Bassist, composer, singer, arranger and producer Gastão Villeroy was born in 1960 in São Gabriel, a town in Rio de Janeiro state, to a musical family. Gastão is the son of Gil Villeroy, an amateur pianist and composer of traditional gaucho music. His brother, Totonho Villeroy, has composed for numerous performers, including Ana Carolina, Maria Bethânia, Ivã Lins.

Gastão plays bass, nylon-stringed guitar (the violão in Portuguese), and several percussion instruments. Like most MPB professionals, he sees his work as spanning many styles, most importantly samba, bossa-nova, baião, xote, chacareira, vanerão, milonga, chamamé, bolero, and brazilian funk. His most significant influences have been Tom Jobim, Milton Nasimento, Hemeto Pascoal, Toninho Horta, and several bassists: Luizão Maia, Luiz Alves, Jamil Joanes, Ron Carter, and Jaco Pastorius. He also likes to listen to Egberto Gismonte, Nivaldo Ornelas, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Robertinho Silva, and Airto Moreira.

Gastão initiated his career on the local scene in Porto Alegre, then moved to Rio in 1987 where he busied himself with gigs among the busiest nightlife in Brazil. He studied guitar with Everson Vargas,electric bass with Yuri Popof and Jorge Helder, acoustic bass with Dener Campolina, and harmony and composition with Hungarian master Ian Guest.

His Rio gigging led to playing and recording with the likes of Tim Maia, Adriana Calcanhoto, Alceu Valença, and Baby do Brazil. He joined the band of Milton Nascimento to record and tour behind his recent release Pietá.