Teen Bands Article

[Guest Speed Racer]

http://www.startribune.com/music/story/1221604.html

 

I had been wondering about the phenomenon of teen bands myself, and the Star Tribune ran an article. Jeff is quoted once, and the owner of Afternoon Records (a now former classmate of mine) is quoted extensively. Pretty good read, all things considered. I'm still wary of kids singing about the way things are though, haha.

 

FULL TEXT:

 

A minor revolution in the local music scene

 

The teen-rock boom -- think cool, scrappy "American Idol"-hating hipsters instead of cute, polished teenyboppers -- has hit the Twin Cities. The hot, hip thing in 2007 is musicians born after 1987.

 

By Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune

Last update: June 08, 2007 – 5:41 PM

 

Four of the members of First Communion After-Party aren't old enough to hang out in the nightclubs they headline. So the psychedelic rock band often winds up at its tapestry-adorned, incense-scented rehearsal space in downtown Minneapolis, as it did on a recent Friday night for bassist Sarah Wasilowski's birthday.

The birthday girl had another reason to celebrate.

 

"I did a class project on our band," said the Loring-Nicollet Alternative High School student, who turned 17 that day. "I got an A on it!"

 

That's only one of many high marks that First Communion After-Party has earned around the Twin Cities -- and FCAP is only one in a growing wave of underage local bands earning a buzz.

 

The hot, hip thing in 2007 is musicians born after 1987. Teen players made up four of the eight acts at First Avenue's Best New Bands showcase in January, including FCAP, recent City Pages cover girl Maria Isa and ZibraZibra, a group big enough to book First Ave's main room for its CD party in July. Many more are amassing radio play and press.

 

The teen-rock boom -- think cool, scrappy "American Idol"-hating hipsters instead of cute, polished teenyboppers -- isn't just a local phenomenon. Some of the hottest acts in England's trend-setting scene, including the Arctic Monkeys, Lady Sovereign and Lily Allen, earned fame before their 21st birthdays. So have such American emo bands as Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco.

 

Chicago rock hero Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, whose pre-teen son is in a band, credits/blames "School of Rock," the 2003 movie in which Jack Black teaches kids to play like AC/DC.

 

"You know how the Beatles came to America and all of a sudden there were 70,000 bands in garages across the country?" Tweedy said in Spin magazine. "I swear, [with] that movie, it's like a kid-band explosion now."

 

Bedroom launching pad

 

A more serious explanation lies in online and recording technology, which has made it easier to launch careers from bedrooms and garages.

 

Foremost is MySpace.com, the ubiquitous networking site. With its free audio clips and blog capabilities, MySpace provides an easy way to link with fans and advertise gigs.

 

"A band that used to spend a day going around from high school to high school or [college] campus to campus putting up posters can do the equivalent in a few minutes on MySpace," said Ian Anderson, a musician and record-label operator who, at 22, is like a mogul to many of these bands.

 

His internet-savvy label, Afternoon Records -- which he runs out of his apartment in Northfield while attending St. Olaf College -- has also fanned the underage scene. Most record companies turn down school-age bands, but Anderson has embraced many of them, including Mouthful of Bees, the Battle Royale and his own group, One for the Team.

 

"[Anderson] is one of the main reasons people are taking all these bands seriously," said Neil Zumwalde, 19, of ZibraZibra. "He works so hard, he earned everyone's respect despite his age. A lot of bands are following that example."

 

Plus, with computer software like ProTools and Q-Base, "you can cut an entire record in your basement now, and to the untrained ear it will sound pretty close to anything on the radio," said Zumwalde, who is studying recording technology at McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul.

 

Mouthful of Bees (ages 18 to 21) recorded its album at home, spending less than $1,000. One of its songs, "The Now," is a station favorite on public radio's the Current and the University of Minnesota's Radio K. Now the south Minneapolis band has lined up a slew of summer nightclub gigs.

 

"The clubs have mostly been great to us," said MOB guitarist Mark Retsima.

 

Breaking into the rock-bar circuit is crucial because the Twin Cities has only a handful of all-ages venues. One of them, TC Underground in Minneapolis, closed in April while another, Eclipse Records in St. Paul, is preparing to reopen its stage.

 

However, many of the best-known local clubs are offering more 18-and-up shows and booking underage acts, including the Triple Rock, 400 Bar, Turf Club and Nomad Pub.

 

"It's still hard to convince the bar staff to put on an 18-plus show, because it's hard to make money in a bar that way," said Matt Perkins, talent booker at the Nomad in Minneapolis. "But a lot of these bands are so good at creating a mini-buzz and getting their friends in here, it works out. And thinking long-term, hopefully these 18-year-olds will keep coming here when they're 21."

 

Support at home

 

Perkins booked Mouthful of Bees for every Thursday in June at the Nomad, a weekly slot that First Communion After-Party also held in April.

 

Coming home at 2 a.m. on a school night was not an easy thing for First Communion After-Party's members to pull off, but they say parents and teachers have been supportive.

 

"A lot of our parents grew up with music, so they're into what we're doing," said FCAP singer Carin Barno, who lovingly referred to her mom as "sort of a crazy hippie lady."

 

Spencer Wasilowski, father of the band's 17-year-old bassist, knows what his daughter is getting into, since he used to work as a drummer and a soundman in clubs.

 

"People think I'm nuts for being happy to pick up my daughter at the Turf Club after midnight," he said. "But I want to support her just like everybody should support a family member who's trying to do something creative and expressive. It's not just a babysitting job she's out doing."

 

Maria Isa, 20, also has a musical mother who supports her late-night gigs. But the West St. Paul-reared reggaeton/hip-hop rapper has also been greatly nurtured by nonprofit community programs such as the B-Girl Be Festival, Yo! the Movement and El Arco Iris Center for the Arts.

 

"The local hip-hop community is very good at helping young kids keep the culture alive," she said.

 

Once, when Isa fell behind at school, she showed her teachers a concert flyer. "They understood and supported me after that," she said.

 

FCAP's members proudly admit to doing homework in their van on the way down to Texas for the prestigious South by Southwest Music Conference in March. Another charming tale has Battle Royale guitarist John Pelant studying hard in the basement at 7th Street Entry before a gig.

 

"He had a math test the next day, so what could he do?" said Mark Retsima, who fronts Battle Royale while also playing in Mouthful of Bees.

 

Now a freshman at the University of Minnesota, Retsima believes the underage-band phenomenon is more than a passing phase. "It's kind of been a snowball effect, and more and more musicians are learning you can start out young writing songs and being in a band," he said.

 

As the First Communion After-Partiers pointed out during their Friday-night bash, it's not even yet high season for a lot of these school-age bands.

 

"Just wait till summer," drummer Mara Appel, 17, said. "That's when we can really get to work."