“They had some incredible instructors, and I would sit in and go, ‘Oh, that’s what that’s called.’” Eventually, he became proficient enough in music instruction that he wound up as the school’s Music Director. He would also observe the in-house talent. Ward was a self-taught musician, so during those early days at SOR, he quietly began to read up on music theory and terminology in his off hours. Then he sort of handed me the keys, and I was forever grateful.”
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At some point, Mike got involved in that band Dethklok from Metalocalypse - an animated television series that plays on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim - and that band was starting to tour all over the planet. It was like, ‘Of course they should do this.’” Ward met with Keneally, “and he was like, ‘Absolutely come help.’ I got hired and saw their first show, which was The Wall at the Epicenter - when that still existed. Anything I can do to be part of this.’” For his part, Ward says he reached out to the SOR and said, ‘I’ll help take out the trash or answer the phones, because the idea of young people getting to learn music in this setting…’ It made absolute sense to me.
Jan Bortree, who currently co-owns the San Diego SOR with her husband Tim, recalls, “ was like, ‘I will be the janitor. “He was this absolute wizard.” Ward started seeing social media posts about the new SOR, and he was sold on the concept. Keneally served as “this fifth Beatle guy to help them fill out all the parts that they just didn’t have enough hands to cover,” Ward explains. Rockola would occasionally recreate entire Beatles albums live, and they would often bring in Keneally as a ringer for the shows. Ward knew of Keneally through his time working as a guitar tech for Rockola, a successful local act. Their end-of-season School of Rock performance of “Ain’t This the Life” - in front an audience - is still twelve weeks away.Ĭirca 2007: the new San Diego branch of the School of Rock (hereafter abbreviated as SOR) had just opened and was being run by Mike Keneally, a local legend best known for being Frank Zappa’s “stunt guitarist” in the late 1980s. Fortunately, it’s still very early in the process. The bass player, however, seems completely new to the song, and the drummer is struggling as well. One of the guitarists even has some leads dialed-in already. As Ward plays and talks, I look around the room: the kids seem a bit overwhelmed, but at the same time, totally game. Because yeah, it’s doable, but it’s going to take immense time and energy to get it right. It’s a complex, herky-jerky New Wave number that travels at a furious clip - the type of song that gets greeted with moans and groans from band members when it’s pitched as a potential cover. But it’s not until later, when Ward straps on an electric guitar for a different bunch of students and begins to march through the different parts of Oingo Boingo’s “Ain’t This the Life,” that I really feel the kids are being thrown to the wolves.
Musically, “Rotating Heads” is not as simple and straightforward as, say, The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop,” and its hiccupy rhythms prove a tricky business for a collection of youngters who range from musical neophytes to semi-skilled players.
Ah, the glamorous life of a rock musician.) He later tells me that he was trying to reschedule a lesson last-minute, and that juggling multiple tasks at once is just part of the job. (Ward is doing some scribbling of his own, tweaking a spreadsheet on his phone as he continues dissecting the song.
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During these breaks, he calls out phrases such as “theme with horn times two,” “sax solo eight bars,” and “theme plus marimba times two.” The students then scribble down the song changes in their notebooks, for personal reference. As the song plays, Ward pauses it as each new, identifiable part has ended. He’s attempting to break down a song by The English Beat called “Rotating Heads.” There’s a slim chance that the five students in the room might recognize it from a film that was popular when their parents were hovering around the age they are now, a little high-school comedy called Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Tyler Ward is sitting behind a drum kit in a moderately sized band rehearsal space at the San Diego branch of the School of Rock in Liberty Station’s arts district.
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The School of Rock isn’t just about learning how to play an instrument, it’s also about learning how to be a good bandmate and a respectful person in general.
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