The First Big Gig

Rock star mythology dictates that you only get into it for The Music.

But if that were true, bands wouldn’t form until everyone mastered their instrument. As things go, technical skill frequently ranks behind stage presence, attitude and access to your parents’ garage.

Having a part in a band, especially in high school, allows you to carve an identity outside the traditional options. So you’re not an athlete or a brain? Then try rock star on for size.

It’s tough to believe that Dan Hammond, 18, was in football when he started El Modena High in Orange four years ago. His Maynard G. Crebs chin fluff, bleached hair and punk-dude demeanor class him more in the weird-kid category than with the jocks.

Dan picked up a guitar in his freshman year. Then the bass player in his friend’s band quit. So, as the story goes with most bass players, Hammond dropped the six strings for four.

Keeping the rhythm appealed to him more anyway, he now realizes: “I have more fun with a bass than a guitar.”

Indeed, Dan has even picked up on--although he admits to it hesitantly--the attraction some fans have to bassists. His girlfriend, a senior at Mater Dei, did happen to mention it.

(And I always hoped it was a coincidence that in high school I kept falling for guys who played bass.)

Dan vehemently denies that being in a band got him the babe. But he adds: “I met her when I was in this band, Janitor, last year. She was going out with the guitar player.”

*

Janitor was Dan’s third band. He’s also been in Crack Babies and Lumberjack. On Saturday, his current band, Phabio, performed on the high school stage at the Independent’s Day ’94 festival at Irvine Meadows.

The stage, located near the entrance, stood far, far away from the four main stages featuring 60 local alternative music acts. It was even a walk from the other nearest stage showcasing ska bands. But promoters intended to give bands with high school members a spotlight other than the coffeehouse and house party circuit they’re generally limited to.

The gig catapulted Dan and his band/classmates, Justin Poysner and Garrett Driscoll, into campus celebrities. (Their fourth member, Chris Wellman, 19, is a freshman at Rancho Santiago College.) Some friends printed stickers. A couple of dozen paid the $15 ticket price into the music festival.

Until then, Phabio, a punk band that interweaves ska and metal influences, had limited its appearances to one party a month. Those shows were executed as hard and fast as the music, what with cops minutes away and ready to bust the fun. Of course, they’d only been together four months, so that only added up to four real gigs.

At Independent’s Day, “Why are you in a band?” became the requisite question to the teen musicians. Would anyone have the insight--heck, the bravery--to agree with my premise that their passion includes hopes of stardom?

“Because I love the music,” each drummer, each guitarist and each bassist replied.

“Isn’t that enough?” asked Trust 31’s drummer John Kirby, an Esperanza High senior. The punk band’s name refers to the “31 guys under Nixon who were arrested during Watergate,” says the 17-year-old from Yorba Linda.

“Have fun and party hearty,” Donald Terrell, another Esperanza senior, gives as his reason. The guitarist for Clean X, Terrell says he wouldn’t want to see his name in lights. Then he admits: “If I can make this a full-time career, sure I’d do it.”

Unsigned to any label, Clean X already has distributed 500 of its homemade tapes and dozens of baseball caps with its name embroidered on the front.

Phabio drummer Justin takes a simpler stand: “I’m in a band. That’s all. I just play music.” The introspective 17-year-old took up an instrument when Phabio started.

“I’ve always wanted to play drums,” says Justin, leaving the “why” part unanswered. He says he’s not a particularly good dancer, but sitting down he can keep the beat line. “I play good enough.”

*

It’s 2 1/2 hours after Phabio was scheduled to play, but they still haven’t struck a note. In fact, all seven of the high school bands on the bill are no longer playing at the times scheduled. The concert promoters, Taurus Enterprises, have apparently forgotten about them.

At their small stage, there are no lights, no amplifiers, no sound boards, no microphones. The bands were told not to bring any equipment except for guitars, bass, sticks, cymbals and any special effects.

Not surprisingly, the indignity deflates their enthusiasm. This wasn’t the day of glamour these young musicians envisioned.

Justin assumes “The Thinker” pose. Chris goes off to the side to fiddle with his guitar. Dan joins his friends in kicking around a hacky sack.

“I think they slacked on us because we’re from high school,” says Garrett, 17, Phabio’s lead guitarist. “But we should have gotten the same treatment as everyone else. I mean, I was a little bummed out when I saw the stage. I was expecting something a little bigger with lights. Now we’re waiting and the crowd’s all waiting for us.”

As with the others, Garrett’s nervousness has been somewhat diffused by the wait. Not that he was really that nervous about playing at Irvine Meadows. “I was too excited to be nervous,” he says.

As the veteran musician of the group with six years of practice, Garrett is also the resident long-haired rocker with a propensity for cranking out metal-flavored progressions on his shiny black guitar. The riffs scream rock god. Phabio was his first whack at punk, a genre he hasn’t much cared for.

“I prefer something that takes more skill. I like more melodic playing,” he says. “The whole thing about punk is it’s so simple. So when I do more complicated riffs in our songs, I think it gives it a nice sound.” The wah-wah pedal isn’t bad either.

*

Finally, a couple of roadie types from the promotion team scramble to set up the stage. Equipment and cords are swiped from the main stages. The activity attracts fans entering the park at the nearby gate, and a few settle on the surrounding lawn along with Phabio’s dedicated friends.

At 2:55 p.m. the music kicks off. Dan starts making up the words as he goes along. Garrett starts swinging his hair. Thirty seconds into the song, the moshing begins.

Only a half dozen in the audience are over age 25. There’s me, four parents, and Vince Galante, a promoter who’s focusing his energy on all-ages concerts featuring all-ages bands. He talks to Phabio after it finishes the set about booking a show.

“What I like about this age is they’re so ready to go,” Galante says. “The older bands--even local ones still unsigned--are set in their ways and think they’ve paid their dues and should be pampered. These kids--this is where the raw energy and creativity is.”

Post-performance moods are a mix of triumph, relief and desire to play again. The grief of a schedule gone awry and a stage that lacked a backstage are almost forgotten. It also seems to make these musicians more candid. Or have they undergone a transformation?

The attention is intoxicating, Dan has to admit. “You get a big rush playing in front of so many people. It doesn’t compare to anything. I’ll do this for the rest of my life. I can’t not do it.”

Clean X’s Donald echoed the exhilaration. “You get up on stage and jump up ad down and people think it’s kind of cool. I’m a musician. But I love playing live more than sitting in a studio.” Donald, who has a penchant for trashed-up Pete Townshend air kicks, doesn’t seem like the kind who can just sit.

A couple of days after the concert, Donald describes himself over the phone as “an entertainer.” Celebrity status is still freshly sweet. He can almost taste a career in the biz. Lately, he says, “It trips me out when someone says ‘Hey, you’re in Clean X.”’

But even if he never makes it to MTV, Donald says he’ll “always be able to tell my kids I played Irvine Meadows.”

“Of course, I don’t have to tell them it was near the parking lot.”

The Scene is a weekly look at the tren ds and lifestyles of Orange County high schoolers.