Features

Full Moon Resort’s Music Masters Camps: Allowing Songs to Fill the Air

At this point you have a number of artists and bands who return every year for camp sessions.

Exactly. It’s really interesting: there are all these artists who have been performing and recording for many years who have never had the opportunity to do workshops and teach … and we are providing that opportunity. It’s as much a novel and interesting experience for them as it is the campers who attend.

How elaborate of an operation is it when musicians show up for a Music Masters Camp – do they usually bring their own sound crews and tech people with them?

It’s a little different with every artist … generally, there’s some production involved and we work out all the details on that, There are always performances at the camps. With different artists the performances take different forms: sometimes it’s nightly; sometimes it’s onsite; sometimes it might be at a venue offsite … but intimate performances with the artists are a very important element in the camps – there’s no question about that.

Along with the artists putting on performances, there are also opportunities for the campers themselves to play music, correct?

Absolutely. It’s great because you have all these different participants who are attracted to the certain genre or style of music of a particular Camp Series … so you’re with other people of similar musical interest or sensibilities. We’ve always felt that providing opportunities for the campgoers to play music with one another is very, very important.

We have different session rooms which are always set up where people in attendance can play with each other. And then there are the artists themselves who perform in intimate settings for the audience – plus, there can be interactivity between the campers and the artists in different scenarios … it’s all very, very special.

Are there any campers you’re aware of who came to jam and learn and then went on to their own careers?

Oh, that’s a very interesting question. (laughs) I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that different campers who have come to Full Moon stay in touch with each other and get together.

Maybe we’ll hear from somebody when the piece runs … wouldn’t it be great if we ended up with the Full Moon Band?

(laughs) Exactly!

A typical Music Masters Camp session is how long?

Generally four days – arriving on Monday and departing on Friday morning. Each artist has their own individual approach to the camps – they are essentially the hosts – so some of the camps take on more of a teaching kind of feel, while others are a bit more social and festive … they’re all a little bit different.

When you arrive on Monday we have a meet-and-greet with the artists; usually there’s a concert that evening after a big dinner. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are breakfast, lunch, and dinner interspersed with various workshops, Q&A sessions, panel discussions, maybe some masters classes … it depends on what the host artist has planned. It’s not uncommon for various industry people to be involved – say, an artist’s management – and give little talks about their relationship to things. Then in the evenings, the host artists will usually perform, special guest artists come in …