Artist Profile: Geannie Friedman of Semihelix is here to play
Petite, sweet-faced and serene, Geannie Friedman has no swag.
When you first meet her, she presents more like your favorite yoga teacher than the front-woman for a rock band. In fact, Friedman does teach yoga to pay the bills – but make no mistake – she is a musician’s musician who got her first acoustic guitar at age fourteen.
The following year at fifteen she got an electric guitar, and it was love at first chord. From that moment, she knew that rock music was her purpose. A friend of hers taught her to play by ear, and by sixteen was writing her own songs and performing for audiences.
“[As a teenager] some hard situations were happening in my life, and playing guitar and singing was such a release,” she told me. “It was healing, and I found a lot of joy and comfort when writing music and playing. I kept it up, and knew it was something that would always be in my life.”
I first saw Geannie Friedman and her band Semihelix as the opening act at the final Vancerts Sunset Series show this summer. I’d showed up that night just to see Moving Panoramas but got there early so I decided to grab a seat up front and settle in, unsure who or what Semihelix even was. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised.
Despite the lingering heat of the day, the trio brought such great energy to the stage with their shoegazy-dreampop songs and obvious artistic chemistry. Crediting acts like Black Tamourine, Sonic Youth and Sebadoh for influencing their sound, there’s a childlike quality to their live performance. Semihelix is here to play.
When I asked her about her creative process, Friedman told me, “I find my songwriting inspiration while going through transitions. Usually hard situations. Music is medicinal, and playing my songs loud is a huge release for me.”
There is definitely a melancholy aspect to Semihelix, one that is reminiscent of those bittersweet moments in life – an unrequited teen crush; a long-distance college breakup; or the deep pauses that come after any kind of loss or change – but that sadness is always outlined with hope and a belief that love and goodness prevail in the long run. It’s music from the heart, without any cloying sap.
I asked Friedman when she got to Austin and she told me the story of breaking up with her ex in 2012 and agreeing on whim to join her BFF who was already preparing to move here at the time. She’d been playing guitar and performing throughout high school and college (she’s got a masters in social work), always keeping herself connected to her art in some form or fashion. Austin made sense.
She found easy entry into the local scene as a solo act, but it took a few years to form a band with members that were ready to commit to the long haul. By early 2019, Semihelix was fully formed with Kevin Martin joining on bass and Valdemar Barrera on drums. The three started writing and performing music for an album that was recorded in February 2020.
And then came Covid-19.
“We didn’t get a chance to practice together for almost a year,” Friedman tells me. They also made the decision to sit on their new album, waiting to release until the world opened back up. I asked her how it felt to have worked so hard on something and not be able to share it. “I practiced patience,” she laughed, the yoga teacher in her coming out.
Now that they are finally able to play together again live, Friedman is happy for opportunities to be back on stage in front of an audience. “When I’m up there during my shows, I look out there and I feel like people are doing me a favor by listening to my art. I’m so grateful.”
Semihelix is – finally! – preparing to drop their first album (due out October 2021), but one thing is clear: they may just be getting started as a band, but Geannie Friedman has put in her time as an artist – and she’s ready for the world to listen.
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Featured photo and live shots by Brandon Sandler
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