Education/training
Not a school, not a jam session -- the League lets 9-to-5ers fulfill their rock star fantasiesLeague of Rock strikes chordAs teens, many people dreamed of making it big like the bands they idolized. Before long, they traded in their guitars for briefcases and settled into the Monday-to-Friday rat race. Fast forward a decade or two and they're finally fulfilling their rock star fantasies at the League of Rock. |
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 [ 2008-01-16 ] |
Michelle Ostrowski, business person by day, rocker by night.
"You join, name your band, pick three songs and learn them well enough to play live and record in a state-of-the-art studio. You walk out with a three-song CD and have tasted the politics, challenges and collaborations of the industry," League of Rock founder Terry Moshenberg says of the experience.
The Toronto multimedia wizard understands first-hand the power of fulfilling your dreams. He pioneered international debit card technologies, but when his company, Moshen Media, was forced into lengthy litigation, he found himself pondering his future.
He noticed a couple of interesting trends: friends were dusting off their guitars and the professional rockers he listened to while growing up were retiring. He put two and two together and made some calls to a few friends in the music business to get a feel for the viability of launching something like the League.
"Quite frankly, I wasn't expecting the response I got. The musicians I spoke with loved the idea," says Moshenberg, who's married to Erica Ehm, MuchMusic's first female VJ. "I decided to create the first national league for non-professional adult musicians. If you want to play hockey, you join a league, but there was no place for adults who wanted to join a band."
A natural entrepreneur, he was the first kid on his block to sell balloons and went on to invent scented balloons and a board game called Tongue Twisters. His latest venture has struck a chord with basement musicians who spend their days toiling as accountants, lawyers, personal trainers, mechanics, veterinarians and countless other professions.
Their average age: 45 years. "The League is for people who attain their dreams," Moshenberg says. "They are primarily successful. It's not for kids who want to be rock stars. It's for people who don't need money, don't need fame and don't want groupies. They want to meet nice people and play good music."
The League is not a school and is not a jam session. Members can take workshops with professional musicians from bands such as Triumph, Rush and Platinum Blonde. Also on board are James McCartney, one of the original members of the Yardbirds, and Robin Le Mesurier, who has played guitar with Rod Stewart's band.
For Michelle Ostrowski, 48, an ad sales rep with a major newspaper, the experience has been life changing. "I always wanted to play the drums, but in my generation, girls didn't do that. Instead, I took piano lessons for 10 years."
She finally fulfilled her dreams in her mid-40s. After taking drum lessons for three years, she joined the League. "It's networking, meeting new people and gaining new experiences. I don't want to stop," Ostrowski says after completing two sessions.
Five of the League's bands played at Grey Cup festivities in Toronto in November.
"It's amazing to watch what happens to these people," Moshenberg says. "The release that happens from work is amazing ... This is a real chance for people to get the rock out."
10-WEEK SESSIONS
The League of Rock gives amateur adult musicians with careers a chance to play and jam with other like-minded musicians. It offers 10-week J.A.B. (Join a Band) sessions, full-day intensive workshops and team-building and corporate retreat events.
For more information, visit www.leagueofrock.com.
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