The Gaudie sat down with a new Aberdeen original Band to discuss how their band was formed and how they find creativity whilst studying. The group is comprised of five University of Aberdeen students who came together after a group assignment for their music class. They recently debuted their first original song at the spring festival gala held by the confucius institute.
Meet the band
Jenna is the band’s lead singer who has a long and varied history with music. As well as being in 9tease she does competitive accapella and is in the university’s concert band.
DJ is the guitarist of the group and also offers back up vocals. Her favourite band is My Chemical Romance.
Callum is the drummer of the group, he joined the group a little bit after the others and is a valued edition. He plays guitar for his degree and can play bass also .
Sean plays key board for the group as well as setting up the bands equitment before gigs. His favourite band is the stone roses.
Sonny the bassist and self described “glue” of the group. He can also play guitar, bass and drums.
How did the group meet
When asked how the group came together Sonny explained, “last semester we had a performing class, where we had to get into groups and perform for our assignment.” Sonny says he “stood up in front of the class and said does anyone want to do rock?” Jenna said she, Sean and DJ “followed like sheep” at the suggestion. After passing the assignment they decided to keep the band going and held auditions for a drummer and that is when Callum joined.
How do you balance creativity with university life?
Callum attributes their ability to be creative with the band outside of university with the fact that they are all music students. “It comes to us naturally.” Callum finds that using real life experiences is the best way to write music. He said “anything that I experience is written into a song eventually.”
How does being in Aberdeen influence your music
Jenna and DJ are originally from Aberdeen with the other three members being from elsewhere in Scotland. Jenna’s dad was in a band since the 70s and is still in it now so she’s “grown up seeing what Aberdeen can be like musically” she suggested that the music seen since the 90s has become less popular in Aberdeen. She said that for the band they “want to bring our own thing to Aberdeen” and make Aberdeen “a 9tease city!”
How do you honour your creative influences whilst still having your own distinct sound?
Despite their name Jenna wanted to stress that the band is not limited by the influence of the 90s. “We all have different tastes in music and different backgrounds in music” and that, that is where their sound comes from. Their inspiration comes from all of their musical backgrounds and that “seeps into the music” that they write.
Do you have any advice for students wanting to start their own band?
Callum said that the most important thing for him is being able to get along with your bandmates. “Make sure that you are friends as well as band members.” He said that “it’s all well and good to be good at what you do but if you don’t like each other it can create fallout in the future.” Jenna also wanted to offer some advice and said “just go for it!” “If you have the passion and the want you’ll find good people” she ended by saying “just do it, chase your dreams”
The group will be performing at Krakatoa on the 19th of April with further information still to be announced through their instagram. https://www.instagram.com/9tease_/