Camplified Blog


Posts Tagged ‘bera’

11 Strangers Meet, Become a Family Through Camplified

Friday, September 9th, 2011

Eleven strangers in one van working together as a team. I wasn’t quit sure what to expect going into Camplified. I was excited to meet my crew members and share an adventure with them, but our experience ended up as more than just an adventure — it was an amazing learning experience. When I arrived to New York for the first time, I was amazed by the city! New York got nothing on Los Angeles, I thought. But I didn’t realized how lucky I was until I walked into the Primary Wave office and met some of my team members — Mike, Dre, Alex, Josh, Katie and wonderful Aimee Berger, the one woman who made this opportunity happen for all of us! Aimee gave us a tour through the Primary Wave office and discussed the great work PWMP participates in; it was then I realized how lucky I was to be apart of the Camplified crew. I felt as if this Camplified tour experience brought me one step closer to my dreams of working in the music and film industry. And I was right!

The first week of tour, we met up with Christy, Evelyn and Kris. We also stopped somewhere in Virginia at a Walmart and bought fireworks to shoot off for Katie’s birthday! We also went to Camp Highlander in North Carolina, in which I realized quickly was the camp I used to watch on a Disney TV show called Bug Juice! I had always wanted to go to this camp when I was younger, and now 10 years later, I was finally here. I was so excited! We started to adjust to sleeping in the van and working on a tiresome two hours-a-day sleeping schedule. However, during this time of lack of sleep, we were all getting to know one another, and it wasn’t long before we would eventually start to get on each others nerves haha. However, we all somehow adapted to one another and each others’ personalities. (more…)

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Six Weeks Come & Gone (But Memories Never Forgotten)

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

Tour wrap up already? My my, 6 weeks seemed to creep by but somehow left the impression that there was so much more time left. It’s funny to think that 6 weeks ago, we were all strangers, but in no time we were a family, a dsyfunctional one, but let’s be honest, those really are the best kind to have. The Camplified road crew (pictured above) fought, we got on each others’ nerves, we laughed, we had inside jokes, and most of all, we had fun! Everyone now knows that I’m sassy, I need meat at at least one meal a day or I get cranky, I need my diet coke like they need coffee, I will order corned beef hash at every diner, and I am so not a morning person. We really should post a video of Mike and Will’s impressions of me. They also learned that I really am good at claw machines, and when I win, the prize will travel in the van with us. Hehe (lil christy, my creepy look-a-like doll that we scared people with).

We also got to do some pretty amazing things like rapping with Bera, staying at country clubs, ziplining through the Pocono Mountains, chasing wild turkeys, setting off fireworks, and being shown around Chicago by two great city guys who will convince the small town southerner that it was Chicago day, and then making up for it by hand-picking me a beautiful bouquet of flowers as we walked the streets. As someone who never went to camp as a kid, I have to admit, I was not expecting such active dinners, non-stop chanting, singing and dancing at every meal! I made a lot of great friends, and thanks to working the green-screen tent, I feel very close to Nathan at tech support. Haha, Bridget the printer sure did give me trouble, but Nathan took care of everything.

All in all, I call this summer a success thanks to new friends, lots of adventures, girl talks on the lake, birthdays, cake from Carlo’s Bakery, hanging with the guys, sleeping in the van, dancing on stage, Celin Dion sing-alongs, playing the diet coke game with Mike, and Aimee, oh Aimee. I don’t think I will ever look at ketchup the same ever again. Ha! The only problem was summer just doesn’t last forever, as all things do come to an end. But don’t worry kids, camp will begin again, and when it does, rest assured, you will be CAMPLIFIED!

-Camplified Road Crew Member Christy Coates, @fuzzywildbanana

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Camplified Through The Eyes Of An Experienced Tour Manager

Sunday, August 21st, 2011

“Do for a living what you love to do and you’ll never work a day of your life…” I’ve been fortunate in my few years in the music industry to travel and work alongside some big-name artists. Those experiences were as expected; 30K or more fans in attendance, fancy hotels, tour buses, after parties, different cities every night, etc. Some elements of the Camplified Tour was very similar, but the experience was far better than any tour I’ve done in the past 8 years. As tour manager for 40+ dates, 30+ bands, double the personalities, triple the responsibilities… it might not sound like anything anyone would sign up for. Well, I love the concept of taking emerging artists on the road to do rock concerts at summer camps. I met some amazing young talent. I made some really cool friends. I learned a lot more about myself in the process.

