Sitting inside the packed Ghostlight Coffee on a cool late afternoon, Paige Beller stares straight into her cup of coffee and then proceeds to take another gulp. The look of exhaustion is all over her face as she studies the room full of patrons. Beller’s schedule has been rather full prior to meeting up with me; band practices and work have been littered all throughout the week. She also has been getting geared up for her live set recording at Canal Public House, which takes place on Saturday, December 12th at 9pm. Seated on a stool, she gently places her large mug on the table that has been deemed to be a non-computer zone and brushes some of her short blonde hair away from her eye.
“This is the third coffee I’ve had today (laughs),” Beller softly says.
Living around the Cincinnati area growing up, Beller was “screwing around” on piano and four string guitar before she started to take music seriously at the age of fourteen. In the beginning of high school, Beller lied her way into a tryout with a local band, declaring that she had been in a group before. Beller’s time with the band was rather short-lived; playing lead over each led to two of the guitarist to break out into a fight at their first and only show-at a friend’s house party.
“It’s a shame,” Beller recalled. “One of the kids in the band was a like a prodigy. He was one of the kids that just started playing six months earlier and could just shred.”
As she takes another slip of what as to be now chilled coffee, Beller began talking about how the idea of doing a live recording came up. Scrolling through her individual website, you will hear tracks that have been recorded over the years; songs that Beller admits are not a clear representation of her today. She doesn’t believe in just putting music out as much as possible for people to listen to. With the live recording she has lined up, she pictures listeners will get a better sense of what kind of artist she is.
“If I don’t put my best foot forward, I only get ten seconds of their time,” Beller says when she talked about people listening to her music.
Beller also mentions another motivating factor was the homecoming of Patrick Himes. Himes is wildly regarded and respected in the Dayton area for his production on local artists’ albums. Living in Nashville for an extended period of time, Himes moving into town meant Beller had the opening to work with him. Himes knowledge and understanding of sound when it came to Canal Public House was another reason to have him join the project.
“Between his knowledge of the room and his engineering knowledge; the fact that it’s not going to be an analog recording, but he has the ear for that kind of thing-that’s what I want. That warmth in the room.”
The time in Dayton has been good to Beller. Her current workload offers up a variety of projects; bands that allow her to show her range in various platforms. The trio rock group Jasper the Colossal that Beller fronts and plays guitar in is currently wrapping up their follow-up to Liar. Another group Beller is lead vocalist/guitarist for is Paige and Belairs; who have been slowly putting together their debut for the past couple of years now (the delay in part is because of the band members other commitments). On top of those two include active roles in Duderus (guitarist), Mayliner and Sideshow Complex (drummer in both groups). The live show recording will serve Beller well as she now looks ahead to the next chapter in her musical career. The itch to go on the road has been weighing on her heavily as of late; incorporating a band that will have the ability and desire to come along for the ride.
“I’ve done some out of town shows here and there, just to see how it is. I like driving by myself; I get a lot of writing done that way. However, it’s much more fun explore new states with friends,” Beller says.
Beller finishes up her cup of coffee when I ask her if there is any nervousness leading up to the live recording. She answers by mentioning that she has been dealing with some illness the past couple of days; the change of weather has been the main culprit. The sickness has pushed Beller to have minor panic attacks every ten minutes, she adds jokingly. With all that said, Beller is confident that everything will work out.
“I want to make something that was going to stand out more,” Beller says.
