Niwot alum's musical talents get professional

At some point in many children's lives, they want to be famous athletes, actors or rockstars. Most children don't fulfill those dreams, but 2015 Niwot graduate Bella Musser has done just that.

"In high school, I was performing [solo] at open mics or coffee shops, and then on stage in musical theater," explained Musser.

By the time she graduated high school, Musser had been performing for a number of years, so when it came to choosing a college and field of study, she knew what she wanted to do. Ultimately, she had to decide between three universities, but settled on the University of Colorado-Denver and finished with a degree in music business.

During her time at CU Denver, she worked in event management. Drawing on that experience and combined with her studies in music business, Musser has been able to develop her skills of event planning and organization, especially when it comes to the music industry. Eventually, it was in her third year at university where she met her fellow bandmates, Adrian Garary and Andreas Landeck.

"We were in a songwriting class together," Musser said. "I had them on my radar and we had hung out in mutual friend groups...[After an in-class performance] I got so excited and immediately texted them, 'do you want to be in a band with me?' and miraculously, they said 'yes.'"

Since then, the band has been working on music essentially nonstop. In the beginning, while figuring out their chemistry, much of their work was inspired by musical greats such as Nirvana, Radiohead, Adele and more. They also did some experimentation, recording songs the individual band members wrote, eventually releasing an EP, (which stands for "extended play," meaning that it has multiple songs, but is not a full album).

With an inkling of their own personal vibe--that is still very much influenced by artists who came before--they realized it was necessary to name themselves. Their name, Redamancy, was the brainchild of Musser; it means "a love returned in full," and had been in the back of Musser's mind for years. "I had forgotten about it until we were pitching band names. Immediately we were like, 'Yep, that's the one.'"

Since their initial EP, they have been working on an album, which has been completely collaborative between the three musicians, and they have been touring locally. They can be seen at Longmont's Winter Walkabout in February and Boulder's Fox Theater in March. "We always say we're doing life together, and I'm just excited to keep doing that," said Musser. "The goal is to do as much as we can and get to a point where we feel comfortable with our art and our audience."

Comfort with her art is important to Musser. Both in discussing her solo work and her group work, it was a theme she referenced often. In fact, she explained that one of the primary reasons she moved away from solo work was because she was feeling lonely. "I've been performing professionally since I was 13, 14, and it just got really lonely, it wasn't what I really wanted." So finding camaraderie with Garay and Landeck in the band was a major change in her musical journey.

As she describes her personal journey as a musician, it's clear that music is her passion, especially when talking about performing live. She says that there isn't anything comparable to it, especially now in this age of music streaming, which can make it difficult--in a time where it is so easy to upload new music, it's also easy for music to get overlooked. That is why Musser believes it's important to connect with her audiences and show them that Redamancy is a family and the three members hold themselves to a standard of genuineness.

Some of that genuineness is found by reflecting on her roots: "Every time I think about the girl who would sit in her room with her guitar and write songs, if she knew that in five years this is what she'd be doing, I don't know if she'd necessarily believe it."

To interact with Musser and her band, you can follow them at Redamancy_Band on all social media sights or visit their website, Redamancy.Band.