Rock Camp Pendleton!

I still have no internet, and strangely, that makes it really hard for me to motivate myself to write anything. But here is a recap of last week, which I spent as a counselor at the third annual Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp in Pendleton, Oregon.

Actually, I missed the first two days. I got there Wednesday, and was introduced to the kids as, by virtue of working at both a radio station and a venue, someone who had “seen a whole, whole lot of music in the past year.”

I spent the next three days being, in my opinion, mostly useless. I spent a lot of time with the rock journalism group and helped with the ‘zine, The Noise (they have a blog, too!). I also made stickers on a Gocco press (a machine which I really, really want) with Casey, the Willamette Week music editor, and to be honest, I think I learned far more from him and the other counselors -- and even the kids -- than I taught anyone.

Friday, all the kids who had formed bands finished the week off with a concert on Main Street. I didn’t mind missing the Modern Age (even though I’ve since heard it was very good) because I got to see this show. Okay, maybe the Modern Age performers were more technically skilled or something, but I think we had more fun.

Unlike nearly everyone else, I stayed off the stage -- because that’s not what I do. Another thing I don’t really do is set up whole sound systems -- but I guess there’s no better time to learn than half an hour before the show is supposed to start. I got to the point where everything mostly made sense, and I only wired one thing incorrectly, but that, coupled with the fact that a few other things just didn’t seem to work at all had me pretty much freaking out. Luckily, there were other people to help out (and by other people to help out, I really mean people who knew way more than me and fixed everything).

Once everything was set up and working, I did sound -- admittedly, really just vocals and acoustic instruments, plus an extremely entertaining horn section for a couple songs -- for ELEVEN bands. Overall, there were probably twice that many different vocalists, including at least eight people singing at one point (during the Sgt. Pepper’s sing-along). No sound checks. So -- a whole lot of on-the-spot gain and monitor and fade level and equalization adjusting going on. There were only a few very brief feedback moments (also during the Sgt. Pepper’s sing-along, during which I think one of the mics got moved directly in front of the monitor).

All things considered, I think it went very well. I could have probably done a better job -- and what I’d really have liked is to have been able to teach some of the kids -- even just one -- how to do at least some of the sound stuff. How awesome would that be? Maybe next year -- hopefully. I’d love to go back.

But even though I’ve kept it mostly un-technical, all the sound stuff is probably uninteresting for most readers. So the music:

Unfortunately I no longer remember what most of the bands were called, but the show kicked off with the only band I’d seen earlier in the week. Let me say this -- I, being unable to play any instrument well enough to say I can play it, am amazed enough that the kids could produce any kind of organized sound, much less play together. But know what’s even more amazing? How much they improved over the course of two and a half days. These kids are really talented and… wow.

I can’t write about everyone, so a couple highlights: the universal debut of the Pendleton Horns, composed of Peter, the camp organizer, and three other counselors in matching red jackets with gold stenciled logos made earlier in the day as, I think, an off-shoot from the promotions class; Paige, who I worked with in the rock journalism class, announcing that they were going to play a Miley Cyrus song (to a reaction of horror from the crowd), then belting Weezer’s I’m a Lot Like You instead; my somewhat friend, the absolutely phenomenal Jacki Penny, with a backing band; and, of course, Weston. I’d heard Weston was a hit last year; this time around, his two songs -- Bad News, which he wrote himself, and a cover of the Sex Pistols’ Anarchy in the UK, backed by the Kill Davids -- did not disappoint. Seriously -- this kid is going places. In fact, you can already see him on YouTube.

You can read/see/hear even more about the rock camp at all these places:
The Noise online
Local Cut
Pampelmoose
YouTube

Great way to spend three days (and next year, if I’m allowed back, hopefully five). I’m insanely jealous of the kids -- why couldn’t I have gone to a camp like that when I was younger? -- but I’m also very eager for the opportunity to be involved with anything like that, as a counselor, again soon. If anyone wants to learn live sound -- email me; I’ll totally do it. It’s really not that scary. It’ll be fun.

Now -- enough exclamatory words for one day. Meaning I’ll have to push the PDX Pop Now! write-up back again. Sigh. Show tonight, though…

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Also, on an unrelated note, if anyone knows the person/people in charge of hiring at Powell’s Books, put in a good word for me, okay? Dream job, okay? Dream job.