CARL HINDS Music director, Guitar, Vocals, Keys, Bass, Recording
In 1987 joined the legendary philly band "The She-Males" at the tender age of 17 and performed with the likes of Motorhead, Henry Rollins, White Zombie, and Sonic Youth.
Writer, guitarist, and founding member of Philly garage rock pioneers Dandelion
Released 2 CDs on Columbia Records which received critical acclaim and generated 2 top 10 singles on CMJ's Alternative charts "Weird Out" and "Under My Skin"
Performed and/or toured ,in the US and Europe, with The Ramones, Alanis Morrisette, The Flaming Lips, Radiohead, The Goo Goo Dolls, Agent Orange, Redd Kross, GWAR, Jesus Lizard, Hole, Beck and many others.
Has worked on commercials for BMW, AllTell, Microsoft, XBox, Ford Explorer, etc.
Has composed for numerous theater productions such as Tears of Joy's "The Happy Prince" and Ensemble L'Oupan's "The Tales of Cantebury"
Has engineered and produced scores of bands
Has had music featured on "Party of Five" ,as well as, MTV's "Real World", "Road Rules", and "Beavis and Butthead"
Currently records and performs with his bands,"The Hell Yeahs" and "BlackHeart WhiteNoise"
CHEO LARCOMBE Percussion Department Director
"My friends and family tell my I'm 'living the dream' by making a living at what I love to do," says Cheo Larcombe, drum instructor for Portland Oregon's Paul Green School of Rock Music. Cheo picked up his first pair of drum sticks at age 10. For the past 23 years he's been honing his rhythmic skills and has spent the last 1 ½ years passing on that musical knowledge to the students at the School of Rock. And there's virtually no genre that Cheo cannot perform. Throughout middle and high school he played in both jazz and marching band, as well as performing with the Drum Corps International (DCI). By age 15, Cheo was sharpening his rock horns with his first band playing covers in New Jersey. By 18, he graduated from the Musician's Institute of Technology in California with honors. Since then, he's played everything from rockabilly and death metal to blues and folk. Traveling from LA to South Carolina to Portland, he drummed for multiple bands. In South Carolina with The Main Street Blues Band, he had the opportunity to open for BB King, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Robert Cray and Indigenous. Once in Portland, he joined up with local outfit The Dry County Crooks, where he's gigged extensively in the Northwest, opened for the Tennessee Three, received local media coverage and released two CDs. "Music is my life," says Cheo and he finds a real sense of joy and accomplishment from teaching his students at The School of Rock and from his various projects. "I always tell the kids to do what they love and have fun. I definitely practice what I preach!"
JOE WICKSTROM Bass, Vocals
I am primarily a bassist and secondarily a vocalist, I picked up the bass guitar at age 15 after playing violin and string bass for 3 years.
I played my first professional show at age 16 and undertook my first tour at 17. I received my formal training from nationaly recognized bluegrass musician Kelly Jo Phelps.
What defines me as a musician is that I have toiled in the rock underground for 20 years out of a pure love for music and the community with no real concern for riches or anything else that I feel may undermine my integrity.
I have played in numerous bands in genres of rock, heavy metal, punk, and blues, although metal is where my heart is, I am well versed in many styles.
I have released several albums both independantly and on small labels.
National bands with which I have either toured or opened for include: Kings X, Manowar,Sonic Youth, Mudhoney, Dead Moon and High on Fire.
The bands I am currently playing out with are Ditchliquor and Divining Rods both of whom are regularly tapped to open for national and international touring acts coming through Portland.
As far as my non musical activities are concerned, I have been the program manager for the recovery mentor program at Rainbow Adult Living since 2001. We provide community inclusion supports as well as specialized drug treatment for adults with developmental disabilities.
I have also served on the Board of Directors of Central City Concern since 2003.
KELLY LEMIEUX Rock star in residence
Kelly, when he's not touring with Goldfinger, teaches bass and guitar. His resume reads like a who's who of LA's music scene:
Electric love hogs(london, polygram) produced by Tommy Lee.
Shrine(malicios vinyl)1 record and tour
MD/45:(slab/capital)1 record...
Lee ving( Fear),Dave Mustaine(megadeth,Matellica)Jimmy Degrasso(y&t,Alice Cooper,ozzy,Megadeth..yada-yada...)
22 Jacks:(Memebers of wax,adolecsents,no use for a name/foo-fighters)recorder with and backed up Joey Ramone a few times)
Paul gilbert:(1 tour of Japan)
Fear:(2 US tours)
Goldfinger:(6 records numerous tours and videos, live dvd,songs on tony hawk,grand turissimo,numerous songs on movie sound tracks...etc...
