SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO Take 41 music fanatics, ages 11 to 20, put them in a room and tell them they are going to perform an entire Queen album, note for note, before more than 500 people, and they are going to rock the house.
For the last five months, program director Spencer Askin and select students and staff at Los Rios Rock School have been rehearsing Queen’s 1976 album “A Day at the Races.”
These are students from all over South County, and the performance came together – guitar riffs, vocal harmonies, the whole production – Saturday at the Coach House.
“It was awesome,” Askin said. “They definitely knocked it out of the park.”
Q. How did they pull it off?
A. The Queen album was picked by our fantastic guitar instructor Justin Norman in honor of “A Day At The Races” 40th anniversary. He also helped train our guitarists on Brian May’s parts and tone.
Learning this classic Queen album has almost been like learning two albums in one, with rehearsals split between our instrumentalists and our vocal choir. We started the group off in separate rooms, where the band would rehearse on our lobby stage while the choir would learn and refine their parts in our annex building.
Q. Who plays vocalist Freddie Mercury?
A. We have 12 different students playing the role of Freddie, ranging in age from 12 to 19 years old.
Q. You’ve performed an entire album before?
A. On March 13, a talented group of our students honored the Beatles by performing “Abbey Road” in its entirety, headed by one of our veteran instructors Christian Hernandez.
Q. What is the audience reaction?
A. The audience is usually in disbelief, especially if its their first Los Rios Rock School concert. I think they don’t expect a group of young people to pull off such a big undertaking and to sound so professional doing so.
Q. How well-equipped are your students, ages 8-12, to rock the house doing preshow cover songs?
A. Our younger students are very well-equipped to rock the house. Our youngest performance program is called Jam 101 and focuses on training students in this age bracket. That being said, we have some students 12 years old or younger that hold their own in advanced group with people almost twice their age.
Q. Who is a typical student?
A. Someone who is really passionate about music and is dedicated to their craft. We have students as young as 7 years old all the way up to adults. Some just take private lessons while others participate in our live program rehearsals and concerts. Most of our live program participants are between middle school and early college age.
Q. What’s the motivation?
A. They get expert training from the best staff of working musicians in Orange County, and that they get to meet and perform with talented, like-minded young musicians. Our live program is a big commitment, and our students take their work seriously.
Q. How did the school begin?
A. The school began when founder/CEO Tyler Marolf started teaching out of his cottage in the historic Los Rios district. It’s since grown to occupy three buildings, have a staff of 11 instructors, and boasts over 160 students.
Q. Is it affordable?
A. Our program can be more costly than typical in-home lessons, but we make up for it in value. In addition to our wonderful staff, our facilities are top-notch, and we’re the only school in south O.C. that allows our students to practice and perform on pro-level gear, including custom DW drum sets, hand-wired Bad Cat amplifiers and custom guitars, basses and pedalboards. Not only that, but once a student is admitted into our live program they’’l get to rehearse with their band two hours every week under the guidance of our instructors and play concerts at top local venues.
Q. How long do students stay with you?
A. We have a great retention rate and most of our students are with us for years. Our facility has been open for five years now and this fall we’ll see the first big turnover, as many students we’ve had since their freshman year of high school are heading off to college.
Q. And once they leave?
A. Many of our students go on to form their own bands outside of the school. One such student, Casey Moreta, has been touring the world as a member of Hey Violet! who were recently signed by 5 Seconds of Summer. A lot of our students are also concurrently enrolled in OCSA.
Q. What’s the encore?
A. Our next classic album will be in the hands of our “Abbey Road” and “Led Zeppelin II” mastermind Christian Hernandez. Some ideas tossed around were Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours,” Van Halen I or Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” I can’t say for sure, but I know whatever it is it will be amazing.
Contact the writer: fswegles@ocregister.com or 949-492-5127
