Gertrude

Gertrude More Than Once! Above the smoke, among the crowd and behind a tall beefcake of a bouncer stood Melissa Ziemer, the lead singer of up-coming band Gertrude. She was there to greet Big Baer as we walked into the Waterloo, a club on Lincoln Ave just north of Fullerton. Looking at her, you would never guess that such a powerful sound could come from such a petite singer. Some mysteries are not to be solved, but Gertrude is to be listened to... over and over.

Gertrude: The CD is one of those extremely rare finds where all tracks are very listenable. There is a diversity across the 11 tracks, a broad and very hip offering that never once loses the Gertrude sound: a must buy -jack "papa" baer

Laya Fisher
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The rest of the band was floating around the club, Melissa came forward and introduced herself to everyone. On the stage another band (the Convulsions) was warming up making various sounds on the instruments. People sat at the bar conversing, drinking, laughing. The atmosphere was that of your local crowded coffee shop. Deep and fulfilling, nix the cigarette smoke

The owner lights up a distant unused corner of the lounge and we sit on some couches and chairs. Although, we were apart from the rest of the bar, the music from the stage is still loud; Melissa rounds up the rest of Gertrude, we introduce ourselves and sit around a small table.

They are a diversified bunch and definitely not of your Partridge family grain. Left to right sit: Drum player Deric Perry, Kevin Blacklier - Keyboards, Melissa Zeimer- singer and guitarist, Ryan Olbrysh - Bass guitar and Eric Thompson - lead and rhythm guitarist

I ask the group how and when they all met, and Melissa speaks up, "Well, Eric and I met in 97, I had just moved to Chicago and literally answered an ad in the reader. He was looking for a singer and someone to help write songs …so at that time, we started playing and we had a whole 'nother line up with us…About a year later in 98, we met Ryan (bass) and we had various rhythm sections. We found Deric…" She looks at him to confirm. And he completes her sentence, "Yeah from the Reader." "And Around Christmas," Melissa continues, "we met up with Kevin this past may…So…we've officially, officially been Gertrude since September 1999. But we've all kind of met each other along the way."

Individually, each of the members of Gertrude has been into music ranging as early as from the fifth grade to five years old. Asked to describe their chemistry: "We fight like Cats and Dogs!" Eric says playfully. The rest of the band laughs. There is a bit of truth to the joke, however, but everyone notes that all bands have their ups and downs. The most important thing is how they handle their differences and the fact that they're all still standing right where they are at the end of it.

"Its' up and down, but mostly up." And that's something that they feel can differentiate them from other bands existing today. Especially, since the music industry is saturated with endless acts and singers. Melissa adds "I'd say…we like to present a really positive, authentic message to people. And that doesn't always mean that its upbeat, real and positive can sometimes be mellow too, but um…I just think we try and be honest. We're kind of pop-rock with a mainstream sound and we just try to keep it true to ourselves and what we like to do."

Gertrude feels that their best survival tactic is their ability to get along and despite their differences, come back together and still play together. They are planning to go to the top with their music. They want to go "All the way."

I asked them if they're looking forward to being on MTV cribs some time next year. "Will you be the kind of band that gets a house together, or…" "No!!" They all yell out before I finish, and we laugh. "No, no, no. Definitely separate cribs."

So, although, they can't live together, they can definitely make beautiful music together. I asked Gertrude about the songwriting process and most of it is off of the top of the head."Eric makes up much of the work on his guitar," Melissa says and adds that she does some of the writing on her own. "And if it's something that…would fit well with the band then, I bring it to the band. Everybody contributes their parts. And …if Eric and I collaborate, [some tunes] are more complete than others when we bring them to the table. Some we'll bring and the whole band will have ideas on arrangement."

The image of Gertrude is, just that, an image. Although they don't believe that it's a complete necessity, they note that there is nothing wrong with it, and that it's definitely a part of the industry. Melissa's personal view is that, "It is entertainment, and you want to put on a show. If it's a big show at the house of blues, you don't want to show up in jeans and a T-shirt. You know, people paying money. They want to be entertained. Obviously, the core importance is the music…but, we like to get styled up and have a "look" for ourselves. But we're not going to go so extreme that we're in character roles."

"So, no Insane Clown Posse faces, huh?" I asked. The vote was unanimous again. "No." And possibly one of the most annoying things about the industry, Gertrude seemed to share the opinion on, is the fact that there has to be a market for everything. If you're a little bit different. Or you don't fit into a certain format. It's a little sad that you might not get anywhere because of it.

