What is this, Seattle U? I am only a freshman, yet I am already surrounded by people who are infinitely cooler than me. Everyone here plays an instrument, and everyone is in a band. Now whether or not the band is any good is the real question.
One of the best I’ve found so far? Look no further than SU student-led band One11Twenty. Members include SU’s own Kyle DelFatti who’s in charge of guitar and production, Mitch Mueller on drums, Tim Jordan on vocals, and Matthew Montes on bass. One11Twenty has seen some great success after the release of their first single, “On The Line”. Check it out here.
I sat down with SU’s Kyle DelFatti to get the low down on the band. Not surprisingly, One11Twenty wasn’t the group’s first time making music. One11Twenty was originally started as a side project from the group’s original band, Kate’s Hat. Where did the new band get that catchy name? Well, Kyle told me that each member’s first paycheck from Kate’s Hat was, yes, you guessed it, $111.20.
One11Twenty is an alternative rock outfit with a complex musical backing to support Jordan’s strong vocals. The lyrics on the new tracks focus on poetic anxiety written by Jordan and DelFatti composes the music to beautifully compliment his words. Kyle described their style of music to be much more calculated than their previous band and stressed that this time around they wanted to focus more on experimenting with their sound.
The band had their latest show last month as part of the Rocktober fest held at the Hawthorne theater in Portland to a sizable and welcoming crowd. Expect to see more of them in and around the SU area, but in the meantime catch their set at SU’s Battle of the Bands coming up this spring.
Sometimes it’s hard being surrounded by all this student talent. I kid you not, my second week here I had some sort of existential crisis and bought a tambourine to make myself feel better about not being musical. Alas, said tambourine has not been used for anything except to hold various snacks. Sigh. Well, at least I can still appreciate the sweet, sweet sounds of the music other SU students are making. Check out my new favorite, One11Twenty, on Facebook or Soundcloud, and keep en eye on ‘em as they plan to release more singles soon!
JULIA OLSON | Confused tambourine owner | SU Student Correspondent