EMILY ALEXANDER Vocal and performance coach, student advocate
As Education Director of Tears of Joy Theatre, Emily Alexander has had over a decade of experience directing children's theater camps and teaching theater within the Portland Public School System. She's performed countless shows with Tears of Joy and brings a wealth of theatrical experience to our staff. As an accomplished singer songwriter, she's performed solo and in the groups Professional Pilot Course and The Basketball Drunks.
www.myspace.com/emilyalexanderRYAN MOORE Drum instructor
Ryan Moore began his music career at the age of 9 when he and some neighborhood friends started rocking out to old KISS, AC/DC and VAN HALEN records. Before long he had become a fixture in the music community as a feature performer in the high school and college circuit as well as the backbeat of many local bands. A native to the Pacific Northwest with over 20 years experience as a player, 7 as an instructor, he has been consistently performing with numerous bands and working as a session musician. Major influences are BONHAM, MOON, PEART and PAICE. He is currently sharing drum duties in Portland’s KARAOKE FROM HELL band as well as the powerhouse rock group TITANS OF OBLIVION.
THOMAS KORDOWSKI Keyboard instructor, graphic designer
Thomas (ptahmb) started playing piano in 1985 and composed his first snappy little number in 1986. He fully engulfed in composition and recording in 1993 and has been creating his own brand of something closely resembling music ever since. Thomas has served as keyboardist and/or vocalist for The Other Guys, The Socialists Party and his own project, Dr. Kilpatient and the New World Orderlies which he founded in 1999 and is still active today (www.kilpatient.com). He has performed guest duties with several other bands on keys, recorder, tarana, and stylophone. His professional stage appearances include opening slots for Boyz II Men, Destiny's Child, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Skeleton Key, and more. Musical influences include Frank Zappa, Mike Patton, Talking Heads, Jethro Tull, Prince, Mike Oldfield and Maurice Ravel.
Thomas acted as musical director and composer for the improvisational comedy troupe The Around the Bend Players and scored the music for the independent film Backwater. He has also directed murder mystery dinner theatre, ran several youth improvisation workshops, and performed interactive children's theatre. He is a graphic artist and web designer, having founded PrettyFlyDesigns.com in 2004. His latest creation is his daughter and future musical prodigy Helena. She'll be playing Zappa's "Echidna's Arf (Of You)" by age 6 - just you wait.
BEN BARNETT Guitar, bass instructor
Ben Barnett has twenty three years experience as a guitar/bass player. Raised on Heavy music through the 80's and 90's he developed as a young man, the inability to say no to a gig. From punk to metal to folk music to hip hop and back again Ben has kept busy with whatever he could do to keep a guitar in his hands.
As the founding member of the Portland based "Kind of like Spitting" (Barsuk, Hush records) which in it's eleven year existence produced ten full length albums and countless compilations and split releases, Ben was a tour machine. His love affair with smelly vans and gas station coffee has taken him around the country over fifty times and earned him an international reputation as a hard working independent musician with a history of not just listening to, but playing a diverse range of compositions.
Ben has also played in a number of other projects. The Thermals (Sub Pop), The John Vanderslice Band (Barsuk), Corrina Repp (Hush), The Unsounds (Audio Dregs), Novi Split (Hush), City on film (Polyvinyl), and has worked on a number of musical projects with Death Cab For Cuties's Ben Gibbard.
Ben's musical life has come full circle as of late. Once a champion of angst in pop music, his addition to the Rock School has inspired him to return to his roots, play heavy riffs again and purchase a Jackson "Warrior" model guitar. As a teacher he focuses on the fundamentals of imagination and it's role in one's ability to handle their instrument.
Jon Sharpy Bass, vocal instructor
Jon has been playing bass since 1993 and singing professionally since 1994. Playing in anything from jazz bands to ska punk bands to alternative rock bands, Jon has always been interested in breaking down the "norms" for bass players. With his ska band, 'double-o-seven', Jon toured the west coast with bands like Reel Big Fish, Sum 41 and the Mad Caddies. Since forming his current group 'Cellar Door' in 2002, they have been playing all over the west coast to increasingly better reviews. With their upcoming release, Cellar Door will have two full length, independently released albums under their belt as well as an ep.
In the world of singing, no one would expect that a rock singing teacher would have studied and performed professional opera. Well, Jon went to college for it. Attending the University of Oregon's music department as the only 'Basso Profundo' vocal major, Jon performed in operas such as Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor", but his best operatic achievement was performing the role of Leporello in Mozart's "Don Giovanni". Turning his eye to more conventional vocals in 1999, Jon abandoned his operatic intentions and started performing as a singer/songwriter on his own (never in his bands...doesn't like playing bass and singing at the same time). Getting his degree in Theatre Performance from the University of Oregon, Jon specializes in stage performance and presence. As a hobby, Jon started picking up voice over work and recording engineering. Currently, Jon is one of the Pro Audio managers at Guitar Center in Clackamas where he runs the live sound department.
Luke Strahota Drum Instructor
Luke Strahota has been playing in bands since he joined his first punk rock group in 1989. Self taught, he spent his early years playing to his favorite bands of his youth - AC/DC, The Dead Milkmen, Fugazi, The Rolling Stones, The Pixies, Siouxie and the Banshees and The Velvet Underground and considers those band's drummers his primary influences. Since 2000, Luke has performed, recorded and completed multiple national tours with Portland psych-rockers The High Violets and also performs with the British Invasion tribute band , The Sugarlumps and the hard rock band, The Billies.
http://myspace.com/lukestrahota