I'm either the best mom in the world, or the worst: I routinely take my 15-year-old to bars and clubs late into the evening.
It's not what you think. Some moms spend their afternoons and weekends driving from field to field, depending on what sport their kid is playing that season. My son's field of play is music venues. The dates and times are erratic, and the season runs all year. I'm not a soccer mom… I'm a rocker mom.
Last spring my son Colin and three friends formed The Stereotypes. Colin plays bass; Jonah and Ben, guitar; and Mike, drums. The Stereotypes are all under 16, which means a parent has to drive them to every practice and gig. They practice a minimum of four hours a week, and play out a couple of times a month, sometimes more. Colin also plays bass for another band, Air Like Oceans, which adds to the practice/gig schedule.
The Stereotypes' first gig was at St. Paul's Spring Carnival last March. Their last gig was a few Saturdays ago at the Deland Original Music Festival, where they were the youngest of the 180 bands performing on 30 stages. How they went from church carnival to the largest one-day music festival in the Southeast in less than a year has sometimes been exhausting, always challenging and (more often than not), a total blast.
Without a few key elements, it never would have happened.
All of the boys' families are cooperative in terms of scheduling and transportation. Having been through a couple of bands prior to this one, I can tell you that if everyone's not on the same page, there isn't a prayer of the band staying together for any length of time.
There are no prima donnas in this crew. No drama. No posturing. Colin, Jonah and Ben all sing lead on at least one song, and backup on others. All four of them are very good, and collaborate well. The Stereotypes write prolifically, and will be recording their first EP later this month. (Once they have a CD to use for promotion, I expect that they'll be playing gigs even more frequently… I'm asking Santa for a teleporter this year.)
Even with all this going for them, it really has all come down to the good fortune of being around the right people. I always thought the entertainment industry was cutthroat and snarky, and maybe in some circles it is. But not in this town, not at this time. Tampa and St. Petersburg are groaning with music talent — on any day of the week you can go out and hear live music of just about any genre. Competition for gigs is fierce. Yet, the best musicians will be the first to step up and give advice or offer a chance to play.
Ask any band parent whose kid plays consistently, and they'll tell you it's the hacks that undermine and take advantage. The pros (literally) rock.
Which is cool. Going into this I was a little leery… I mean, what idiot exposes her teenage son to the seedy underside of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll? Turns out, it's not so seedy and some of my favorite people are musicians. Which is good, because it looks like I'm going to be spending a lot of time with them for the next couple of years.
This article appears in Dec 1-7, 2011.