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Show AggieLife Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009 Page 5 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com From small town to the limelight Students making it big in music industry By DANIELLE ADAMS staff writer Farmington has yielded more than just crops. From the small town, two talented sisters have emerged who formed the internationally known band, Faces Without Names. Natalee Falk, 18, and Alexa Falk, 20, both music majors, have been singing together since they were toddlers. They recorded their first CD, “Two Steppin,” when they were 6 and 8 years old. Alexa said they would load up their little red wagon and go door-to-door selling their country CD for $10 each. Natalee said they won a competition called Star Mania in Las Vegas, and the prize allowed them to record their first CD. This exposure caught the attention of the Brazilian Wanessa Camargo through a common producer. She asked to buy the songs from the girls and they agreed. This granted them five hits in Brazil and shortly after they were signed to Warner Chapel Publishing. Alexa is tied with Michael Jackson to be the youngest publisher signed to this company at age 10, while Natalee is the youngest ever at 8. Alexa said at age 11 she first had the unordinary experience of watching her songs being performed by Camargo 11. “We got a concert DVD of her singing a song that I wrote at this stadium, and everyone is holding candles and they were crying and singing, and I didn’t even understand that because when your little you just can’t understand that,” Alexa said. The second and third albums have more pop vibes. “Girl Talk” and “Kiss Across the Ocean” were basically the same album: “Kiss Across the Ocean” was a more adult version of “Girl Talk”. Between the two albums Alexa said the girls sold another five of their songs to Camargo, gaining them five more Brazilian hits. All the songs went platinum, three became number one hits. Their fourth CD is under their current selftitled band name Faces Without Names, which went international to places like Hong Kong and even charting over Coldplay in Germany and Europe. Natalee said this CD is the first that the girls went on tour with, singing their own songs. In 2008, Alexa entered a song-writing contest for Cosmo Girl and won with “Deadly Beauty” – a song at the top of the charts overseas by Faces Without Names. Natalee and Alexa said they just want to bring “happiness and self-love” to their fans. “Deadly Beauty” is about a girl who died of an eating disorder because she didn’t feel beautiful. “I received letters from girls telling me that they went to rehab and got help for it, and that I helped them deal with their situation,” Alexa said. She also said they base their songs off unspoken problems or unfortunate events that people go through. Sending messages through their songs to give people an escape is important to the songwriters. After the sisters attended Berkley College of Music on scholarships, they were offered a record deal and left. They moved to New York City only to be informed by their attorney that they should not agree to the contract terms and should turn down the offer. They were also close to closing deals with RCA and Disney just before their connections were fired or dropped from the labels, Natalee said. An unfortunate set back in their music career landed them at USU this fall. “I am in the way good guitar program here, and we figure we want to do full-time school with full-time music getting more involved with the business side of things,” she said. Currently the girls are changing their band’s name from Faces Without Names to their last name, Falk, with the help of their PR group in a marketing class at USU. The events coordinator of the public relations team, senior Lacy Broberg, said the group was helping Natalee and Alexa transition to become their own new brand. “The team is working to get them new media kits, a new Facebook, new Twitter, new social media. We just want to make sure that everything is new as they transition,” Broberg said. The girls had three separate bands under Faces Without Names, one in New York, Utah and Los Angeles. Alexa and Natalee were the “faces,” and the various bands were the “without names.” “The boys wanted us to be called Gallactic Super Droids or something and that was kind of a problem,” Natalee said. - See MUSIC, page 7 SISTERS ALEXA, LEFT, and Natalee Falk, right, will be releasing their album on iTunes in the upcoming weeks. The sisters recorded their first CD, “Two Steppin,” when they were 8 and 6 years old. PATRICK ODEN photo The troubles and transitions of transferring By KASEY VAN DYKE staff writer Whether it’s due to increased tuition, better programs or a bad breakup, sometimes a school transfer is inevitable. Just as inevitable are the headaches that come from switching universities. Horror stories tell of lost credits, useless classes and repeated courses. So why go through the hassle? What is the process really like? Can these problems be avoided? When first considering a transfer from USU, students should visit www.usu.edu/ transfer. There is a transfer guide, offering information about credit articulation, a list of advisers, among other things. On the transfer Web site, students can also see frequently asked transfer questions, such as, “How should I begin the transfer process?” and, “What questions are transferable?” On the Web site, students can see how their credits will transfer from USU to other schools in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming, even BYU-Hawaii. The Web site also offers advice for students transferring to USU. They would begin by filling out an application. According to the transfer Web site, once accepted by the university, transfer students send their transcripts in for evaluation of credits. Lisa Hancock, program administrator for New Student Orientation, said the transcript is then sent to the Admissions Office and finally posted to the USU student record. She explained that articulation workers in the Registrar’s Office determine USU equivalency for the submitted credits. This is determined based on material covered by the submitted courses and how well they match up with USU courses. Finally, it becomes business as usual for the student as they continue their collegiate courses at USU. When asked what the biggest problems seem to be for transfer students, Brandy Reeves, program coordinator for Articulation and employee of the Registrar’s Office, said many problems come from schools lacking accreditation. “The biggest challenges for transfer students are most often related to transferring from institutions which are not regionally accredited by one of the six regional accrediting associations,” Reeves said. “USU does not automatically accept credit from schools who are not regionally accredited, such as Stevens Henager or most campuses of the University of Phoenix.” Reeves offered a helpful suggestion for transfer students in this situation. tration, transferred to USU from the University of Utah in fall 2008. He said some students transfer because they dislike their current university. “I transferred because I really didn’t like the (University of Utah),” he said. “That place just isn’t friendly.” Shane Johnson transferred from BYU in 2007 and is now a senior in the parks and recreation program at USU. He also expressed dissatisfaction as a reason for transfer. “I wasn’t enjoying BYU and when I changed my major I was studying there. I had no reason to stay,” he said. “I had only heard really good things about USU.” The final challenge for most transfer students is the transition from one university to another. Snow offers suggestions for transfer students going through this transition. “I’d say the best thing a transfer student can do to transition is to get involved in some way,” he said. “School activities and games, that’s how you get to know the personality of the school the best.” Johnson agreed that involvement is the best way to transition. “Get involved in the school,” Johnson said. “That’s the quickest way to meet the people of the new school and participate in all the activities the school offers. It’s exciting to start fresh, so just try it.” Reeves advises students considering transfer to become informed and to do as much research as they can. “My biggest suggestion for students is to do their research and become as illustration by Jason von Germeten informed as possible on their education,” she said. “If a student is considering transferring to USU, I would encourage “However, if a student chooses to, they may do a little extra him or her to research USU’s Web site to learn what our transleg work and speak with their adviser, as well as the individual fer policies are.” academic departments to determine if any exceptions can be Transfer information can be found at www.usu.edu/transmade,” she said. fer/guide. The big question is why would a student go through the has– k.vandyke@aggiemail.usu.edu sle of transfer? Adam Snow, junior studying business adminis- |