True life: I’m in a band and I’m in college

Rachel Kahn, a freshman philosophy major, makes the lyrics come alive when her band, Orange Vanessa, performs. Acting as vocalist, front man, co-songwriter and lyricist, Kahn plays many roles within the band, and has been a part of the band since its start, approximately eight months ago.

When brainstorming ideas for the band's name, Kahn's boyfriend actually created the moniker by asking students in the dining hall simple questions. He asked one student, "What are you thinking about?" While he asked a second student, "What is your name?" The answers ended up being orange and Vanessa, and thus, the band's name was born: Orange Vanessa.

As a busy college student, Kahn found it easy to keep work and play separate.

"We practice on the weekends, so it doesn't interfere with my 'real' life," said Kahn. "I do tend to stay up late at night when we're working on a new song though."

Even though she may stay up late with her band mates, her grades have yet to suffer.

"If anything, the distraction helps me vent my stress caused by school," said Kahn.

Show days are a completely different story though. Filled with hectic schedules and late arrivals, Kahn compares it to herding cats; however, she stills knows how to maintain her priorities.

"If classes interfere with a show, then yes, I take them off," said Kahn. "I take care of the work ahead of time and give my professors plenty of advanced warning."

The life of a band member, however, isn't always as glamorous as the surrounding hype might make it seem.

"Being in a band is awesome and fun, don't get me wrong, but people act like the dudes in a band are some kind of other species," said Kahn. "The reality though is that we wake up with bed head and bad breath just like everyone else."

That still doesn't keep Kahn from giving advice to fellow musicians and dreamers.

"Do something that's unique and uniquely you; play what you feel and don't try to conform to anything or any genre," said Kahn. "Do music because you love it, not because you want to get famous or make millions (of dollars), and most of all, make sure you can get along with your band mates."

Orange Vanessa plays a combination of jazz style rock music, and it is comprised of Bob Titolo on guitar, Alex Barnes on drums and Kahn on vocals. They are currently looking for a bass player who's ready to rock and can play jazz style rock music.
The band will next be in action on Wednesday, Dec. 3 as part of the WGUR 88.9 FM Bandstand Competition. You can also check them out at http://www.myspace.com/thatorangevanessa.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Dec 5 2008. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry