Not the usual band camp
In last year’s hit film “School of Rock,” Jack Black co-opted a hoity-toity grade school class and transformed the group into rockers. If there were a summer school of rock, it would be Dayjams -- a camp that takes kids from zero to rock star in just five days.
No musical experience? No problem. About 30% of the kids who enroll have never played an instrument, according to Dayjams’ L.A. camp director, Peter Kors. Bands are assembled to encompass a wide range of skills, “so you don’t have one group full of Eric Claptons and another full of Little Joes,” he said.
After signing up for one of five musical areas--guitar, bass, keyboards, drums or vocals -- the group of 80 or so 9- to 15-year-olds are formed into bands that spend their days in instrument lessons, art classes and rehearsals.
Over the course of a week, they not only write one song together and record it, they also perform it live on the final day of class. They name their band and design a logo, posters, CD jacket and T-shirt.
“What’s really great for children is the ability to work in a team, which is what the band is about, and to create something, because the self-esteem factor goes way up if you say, ‘I wrote that,’ ” Kors explained. “ ‘What did you do this summer?’ ‘I went to Dayjams and we made a CD.’ ”
Eric Richardson, a 10-year-old bass player from Westwood, has the CD of the Sums, his Dayjams band from last year’s camp. But he said the band’s song, which sounded like Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” was better live “because there weren’t any mistakes.”
Richardson, who has been playing bass for a year and a half, plans to attend the camp a second time this year.
Dayjams summer camps started on the East Coast in 1999. This summer is their second in L.A. At present there are only two weeks of camp sessions, both in Bel-Air, but over the next couple of years the Connecticut-based company anticipates extending the schedule and opening new campuses in Orange County, the Valley and Pasadena.
The camps are an outgrowth of the National Guitar Workshops, residential summer music programs that operate throughout the country for musicians 14 and older.
According to Dayjams President David Smolover, “five or six years ago, we were getting more and more younger students who wanted to attend, but they didn’t fit in with the rest of the student body. We decided it would be wonderful to try to serve these kids in a program that really suited their needs.”
Dayjams, initially offered in four cities, now operates in 11, including Washington, Chicago, Houston, Boston and, starting this summer, New York. Over the last two years, the camps have grown 35% annually, making it one of the fastest-growing day camps in the country. And Dayjams isn’t even keeping up with demand. Smolover anticipates turning away about 400 students this year.
Why is there so much interest? According to Smolover, it’s rock-loving baby boomers encouraging their own kids to rock out, coupled with the popularity of TV shows like “American Idol” and the film “School of Rock.”
Dayjams was even consulted to help cast one of the parts in the Jack Black comedy. After a New York casting agency called for a referral, former camper Joey Gaydos won the part of Zach, the lead guitarist with the signature Pete Townshend arm.
“That kind of talent and ability shows up,” Smolover said. “Gaydos was a good player, but there are even more-talented guitarists in that age range.”
A couple of years ago, when Smolover visited the camp’s Philadelphia campus, he said he “heard this great voice coming from one of the classrooms. I was looking at 5-foot-high level. I had to keep looking down, and at about 4-foot-2 was this little girl who was just killer.”
*
For wannabe stars
Want to sing like Avril Lavigne? Drum like Meg White? Play piano a la Alicia Keys? That will take some time, but Girls Rock Camp can at least give wannabe pop stars a head start.
During the one-week camp, about 100 girls ages 8 to 18 will get a crash course in playing instruments, carrying gear and running sound, then form their own bands. The end result: a concert showcase “at a 700-seat venue that is always sold out,” said camp founder Misty McElroy, 34.
The bad news: This camp’s in Portland, Ore. The good news: It’s expanded from one week to two. More bad news: The camp has become so popular that McElroy receives four applications for every one she accepts.
Aspiring rock goddesses should act fast. Registration ends Monday.
-- Susan Carpenter
Girls Rock Camp, 8900A NE Vancouver Way, Portland, Ore. July 19-24, July 26-31. $300 per week. (503) 445-4991 or www.girlsrockcamp.org.
*
Dayjams
What: Rock ‘n’ roll day camp for kids
When: June 21-25 and June 28-July 2
Where: Community Magnet School, 11301 Bellagio Road, L.A.
Price: $575 per week
Info: (800) 295-5956 or www.dayjams.com
Susan Carpenter can be reached at weekend@latimes.com.