In case you didn’t know, there’s a performance-based music school in Albuquerque — it primarily teaches music by putting on shows — smack dab in the middle of town. And it’s been there for 10 years now. On September 6 School of Rock Albuquerque is having a blowout anniversary performance and open house at their 6409 Candelaria headquarters where instructors and students will battle it out live for the first time. But before that, they’re hitting Burque with a tidal wave of “dad rock” at Rio Bravo Brewing Aug. 17, and it’s probably chill if you wear sandals with socks to the show.
“I’m in my 30s, so I think of bands like Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones, that kind of stuff. But some of my younger students said even Metallica is dad rock, because their dads are listening to Metallica. So at this point, it’s definitely a generational thing.” School of Rock Music Director Jason Arias says.
You might be familiar with the 2003 movie School of Rock starring Jack Black, which is apparently loosely based on the life of the internationally franchised school’s founder, Paul Green. Whether the partying and hilarity that goes down in the dramatization is exaggerated or not, the way School of Rock Albuquerque touches the lives of musicians of all ages and skill levels matches the movie for sure. Founded in Philadelphia in 1998, the school has locations in cities across the country and internationally in countries such as Mexico. The Albuquerque School of Rock is a franchise that follows a set of rules, but Arias says, for the most part, how they teach the instruments is kind of open to the instructors. Their training mostly deals with pedagogy and teaching strategies such as the ways in which instructors talk to students. The rest is all about preparing for live performances around town.
“It’s actually our mission statement: We don’t teach music to put on shows. We put on shows to teach music. The collaborative nature of being in a band, in addition to the private lessons with an instructor, really helps boost the students at both levels.” Arias says.
Originally from LA, Arias has been living in Albuquerque for the past five years. Before his formal education at Cal State L.A., where he earned a commercial music performance degree with a minor in songwriting, he played in bands in high school. He’s been involved with School of Rock for four years, and this is his first year as music director. Aug 17 will be the School of Rock’s Grad Band (formerly known as Adult Band) performance, where they’re going to be playing some classic dad rock: “Closing Time” by Semisonic, “Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses, some Foo Fighters tunes. And what night of dad rock would be complete without some Nickelback?
Arias says School of Rock Albuquerque has programs for musicians of all ages, and he means it. Their rookies program teaches prodigies ages 4 to 6. The Rock 101 program is where participants begin to learn songs and perform with other students. The intention is for them to test out of that program and into the performance program, which is the largest program and primarily how School of Rock runs. Arias usually picks a show theme for each of these bands, and at the end of the season, they all perform a big concert, usually at a local venue. They’ve hosted shows at Launchpad often, where the school’s badass cover bands hit the stage to perform songs on rock instruments you’d see in contemporary music — guitar, bass, drums, vocals and keyboards. Arias says he has some prodigies. They’ve had students as young as 9 hit the stage and rock out.
“Usually the audiences are pretty — I don’t want to say surprised — but even as instructors, sometimes we’re taken aback by the way they perform. I call it stage adrenaline, and so when that tends to kick in, you can feel the energy in the room,” Arias says. “I know it’s a really small space, and there’s not a lot of seating, but we can really start to feel community happening in there.”
Arias says his main goal as director has been to build a little bit more of a culture at School of Rock, encouraging more students to collaborate, or even just just talk to each other. Since he’s led the program, they’ve redecorated the school in ways that help start musical conversations, and they’ve been throwing more events aside from the regular seasonal shows as a way to have the kids participate more at school. Now that they’ve achieved that community vibe, Arias says he thinks they’re all gonna skyrocket at this point.
“The other day, I heard a student giving direction to some of the other kids. And I was like, ‘Oh cool, where did all this confidence come from?’ A year ago, this kid would not have done any of this, but now they’re in the center of the room taking charge, and people are actually listening to them, because they trust this person,” Arias says.
The School of Rock house band is comprised of the top members of the school, and it’s one of two bands that require an audition. It’s an exclusive group of 11 students, and these are the hotshots that play at least twice a month. If you ever see “School of Rock” on a venue’s lineup of performers, it’s probably the house band playing. Arias says, when it comes to the adults who join the program, it used to mostly be an older crowd, but lately more college-aged students sign up, so they pretty much run the entire age spectrum.
“We get a lot of artsy kinds of kids. I guess theater kids,” he says. “Some of the kids are a little bit more casual. It’s similar to them playing on a soccer team or something like that. And then some of the other kids are just really like, ‘I want to do this for the rest of my life.’”
Anthony Saiz was pretty green when he signed up for the program last year, and today he’s one of the success stories who wants to pursue music more seriously. The 27-year-old had only been playing the drums for two months when he joined and only had two additional months to practice before his first live performance. He says the whole program cost him about $320, a price tag well worth the lessons alone, and the experience was priceless.
