I'm Clementine, the drummer for Zepparella, The Solid, and songwriter/frontperson for Francis Bakin. Typical drummer, too many projects. I'll sleep when I'm dead, (or backstage while the opening band is soundchecking).
The Solid is now playing shows to support our first EP, Arrivals and Departures, which was released in July. I wanted to use all the drumming chops I was learning playing Bonham in an original project, and I'm having such a blast with this band. Check it out here: http://www.thesolidrocks.com or here: http://www.myspace.com/thesolidrocks
Francis Bakin is always developing. The debut album, Conversation with Francis Bakin was released in January of this year. I wrote the 11 songs with Gretchen Menn, guitarist in Zepparella, and this is the first project I've ever fronted as main vocalist. I'm now working on the next batch of songs... stay tuned! http://www.myspace.com/francisbakin
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One of the songs on the Francis Bakin record, "Cold Snap," has won Second Place in the "Lyrics" category in the 2008 International Songwriting Competition (ISC).
With judges as diverse as Tom Waits, Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20), Ray Davies (The Kinks), Chaka Khan, McCoy Tyner, Jerry Lee Lewis, Robert Smith (The Cure) and many more, winning the ISC Grand Prize is an accomplishment that recognizes excellence in the craft of songwriting.
In its seventh year, ISC received over 15,500 songs from amateur and professional songwriters from 100 countries worldwide, confirming ISC's status as the leading global songwriting event. In all, ISC bestows prizes on 62 winners, awarding more than $150,000 in cash and prizes.
For a complete list of 2008 ISC winners and to hear the winning songs, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners.htm
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I have a blog with thoughts about the songs on Conversations... and how they came to be. That's on this website, as well as here: http://francisbakin.blogspot.com/.
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One last thing... I was just interviewed by the cool website Cosmic Lava in Germany. You can read it here: http://www.cosmiclava.com/reviews-interviews/interviews/interviews-2009/clementine/
Hope to see you at a show soon!
Clementine
Zepparella, Francis Bakin and The Solid are all on Facebook.
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Why I love to play the drums.
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The push and pull of the time. Providing the base on which the main melody sits. Giving the other instruments space for their voice. Playing simply, for the song. Leaving beats out as a fill rather than adding. Expressing the emotion of the song with my part. Making people move. Making odd times feel like four. Participating in the musical conversation. Playing loudly. Playing softly. The fact that it's PLAY. The fact that if there are drums in the room, I'm not paying very close attention to what you're saying. The way learning to play changes the way you think. The math of it all. Great teachers. Drummers who are free with information. The humility of great drummers. Knowing that I will never be as far along as I want to be.
Important people to mention, The Teachers: Fred Klatz (Drummers Collective, NYC), Peter Magadini (Bay Area), Paul Bostaph (Bay Area), and (by example and conversation) Dale Crover (LA). I've been so fortunate to have great instruction in my career, thanks all of you.
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I just have to spell it out, otherwise it may never happen.
I play a larger venue with a band I love to people who love it. At midnight when the show ends, I get in a cab and go cross town to a small bar and get to sit in with the band there and play till they kick us out. And recently, the dream has grown to include getting to sing my words at some point in this evening.
I want to wake up everyday knowing I get to be on stage that night. Yep, pretty much a one-trick pony.
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