These rockers bring attitude to their band promo photo shoot at Durham College's School of Rock 'n' Roll summer camp.
As the final week of Durham College's School of Rock 'n' Roll summer camp neared the halfway point, the young stars in training were already gearing up for a day in the life of a rock star. After all, that's when they get to perform some live tunesat the Festival of Rock held on the Oshawa, Ontario campus at E.P. Taylor's.
"Fridays are the best," said Tim Stead, co-director of the camp and a Durham College Music Business Management student. "You hear a band that's never played before and they play a song and you just get shivers."
The weeklong camps, which ran the weeks of July 3, 9, 16 and 23, introduced nine- to 14-year-olds to songwriting, the history of rock and roll, sound and lighting techniques, microphone setup, stage presence and band promotion.
"I love to play music and have a good time," said Dylan Burnett, 15, from Whitby, Ontario. Burnett has attended the camp for four years and returned this year as a volunteer. His duties include assisting camp counsellors during jam sessions and helping the younger campers to get the songs just right.
Another volunteer, Nichole Ekkert, 13, from Oshawa is spending her second summer with the camp because she loves performing and singing. Her favourite part of this year's experience was dancing during her performance.
Almost 70 campers were divided into groups of four to six each week, creating 12 bands, plus one advanced band, according to Iain McPherson, camp director and professor with the Music Business Management program. The kids were grouped based on appropriate instrumentation, ability and age.
"They've been having a great time," McPherson said. "Some of them have so much talent, it's unbelievable." He added he's met quite a few interesting characters, such as the boy who wore a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket on his head all week, or the one who wore a mask.
The camp counsellors, made up of Music Business Management graduates and students, led the future rockers in daily jam sessions, both acoustic and electric, and supervised other activities, such as getting band photos taken for promotional material. The pictures were placed on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, or a Billboard chart using Adobe Photoshop and each student autographed a copy and took one home.
"I just love music. I have so much fun here and I really like doing band promo. My band was just laughing and cracking jokes the whole time," said Steven Labadie, a 14-year-old volunteer from Pickering, Ontario.
Each Friday, the campers experienced a day in the life of a rock star, including being interviewed on the campus radio station, The Riot, conducting a sound check, and recording a song before performing a live show for family and friends.
"This is my fourth year at the camp and it has improved every year," said Billy Arundell, a 15-year-old volunteer from Whitby. "It's a lot of fun, and a better experience each year because you get to know what it's like. There's room for everyone, even if they don't have experience. It's like a big lesson, you will improve by the end of the week."
Check out the Festival of Rock on Friday, July 27 at E.P. Taylor's from 1 to 3:30 p.m.