“It was really hard to find people that were able to let me learn. Everyone had already been doing it for years, so playing outside of the School of Rock was extremely difficult,” Saiz says. “It’s a really good community. No matter how bad I was playing, it wasn’t like anyone was upset or making me feel bad, which was nice. They all understood. You actually have a chance to play somewhere live and get a feel for what it’s like, instead of having to make your own band and then ask a bunch of places if you can play there, you know? And it was really cool to experience playing somewhere real like the Launchpad. The Launchpad isn’t just some shed at a gas station.”
Saiz says once he joined the program, he improved exponentially, especially because having a gig looming on the very near horizon put just the right amount of pressure on him to succeed. He was motivated to practice every day so he didn’t mess up when he played live, and he got better, which encouraged him to play even more. He says setting a goal to work toward was part of the key to his success, and the payoff was awesome. There were more people at his Launchpad performance than he expected.
“It was nice to know that everyone was on the same team, and we’re all just trying to jam out and have fun. And you know, even with the mess-ups, it seemed like everything kind of flowed, especially with our coaches or professors. They would always encourage us. And even when I messed up, they would help me get back on time. So having support was really awesome in that moment, especially how scary it is to play live when you’ve never done it before,” Saiz says.
Saiz says getting a new perspective on different kinds of music was instrumental in his learning process, and playing songs he wouldn’t have listened to before opened his ears to different genres.
“I listen to way more jazz now. I listen to way more pop-y songs and listen to the drums on those songs more,” Saiz says. “They also have a program where kids are getting so much better there, and they get to play live. So when my son gets old enough, I’m going to take him there.”
Roger Apodaca is a teacher and director at School of Rock specializing in drums, keyboards, guitar and bass, and he directs the modern metal group this season. That group is pretty ambitious, covering songs such as “Duality” by Slipknot and “Bat Country” by Avenged Sevenfold. If you’re familiar with those modern metal compositions, the instrumentation and vocals aren’t exactly kid’s stuff. Apodaca hadn’t picked up a guitar before he joined the School of Rock. Today he has his own emo band called Thursday Marks Fall. Apodaca says he made it into the exclusive All Stars Program — a worldwide program that accepts only 1% of students from over 300 schools worldwide — three consecutive years until he aged out. He’s nineteen years old now.
“Being a student for as long as I was, I got to see communication with bandmates and team leadership within the group, and everyone just really, really works together and as a team player,” Apodaca says. “It’s engaging, and it helps you grow as a musician way more than just playing an instrument in your room, because you’re performing a song with other people, you experience other people’s growth around you, and that influences you,” Apodaca says.
Apodaca had never taught before this position, and about a month in teaching, he felt like he was getting better by communicating with other musicians. He says that being an instructor has helped him grow as a musician in ways that taking lessons didn’t.
“I suppose it was because I was explaining more about what I was doing to the student, and it helped me understand more deeply what I was even doing, rather than just kind of mindlessly playing.” Apodaca says.
Apodaca says two years ago, he didn’t know what to do with his creative ideas and the hundreds of original recordings he had compiled. Now he finds himself reaching into the voice memos on his phone, picking out these recordings and making full songs. For aspiring rock stars, School of Rock Albuquerque has added a summer songwriting program designed for that exact purpose.
“School of Rock has helped me with my life overall. Seeing all the programs, from performance all the way to all stars I’ve met. I’ve met hundreds of people at this point, and everyone I’ve met is the coolest person. I couldn’t even imagine people like this. It helps your character grow, and it could really boost your morale, and I’ll just help you with everyday life,” Apodaca says. “I was actually in therapy when I was a kid, and my therapist mentioned School of Rock. I’d never even heard of it, so I gotta give him credit. If he didn’t tell me about this program, I wouldn’t be who I am today. School of Rock has really changed my life. I couldn’t be more thankful.”
Right about now, Saiz is probably at his drum kit improving his speed, polishing new techniques, and running out of storage on his phone because it’s packed with recordings and lyrics. He says he recommends the program to anyone with even a tiny interest in learning how to play music, and he can’t think of a downside, beside maybe the stress of becoming the next rock legend.
“I’m really passionate about music, and the school’s really helped me, so I only have good things to say about them,” Saiz says. “I can go on and on forever about how music has changed my life, and if you don’t play an instrument, you should try something, because there’s always a chance you can play anything. There’s literally no loss to playing an instrument, even if you suck at it, who cares?”
School of Rock Grad Band Plays Dad Rock
Aug. 17. 5 p.m.
Rio Bravo Brewing Company
1912 Second St. NW
Free
School of Rock ABQ 10th Anniversary
Sept. 6, 2 p.m.
School of Rock Albuquerque
6409 Candelaria Road NE
Free