Bill Galatis Music Director
Composer/Guitarist/Vocalist
A Boston native, Bill has been a constantly active live and studio musician/composer for over 10 years. Currently, he's the guitarist/vocalist of the original hard rock band, Sleeprunner, which includes School of Rock teachers Chris Cleveland and Mike Scrima. Outside of this quartet, his energy is directed toward his personal project, WCG. As of the summer of '07, Bill has been playing bass in the band, Audible Crayons, brainchild of School of Rock teacher and band mate, Mike Scrima.
Bill has toured the New England music scene as a guitarist/vocalist, lead and rhythm guitarist, and bassist for the bands Shaman, The Straight Down, and The Rise Park as well as being a part of numerous other live/studio bands and projects in and around Boston. In between his original music endeavors, he was the guitarist for the Faith No More Tribute band, Ugly in the Morning.
A college graduate, majoring in Art, he also studied music theory, music industry, and music therapy. Although he likes to consider himself a self-taught guitarist, he has taken some formal instruction under John Hurtado, as well as classical composer/performer, Robert Ward. Bill has been privileged to have shared the stage with such Major and Indie label artists such as Mike Keneally, Cave In, Suicide City, 24-7 Spyz, Long Distance Runner, Cancer Conspiracy and Pray for the Soul of Betty, featuring Constantine Maroulis from that world renown pop singer TV show with the English guy, one of the Jacksons, and the lady who used to dance with an animated cat.
www.sleeprunner.com
www.myspace.com/sleeprunner
www.myspace.com/audiblecrayons
Anderson Mar General Manager
Anderson Mar is a December 1992 graduate of the
University of Maine at Fort Kent, where she earned a B.A. in European History, and a 1995 of WCM, where she obtained a Certificate of Ordination with a focus on youth work.
Involved in various aspects of the underground music industry since the tender age of 17, Anderson is the founder and CEO of Dark Sky Productions, an artist management and promotions agency which currently has a roster of 22 clients. An 11-year-veteran of the radio industry, she recently functioned as the full-time booking agent for The Skybar in Somerville, MA and currently has subsidiary-booking contracts with six Boston-based live music venues, producing 2-6 shows monthly.
Past endeavors include lead vocals for the bands Solace, Gallows Hill, and Strangeways, co-organizing the 2005 & 2007 New England Punk, Goth, and Metal Festivals (http://www.nepgmfest.com) with partner Matthew Marchesi, the annual New England
Darksidewalkers Ball in Arlington, MA; the yearly Halloween-themed MASS MORGUE with Lauri Murphy of the band Lucretia's Daggers, and co-founding classical theatre troupe The Swan Stage Company in 2003. Anderson was recently featured in the October 2007 issue of "The Noise" magazine, a Boston-based local music scene publication.
Joe Pessia Guitar/Bass Instructor
Boston native Joe Pessia began playing in his early teens originally inspired by the music of The Beatles, Queen, AC/DC, Aerosmith and early Kiss. He later attended The Berklee College of Music where he earned a Degree in Professional Music.
As a member of the band 'DRAMAGODS' (featuring Nuno Bettencourt from 'Extreme'), Joe toured the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia , opened for artists such as The Pretenders, Carlos Santana, and Jeff Beck, performed on stage with such artists as Michael Anthony (Van Halen) Warren DiMartini (Ratt) George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob) Perry Ferrell (Janes Addiction), and Extreme, performed on national TV (The Late Late with Craig Furguson, ESPN2) , has written music for ESPN, and collaborated on various albums as a guitarist, bassist and co-writer.
