Meet the Artists Behind the Artists: From the Doors and Crowley to Lady Gaga and Abramović

By David Gosselin

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Learning how the sausage is made is never easy. Disgust, horror, fascination are only some among the feelings we experience as we discover how many of our favorite foods are really made. But what about the songs we listen to and the culture we consume? How often do we get to see how they’re really made?

Since the time of Plato and his Republic, politics has been understood as essentially downstream from culture. The songs and art we emote with and the stories which capture our hearts and minds shape our affective systems and color our imaginations in ways that are hard to quantify. Indeed, the effects are nearly impossible to measure because they permeate all facets of our being, including the unconscious and automatic systems. As a result, the consequences of various cultural phenomena may often only become apparent years after they’ve weaved their magic and cast their spells over generations.

So, why not take a closer look at some of the most popular artists of our times and get to know the wizards behind the magic? In our immediate times, two of global pop superstar Lady Gaga’s spiritual and artistic mentors stand out.

Take, for example, Fernando Garibay. Known as a Mexican-American Polymath, record producer, songwriter, entrepreneur, author, and academic, Garibay describes himself as someone who teaches creativity and helps pop stars “find themselves.” One of the leading artists behind the artists, Garibay served as a musical mentor for Lady Gaga and now teaches creativity as a skill to World Economic Forum (WEF) Young Global Leaders.

In his own words, Garibay describes his creative relationship with various global pop stars in the following manner: “I am your mirror; I am going to show you the best version of yourself, a version you can’t see because you can’t put a mirror to your brain.”

When it comes to the question of song-writing and the magical art of creating new “hits,” Garibay explained the following in an interview with Gulf Business:

People don’t know what they want. You must show them. Or, more accurately, you must create a reality they have not yet perceived. Show me a part of me I never knew existed, and you have a hit. The way you create reality for people is to author a story that is genuine, that they can buy into, so it becomes their story. The story you’re telling, what you’re wearing, what your video is projecting, must be congruent with your message and identity.

Create that world to be so authentic they want to be like you, hang out with you, or want to have a romantic relationship with you. Hit all those marks and you have something. That’s N.W.A, Beatles, Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin. They created entire worlds. What N.W.A. and Prince did is create a reality different to the one where you’re risking your life and fighting off the bad guys. You listen to one song, and you’re immediately transported. Reality shifts, and it connects with audiences from the Middle America to Japan. When art, pop music, film, or any media scales, it’s because you have created an alternate reality for people.

While perhaps little-known by the general population, Fernando is indeed exemplary of the artists behind the artists. Founder of the Garibay Institute, Fernando plays the role of polymath and creativity guru for a new generation of Young Global Leaders, pop stars and “high performance” individuals who desire to transcend the regular “limits” of everyday life and access their deeper “human potential.”

Under the banner of the “Creative Industrial Complex,” the Garibay Institute’s webpage describes itself in the following terms:

THE CREATIVE-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX™ is an ecosystem founded by the Garibay Institute, the first and only research and development institution focused on art, creativity, entertainment (film, gaming, music, experiential) as an instrument for soft power, cultural identity and patrimony, intellectual renaissance, and sustainable economic growth.

​The brainchild of renowned hit record producer and polymath Fernando Garibay, the Institute unites global leaders, world-class universities and academicians, financial institutions, and thought leaders with elite members of the creative class to catalyze innovation, empowered dialogue, and cultivate engaged and inspiring icons of the future.

Our research and applied methodologies bring together creative industries’ best practices. We collaborate with an extraordinary network of top artists, performers, producers, influencers/key opinion leaders, financiers, empresarios, intelligentsia, and entertainers. We deliver innovative breakthroughs in creativity, instinct/intuition, and sense literacy™ for organizations, public and private, sovereign and disruptive, for-profit and not-for-profit.

At this point, we must warn readers: this is a rabbit hole.