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ZACC rock camp gets visit from Pearl Jam bassist, Fitz and the Tantrums drummer, producer
http://missoulian.com/news/local/zacc-rock-camp-gets-visit-from-pearl-jam-bassist-fitz/article_4769a7de-acdd-5d7d-a228-4d338784b8dd.html
By Dillon Kato
Jeff Ament, right, bass player for Pearl Jam and Missoula resident, answers questions from the campers after he and drummer Wicks improvised a few songs with local musician and producer Ryan "Shmed" Maynes on keyboards.
Campers eat lunch while Ament, Wicks and Maynes play together in the basement of the ZACC on Monday. After improvising a few songs, the trio answered questions from the kids.
John Wicks, drummer for Fitz and the Tantrums, helps Rex Arnot, Alden Hellen, Dylan Ryan and Milo Oliver, from left, learn about playing keyboards during Boys Rock Camp at the Zootown Arts Community Center on Monday. Wicks, who lives in Missoula when not on tour, is helping with instruction for a few days at the camp, which teaches boys to learn an instrument, form a band and write an original song that they'll perform at the end of the week.
...........
Boys attending a music camp at the Zootown Arts Community Center on Monday got a special treat – a live performance by Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament and Fitz and the Tantrums drummer John Wicks.
While the kids at Boys Rock Camp ate lunch on the floor in front of the stage, Wicks and Ament were joined by Ryan “Shmed” Maynes, a musician and producer who has played with groups like the London Symphony Orchestra and Weezer, for the jam session.
The boys camp follows the same format as Girls Rock Camp, which has been held twice before, said Kia Liszak, executive director of ZACC. Camps for girls will be held again next week and in August.
“We just had a lot of requests to do a Boys Rock Camp, especially from my son,” Liszak said. “When you think about boys, there's not a lot of ways for them to come together outside of sports.”
Over the course of the week, the 7- to 14-year-olds will be split into bands to write and practice an original song they will play at a concert at 6 p.m. Friday at the Top Hat Lounge. At lunch each day, a different local musician or band will perform and answer questions.
Wicks is helping out at the camp through Wednesday, before he has to leave for a show at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Friday.
He said going from learning to play to performing on stage in a week is a big challenge.
“We just met them all, and just from the enthusiasm I don’t think it’s going to be a problem at all,” he said.
***
Ament, Wicks and Maynes, who all live in Missoula, played through a pair of songs, then the boys asked them questions.
When asked how they got started in music, Maynes said his mother taught him to play the piano when he was just 3 years old and that music was a way to impress other kids.
Ament said his history with music went back to hearing his mother and uncle playing records when he was a kid. He got his first bass guitar at the age of 18.
“It just never left, since I was a kid I just never fell out of love with it,” he said.
Silas Smith asked Wicks if it was true he had worked on songs with singer Taylor Swift. The drummer said he had.
“Was she pretty?” came Smith’s quick follow-up.
Jamie Rogers, one of the teachers for the camp, asked each of the musicians how they get through periods of frustration when they are working on music.
“Just tell yourself it’s only music, and you’ll wake up in the morning and have another idea,”Ament said.
He said that even now, he still gets nervous when he’s playing. Over the course of a tour, Ament said, Pearl Jam might play 150 different songs.
“Any given night, there’s one or two things we haven’t played in a long time,” he said.
***
Liszak said she had seen girls camps in other parts of the country and started working on one in Missoula when she came to the ZACC.
Apart from learning to play music, she said, the camps are also about harnessing the power of creativity.
“I was in a band when I was young and it was really empowering for me,” Liszak said.
Recent renovations to the basement of the ZACC and a fundraiser have benefited the camps, Liszak said.
Top Hat owners Nick and Robin Checota donated about $35,000 to refinish the basement, including adding a pair of new practice rooms, she said. And the Missoula Rock Lotto earlier this year raised more than $3,000 for the ZACC buy guitars and drums.
“Now we have instruments that the kids can check out and take home and practice,” Liszak said.
Charlie Schwarze, 9, said he has used some instruments before, but wanted to attend the camp to play guitars and drums in a “real rock band.”
“When I heard about it, I was just like, 'Rock band, awesome,’ ” he said.
After seeing Ament play, Merlin Parsons said he wanted to be the bass player for his group.
“I thought it was really cool to see them play like that. And well, I’m just going to learn how now,” the 8-year-old said.
