especially revisited and reviewed all my hopes and expectations that I had for the first one. And this time I was like, this is for me. This is for me. I’m releasing these songs because I need to, but, I’m just proud of releasing them. And yeah. nothing that the world says or doesn’t say about these songs is going to diminish that feeling. And everything that happens positively is just a cherry on top. Right?

What I didn’t expect and is the cherry on top is that I’ve had multiple songs from the album featured in two seasons of a very popular TV series here in, here in Catalonia called “Cites”. And That was just incredible — that’s a dream come true.

Bree: Gabriel then went on tour with his album, playing about 20 shows, meeting fans and connecting with people in a way that felt real. It was a success.

And this brings us back to his blind audition for The Voice. Gabriel is standing alone in the middle of the stage. The lights are golden and blue, shining and a web pattern across the room. He’s holding his guitar, playing with his eyes closed, focused completely on the music. Every note is perfect, and the judges are nodding and smiling as they listen. Gabriel is in his element. 

Gabriel: I’m singing my heart out. And as I finish, you know, as I, as I open my eyes. Because I usually sing with my eyes closed, but here I would be taking little peeks to see if, uh, the judges would have turned and, but they, but they didn’t turn. 

And I was finishing the song, and I was thinking, damn, I played well. You know, usually I’m really critical of my performances, but I thought, wow, that was good. But then suddenly I saw that, no, they hadn’t turned around. None of them had turned around, which means I go home, right? It’s a no, right? It means that you don’t make it onto the show. That they decide that they don’t want to work with you. 

And they had some really nice things to say. They thought that, my guitar work was really good and that I’d done a really good performance, but that it was not what they were looking for in the show. 

And another judge said, he thought that we’d meet on the street in Barcelona one day, cause he’s also from Barcelona, and that he would regret not having turned. And I thought, you know, well, one day those words will haunt you. 

And yeah, I mean, it felt like someone had just kicked me in the gut, even though outside I was smiling, and it all went by really, really quickly. So I really didn’t have time to engage with any, any of these feelings that were so fast, right? 

But then I walked off-stage, they asked me a few questions, and my answer was always the same, you know, it was like, I’ll be fine. You know, this is, I’ve been, I’ve been working for this moment. I’ve been… the whole point of being here was proving to myself that I can, that I can be in the arena, that I’m willing to step into the arena and put myself out there no matter what, to face rejection like I’ve done countless times when I was busking. This is not the first time for me that I face rejection. And it won’t be the last. But it’s about what’s inside of me. It’s about putting the work in, enjoying the journey and not planning the outcome.

Gabriel Singing: You’re a lonely fire, burning without a face to brighten

Bree: Being in the arena, isn’t about winning or losing. It’s about choosing to step forward, even when fear whispers, you’re not ready. Instead, you say I’m here, I’m trying, and that’s enough. This is where the magic happens — when you dare to try. 

Gabriel Kazz is a Catalan Canadian musician from Barcelona. He’s a singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer, whose music blends, folk and rock with heartfelt, honest lyrics. His songs have been featured on TV shows. And he’s worked extensively and music for film, TV, and advertising.

All of the music that you’ve heard on this episode is Gabriel’s music. And you can find him on Spotify and also follow him on Instagram. That is Gabriel Kaz. K A Z Z. I’ll also leave you a link in the description. 

Thanks for listening this week. Don’t forget to follow this show so that you never miss a new episode. And if your goal is to not only listen, but to actually speak English with impact and influence. Join my free newsletter at, intothestorypodcast.com where you’ll also find free learning packs for each episode. And if you’re enjoying the podcast, support the show by leaving a five-star rating on your favorite podcast app. I really appreciate your support.

Okay, that’s all for today, folks. Until, the next time, I hope that you have a good time. Or at least a good story to tell.