The Collective Sound is...
Zac Smith
founder
let it be heard
-ep1
Larry Howe
executive board member
Larry Howe was first a camper as The Collective Sound Music Academy in the summer of 2004. He then became the equipment manager in 2005, and has since worked as a band coach, counselor, and Assistant Program Director. Larry says his favorite part of camp is working with bands for three to four days while they create songs, and then seeing his band “nail it in a live performance,” which makes him very proud. He is a drummer, who began building his first drum set at the age of 2 and then began seriously playing drums at the age of 6. His musical influences are literature and art, not necessarily other music or musicians. He has played or plays drums in many bands, a few of which are called Hands and Once A Man.
Spencer Johnson
executive board member
Spencer Johnson first attended camp as a student in 2002, and continued coming as a student for three years before joining staff as a counselor and currently works as a live sound technician for The Collective Sound. He says his favorite part of camp is teaching new styles and bits to students, and how to do new upstrokes; he enjoys teaching things that wouldn’t necessarily get taught from a teacher in a once-a-week formal lesson setting. He draws his musical inspiration from a one-man-band called Reggie and The Full Effect, which is a pop-rock, post-hardcore musical genius. Spencer played drums in concert band, which gave him a traditional instruction platform to begin his musical career. Throughout high school he played bass and guitar, and played rock and roll in a college band. He went to college for music management at University of the Pacific, where he learned about the business side of the music industry, learned some music theory, and where he built a recording studio. Spencer has played in many bands, including: Goodbye Matt, Seemessin, Rapid Jubilation, and Our Autumn Suicide.
Tim Stafford
executive board member
Tim Stafford began working for The Collective Sound just two summers ago, when he took over as Program Director. He says his favorite part of camp is hanging out with the kids, and doing activities that may not even be music related. Tim is a guitarist and bass player who taught himself to play a couple of years ago. He draws his musical inspiration from Tom Waits, John Frusciante, and Pearl Jam. He currently plays in bands by the names of Annlynn, Barewolf, and The Beautiful Mad.
Katie Koscielak
executive board member
Katie Koscielak began working for The Collective Sound recently in the summer of 2009 as an administrator, counselor, and tour/media outreach coordinator. Her favorite part of camp is watching all of the musicians of all ages collaborate in the building of something new, and seeing new bands with new sounds come literally out of thin air in a period of only three weeks. Katie has been playing guitar for about six years, though the bulk of her musical experience is as a vocalist, as she received nine years of formal training in choir from the age of eight through her senior year of high school. Katie draws her musical inspiration from a number of sources, trying to listen and experience as many different styles as possible, though she attributes her musical upbringing to The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Jewel, Alanis Morisette, and The Allman Brothers Band.
Vince Gutierrez
executive board member
Vince Gutierrez first began his time with The Collective Sound as a student at the age of 13 in 2000. He continued as a camper until he was 18, when he became a counselor and band coach. He says his favorite part of camp is helping campers write songs. He enjoys giving ideas when the kids are stuck on something, and he likes giving them confidence in the studio. (He adds that one of his absolute favorite aspects of camp is working with Program Director Tim Stafford.) His musical experience started in fourth grade at the age of eight or nine years old when he started playing drums. He picked up the bass in seventh grade and by age 14 he was on to guitar. His musical influences are John Frusciante and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. He has played in bands titled For Mood, Chlorine, and most recently Tear It Down.
