ROCKSTAR SCHOOL & THERAPY
AUTUMN BAND CAMP BOOKINGS ARE OPEN!
ONLY ONE BAND CAMP THESE HOLIDAYS
Calling all band campers! Whether you are an experienced young rockstar or completely new to music, everyone 6 to 16 is welcome to join band camp for a 2 day school holiday music intensive.
Day 1: is "Instant Rockstar"! 16 workshops covering bass, guitar, drums and keys.
Day 2: Is instant "Rock Band" where each group will practice and perform a song.
Our band camp program is always fully booked and these holidays we are only running one camp instead of two! So get your skates on Rockstar peeps and book in now!
Luke Edwards
Founder Director
Rockstar School and Therapy
TERM 1 2025 NEWSLETTER
TERM 1 NEWSLETTER TEXT
Happy new year everyone! we hope you've all had a safe and relaxing school holidays. we are looking forward to a wonderful 2025 together with all our rockstars!
Lessons resume Monday 3rd feb and finish Friday April 11.
As all you o.g. rockstars would know, we ordinarily start AFTER staff development day, but as NSW Dept of Ed is starting super late this year we are kicking off straight away on Monday in week 1 of Term 1.
ROCKSTAR NEWS:
- Sadly our wonderful teacher Malaika has had to step back from their teaching duties at Rockstar to better engage with their work with the disability sector in our community, as well dedicate more time to their music career. We hope Malaika can still join us to assist and support in our upcoming 2025 shows, we thank them for their time at Rockstar!
- GOOD NEWS! Our fantastic teacher Maxwell, will be stepping in to take care of Malaika’s students on Wednesday and will also be taking Oscar’s Monday students (who will now be working on Mondays to assist with Rockstar operations and project management for our huge shows). Maxwell is a talented, professional and wonderfully warm teacher with expertise in bass and guitar and is a drum and percussion specialist. We look forward to having Maxwell with us more in 2025!
FEES:
This year and moving forward, all rockstars will receive their invoice BEFORE the term commences. To hold your place you need to pay your invoice before your due date in week 1. If you need to take a break and opt out of the term, please notify us immediately. Thanks!
MEET MARK!
As you would all now know, Rockstar now has rock royalty - Mark Evans - bass player for AC/DC & Rose Tattoo. He is now teaching his bass guitar program called “Bassics”. Everyone is welcome to benefit from Mark’s expertise in bass guitar - students, parents, community members - and he is happy to do one off or ongoing lessons.
For this Term only we are offering a “MEET MARK” promotion and you can now have a one off, half hour session, with Mark for just the standard music lesson price. Mark is a rock music treasure but he wants to share his musical wealth with YOU! So give Luke a message to set up a “MEET MARK” session.
Note: this is open to guitarists as well, not just bass players, as he has plenty of tips on how to improve your craft - or maybe you just want to play along with someone who actually played on stage (or on the back of the truck) with AC/DC - ARGUABLY the biggest rock band in the world.
ROCKSTAR WEBSITE
Check out our website already! It’s packed full of information and you can always access it to keep up to date with our latest news, show dates, term dates, fee info, teacher info, projects, history and more!
Luke Edwards
Founder Director
Rockstar School and Therapy
MARK EVENS (EX-AC/DC) HAS ARRIVED AT ROCKSTAR
BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW!
Rock legend Mark Evans has landed at Rockstar and we are fortunate to have his incredible expertise and experience as part of the Rockstar team.
Mark is now taking bookings on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and places are filling up! Not a local? Not a problem, Mark is also available via Zoom! Whether you are from Leichhardt or Luxembourg, you will get the opportunity to enjoy the Mark Evans experience!
Mark's approach to bass playing is all about the fundamentals - what he calls "The Bassics". According to Mark:
"I have been keen for a long time now to find a way to pass on what I have learned and experienced playing bass in bands live, recording and touring internationally since 1975, and Rockstar is the perfect home for passing on my knowledge to our future rockstars".
"During my years playing bass in AC/DC, Rose Tattoo amongst many others (and touring internationally alongside KISS, Black Sabbath, Motley Crue and Status Quo) the experience, knowledge and the lessons I have learned are many. In essence this is what I want to share with fellow bass players, young and not so young, experienced or just starting their playing journey"
Lessons are open to all ages from 8 years to 80+, and all skill levels. Whether you are an experienced bass player wanting to explore ways to make your playing better (for you and your band!) or a beginner looking to develop solid bass playing (the right way!), Mark will guide you on your journey to bass excellence.
