Faculty & Staff
Larry Howe
program director
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
sound/recording/web tech
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.
Sean Galloway
counselor
Sean Galloway has worked for the past eight years as a band coach and counselor, and also fills other administrative and creative roles as he is needed. He says that his favorite part of camp is recording week because “that is what the kids say they like most and ultimately it doesn’t matter what I think. That’s the kids’ favorite so that’s my favorite.” He draws heavily from classical music, being inspired by Mozart, Bach, and “all the greats.” He also draws from Radiohead, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Elliot Smith. His musical experience is extensive and he says he has been “playing guitar forever,” (the last 13 years,) and also teaches guitar for the Butte County Office of Education Afterschool Program. He plays a little piano and dabbles in the drums, (though he claims he “sucks at drums.”) He is a guitarist and vocalist for The Shimmies, and has played in The Zombie Strike Force One Band and The Ghosties.
Aubrey Pope
counselor
Aubrey Pope went to the first two years of Ethos Music camp with fellow counselors Jimmy Galloway and Jack Gingerich, whom she terms, “The Pioneers.” She has been working as counselor and band coach for the last three summers, (since 2007). Her favorite part of camp is watching the kids become the musicians that they are by the third week of camp and watching them come out of their shells to support each other. She has been playing guitar for eleven years and singing since her youth, which she attributes to the fact that she grew watching her musician father who had guitars in every room of the house. She taught herself to play banjo from a book and learned to write music in her first band at the age of 15. Aubrey’s musical inspiration comes from Skidrow, Cat Power, Billie Holiday, Loretta Lynn, and from Program Director Tim Stafford. She currently plays in a band called Aubrey Debauchery and the Puke Boots, and has played in such bands as Gorgeous Armatta, The Abominable Iron Sloth, and Hot Mess.
Chris Acosta
videographer/ promotions instructor
Chris Acosta has been working for The Collective Sound since 2005 as a videographer and teacher of music video production. His favorite part of camp is “seeing the kids transition from timid to best friends that are life long and seeing them become outgoing.” He is a self-taught guitarist, and has been playing for about ten years, though he adds, has only seriously been playing for the last few years. His musical influences are Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Slow Drive, Joy Division, Anticon, and insists that CAMP is the biggest musical influence on him. He says that being in a band never occurred to him before teaching at The Collective Sound, and his current band, The Delta Mirror, literally formed as a product of camp. He has also played in an Operation Ivy cover band and used to work as an M.C. in a group called Hypothesis.
Tim Stafford
program director
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
program director
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.
Jimmy Galloway
counselor
James Galloway was a camper of Ethos Music Camp in its very first year, 1998, and has worked with the camp since its inception, missing only two summers out of eleven. He has worked as a counselor and band coach for a majority of this time and says his favorite part of camp is “working with cool people and with cool kids.” He draws musical inspiration from Nirvana, Radiohead, Elliot Smith, and listens to a lot of R.E.M. Jimmy’s musical background is extensive, as he comes from an extremely musical family. His brother Sean, who has also worked extensively with The Collective Sound as a counselor and band coach, helped get Jimmy on the road to playing guitar as he received a guitar for Christmas one year and then Jimmy would “demand to learn what he knew.” Jimmy also picked up drumming when he sat down one day, started playing a rhythm, and thought, “This is easy.” He plays mandolin and is interested in all stringed instruments. He currently plays guitar and sings in a rock band called The Shimmies with two of his brothers and with Jack Gingerich, (another Ethos Camp alum); The Shimmies was spawned partially due to training and networking at camp. Jimmy has also played in one other band called The Pajamas.
Vince Gutierrez
counselor
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.
Jack G.
counselor
Jack Gingerich started as a camper at Ethos Music camp in its second year and returned as a student for the next six years. He started working at camp by assisting on tour, then worked as a junior counselor, and now works as a counselor and band coach. Jack says his favorite part of camp is “the social networking, not particular to kids or counselors, but meeting people with similar interests and making friends that are musicians.” He is greatly influenced by Radiohead and falls back on 90’s alternative rock for other musical inspiration. Jack’s musical background is heavily rooted in private drum and guitar lessons and was exposed to all sorts of different music education in his youth. However, he is largely self-taught and says that he has taught more drum lessons than he has ever taken. Jack plays the drums in a band called The Shimmies, (with Jimmy and Sean Galloway, who also work as band coaches and counselors for The Collective Sound). Other bands that Jack has played with in the past or currently works with include: The Amish Tycoons, Hella Flannel, and The Executions. His M.C. alias is Ill Eagle.