The crew couldn’t have been more amazing. I had something in common with everyone. It’s like we had all met before and reunited on the tour. What made this tour experience more memorable than the others are the people’s lives I was able to impact and the lives that impacted mine. In the beginning we were strangers. At then end we’re friends. That kind of connection doesn’t happen all the time… Patti F., Graham H., Jeff G., Jared H., Kim L., The Comer Family, Luc & Stacia R., Ken F. aka Uncle Kenny, Lori W., Julie B., The Kingsfoil, McKenzie Comer, Jessarae, Bera, Jenny & Ashley, Primary Wave Music and my favorite, Aimee Berger (above, left): Thank you for impacting my life. Summer 2011 will be a summer I will never forget.

-Tour Manager Dre Bouie, @drebouiemusic

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A Day In The Life… Awesome Express

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011

Check out this amazing guest blog from Camplified 2011 band Awesome Express:

Our Camplified experience at Greenwood Trails in CT was awesome. As finalists in the 2010 Music On & Up Showcase series at the Boston Hard Rock Café, Awesome Express was selected by Camplified for a spot on the Camplified tour. We were so psyched when we heard we were chosen and saw a photo of our band on the Camplified tour bus! It was fantastic that Camplified supplied all of the backline. We were then able to all fit into our drummers’ minivan – three moms, the four members of our band and all of our instruments – for the long drive.

When we arrived, we were greeted by the tour manager, Dre, who brought us to the concert hall. Once inside, we were amazed by the state-of-the-art sound equipment and lights. The crew had already been there for some time setting up. We had a sound check and were blown away. We would like to thank Dre, Irene, Alex, Josh, the amazing sound man and his crew. We spent the entire day getting to know the wonderful campers of Greenwood Trails. The sponsors had some really cool booths set up and we played tug-of-war and other games with the campers and also attended the flag ceremony. William, known for his crazy curly hair, was a trooper and allowed the campers to style his hair with Monkey Brains! It was hysterical – until he realized the new ‘do would have to stay for the duration! The activities were fun because we were able to meet the campers and talk to them – lots were from other parts of the world and country, and certainly had never heard of Awesome Express! Chris, a diehard Celtics fan, found out you didn’t have to be from New England to be a Boston fan!

We had a quick dinner with the campers before the concert – we got the campers into a sing along of “Don’t Stop Believin’” to get them primed. The concert was amazing – we were on last, so by the time we got to the stage the crowd was already pumped from having enjoyed the cool sounds of Bera, the wonderful voice of Eva, and the phenomenal Varsity Girls! We are pretty energetic ourselves, so the combination was electrifying! The crowd was so supportive, screaming and dancing, we thought that this might be what its like to be famous!

The Meet and Greet was a great way to end the day. It was very cool! Camplified has been one of our most memorable experiences on our musical journey. We are now taking a short break while Charles Coleman and William finish their 5-week summer program at Berklee, Chris continues to jam with his friends and Charles Winston heads to his own overnight camp experience. We will be back at it before September, with a newly released CD and you will find us on iTunes by then. We hope our new fans will stay in touch with us on AwesomeExpressBand.com, Facebook, and twitter @awesomeexpress1!

Photos courtesy of Awesome Express.

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From Florida to Jersey & Everything In Between

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

Hey readers! It’s been a while. We’ve had a nice little vacation, albeit lots of driving, which is why I haven’t had much to report. However, that shouldn’t be a problem again as we will be at a camp pretty much everyday for the rest of the tour. After Camp Blue Ridge, we were able to check out Atlanta for a day. It was my first time in the ATL and we got to see some cool stuff, especially the Little Five Points neighborhood which is similar to New York’s Greenwich Village. We then hopped on over to Florida where we got to spend a couple days at the beach — a totally welcome change from our normal schedule.

The break ended pretty abruptly when we had our biggest camp yet, Eagle Landing and Night Owls, on July 15. What a busy day! It was a good thing we got all that rest because we might’ve died without it. After all the work was done though, getting to see so many kids rocking out at the concert really showed us the magic of Camplified. It was definitely worth the effort. The next day, we embarked on a 22-hour drive from Florida to New Jersey, of which I personally did 12 straight hours! It also happened to be my 22nd birthday, which was nice, because that night, I got to wake up in my own bed, eat a New Jersey breakfast sandwich from my favorite bagel place and only had to do a couple hours of moving. On top of it all, I got to eat dinner with my parents after they picked me up at our hotel in Connecticut.

The next day we went to Camp Greenwood Trails where, despite some rain, we had a great day. There were all new artists playing, like The Varsity Girls, Bera, Awesome Express and Eva Ricci, so we were super excited to meet some more of our awesome performers. Tomorrow night, we are finally reuniting with the rest of the Camplified crew. I think we all can’t wait to get back together again and share our tales from the road. I will be sure to keep you updated on any funny stories the other crew has to give us! Until then, over and out.

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Official Camplified 2011 Tour Poster

Monday, June 27th, 2011

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