In fifth grade, senior Mike Eichstadt picked up the bass guitar for the first time not knowing that seven years later, he would be performing at a music festival drawing more than 500,000 attendees.
“As I was stepping up to the microphone, it was a mix of that slight buzz that you get with nervous energy, but also a little bittersweet because that was the last thing I’d be doing at Summerfest for this year,” Eichstadt said.
Eichstadt plays the bass guitar with the Glenbrook location of School of Rock, a global franchise for performance-based music education. Over 50 out of the more than 400 locations from around the world were selected to perform at Summerfest, a music festival in Milwaukee that took place on June 19 and 20.
“Since there are so many schools and there are limited slots for bands to play, they do what is called a lottery drawing and draw schools’ names,” said Dave Vazzano, director of music operations at Glenbrook School of Rock.
According to Eichstadt, he was most worried about having to sing during one of the performances.
“I’m a better bass guitarist, so I was a little nervous for that,” said Eichstadt. “But ultimately, I knew that I practiced, I’ve worked hard, I [knew I] put in the effort, [and] that I will do my job and that I should be fine.”
Eichstadt sang the song “Proud Mary” by Tina Turner.
“The only reason I was singing is because I had a low enough voice to hit the notes for the song,” Eichstadt said.
Other Glenbrook North performers in the band included sophomores Hunter Keith and Cadence Moore, junior Abby Morrison and senior Flynn Taylor.
Part of the hard work of playing in a band is not just learning the notes or working with bandmates, but actually learning how to perform, Eichstadt said.
“You can’t just be standing there looking like a statue,” said Eichstadt. “You’ve got to be able to move around, you’ve got to be able to banter with the crowd, you’ve got to be able to banter with your bandmates.”
Eichstadt started playing the bass guitar after hanging out at a friend’s house when he was in fifth grade, he said.
“He just happened to have a drum kit and a guitar and a piano lying around,” said Eichstadt. “So we were upstairs, we were messing around. But then, his mom heard us and thought, ‘Hey, you guys should actually try to do something together.’”
Eichstadt picked up the bass guitar simply because none of his friends wanted to play it, he said.
“But ultimately, as I played more, I realized how important it was,” said Eichstadt. “Because the bass is really the connection between the drums and the rest of the rhythm section. It’s the backbone. It’s called the ‘unsung hero,’ because when you’re listening to music, you’re not exactly listening for the bass, but then once you take it away, you’re gonna know it’s gone.”
According to Vazzano, since Eichstadt started School of Rock, he has been heavily involved.
“He is just a great performer overall,” said Vazzano. “He’s always the person to be first to help load out if we’re playing a show. He’s kind of the guy that helps Tetris all the [instruments] here back into the van. He’s one of the primary leaders on the team, I would say.”
Eichstadt has had the opportunity to perform at Summerfest two times prior to this year.
“I was excited, but this wasn’t my first time playing at Summerfest either, so I recognize how lucky and privileged I am in the first place,” said Eichstadt. “I was thinking mostly about my bass and how I’d be playing and less so about the crowd or the size oft he stage.”