For a recap of one of Settlement's recent summer camps, we turn the blog over to Mark Forchic, guitarist and Settlement faculty member.
Summer Jam 2012 rocked! I figured that should be the
appropriate opening statement for my first SMS blog, since no other words can
describe what an amazing job the students of SJ12 did. Summer Jam 2012 marked the sixth year of Summer Jam’s existence and proved it to be a very successful and
gratifying experience for all involved.
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| Members of Mr. Moustachio and faculty member Mark Forchic listen to the playback |
A little background:
for those who don’t know what Summer Jam is, SJ is the “band experience” for
students. It’s an opportunity for students, ages 12-18, to form a band, write,
learn, and record their music, then put on a gig at a legitimate venue in the
Philly area.
This year’s bands included The Pepper Trees, the
Pastafarians, and Mr. Mustachio. For 2 weeks, these three bands hunkered down
in the studios in MLC and began the process of becoming true rockers. Through
individual lessons on their appropriate instruments and songwriting classes,
they put their newly acquired information to use through plenty of rehearsal
time throughout each day.
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| The Pepper Trees (four out of six of them, anyway) recording at Sine Studios |
After about a week and a half, the bands approach their
first major step to fulfilling their goal: recording their newly conceived
original song at a professional recording studio. For the past few years at
Summer Jam, Sine Studios has generously lent their facilities to the Summer Jammers, and
allowed the students to experience what it is to record their art in a
professional studio. And I have to say, the bands rocked it! All three bands
stepped up to pressures of a recording experience and did a super job, all on
the eve of the camp final experience: the gig.
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| The Pastafarians on stage at Silk City, cranking out a Led Zeppelin cover |
On the last day of the camp, Silk City Diner & Lounge (thanks, Joe B.!) was the venue of choice to showcase the talents of 3 hard-working bands, and
all three took their talents to a higher level. The bands did such a great job,
from performing their original songs, to entertaining the crowd with familiar
versions of songs from Queen to Led Zeppelin. It left the SJ faculty - Luke Honer, Toshio Mana and me - very proud and happy to be a part of
it. At the end of the performance, there were a lot of smiles and even more
talk about next year’s Summer Jam!
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