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Whether she’s recording new births or original songs, Jen de la Osa never takes a day off. When de la Osa isn’t working as a birth registrar on Connors Center 9, the singer and vocalist for Boston-based band Aloud is touring or promoting her latest album.
de la Osa, who joined BWH in 2002, is one of BWH’s four registrars who obtain from parents information for the birth certificate to submit to Boston City Hall. On a busy day at BWH, Boston’s busiest birthing center, she certifies up to 17 births.
“It’s a great, fun job,” she said. “It makes the birth that much more real, and I love hearing all the unique names for the new babies.”
The path to Boston and her position at BWH began when de la Osa was a teenager and bought her first guitar. “I started playing guitar because I wanted to be in a band,” she said. “I started writing songs using just the three chords I knew.”
She learned Beatles songs on the piano and played some at her grandparents’ anniversary party. de la Osa’s grandmother had a friend from her native Cuba in Miami whose grandson also played music, and the two arranged for de la Osa and current band mate Henry Beguiristain to meet. “We thought we were the only two kids in Miami who liked the Beatles. We started playing together and writing lyrics,” de la Osa said, listing the Clash and Patty Smith as other influences.
The duo trekked up north in 2001 and recruited a Boston-based bass player and drummer to form Aloud.
Since recording its first EP in June 2004, the band’s popularity has grown. Aloud’s first full-length album was released in May 2006. Last month, the band released its sophomore record, called “Fan the Fury,” and hit the road in April to tour in the Southeast and Midwest United States.
“We wrote about being in our mid-20s and realizing and accepting that things may not happen in our personal lives or in our careers. A lot of it centers on trying anyway, despite knowing it may not work out as we thought, and about having hope,” she said.
Visit www.allthingsaloud.com for more information.