After the performance, the boys split into groups and tried each of the instruments, including guitar, bass, keyboards, drums and vocals.
Rogers said they would form bands at the end of the day, “then band practice starts in the morning.”
By Dillon Kato
Jeff Ament, right, bass player for Pearl Jam and Missoula resident, answers questions from the campers after he and drummer Wicks improvised a few songs with local musician and producer Ryan "Shmed" Maynes on keyboards.
Campers eat lunch while Ament, Wicks and Maynes play together in the basement of the ZACC on Monday. After improvising a few songs, the trio answered questions from the kids.
John Wicks, drummer for Fitz and the Tantrums, helps Rex Arnot, Alden Hellen, Dylan Ryan and Milo Oliver, from left, learn about playing keyboards during Boys Rock Camp at the Zootown Arts Community Center on Monday. Wicks, who lives in Missoula when not on tour, is helping with instruction for a few days at the camp, which teaches boys to learn an instrument, form a band and write an original song that they'll perform at the end of the week.
...........
Boys attending a music camp at the Zootown Arts Community Center on Monday got a special treat – a live performance by Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament and Fitz and the Tantrums drummer John Wicks.
While the kids at Boys Rock Camp ate lunch on the floor in front of the stage, Wicks and Ament were joined by Ryan “Shmed” Maynes, a musician and producer who has played with groups like the London Symphony Orchestra and Weezer, for the jam session.
The boys camp follows the same format as Girls Rock Camp, which has been held twice before, said Kia Liszak, executive director of ZACC. Camps for girls will be held again next week and in August.
“We just had a lot of requests to do a Boys Rock Camp, especially from my son,” Liszak said. “When you think about boys, there's not a lot of ways for them to come together outside of sports.”
Over the course of the week, the 7- to 14-year-olds will be split into bands to write and practice an original song they will play at a concert at 6 p.m. Friday at the Top Hat Lounge. At lunch each day, a different local musician or band will perform and answer questions.
Wicks is helping out at the camp through Wednesday, before he has to leave for a show at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Friday.
He said going from learning to play to performing on stage in a week is a big challenge.
“We just met them all, and just from the enthusiasm I don’t think it’s going to be a problem at all,” he said.
***
Ament, Wicks and Maynes, who all live in Missoula, played through a pair of songs, then the boys asked them questions.
When asked how they got started in music, Maynes said his mother taught him to play the piano when he was just 3 years old and that music was a way to impress other kids.
Ament said his history with music went back to hearing his mother and uncle playing records when he was a kid. He got his first bass guitar at the age of 18.
“It just never left, since I was a kid I just never fell out of love with it,” he said.
Silas Smith asked Wicks if it was true he had worked on songs with singer Taylor Swift. The drummer said he had.
“Was she pretty?” came Smith’s quick follow-up.
Jamie Rogers, one of the teachers for the camp, asked each of the musicians how they get through periods of frustration when they are working on music.
“Just tell yourself it’s only music, and you’ll wake up in the morning and have another idea,”Ament said.
He said that even now, he still gets nervous when he’s playing. Over the course of a tour, Ament said, Pearl Jam might play 150 different songs.
“Any given night, there’s one or two things we haven’t played in a long time,” he said.
***
Liszak said she had seen girls camps in other parts of the country and started working on one in Missoula when she came to the ZACC.
Apart from learning to play music, she said, the camps are also about harnessing the power of creativity.
“I was in a band when I was young and it was really empowering for me,” Liszak said.
Recent renovations to the basement of the ZACC and a fundraiser have benefited the camps, Liszak said.
Top Hat owners Nick and Robin Checota donated about $35,000 to refinish the basement, including adding a pair of new practice rooms, she said. And the Missoula Rock Lotto earlier this year raised more than $3,000 for the ZACC buy guitars and drums.
“Now we have instruments that the kids can check out and take home and practice,” Liszak said.
Charlie Schwarze, 9, said he has used some instruments before, but wanted to attend the camp to play guitars and drums in a “real rock band.”
“When I heard about it, I was just like, 'Rock band, awesome,’ ” he said.
After seeing Ament play, Merlin Parsons said he wanted to be the bass player for his group.
“I thought it was really cool to see them play like that. And well, I’m just going to learn how now,” the 8-year-old said.
After the performance, the boys split into groups and tried each of the instruments, including guitar, bass, keyboards, drums and vocals.
Rogers said they would form bands at the end of the day, “then band practice starts in the morning.”
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