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I magine a day camp at which teens are
handed some ear drum-threatening pieces
of musical equipment every morning. Yes,
teenagers. Those wily, hormone-addled
creatures who ride skateboards and ter
rorize malls. Then imagine the instructors not
only allowing but encouraging or even joining
those teens in perfecting the time-honored
tradition of starting a band and playing really,
really loudly. It seems like an unlikely dream,
but, hey, Athens is a pretty special place,
and we've got a camp just like that that has
been helping teens rock for five years: Camp
Amped.
"In such a music-centered community,
you're gonna have teenagers that are really
interested in music, but if they don't have
anywhere to*go, they're not going to have any
place to meet other musicians to play with,"
says Camp Amped director and Nugi's Space
youth program coordinator Laura Ford.
It was back in summer 2007 when Nugi's
Space held its first Camp Amped summer
session. Campers aged 11-17 came in every
day 10 practice songs with each other, and
instructors taught them lessons on everything
from tuning to booking shows to getting
offstage efficiently. It quickly became appar
ent, though, that one session would not be
enough.
"It's crazy how it blew up," says Ford. "We
had so many people on the waiting list in
2008 that we figured maybe we could do two
sessions... And then the waiting list for [two
sessions in 2009] was so long that we decided
to do the after-school program."
So, Camp Amped grew from a one two-week
session per year to two in the summer, plus a
13-week after-school program in the fall and
spring. "Every single month of the year there's
something—whether it's the actual program or
a fundraiser," says Ford.
The reasons for this expansion are numer
ous, but all are essentially linked to the fact
that the idea was good to start with. Despite
expansion and some streamlining, not much
has changed. "It's still the same atmosphere
that it was the first year," says Hunter Hulsey,
who is in his last eligible session at Camp
Amped after participating every year since it
started in 2007. "It's not just a music camp
where we come in and get taught. They actu
ally want us to have a good time, and they
actually care that we're here."
The staff of instructors Hulsey refers to
includes high-profile local talent like Dan
Nettles (Kenosha Kid), Claire Campbell (Hope
for Agoldensummer), Carl Lindberg (Grogus)
and many more who keep students coming
back because they know what it's like to be a
young, struggling musician. Several local acts
have also been invited to perform for campers,
including visits every summer session since
2007 from Patterson Hood of the Drive-By
Truckers, a prominent Nu<;i’s Space advocate.
"I think I came and sat in for maybe the
first session they ever did and just flipped
out," says Hood. "I've met every group that's
come through here, and I've always been
blown away with the spirit of the campers."
Hood was so impressed with the campers
that he invited a group of them to open for
the Truckers at a sold-out 40 Watt Club show
last year. If you got to see it, you know that
those teens had more poise onstage than most
other upstart Athens bands. And some other
Camp Amped grads, like Henry Barbe and the
guys in Second Sons, continue to book shows
regularly around town.
Along with churning out professional,
talented acts, Camp Amped has been able to
make its services available to the entire com
munity. In five years, the camp has raised and
distributed $36,000 in scholarships to hopeful
campers, allowing teens from all backgrounds
to take part. And they continue to take part,
and they come back. Wnich is pretty impres
sive, because again, we're talking about
teenagers—it's hard to convince them that
anything is cool, much less summer camp.
"Usually high school kids don't want to do
something like a summer camp," says Ford.
"But with Camp Amped, we've found some
thing that they actually enjoy and they feel
like it's their own. They don't feel like it's
some nerdy camp; they're doing something
cool. So, that's pretty awesome."
Chris Miller j
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WHAT: Camp Amped Session Two
Grand Finale
WHERE: Nugi’s Space
WHEN Saturday, July 23,7 p.m.
HOW MUCH: FREE!
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JULY 20, 2011 FLAGPOLE.COM 15