Mark will be operating from his purpose built headquarters at Rockstar, so whether you are an existing Rockstar student or future student, don't hesitate to take this incredible opportunity to learn from an iconic Aussie rock musician who not only has a wealth of experience to share but many a yarn about Australian rock history as well.
For further details please check out the Mark Evans "Bassics" page and message me on M: 0425253499.
Luke Edwards
Founder Director
Rockstar School and Therapy
SHOW SEASON 2024!!
ROCKALICIOUS 4 @ CROWBAR 2024
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR ROCKSTARS for making ROCKALICIOUS VOL. 4 our biggest and best festival ever!! 19 hours of performances across 2 stages, all rockstar smiles and all running on time!! Not an easy feat with new acts every 10 minutes for 10 hours. A BIG THANK YOU to all you wonderful parents for your support and for the professional Crowbar staff and production team who help make our event a success (every time!).
Thank you to our wonderful Rockstar Team who ran this event like clockwork - assisting and accompanying our performers and making sure everyone feels like a rockstar.
Not only did our staff perform and run stages all day but they "bumped in" and set everything up and then packed up and "bumped out" as well - with a smile on their face I might add! (as seen in the picture above with Oscar and Maxwell taking a quick break after 10 hours of performances!)
We'll look forward to our next show, mid-year 2025, date TBC. If you are keen to perform talk to your teachers now!
Warm Regards,
Luke Edwards
Founder Director
Rockstar School and Therapy
15 YEARS OF ROCKSTAR!
Rockstar's 15th Anniversary!
15 years of Rockstar in our beloved Leichhardt community. From teaching music to my sons and their friends, to becoming an inner west institution with a brilliant team of educators and 300+ wonderful students, the Rockstar journey has been a fantastic story of success through community connection and our goal to make music accessible and enhance lives.
With the growth of Rockstar school has also been the growth of Rockstar Therapy. More than a decade ago my Social Work career inevitably converged with my music career and Rockstar Therapy was born - who said therapy can't be cool.
Rockstar Therapy is an innovative multi-faceted program that builds resilience, enhances positive self identity and supports developmental growth to alleviate neurological, mental health and social challenges.
TRIBUTE TO MY BELOVED FATHER
TRIBUTE TO MY FATHER JON EDWARDS
My much loved father/grandfather/friend to many - Jon Edwards - passed away peacefully at home with family on Tuesday 10th December. Before his battles with dementia and cancer, Dad was the head of maintenance at Rockstar for many years. In addition to being a dedicated parent and family man, he was an elite athlete, an electrician and builder and a man with a big heart and would go out of his way to help family, friends or indeed anyone in need.
It goes without saying that I would not be the same without him, and the same goes for Rockstar. The building skills that he taught me have allowed me to build every studio, the front stage and much more. Where he had a hand in renovating a studio, we have MANY power points.
My father was an incredibly generous, compassionate and caring man and it's his spirit that led me to create a music school that was not just about music but also about helping and empowering and supporting people.
Although known as a footballer and builder, he had a strong sensitive artistic side, with a particular love for music. His love for music was no more apparent than when he tore up the dance floor, after weeks of battling through radiotherapy, at his 80th birthday celebration - where we performed his favourite songs in a singalong with family and friends. Even when life was hard he showed us all the power of love, family, community and music.
Thank you for everything Dad. You will be sorely missed but you are part of everything I do.
Luke Edwards
Founder Director
Rockstar School and Therapy
THE HUGE PROGRAMS FOR OUR MOST RECENT SHOW - ROCKALICIOUS 4
THE PEOPLE'S STAGE
THE PEOPLE'S STAGE
THE PEOPLE'S STAGE
The Bar stage is what we like to call - "The People's Stage". This is the authentic pub venue vibe where the audience is just an arms length away. Much the same environment in which bands like AC/DC learned their craft and an important part of any young rockstars experience.
THE VENUE STAGE
THE PEOPLE'S STAGE
THE PEOPLE'S STAGE
The Venue stage @ crowbar will give young Rockstars a real feel of the real deal when it comes to performing at a world class venue. However our goal at Rockstar shows is ALWAYS to help our young rockstars feel good, no matter how big the stage the goal is to have fun and learn. Our stage experience is exactly that - an experience - and even though we are in a different forum we are still in the classroom learning and growing and becoming more confident and capable as young artists.