This is an article I write every month featuring young musicians with a big focus and purpose.  Contact us if you know a student worthy of featuring.

~Stephan Hume, Band Dynamics Co-Founder.

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK

Alec rockin' The Dnote

Alec Jeffries

Story and Photo By: Stephan Hume

Stephan.Hume@ColoradoMusicBuzz.com

This month I want to get right into it.  We are featuring a very motivated and talented freshman, learning the ways of playing music in a rock band.  Alec Jeffries of Southwest Early College talks with us about college, music, and life as a bass guitar player.

CMB: So, Alec.  You are a student of Southwest Early College and you play bass guitar in a rock band.  How do you feel about life at the school and what other activities are you up to besides music?

AJ: Well, for starters I am pretty much just into music these days.  I am focused on my playing.  As far as Southwest Early College goes, it is actually a really nice place because you come in as a high school student and you have all of your college classes already lined up for you.  It’s like you are just automatically geared towards success.  You come in the first week as a freshman and they are like, ‘Oh, by the way, here is your first college class you will be taking in about a week.’  It’s really sweet.

CMB: Well, that is a very thorough way to get your education, man.  Let’s talk about your bass playing.  Let’s face it, I don’t get to meet that many bass players compared to guitarists.  What is your take on your “role” in the band?

AJ: Yeah, I am the member of the band that you don’t need!  (laughs)  It’s actually really a lot of fun because my brother plays guitar in my band and he can show me how to play stuff at home.  It’s also not really that difficult of an instrument to tackle, but I hear it uses both sides of your brain, which I would agree with.  I think that helps you be a better student ‘cause if you normally fall asleep in class or get distracted, you are more used to using more of your brain to keep you focused.

CMB: Very well, I would agree with that.  On another topic, your band just played a huge show with Band Dynamics at the D-note.  How did that go?

AJ: It was freakin’ awesome, if I can say that!  There were way many more people there than I thought and the other bands before and after us just blew my mind!

CMB: That is the rock star dream in action!  Do you have words of inspiration?

AJ: Sure, I guess.  I think the bass is really unique because it is the glue that holds everything together.  There is a really cool part in the book, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist that says ‘we are underneath every moment. We are the ones that take this thing called time and line it up with this thing called music.’  I may be paraphrasing but yeah.  Also, I truly believe that how you do something is how you do everything.  So if you can learn to be dedicated to what you are passionate about like music, school, and friends, you can be sure to always be dedicated all around.