Blue Tongue

Eight students at the Fine Arts Academy at McCallum High School spent much of the school day Thursday writing and tracking songs in what might be the nicest studio they ever see — the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, a multimillion-dollar recording studio on wheels.

The studio, which has roamed the country for a decade and made Austin its sixth of seven stops nationwide this year, gives schools, nonprofits and community centers a chance to do state-of-the-art multimedia production.

Thomas Magnuson, 17, a senior at McCallum, earlier this year shot a one-minute video touting McCallum and the district’s commitment to arts programs to submit to the National Association of Music Merchants, which works with the nonprofit Lennon Bus to select communities and provide the experience.

“I just got one of the students to talk and added some B-roll,” said Magnuson, a filmmaker who plays in a band called the Mr. Clark Experience, “named for our favorite guitar teacher,” McCallum’s Andrew Clark.

“People thought it was a joke, and then we put out an EP,” Magnuson said. “I’m very glad I was selected for this, but all these kids are amazing.”

The eight McCallum students selected to spend the day on the bus were recommended by teachers, and it was Kalyse McElveen, the school’s fine arts director, who suggested Magnuson shoot the video to submit to NAMM.

The Austin Independent School District’s fine arts director, Greg Goodman, said the visit by the bus was recognition of the value placed on arts education in the area.

“We’re very blessed the community and AISD value fine arts,” he said.

Tre Pham, 15, who plays guitar in a band called Blue Tongue, said the students were working on a tune called “Trip.” electric bass before, but he recorded a bass part for “Trip” on Thursday. Magnuson already had an acoustic part, and Pham played the lead track.

They were also planning to make a video.

“I’m missing a test,” Pham said. “I don’t know who nominated me; I’m just glad I was chosen.”

Contact Patrick Beach at 512-445-3603. - Austin American Statesman

By Katie Urbaszewski

Austin Community Newspapers Staff

If any Westlake collective drives home the merits of not taking yourself too seriously, it’s the high school band Chromatic Funk.

The musicians won Westlake High School’s Battle of the Bands competition for the second time in the three years they’ve participated, and “we started as a joke,” said frontman David Alvarez.

The five bandmates, who met in marching band, played a cover of a rap song with their instruments one day, said Alvarez.

“People thought we were hilarious. Then we started trying to play live with whatever instruments we could find,” he said.

They play 10 instruments between the five of them: a glockenspiel, trombone, all three types of saxophones, trumpet, guitar, bass, piano and drums.

Defining their genre is “one of the hardest questions to answer,” said Alvarez, who plays piano and guitar in the band in addition to singing.

At this year’s Battle of the Bands, they played a cover of Destiny’s Child “Say My Name” as well as a few original songs they wrote themselves.

“It was a lot of fun. Everyone laughed and enjoyed it. … We would make the audience make a random noise or pick out a single person to respond to us,” he said.

Bandmates Alvarez, Greg Doscher, Aidan Sivy, Adam Wilson and Ben Pedersonare all seniors. They’ll probably disband after they graduate, Alvarez said.

“I think it’s always meant to be light-hearted,” he said. “It’s one project. We made it because we were friends, not because we were looking to be musicians.”

While they occasionally line up gigs in Austin, Alvarez said he prefers playing at Westlake High.

“We tried playing shows at places around Austin and getting into that, but the school (event) is fun because you know everyone in the audience. We know how to make people laugh,” he said.

Complete list of Battle of the Bands winners:

Best lead guitar: Tre Pham

Best bass player: John Kronenberger

Best rhythm guitar palyer: GR Chiappe

Best vocals: Payton Keller

Best drummer: Pierce Waldrop

Best keyboard player: Joey Listrom

Best horn player: Aidan Sivy

Source: Hannah Turner - Austin American Statesman