March 28, 2024

In the Homemade Jam

May 17, 2006
The local sheriff ended a recent outdoor jam session, but that can’t stop these Harbor Springs teens. With ages ranging from 15 to 19 and a love of music fueling their drive, the band, Something Different in the Homemade Jam, won’t let a little neighborly intolerance hold them back.
Homemade Jam is a proponent of funk’s strong backbone and heavy groove.
“We try and have the (intensity) levels go up and down,” said lead singer and guitarist Chris Michels, an 18-year-old senior at Harbor Springs High School, “all still usually based on funk or blues.”
Formed a couple of years ago, Homemade Jam won the amateur title in a local battle of the bands competition in Petoskey in 2004, along with contests in East Jordan and at Petoskey’s City Park Grill. Winning contests and word-of-mouth paid off for the band whose tunes are 98 percent original with very few covers.
“The last couple years we started having paid performances,” said Michels. “Initially, it was mostly just jams….When we started playing shows we would have three songs ready for the whole show and the rest we would just have to improvise. Our show now is mostly structured… Usually, still, once or twice a night we’ll just pick a key – ‘let’s jam in A’ – and something will happen.”

GUEST MUSICIANS
The band’s name – which came from an ex-band member’s stepmother who saw a homemade jam sign on the side of the road – could also be a testament to their performances. Homemade Jam’s eclectic members often jam with guest musicians, constantly creating new musical experiences.
“Occasionally, we have had trombone, we’ve had a great flute player with us, we’ve had a piano player, extra guitar, extra percussion,” said Michels, whose love of all music is evident. “When I hear an instrument, I always go, ‘That’s my favorite instrument!’”
In addition to being the great communicator in the band (“I call every person in the band every day.”), Michels also does most of the group’s songwriting.
“If I write a song, if it’s about anything at all, it might just be some fictional theme that rhymes… I don’t write from experiences in my life or anything.”
Nineteen-year-old Alex Riesenbeck plays keyboards, drums and percussion and is largely self-taught. Riesenbeck and Michels were playing together in another band – they’ve all been in multiple groups – when they heard of bass guitarist Joe Dart.
“Slowly, we found out about this amazing talent on bass,” said Riesenbeck, and after jamming with a bunch of local talent, “we just figured out what fit.”
“The best of all musicians kind of naturally came together,” added Dart, a 15-year-old freshman at Harbor Springs High School who also helps out with vocals. Like all of the band members, Dart began playing his instrument at a young age but has had years of lessons and music camps, as well. “I went to Flea’s Funk Camp,” said Dart, grinning at the memory of jamming in California with Michael Balzary (aka Flea), the bass guitar player for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

CHILI PEPPER INFLUENCE
It’s no shock then, that Homemade Jam counts Red Hot Chili Peppers as one of its musical influences, along with funk group Galactic and Jimi Hendrix; among others. Most surprising is the amount of musical influence the band gets from video games, cartoons and commercials, things most of us have learned to tune out.
“I think people don’t realize how much they hear when they’re watching TV or playing a video game,” said Dart. “We’ll be listening to our songs later and notice little (similar) parts.”
“Commercials have these short, little, the most catchiest things that they can have, all crammed into 30 seconds,” adds Michels. “Even if the idea that I end up with doesn’t even sound like the original thing, it just sparks something in my head somehow… and one thing leads to another; I pick up my guitar, and eventually some kind of song comes out.”
Saxophonist Thom Caminito is 15 years old and also a freshman at Harbor Springs High School. A staple in funk bands, the saxophone is a great addition to Homemade Jam, thanks to Dart.
“I started playing with the group…and then a couple of months later, I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this friend who plays sax-we should jam with him.’ We got together and the first day it really clicked.”
On weekends and during the summer, percussionist Matt Brodhead comes home from school in Kalamazoo to play with the band. His specialty is Latin percussion and Riesenbeck and Brodhead voluntarily share drumming roles. Working two jobs and performing with the band on weekends, Riesenbeck knows he’ll never get tired of making music.
“My dad’s the drummer for Jelly Roll Blues Band and (it’s) his 30th year now playing with different groups, and he never gets tired of it.”

GETTING THE WORD OUT
One of the band’s biggest frustrations is the fact that many of their peers have never seen them play live.
“It’s nice to have people our age, you know, coming by, but the problem is either the word doesn’t get out about the show enough… or they can’t get into the place we’re playing… but when they do we’re always happy,” said Dart.
“Lots of kids I know love listening to us when they can,” added Riesenbeck, “but they just hear us on CDs now and graduation parties.”
“We’ve never gotten an opportunity, really, to play in front of the whole school,” said Michels, who hopes that one day the band will have that chance, especially since Harbor Springs has a new performing arts center.
The group has upcoming shows scheduled for May and July at City Park Grill, and for the fourth year in a row they will be playing at Blissfest, which takes place July 7-9. Homemade Jam would love to be playing the main stage, but they’re happy just to be there. “It’s our favorite thing every year,” said Michels. Riesenbeck finishes, “It’s the perfect environment for what we do.”

Check out Something Different in the Homemade Jam’s music clips and upcoming schedule on their web site at HYPERLINK “http://www.homemadefunk.com” www.homemadefunk.com.


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