Currently Joe plays guitar in the band 'TANTRIC' which also features former 'FUEL' drummer Kevin Miller. The band recently finished recording a cd titled 'The End Begins' produced by Toby Wright. (Alice in Chains)
Additionally Joe plays in the Boston based band 'HURTSMILE' which features vocalist Gary Cherone (Extreme, Van Halen)
Links:
www.myspace.com/joepessia
www.myspace.com/tantric
www.myspace.com/dramagods
www.myspace.com/hurtsmile
Jesse Magnuson Drum Instructor
Jesse Magnuson was born March 20, 1984 in Hudson,NH and started playing drums when he was 3 years old upon receiving his first drumset from his father. Jesse comes from a long line of drummers. Jesse's grandfather, uncle, father, cousin and cousins father are all drummers. Around age six, Jesse started playing with his dad’s bands at rehearsals and outdoor parties and by age 15 he was playing out in clubs and at functions with various rock and GB bands (wedding bands). At age 16, Jesse went to Germany and Austria to play Fasching, which included a performance in front of 10,000 people at Marien platz in Munich.
Apart from his high school marching, concert and jazz bands, he joined Citizen, a local original hard rock band. In 2000, Citizen was fortunate enough to open for Mourning Widows, which featured Nuno Bettencourt formerly of the band Extreme.
After high school, Jesse attended Berklee college of music for four years, graduating with a degree in professional music where he was an in demand drummer for studio sessions, live shows and musical theatre performances. During his 4 year stay, he was also flown to Nashville to record for Matt Lowell and Bychance, recorded drums and auxiliary percussion for an indie movie soundtrack from Italy, which was recorded at Mix One studios and can be found on imdb.com, as well as having performed with blues legend James Montgomery and guitarist Gary Hoey.
Now out of school Jesse is a freelance drummer, a private lessons teacher, as well as the drummer for A Dose of Reality, an up and coming indie rock band out of Boston.
Michael Scrima Keyboard/Vocal/Drum Instructor
Mike's musical beginnings can be traced back to The Boston Boy Choir School (http://www.bostonboychoir.org) where he graduated after receiving 4 years of voice and piano instruction. There he was able to perform under the conduction of classical greats such as John Williams, Sarah Caldwell, and Seiji Ozawa. He also shared the stage with a list of performers that include Reba McIntyre, Roberta Flack, and Andy Williams. Along with a choir school classmate, Mike started his first rock
band as a keyboardist and vocalist.
Michael further built his musical education
at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell where he enrolled in several courses in the music business program.
With his band, Audible Crayons
(http://www.myspace.com/audiblecrayons), he recorded a full-length album and toured for 3 weeks across the U.S. playing at clubs in Los Angeles, Hollywood, and Denver.
Mike met music director Bill Galatis when he joined the Faith No More tribute band Ugly In The Morning as keyboardist. Since that band, they have gone on to work together in numerous original projects including March of Sound, Sleeprunner, and now even Audible Crayons.
Aside from being in bands, Mike also writes and
records for his self-titled solo project in which he not only plays keyboard and sings, but also plays drums, an instrument that he picked up along the years with no formal training. He is also beginning to produce/engineer on his own with this project.
Rob Compa Guitar Instructor
Rob Compa began playing the guitar at the age of 12 after years of hearing his father play acoustic guitar. He spent the next few years studying with numerous local instructors and listening to many of his now favorite artists such as the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Phish, Stevie Ray Vaughan, etc. At the age of 16, Rob began gigging around his hometown of Rochester, NY and spent the next few years playing with various blues, jamband, funk, and classic rock groups around the area. After graduating from high school, Rob began studying music at a local community college, where he got his first exposure to jazz, music theory, and different improvisational concepts. He stayed there for 2 years until May of 2006, when he moved to Boston to study at the Berklee College of Music, where he is still currently a student.
Rob has had the honor of playing with numerous respected musicians such as world renowned session drummer Steve Gadd, Macy Gray drummer Chaun Horton, Spyro Gyra guitarist Chet Catallo, and pedal steel master Calvin Cooke. Since moving to Boston, Rob has played with and continues to play with many gospel, R&B, jamband, and funk groups around the area. He is also currently playing with his own band, Dear Havanah, and working on another improvisation-based project with fellow School of Rock guitar instructor Cliff Dill called Osmosis Prime.
