Draft:Mama ft. Antonella

Described as "the most dynamic outfit to hit the scene in years," Mama ft. Antonella are a British indie rock duo from Wolverhampton founded in late 2022 by the Australian-born author and journalist Antonella Gambotto-Burke and her fiance, Irish-British multiplatinum record producer Gavin Monaghan.

Their debut was the independent single release I Want What I Want in 2023, which quickly attracted over 30,000 hits, followed a few months later by the digital single Real Girl.

Mama ft. Antonella have cited various bands and artists as influences. Gambotto-Burke's favourite artists and songs include A&W by Lana del Rey, Nietzsche by The Dandy Warhols, Red Right Hand by Iggy Pop and Jarvis Cocker, Fish Paste by Die Antwoord, Waiter by Moses, and Dream Girl Evil by Florence and the Machine.

Monaghan loves Mass Production by Iggy Pop, Because the Night by Patti Smith, Youth of Eglington by Black Uhuru, Count Me Out by Kendrick Lamar, Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off) by Wu-Tang Clan, and Speed by Atari Teenage Riot.

Mama ft. Antonella worked on their first album throughout 2023 and 2024 and have yet to play live. “We’ve had quite a few requests and do plan to go live," Gambotto-Burke told an interviewer, "but not until later this year ... We currently live in different counties, meaning we’re constantly in transit – packing suitcases, in and out of hotels with our laptops.”

Antonella Gambotto-Burke
In her youth, Gambotto-Burke's mother was a professional singer and performed on Australian television. Gambotto-Burke did not speak English until she went to school, where she was frequently selected to sing before the school. She stopped at 16, when her grandmother died. "She was the most beautiful woman, and her death was drawn-out - cancer - and deeply traumatic," Gambotto-Burke told an interviewer. "So the singing just stopped. Boom. I started wearing black. The grief was profound."

At the age of eighteen, Gambotto-Burke moved to London and began working for the NME. It was during this time that she met Alan McGee, who was then living in a squat but who would, years later, become the CEO of Creation Records and discover Oasis_(band). McGee, recognising Gambotto-Burke's potential, wanted her to sing with the Jesus and Mary Chain but she refused on the basis that she was "too shy".

In 2019, McGee asked Gambotto-Burke to join him for dinner with friends. One was a Grammy Award-winning producer. In an interview, she recalled the moment the producer addressed her: "'You should sing,' he said, a propos of nothing. 'The way air moves over your larynx. I work with voices all the time, and you’d be really good.' 'DO IT! DO IT!' Alan cried. The producer’s tone was so authoritative and Alan just looked so happy that for the first time in my life, I felt brave enough to try.

Gavin Monaghan
Monaghan, the only child to a British mother and an Irish father, has ADHD. In his youth, he was a reserve member of the Commonwealth Games British karate team. Monaghan is a Second Dan black belt.

Drifting in and out of bands throughout his twenties, he played at some of the biggest festivals in the world and supporting bands such as The Cult and Zodiac Mindwarp. Monaghan "detested" touring as his appetite for mayhem made life increasingly difficult, and so he moved into production. Within a short space of time, he opened his first studio in London. He has 30+ gold and platinum records.

The heavily tattooed Monaghan has worked with Robert Plant, Led Zeppelin, Grace Jones, Editors, Paolo Nutini, The Twang, The Holloways, Ocean Colour Scene, Tony Christie, The Cult, Sly and Robbie, Jimmy Somerville, Aswad, Elvis Costello, Terry Hall, Kirsty MacColl, Femi Kuti, Jah Wobble, Meredith Brooks, Goldblade, Nizlopi, Scott Matthews, Lemmy, The Destroyers, Stone, Headshrinkers, The Sherlocks, The Blinders, and JAWS, among hundreds of others.

His music is featured in innumerable advertisements and multimillion dollar productions ranging from the Austin Powers and Twilight (film) franchises to Gangs of London and Peaky Blinders.

In late April 2024, he was commissioned by Robert Plant to "reimagine" two Led Zeppelin tracks, Kashmir and Whole Lotta Love, for the Wolverhampton Wanderers football team.

Monaghan is a two-time winner of both the BMA Producer of the Year and Studio of the Year Awards (2019, 2022/3).

2022–present: band beginnings
When asked by an interviewer how they first met, Monaghan replied, "Antonella met me in a candy store, turned around and smiled, and that’s when I fell for the leader of the pack.”

Gambotto-Burke has said that in reality, she and Monaghan first met in 2022, when an industry friend insisted she go to his studio to record her first song. Because he suggested she sack her band, which she then did, the track was never released. Gambotto-Burke was "devastated" as she’d worked on that song for months. "Gavin explained that he wanted me to change genres on the basis that I needed a bigger framework for my voice," she said.

The origins of the band's name are straightforward. “A few years ago, Antonella wrote a magnificent book called Mama, and I thought it would be fantastic band name for an affirmatively female-fronted band," Monaghan told an interviewer. "It’s so her.”

Gambotto-Burke said in an interview that they have just finished mixing their first album.

"I Want What I Want"
"I Want What I Want" was independently released on June 23 2023 with no publicity and no fanbase as the band had never played live. Despite this, it soon attracted over 30,000 streams on Spotify.

With the song, Monaghan wanted to recreate the Berlin clubs of the 1990s. “I remember one sweaty underground rave in particular,” he says. “The smell of Amyl was all-pervasive, and the dancing was incredibly tribal. So I wanted to recreate, using 8-bit samples and classic analogue equipment, the same pulsing industrial and early techno sound.”

To achieve this, Monaghan used a Korg MS20 for the bass with the glide setting on to achieve the classic Giorgio Moroder pulse with a 909 drum machine sampled to tape and distorted to achieve the Euro Techno sound he thought “would be the perfect foil to Antonella’s big, strict diva voice”.

The video features Gambotto-Burke dancing in Regencycore and fetishism dresses.

Real Girl
Independently released on September 24 2023, Real Girl soon outstripped its predecessor in terms of streams.

Members
Current members
 * Antonella Gambotto-Burke – vocals, lyrics, toplines, some drums, some production, cover artwork (2022–present)
 * Gavin Monaghan – instruments, music other than toplines, production (2022–present)

Collaborations with other musicians
 * Chris Budd – music other than toplines, production (2024–present)
 * Ash Sheehan of The Twang – drums, brass, percussion (2023–present)