At the end of summer, we were planning to continue with enrichment classes through the homeschool hybrid program Liam attended for the past 2 years, along with his fine art, music and band rehearsals. I thought we had our rhythm down.
Then the currents shifted. After a year and a half, the band hit a big, creative rock and broke apart. We tried to keep things going, but the now-adolescent band members were developing very strong musical ideas of their own and they were growing apart. So Liam's band broke up in late summer, and he went off with the bass player, guitarist and one of the drummers to form a new band, named after the famous mountain lion in Griffith Park, "the P22s."
Instead of the mid-summer recording session we had planned, the new band holed up in a rehearsal studio and started writing new songs and learning new covers. Even though they'd all played together for over a year, it took a while for them to find their new groove as a foursome. Fortunately, we kept the amazing band director who had helped them grow this far. The P22s owe a huge debt to the incomparable director, Dan West, and his talented and generous wife, Azalia Snail.
By fall, the kids were ready to rock, and we looked for a regular rehearsal time. Most of what I do for the band involves balancing the schedules of the band members, their parents and siblings, to find a day and time for rehearsals that works for everyone. We thought we'd found a good solution by offering to pay the hybrid homeschool to rehearse on the campus with the Dan there, where he was also teaching. But that was not to be. Our request revealed a number of large changes in the school's policies. As they'd grown, they had started to implement a more rigid set of rules. I've seen these kinds of growing pains before - the more students you have, the more structure you need. So we left the school to find a new rehearsal venue and seek out new educational communities.
The kids enjoyed rehearsing at AMP over the summer, so we decided to continue there. It's good for them to have a professional space with all the backup that entails. It's also good for them to have the minor constraint of "time is money," as the parents kick in to cover the space and they cannot go "over" time.
"Running Down a Dream" is here: https://vimeo.com/245321542
Their Punk, compilation demo is here: https://vimeo.com/245987681
One last surprise remained. I had applied for Liam to join an animation program in Eagle Rock that meets twice-weekly for 6 hours a week from October through June. It sounded promising. He was accepted and has been enjoying learning from the graduates and grad students from Cal Arts. He completed his first group-project, which was screened just before Christmas break.
I finally felt the rapids calming and the river running smoothly again. We hit the eddy and could relax.
Did I mention we're remodeling the kitchen? I think I hear the river rising again. Note to self - "never take off your life-vest!"