Chris Cleveland Bass Instructor
Chris Cleveland has been playing bass guitar for ten years. He earned his bachelor's degree at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in 2005, where he studied studio art, art history, stage and musical performance. He played in the pit band for such musical productions as 'Reefer Madness' and 'Batboy', and is currently the bassist in local Boston power-trio Sleeprunner (fronted by School of Rock musical director Bill Galatis). He has played in a handful of Massachusetts based bands, such as Los Hijos Unicos and The Humans. He has also recorded tracks for a few Boston based hip-hop artists, as well as performed with the Massachusetts indie rock outfit Piebald.
Teaching has always come naturally to him, and he landed his first job in music education right after graduating from MCLA. He took on the role of a singer-songwriter-instructor for a group of 65 kids ranging from 4 to 13 years of age at the Munroe Center for the Arts in Lexington, MA. His duty was to write songs based on a weekly theme, i.e. Bugs, Robin Hood, India, and then teach different parts of each song to different age groups, culminating in a multi-layered, interactive production which was performed for parents at the end of every week. It being a summer program, Chris moved on in the fall to use his task oriented skill base in managing the bustling Harvard Square restaurant, Z-Square. Although he feels he learned a lot from the job, he left after 9 months to join the School of Rock team, as he felt it catered more to his true calling.
As a composer, Chris has covered everything from maniacally comedic satire to dark, brooding prog-rock, to avant-garde soundscapes. He is currently self-producing his first full length album of Pop-Rocktronica (electronic percussive elements with catchy bass-lines and guitar riffs, and a dusting of vintage and contemporary synthesis), which he currently considers his full time job. He has studio space in Arlington MA, where he works with the production software Pro-Tools. He hopes to release the album in early spring of 08, under the heading Wrecking Belle. He swears Rick Rubin will eat it right up.
Seager Tennis Guitar/Bass Instructor
Seager Tennis is a Bassist, Guitarist and Songwriter and lifelong resident of Massachusetts. Only 28 years old, he is a 15 year veteran of stage and studio, writing, recording and performing everything from Blues, Punk, Rock, Metal, Covers, Ska, Reggae, Indie Rock, Classical, Country, Acoustic and Electronic Music. He has played everywhere in the USA in every type of situation imaginable, touring endlessly from Dingy Basements in upstate NY all the way to the Disneyland House of Blues Anaheim and the legendary Fillmore West in San Francisco. In addition, he has recorded and scored pieces for Film (ROLLING, indie) and Television (THOUGHTROCKET, the current TV network) as well as Live Comedy and Theatre.
Samples of his work can be heard here:
http://www.myspace.com/tennismusic
www.myspace.com/buriedinleather
http://www.myspace.com/musicbing
http://benmorrison.org/video.htm - jack the honda
Bassam Habal Guitar/Bass Instructor
Bassam Habal has been playing bass since he was 14. He was inspired to pick up the bass by the legendary bass work of John Paul Jones on the Zeppelin classic "Ramble on". About 3 years later after asking his bass teacher to show him the rhythm guitar part to Van Morrison's "Domino", Bassam switched to guitar and has been playing guitar ever. He has been a founding member of many bands over the years including the Grateful Dead cover band Electric Hummus(now known as Playin' Dead), The Psychedelic Conspiracy and most recently the Chicken Slacks Soul Revue, whom he played with for 6 years. He comes to the School of Rock as a fan as well as teacher having traveled to New York to see the School of Rock All-Stars several times before joining the School. Bassam was a dj for 10+ years doing a 60s/70s show called "The Lost and Found" on wmbr radio 88.10 here is Cambridge. You can still find him there doing fill in slots once and a while. On the air he is known as "Mighty Slim" do to his svelte physique. Having a love for the music of the "classic rock" era, he feels its important to share its importance and ongoing relevance to aspiring players today.