Fife drummer Anna Fettes has returned from the United States with big dreams in her suitcase.
The 15-year-old Bell Baxter pupil just flown back from Boston, Massachusetts, where she travelled to attended a prestigious 3-day drumming workshop at Berklee Music College.
And she says the “incredible experience” has made her all the more motivated to pursue her passion for music and travel the world playing drums.
“It was absolutely amazing,” says Anna, who began drumming at age four, and has already made waves on the local music scene as the heartbeat of indie outfit Adam and the Observers.
At the 15-18s Berklee workshop, she was one of the few 15-year-olds to make the cut.
“Everyone there was so nice and there was people from all over the place – North Carolina and Arizona and New York, Mexico and Puerto Rico. There was even a boy from Aberdeen!
“It was great meeting people who had been brought up in all these different cultures, and seeing how their drumming is different to my drumming.”
Ceres garden shed to US music college
At home in Ceres, Anna practises and teaches drumming lessons in her home studio – a tricked-out shed with production equipment and her kit – in between school and family commitments.
She says her mother Kerry “very kindly” gave her the funds to travel out to the US when she secured a place on the Berklee workshop.
Out in Boston, she was able to spend time focusing purely on her drumming, and learning from some the world’s leading musicians.
She was honoured to be part of a drum circle with Mali-born legend Moussa Traore and be tutored by esteemed professor Jackie Santos.
“These guys that teach at Berklee, they’re like next-level incredible,” enthuses Anna. “Some of the guys, they played in all the original jazz bars in New York and their mouth moves when they’re playing – they’re talking to the drums!
“I’d never seen that before.”
‘You’ve got to play that again’ – music legend to Fife schoolgirl
One highlight for Anna was when she was practising some “funk and groove” drumming and respected bassist Chris Loftlin burst into the room.
“This guy came in from the next room saying: ‘What was that funk? What was that gutter funk, man? You got to play that again!'” recalls Anna, in a convincing American accent.
“And so Jackie and I hopped on the drum kits and played that groove that he was talking about. And it turns out that that guy was Chris Loftlin, and he’d just flown back from playing Wembley Stadium in London like two days prior!”
As well as drumming, Anna says she spent some time exploring Boston, including the historic Quincy Market.
And the keen teen skater couldn’t resist checking out the iconic Lynch Family Skatepark.
“That was probably my favourite bit of Boston, it was just the most incredible skatepark I’ve ever seen in my life!” Anna says.
“But I didn’t do any tricks, because I didn’t want to break anything before Berklee.”
Anna’s dream to attend Berklee for uni
Indeed, the serious schoolgirl’s single-minded determination to become a master drummer has only become stronger since she returned from her “totally perspective-changing” trip.
“The dream now is to go to Berklee for college after fifth year of school,” she says confidently. “That’s 100%. I mean, it’s like £50K, so I’d need a scholarship – and that’s if I even got in.
“So I’m just going to start working incredibly hard at my drumming to make that happen.”
Conversation