Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 2019)
College musician takes her ‘Act’ north BY JAKE KAISER STAFF writer ; I nabella Gelm etti is a second year student at C C C and is the lead singer 1 guitarist o f her band, The A ct. G e lm e tti: I would, say Tyrus Friedstrom , our drum m er, he is really into A fro - Cuban. A nd I would say for m e, I got into salsa for a w hile. The Clackamas Print: How long have you been playing-m usic? TCP: Were you influenced by anyone who plays m usic in your fa m ily? Annabella Gelm etti: I started p laying m usic w h en I was five years old. I took guitar lessons and m y guitar teacher Tim Uker would ;sing and play guitar so I was really influenced by th at. He was a really big Bob D ylan fa n , and I never really listened to.Bob D ylan, but I ’ye still got th a t in herent Bob D ylan'influence stuck in me for the storytelling. G e lm e tti: M y dad has- been playing in a lot o f bands. I m ean h e ’ s probably been in five differen t bands since I was born, and before T h at, I cdn’ t even put a num ber to it. I rem em ber hearing m y dad and his band practicing in th e basem ent and th in k m y dad is a-rockstar.* I would even go to school and tell everybody “ M y dad is a rockstar and I ’ m gonna be a ro c k s ta r.” TCP: O ther than guitar, w hat instrum ents, do you play? TCP: W hen did you decide that you w anted to play m usic professionally? Gelm etti: I. play saxophone, the soprano, and alto saxophone.-And.then I play the piano. G e lm e tti: I fee l like I ’ve always know n it, like the m inute I started w riting m usic, I fe lt like ok th is is som ething no one Can take away from m e, and I feel that it ’ s,im portan t that everybody,has som ething like th at in their life , that one talent th a t nobody can take away from you. TCP: Are there any instrum ents you w ant to learn how to play? Gelm etti: There are so m any, and I know m y m om would sm ite me if I came hom e w ith any more in stru m en ts; B ut, I would Want to learn how to play the harp. I love the harp. TCP: How long have you and your band been together? TCP: How old were you When you Wrote your first song? TCP:' W hat would you say is your favorite venue to play at? G e lm e tti: I was seven, it was like a three-ch ord song. A nd I was lik e, “ I ’m gonna be a rock m u sicia n .” But I th in k the first song that w as like, ok this is a gam e changer, I wrote a song called “ Consequences” w hen I was 10 years old, an d “ Conseq uences” was really representative o f life -a lte rin g th in gs th a t were h ap p en in g in my. fa m ily-life. S till to th is day m y m other Will bring up and Say, “ I th in k you really j channeled som ething there, and God was involved in that g jfl song.” . . . , G e lm e tti: W e form ed in Decem ber 2018. G elm etti: I would say the Brickhouse Bar & G rill in Vancouver has b een the kindest to us. W e’ve played th ere a lo t, this Will be out fourth show com ing up on N ov. 6, and that w ill be our release, •Since our first show as a band was there We’ ll be having our release show th e r e .- jg •TCP: W ho would you personally say is your favorite„artist or t-' group? Gelm etti: I would say right now Lianne La H avis, sh e’ s alternative, I really love her m usic. .But like a ll-tim e favorite m usician in the world is D avidB ow ie. TCP: W ere y o u e v e r in a' high school m usic program ? , G e lm e tti: I was always drawn to iristrum ental m usic, so I ’ve been in band sin ce fifth grade, and th a t’ s w hen I started playing the saxophone. I w as in the Jazz band all through h ig h school, I joined the C C C jazz band and I play the first alto.. Tyru„s plays drum s in the jazz band, and Carson plays bass the jazz b and, and Raine played Trum pet in the jazz band at one point. _ To see more of Annabella and The A ct, be sure to go see The A ct on November 6, at the Brickhouse Bar & Grill at 8 p .m It’ s an all ages shoW with free entry. .You can find other shows on their Facebook page -at Thè A ct, and their website at tiny.cc/theactpdx. TCP: W ho influences your m usic the m ost? G e lm e tti: I w ould say w e’re influenced by a-variety o f jazz, fo lk and fu n k . m usic. W e all have ' such different backgrounds b u t w hat I love about us is that we d on’ t really sound like anybody.. This interview has been edited for clarity and' space. TCP:Do have any cultural m usical influences? Like Indonesian music o f Cuban music? Photo provided by Annabella Gelmetti. Clackamas Print ■ • t.hficlackam.aspfint.xAjn ■ a c U b e rM i 2019
