ROCKPORT — Dave Grohl, drummer and lead singer of the Foo Fighters, would be proud of these kids. As he once famously ranted about reality shows like American Idol and The Voice.
“They think, ‘Oh, OK, that’s how you become a musician, you stand in line for eight f****** hours with 800 people at a convention center and… then you sing your heart out for someone and then they tell you it’s not f****** good enough.’ Can you imagine?” he implored. “It’s destroying the next generation of musicians! Musicians should go to a yard sale and buy an old f******* drum set and get in their garage and just suck. And get their friends to come in and they’ll suck, too. And then they’ll f****** start playing and they’ll have the best time they’ve ever had in their lives.”
One local high school band called Fading Dawn is giving old dog musicians like Grohl a big smile, because they’re coming up through the ranks exactly the way musicians should: through hard work, used instruments and fearlessness.
The high school students, from Camden, Rockport and Cushing, were recently named one of six finalists to rock it out in
Mamm Slam 2014, a statewide battle-of-the-bands contest on May 10 in Portland sponsored by Maine Academy of Modern Music and the Portland Music Foundation. A mix of freshmen and sophomores, they are Alex Winn (guitar and keyboard), “D. Frost" (lead vocals and guitar), Tyler Bilodeau (drums), Jordan Roubinek (bass) and Jason Pierce (guitar).
They made it to the finals by popular vote, with MaineToday calling them the "wild card" in the preliminary competition.
Mamm Slam isn't just some backwoods garage competition. The event draws dedicated high school bands from all over Maine who are serious about their music. To even be eligible, teen musicians have to treat their bands like an actual business. They will be judged not only on the quality of their music, but also on their songwriting, performance skills, web presence, marketing, signature appearance and other aspects of being a professional touring and recording musician.
Describing their music as "hard rock, metal and punk," three of the band members are from Camden Hills Regional High School; the other two are from Oceanside High School West and Isleboro Central School.
We caught up with the CHRHS band members this past week — Winn, Bilodeau and Pierce — who were all too happy to sit out in the spring sunshine after school for awhile and talk about the kinds of music they’re into. They say their music is influenced by Metallica, Green Day, Blink-182, Bullet for my Valentine, Rush, Avenged Sevenfold, Black Veil Brides, Sum 41 and Dragonforce.
Asked how they felt about just squeaking past the preliminaries into the finals, Bilodeau said, "We were so excited."
"We were truly amazed to make it that far," added Winn.
They're practicing every weekend for the May 10 event, when they head to the finals held at the Asylum in Portland at 1:30 p.m.
Winners will take home $1,000, along with professional recording time, radio and TV appearances, possible gigs with Maine Academy of Modern Music and professional marketing direction.
Asked what they plan to bring to the table, Bilodeau said, "A lot of dedication because these last few months we've been working so much to get the songs ready for this competition, we haven’t worked on anything new.”
They're hoping to get some local fans to get down to Portland for their big day. "The location has probably been the biggest challenge for us, because our following is mostly local and not a lot of them are willing to drive down to Portland," said Pierce.
Check out a clip of their preliminary performance on the YouTube video link under the photo. Fading Dawn is at the 2:00 mark
