Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (March 7, 2012)
• /'"ì A rtçffulture aced@clackamas.edu B y Isaac Soper A rts & C u ltu re E d ito r Orchestral: O f or relating to an orchestra. Indie: N o t belonging to* or affiliated with a m ajor record company. Folk: O f or originating am ong th eco m m o n people. R ode T he solid mineral mate- rial forming part o f the surface o f the earth and other planets. Form ed around m em bers Kim DeLacy (guitarist and lead singer/songw riter), part-tim e guitar instructor at Clackamas C o m m u n ity College, Allie Johnson (cello, m andolin, ,bass guitar, backup vocals) and Drew Mdkenna (drums), “T he Petite Beat” is a small band that is going to be big news within this com ing year. T he three m embers o f the band sat in one o f the practice rooms in Niemeyer Center. T hey were going to be working on their upcom ing EP in one o f the recording studios. “Kim and I knew each other in Sedona, Arizona,” said Johnson, w ho/was running a coffee shop, Random Acts o f Coffee, at the time. DeLacy used to come in and play music fairly often. Both Johnson^ and DeLacy m oved to Portland to pursue other projects, unbeknownst to one another. After the transition, the two connected once again. “W e totally m et up, and we’ve been friends [since]. W e started playing music, went through tons o f band names, landed o n 1‘T he Petite Beat.’ W e bought the dot com, so it’s going to last at least a year,” said DeLacy. DeLacy came into contact with M ckenna through a short employment as a server at a^.how- foreclosed, “crappy” restaurant. “W e m et, I worked there for maybe a m onth, quit, b u t I found o ut Drew played drums, and I said, ‘we should hang out.’ I think that’s w hy I was m eant to work there for ai m onth, was to meet Drew.” M ckenna site relatively still, smiling and laughing while the three members reminisce over the past year as a band. “I’ve had drummers leave in the middle o f tours arid stuff, because they’ve m et a girl. [Mckenna] seems a little more steady,” said DeLacy, to which Mckenna laughs aloud. T hough DeLacy has had more experiefice with, songw riting, releasing two full-length alburris in the past, the plan is to write more songs- together in the near future. “Kim’s a really good sorigwrit- efpit’s nice starting a band [while] having a base to' build off of, and that’s what kind o f happened,” said Johnson. Aside from being the guitarist and lead vocalist for the band, DeLacy h a s h a d m any years o f experience playing other instru ments. “I was a percussionist for 13 years,” said DeLacy. She m entioned that M ckenna is good at playing the opposite o f what she hears the beat being for certain songs, preferring to tweak the beat and break the norm. DeLacy joked that he will some times use a doo-wop beat with a salsa song. “I don’t pick on the cello, because I can’t play the cello,” said DeLacy. “I don’t even know the terms.” DeLacy im itates her band mate’s cello. waggle, make it .a little more wwwooommm,” she said jokingly. T he recording session that the band worked on after the inter view was for the first C D release that the band will have done together. “Separately, we’ve recorded some stuff, Kim especially,” said Johnson. DeLacy m entioned that she wants to cover one o f Johnson’s old songs, from a band shewas in years ago, called “She D id It.” “We’ve never done anything together, so this is the first time, and Clackamas really provided a space to do that for free, and for The Clackamas Print f) Wednesday, March' 7, 2012 A llie Johnson (cello, mandolin, bass guitar, backup Vocals), K im DeLacy (guitarist, lead singer!song writer), a n d D rew M cK enna (drums), members o f The Petite Beat, doing the robot. \ me to get credit for it. It’s like a win-win-win-win situation,” said DeLacy. According to the band, its been a fantastic learning expe rience, and m any people have assisted them throughout the pro cess. A ndy Nagatori, a student who graduated C C C , has been instrumental in helping the band produce their album. “M y goal is to get it done by ¿ h e s u m m e i^ D lc e ju figTJ8 t j Ji-u^ so we can have a summer tour and sell a bunch o f CDs,” said DeLacy. “T he Petite