MAMA ft. Antonella, multiplatinum producer Gavin Monaghan’s first band, to play its first gig at Feel the Noise

Founded in late 2022 by acclaimed writer Antonella Gambotto-Burke and her partner, multiplatinum producer Gavin Monaghan, MAMA ft. Antonella has started attracting high-level attention without a single public performance.

“We couldn’t gig before now because Antonella, who was a single home-schooling mum, lived in Folkestone,” Monaghan says. “It’s only since she moved here that we’ve been able to start working out a game plan in terms of live performances, which is incredibly exciting.”

MAMA ft. Antonella have been invited to play at the inaugural Feel the Noise indie festival, brainchild of the Wolves Foundation in conjunction with the City of Wolverhampton Council and Sound City, along with The K’s, The Clause, The Covasettes, Keyside, Alex Spencer, The Rolling People, Rosellas, Florentenes, The Last Pioneers, and other musical luminaries.

Given the critical response, this is unsurprising. Birmingham music industry podcaster Jonny Amos described MAMA ft. Antonella as “utterly flawless”, and Electronic Sound magazine reviewed their album Apex Predators, which is partly set in Wolverhampton, as one of the best of the year and “a riveting stone killer, supercharged with searing intensity.”

Going live, however, is a different matter. Monaghan, who toured with The Cult and other bands as a keyboard player in his youth, is experienced at stagecraft, whereas Gambotto-Burke has never performed her own music in public.

“I’m simultaneously elated and terrified to be playing at Feel the Noise,” she says. “We’ve started rehearsing and I’m trying very hard not to throw up from fear!”

Monaghan, who has over 30 gold and platinum records and is known around the world for producing artists such as Robert Plant, The Twang, Paolo Nutini and Editors, advises festival goers not to expect choreographed moves or glitter pants – “That train,” he laughs, “has long sailed” – but he does promise beautiful music.

Evidently in agreement, a major US magazine – Gambotto-Burke refuses to release the details just yet – will be featuring her and Apex Predators in their autumn issue, which, she says, “just blew me away. It’s like a dream come true. I mean, three years ago my daughter and I were living in a tiny six-flight walk-up next door to a heroin halfway house, you know?”

Monaghan won’t be performing the traditional sound check at Feel the Noise, tickets to which are close to selling out. Instead, he’ll be running straight from the festival’s industry experts seminar – created to highlight opportunities for those entering the field - to join MAMA ft. Antonella on stage with a guitar.

“Pure pock and roll!” Monaghan says. “I’ve represented and supported other people’s art for decades and continue to do so with infinite love, but exploring my own art without any commercial pressure has been exhilarating. The fact that Antonella is such a phenomenal singer and lyricist has made the process super easy. Roll on April 19!”