Heavy metal guitar riffs resonated and snare beats echoed along the dark grey walls of the Launching Pad, a small concert venue in University Square, as Decadent lead singer Dylan Keller screamed the final words of their rehearsal set Tuesday night.
Eighteen-year-old Keller and other Muncie youth rock musicians including rhythm guitarist Colin Cross of Dreams of University compose their own songs and perform covers thanks to a program that allows their bands to unleash their talents.
"We wouldn't have been able to do stuff if not for [Young Musician's Club]," Cross said. "It gives us the opportunity to practice everyday. Alan [Maugherman, director of YMC] has really helped us out with sticking with it."
Muncie's Young Musician's Club, a not for profit summer music program for teenage rock musicians, provides a place for teens to go after school to develop their talents and meet others with similar interests.
Maugherman, along with Bryce Taylor, a fellow psychologist, developed the summer program three years ago as an outlet for teenagers from Muncie and the surrounding communities to come together to share their passion for music.
"There's all this stuff for kids who are athletes, but there's not much for musicians, especially kids who like rock music," Maugherman said.
Since it began, the number of teens joining the program has increased from 12 people in its first year to 36 this year. Just as the program grew in numbers, the bands involved with YMC have developed their talents as musicians.
"It's neat to see kids who people would think are troublemakers be involved in something that they like and turn out to be a great group," Maugherman said.
The teens who join the program range from middle school students to seniors in high school. To be a part of the program, teens must have at least have one year of experience playing an instrument and must audition, during which each person must make a list of their favorite bands. This helps Maugherman and the YMC volunteers place teens who like the same type of music and who are on the same ability level into bands, Maugherman said.
"They're really amazing to work with and well-behaved," he said. "They really want to be there."
Bands rehearse everyday over the summer leading up to the end of the summer concert tonight at 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Launching Pad. Established by Maugherman and Myles Ogea, owner of the MT Cup, the location is one of the few all-ages venues in Muncie.
"When the program is over, we have all these bands that want to play places, but there is no place to play if you're under 21," Maugherman said.
Food and beverages will be available, but are separate from the cost of the tickets, which are $5. The money made tonight will go toward paying for the T-shirts for band members, equipment for next year, portable rest rooms and the stipend for the YMC's two Ball State University interns, Tommy Saylor, a senior telecommunications major, and Sarah Rambeau, a senior journalism graphics major.
"It's seemed like the whole summer really just flew by," Saylor said. "I'm excited for some of these beginner bands; they've really come a long way."
Both Saylor and Rambeau put a lot of time in at the YMC, shooting videos for two of the bands and creating posters and Web sites for each band. Saylor also plans to play the ukulele during one of the set changes.
"It will be exciting to see how the bands progressed over the summer, from just meeting each other and having basic skills to becoming friends and playing their songs really well," Rambeau said.
Maugherman also said he is expecting more college students to attend this year, especially because the last band scheduled to play, Dreams of University, opened for Fall Out Boy when they performed at the Verizon Wireless Music Center this year.
Middle school friends Logan Zimmerman, Sheldon Watts and Zack Watters started their band, Dreams of University, in Zimmerman's back shed last summer, according to their Web site, dreamsofuniversity.com. Keyboardist Brett Stedman and rhythm guitarist Cross joined the band in the summer of 2006 as part of YMC.
The band was recently listed as the top unsigned band in Indiana on Myspace's list of top artists and has steadily been gaining a legion of fans. Their first single, "You'll Never Know," was recently released on Myspace and steadily receives hundreds of plays per day.
"We're not as nervous since this is a normal thing for us, but I think it's going to be a good concert and it's a good opportunity for the bands to play together," Cross said.
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