Beat” considers themselves to be “orchestral indie folk rock.” Johnson doubts that they are really orchestral, while DeLacy explains that venues w illb o o k more shows because if sounds different. “There are strings, so technical ly it is orchestral,” said Mckenna. T hus far, the trio has been together for a little less than a year, and they have only played a few shows under their new moniker. “T h e beginning o f sum m er is when I first really started play ing w ith [‘T he Petite Beat’],” said Mckenna. | T he band has performed at the Someday Lounge an d at Mississippi Pizza. T hey were all particularly fond o f the Someday Lounge, which they said was “super professional.” T he venue included miked drums and a green room for the band to relax in prior to and after playing. “Abe the sound guy, big shout through Thursdays all day, will have some free C D s to hand out. She also teaches Guitar I. Johnson . recently finished her Associate o f Arts at Portland C om m unity College, and will be heading to Portland State University in spring to study organismal* biology. M ckenna is going back to school this spring atP C C . As for the future o f “T he Petite ResLt'” K ic I c e tir ta s p e a k s w o r d s t h a t ? If you are interested in listen ing to their music, DeLacy, who works in the music office Tuesdays ring true to many: 1 carit speak the futu re,-b u t I ’m here to roll w ith it.” Catch “The Petite Beat1 When: Where: Friday M arch 9 @ 9 p m Mississippi Pizza 3552 N M ississippi Ave P ortland Who: All ages welcome Cost: $4 Check them ont at: thepetitebeat.com or w w w .facebook.com /thepetitebeat N ew sculpture to be displayed at Clackamas B y C hris Taylor T h e C la c k a m a s P rin t f i r Clackamas C om m unity College. Sparks fly as steel is welded, ground and turned into a new masterpiece o f bo th ingenuity and creativity. A new steel sculp ture is being built for Clackamas C o m m u n ity C ollege, and though it’s n o t com pleted, it shows a lot o f promise. A jo in t venture between the art and welding departm ents, th e new sculpture is a big undertaking, including a good num ber o f m an hours, coor dination betw een participants and departm ents and planning. T h e project is th e brain child o f T hom as Wasson, digital m edia arts instructor at Clackam as. H e drew the blueprints, is the artistic leader o f the project and coordinates w ith the w elding departm ent. T h e structure will be located in the qu ad area oft cam pus near th e C o m m u n ity C enter. T h e inner “skeleton” o f the sculpture itself is m ade up o f flat bar steel beam s, w elded, together w ith dual shield wire,, resembling an unfinished N ew York skyscraper. T h e outside will be plated w ith alum inum , and eventually look like steel trees, each 10-12 feet tall. ~ ,-T h e group developing the sculpture is a m ix o f C C C stu dents an d staff. W asson, the visionary, is helped by C C C student C lark Pierce, w ho has 15 years o f experience in the field, an d < is taking classes at Clackamas to improve his work. “I love welding. It’s just really great. I get excited whenever I get to weld. I love m y job,” he said. Pierce was initially on another project, building a new bum per for a local police car, b u t soon joined on for this project due to his years o f experience. Pierce is one o f the faces attached to the fqrefront o f the project, b u t there also som e b ehind th e scenes people working w ith Wasson, including Susan Caldera, weld ing instructor an d faculty advis er at Clackamas. Caldera was one o f the. first people approached by Wasson w ith the idea for the new sculp ture. C aldera liked th e idea, an d she really loves g etting involved w ith w ork in th e local com m unity. “T h e C C C AWS [Am erican W elding Society] S tudent C hapter is happy to take bn com m unity projects for Several" reasons,” said Caldera. T his project was a great oppor tunity to bring the art an d weld ing departm ents together and gives students a chance to create a project for their peers and local co m m u n ity to adm ire. C onstruction is behind sched ule, b u t they’re working hard to finish up an d hopefully have it o u t before the beginning o f next term .
