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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 .