On Saturday September 13, senior and student musician Marlo Goeller hosted her own concert at Ciel Creative Space in Berkeley. While this particular concert concluded with a large turnout and fun memories made for both the audience and the performers, it also represents the latest successful point in Goeller’s music career.
“At first, when my mom signed me up for guitar lessons, I honestly didn’t like it all,” Goeller reflected as she looked back on her music career. “I hated practicing, and I complained about going every day. But then I got obsessed with sound design, so my parents signed me up for music production lessons. I think that made a huge difference because I could start focusing on creating my own stuff.” Goeller went on to describe her passion for creating her own music – from tinkering around on ProTools at eleven to starting to make songs with her guitar. “The ability to create things was what really pushed me to get better at guitar and singing and piano… I understood how to use that creative software, I think that anyone can do it with that kind of creative outlet.”
Goeller continues to push herself in her free time, honing her skills in multiple areas. “When I get home, I practice an hour of guitar and two or three hours of piano every night, and I enjoy it so much it doesn’t feel like a responsibility anymore to get better. It just feels like a consequence of how much I’m practicing,” she added.
Among the performers were five other collegiate musicians from the area, all with similar leanings towards the jazz and blues genres: Braedon Christie (saxophonist), Rohini Vrajmohan, (trumpeter), Alexis Tsamoudakis (bassist), Leo Wornick (drummer/producer), Beck Murphy (guitarist), and of course, Marlo Goeller herself (keys and lead vox).
“I usually do a lot of the organizing in terms of behind the scenes…I pick around twenty songs, and I send it to the group, but we only get five or six practices for about two and a half hours each,” explained Goeller as she talked about her experience with the band. “It’s more of a rehearsal, so it felt like we were expected to practice on our own. I try to make sure my band does that as much as possible.”
Part of what made Goeller’s audience special that night was the fact that many Campo friends and students came to support her. Seniors Lauren Ji and Molly O’Riordan reflected on the great experience they got from cheering her on: “Marlo probably played around sixteen songs: half of them came from her album and half of them were really great covers. She played Clairo, she played The Internet…I feel like this concert was a special one for her with all of the promotion, like the T-shirts and the posters.”
“This is definitely one of the largest venues Marlo has had, I think she’s getting more recognition now and I’m really excited for her,” O’Riordan added. “I’ve been to all of her concerts, so watching her progress from her last concert to this past one has been really beautiful and fun to watch.”
In the meantime, Goeller intends to continue taking her passion for music in a powerful direction. “I take away just the overall performing experience. Just understanding how to work with a venue and all the talent that works at that venue. That way, I can actually host my own concerts as a professional because I’m not pretending to be one – I technically am one now,” she explained. “In a week or two I’m doing a podcast interview, so there’s a lot of practical stuff that I can take away from this particular concert that is great.”
For anyone interested in reaching out to Goeller, please email [email protected].