And of course no one in Gertrude is crazy about the corporate side of the music industry. True, some of the bands out have been auditioned and put together and marketed certain ways. It's not to take away from the fact that they can sing or dance. They do have some talent. But it's nothing like creating that music originally themselves and delivering it.

"We could go out and be a cover band, this instant," Melissa says looking at her fellow band members who nod in the affirmative. "… And make more money than we're making at this point in our careers. But, we want to try to have integrity about doing something original that we believe in. We're putting it out there for people to get something from it."

The CD is at Amazon.com and available mostly through Internet connections, but the band notes that they make their most personal sales at their live performances. Nonetheless, Gertrude realizes that less of the money goes to them when they start distributing through retail channels, but would love the opportunity to go worldwide

"There are some good songs on the album, Deric contests." And Melissa joins in, "If people are tired of one hit wonders, then our album is a good album. It's definitely got the Gertrude sound, but there are a variety of styles. Some stuff's a little swankier than others. Some's a little pop. Some has an element of country. Some is a little more alternative."

Many times, the band has found that different fans have had different favorites on the album, which they take as a good thing, since it's not just one popular song and the rest are "okay".

About twenty minutes until the time of performance, I asked the members of the band to describe one another rather than have each individual describe themselves. This caused a comedic uproar and Kevin assured me jokingly, I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

But, we started with Deric who described Kevin. "Kevin is lighthearted, playful, exuberant, uh…sometimes a bit immature about music…But…that's a good thing." Kevin gives his friend a playful warning glance.

Kevin describes Melissa as, "… A good front woman. She has a good stage presence. She's a nice person, late, …dresses good, likes to be professional. She's got a good business sense. Uh…she's nice. She's got a good voice…" Kevin rambles and rambles and we begin to look at him. He smiles whole heatedly. He didn't want to leave anything out, and you can see the admiration he has for her. "I don't know" he ends it before adding quickly. "She's like a sister.

Melissa describes Ryan as being, "...extremely organized (thank God). He's really great graphic designer. If you check out our web site Gertrudenet.com, he's totally responsible for getting us out there in that regard. He's very reliable, very committed. Pretty mellow, but serious and, I mean, he's kinda a perfectionist, but that's a good thing. He's a good guy, and a damn good bass player."

Ryan starts off with a sigh. "What can I say about Eric? He's a great dancer, he's a great songwriter, plays a decent guitar. Down to earth, honest…"

He trails off a bit and Eric picks up. "Deric has got a really good sense of humor. He's easy to talk to, uh…perfectionist on the drums and he works really hard."

So, that being Gertrude, I asked if they had any particular fond memories or funny stories to tell about their experience as a group."

"These people got married at our show the other day." Melissa says crinkling up her nose at the weirdness of it. "Not married, they got engaged on the stage."

"And I played Here Comes the Bride." Kevin chimes.

"But really….We're not a group of teenagers that all met in highschool that decided to form a band…We are people that came together because we all really believed in the music that we were playing. So, I think that, in itself, speaks volumes about the band. Cause, really we're all very quirky and unique and who knows if we would have met up in other situations, but when times are up and down, it really is the belief that something big could happen with our music that keeps us together, and I think that's a good thing about us.

When asked, the band rated their chemistry on a scale of 1-10 and for the sake of being completely honest, they gave themselves a 7.

"Work hard, and find a real good singer." is unanimous advice from Gertrude.

"We're good musicians and strong performers," Says Deric "And if your looking for good representation on a CD check out Blackerstudios.com." adds Kevin. The band laughs at his attempt to plug his personal recording studio. "You can record there as much as you want, for a reasonable price."

"Check us out on line, check us out at a live show, and spread the word if you like it." Says Melissa. "Hopefully we'll see you more than once."

Visit Gertrude on Gertrudenet.com to see personal information about each individual band member and to see where you can go to catch a live performance.

I was truly surprised at the overall sound and even more impressed by the CD. The lyrical content, melodic style and overall mesh of sound is something I could listen to over and over. The band showed to be a truly close knit family and I will be looking for them on MTV sometime next year. I will also be checking out Amazon.com to purchase their CD. Did I mention that I rarely ever do things that aren't completely worth while?

Written by: Ibiyinka Aboyade - Cole

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