GOSFORD HIGH SCHOOL *JAZZ* BAND: REAL LIFE "SCHOOL OF ROCK!"

iCUBED.us recently battled through fans and an entourage (OK, one or two surrogate parents and teachers) to have brief a discussion with several members of the Gosford High School Band visiting Hong Kong from Australia. They gave us the lowdown on the band, their impressions of Hong Kong, their sense of community and their passion for music.

The Gosford High School Band Interviewees

MC: Margaret Chen (interviewer for iCUBED.us)
Scene of interview - Stage of auditorium at the Australian International School in Hong Kong

iCUBED.us: The name of your school and what grade you are in? Just yell it out!
All: “Gosford High” “I am in Year 8”, “Year 7”, “Year 10”, “Year 8”, “Year 9” and “Year 12”

iCUBED.us: “Is year 12 the oldest? That’s when you graduate right?”
Tim Camden: “Yes, they have already left but came on the trip anyway.”
Jade Coshaw: “Year 11 goes in three terms but year 12 goes in four terms. You finish a term early so you can do your exams.”

iCUBED.us: “I guess one of the things I wanted to hear from you is; there’s 42 of you in this band. What kinds of instruments are you playing and how did you chose your instruments?”
Ryan Jones: “I play trumpet and I just got picked. We tried instruments and someone gave us our instruments.”

iCUBED.us: “So you didn’t say I want to do trumpet?”
Ryan Jones: “No. It was my second choice and I did not get my first choice. My first choice was actually saxophone but I am glad I am on trumpet now.”

iCUBED.us: “But I saw lots of saxophones that day at SEVVA so how come they gave you a trumpet?”
Ryan Jones: “I guess I just played it better or something.”

iCUBED.us: “Oh so they test you?”
Georgia Wills: “Not for the band”
Ryan Jones: “No, when I first started playing in primary school.”

iCUBED.us: “What’s your name?”
Ryan Jones: “Ryan Jones”

iCUBED.us: “Anyone else?”
Tim Camden: “My name is Tim Camden and I play the trumpet. I guess when I was 6; I told my mum that I want to play the trumpet and that was it; I don’t want to do anything else. So she got out my dad’s old one and we went to a private teacher and I have been playing since then.”

iCUBED.us: “So you knew since you were little? Did you see this on TV? How did you get the idea?”
Tim Camden: “No, I know my dad loves brass music and we are a musical family. Everyone in my family plays some sort of instrument. Dad told me he used to play a trumpet and I said what’s that? So he pulled it out; an old one and shows me and from 6 years old I was playing the trumpet.”

iCUBED.us: “That’s very sweet. Are you happy with that? Would you want to switch instruments?”
Tim Camden: “No, definitely not!”

iCUBED.us: “Whose next?”
Peter Fallon: “I am in year 12 at the moment. I started playing the clarinet in year 3 but only because my aunt had one and I could have it free secondhand. I asked my parents if I could join the band and was told that we could not afford a musical instrument at the moment but your aunt's got a clarinet so you can borrow one of them. I have been playing this for about eight years.”

iCUBED.us: “So how old were you when you started playing the clarinet?”
Peter Fallon: “8 or 9. Recently, this year, my aunt also had a trumpet as well so I have been playing that as well”

iCUBED.us: “Are these all very different instruments? The clarinet and the trumpet?”
Unknown: “Clarinet and Saxophone have the same mouth pieces. The trombone and the trumpet have the same mouth piece. There are similarities!”

iCUBED.us: “So what do you guys play?”
Erin Charters: “My name is Erin Charters and I play the tenor saxophone. I am in year 10. I started playing the piano when I was young and there was a family friend of ours, a girl down the street, played the piano and the saxophone and I wanted to be like her; and Lisa Simpson was also a big inspiration for me! I always wanted to play the saxophone because she did.”

iCUBED.us: “So that’s someone you admire and you thought. Yeah! Are you going to continue? Are all of you going to continue? As a hobby? Are any of you going professional or thinking of that?”
Peter: “This kid might. I reckon he could do it.”

iCUBED.us: “What instrument do you play?”
Suriya Gurung: “I play the drums. At the back, it’s hard to see.”

iCUBED.us: “How long have you played the drums?”
Suriya Gurung: “Ummm! I have been playing drums properly, this is my fourth year, but ever since I was a little kid, I was banging the pots and pans.”

iCUBED.us: “So you started at age?”
Suriya Gurung: “10? 11? Ever since I was a kid; I do play piano but mainly drums”

iCUBED.us: “So how does music enhance your life?”
Tim: “It takes up time!”
Ryan Jones: “It can be a main thing for some people like whether you are listening to your iPod or when you get up for school or chilling out, it is good because when you listen your MP3 or CDs, you want to play like them.”

iCUBED.us: “Do you appreciate professional musicians a lot more?”
All: “Yes definitely”

iCUBED.us: “Is it difficult? Would you say this is a difficult thing to learn?”
All: “Practice!”

iCUBED.us: “How much practice time does it take in a day, or a week?”
All: “The more you practice the better you are.” “It depends on how good you want to be!”

iCUBED.us: “So how long do you practice?”
Suriya Gurung: “It varies. Sometimes the whole day and sometimes I hardly! It depends how you feel.”

Peter Fallon: “Last night, I asked my friend if he would rather be blind or deaf. They would rather be blind. As they could not live without music as it was so essential to live with it.”
Sarah Sokk: “It's just a huge part of our lives. Like after we have all been touring together. There is always more to learn; it is the most fulfilling thing in my life.”

iCUBED.us: “Would any of you like to go professional?”
Sarah Sokk: “If I don’t get into the university I do, I would like to go professional.”

iCUBED.us: “Which instrument do you play?”
Sarah Sokki: “I play drums along with Suriya.”

iCUBED.us: “Are there different types of drums? I see big ones.”
Sarah Sokk: “We have pair of bongos along with the drum kit. We alternate. I started playing the flute but started drums after our previous drummer walked out on the band so I guess it chose me.”

iCUBED.us: “So what about performing and traveling? Is it enjoyable?”
Sarah Sokk: “Definitely!”
Peter: “In a band especially traveling like we are, people form tight knit groups by year, age and instruments but everyone is fairly close knit as you need to be.”

Sarah Sokk: “You form close bonds with everyone!”
George: “It’s like a sports team!”
Suni: “It’s like a family environment!”

iCUBED.us: “Does music have to come from yourself?”
Suni: “Some people really enjoy it and some people don’t. It’s inside everyone but not everyone realizes.”
Tim: “We have to get up and be at school at 7:15 for band practice. As it is a selective school, it takes me half an hour to get to school and others an hour. You really have to want to do it.”

iCUBED.us: “Is the difference between a band and a sport, with sports you would be meeting kids from other schools and playing with them but with a band you would be performing in front of a crowd. There is not much interaction.”

Sarah Sokk: “We have become a lot tighter because when we go on tour, we become really good friends.”
Peter: “There are a lot of similarities between sports and band. You have to play your hardest, work your hardest and be a team player. You act like a team and play better.”

iCUBED.us: “What about meeting others?”
Sarah Sokk: “Sometimes we do workshops with other schools and we go and learn songs with their bands and this is where we meet people with similar interests.”

iCUBED.us: “Thank you guys, I think your teacher is trying to kick me out!”
Kathy Sokk: “I am not their teacher, rather their surrogate mother!”

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Gosford High School Band Hong Kong Tour 2008 Gosford High School Band Website