Beber Camp's Rock and Roll Headquarters!
This is the website dedicated to the rock bands of B'nai B'rith Beber Camp in Mukwonago, WI. It documents their meteoric rise to fame, legendary recording sessions, and epic concert performances.
For more information about Beber Camp, please visit www.bebercamp.com or to setup a tour, call the summer office at 800-803-CAMP.
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Jonathan has swept into the studio creating two masterpieces! He has proven to love the recording studio and has always had a positive attitude. His music brings smiles to everyones faces! Good work Jonathan!
Hi my name is Jonathan! I’m from Memphis! I like to play video games, sports and eat. I enjoy singing, playing the piano, drums and guitar.
The incredible Summer Rocking Money Makers step into the stuido creating an amazing single to the tune of Uptown Funk! Beber Funk has toured around all of Beber showing its strength everywhere across 3BC! Congrats on the hit single Summer Rocking Money Makers!
Eden and Marley covered the song See You Again by Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth! This two woman group collectively sang and rapped the song in its' entirety! During their free time, this group loved to have dance parties around Crown Hall!
Read MoreThe Believing Beavers hit the stuido with an incredible new single "At 3BC!" They rocked out all week long and have proven to blow away everyone at Beber! Keep rocking on!
We are from Cloud-Coocoo-Land, majoring in political science. We work on musical songs making them completely awesomerrrrrrrr! We also love our homeland and the mother of the brave aka the fourth of July which we in our land celebrate on the third. Cuz that’s what we beavers do!
Here is the bio of the band The Unkowns! They rocked the song Uma Thurman by Fall Out Boy!
Having been written off by the music industry after their first hobby was very nearly rained out, they defied expecation and their meteoric rise to fame will be capped off by an appearance at the Fine Arts Fest later in the session.
Till then, enjoy their very first single, "Beber Love!"
Everyone has been waiting with bated breath for the first recordings from the SMEEEEN BUDDIES to hit the Beber airwaves. Here's a look at their first poster, a listen to their newest hits, and a little bit about them!
Group Members: Drew (aka Tzvits), Hannah (aka Cheese Potato), Sophie, Gabi (aka Gibby) and Melanie
Group Description: In 1868 this group was merely 5 soap bubbles. And then Mr. Pistachio popped the bubbles in 2015, and now, they’re a band! Not just a band, but the SMEEEEN BUDDIES!
They’re so good, they’re Spectutacular!
Honorable Mention to our fearless CIT-IT Sophie Ginsburg for being their band manager, agent, and problem solver!
Their first smash hit "In the Stuido" finally explains the popular misspelling of the word "studio!"
And here is their ubiquitous theme song, loosely explaining what "smeeeen" means!
We had a guitar-building hobby for the first time ever at Beber Camp, and the campers came up with a wild and radical design.
After 4 days of intense work, it's DONE! Check out these awesome pictures of our "Sharkitar" AND you can even bid on this to BUY it, and benefit the camp scholarship program! Bid HERE, you only have TWO MORE DAYS!!
Owen from the hobby holds the strung-up guitar!
Members: ZO & MEL
Bio: ZO & MEL met while crowd surfing at a preschool concert. They both happened to be making the rock and roll symbol with their hands, when their fists suddenly locked. Thus formed MzzM.
Yes, folks, music cabin activities at Beber Camp have begun! And first up this session was the ladies of G1, who recorded a medley of songs from Pitch Perfect! Check out a short clip of the recording session:
And then listen to the WHOLE song, with THREE layers of G1 voices coming together for pure accapella perfection!
Stay tuned for more cabin activities, studio recording, and more!
For the first time ever, Beber campers are actually BUILDING an electric guitar! We got a kit and let them stretch their imaginations, and for a good cause - we will auction off the guitar to raise money for the Beber Camp Scholarship Fund! Bid HERE!
The campers, Owen, Sophie, and David, enlisted the help of Russell, Amy, and Ollie to begin their creation - a SHARK-SHAPED GUITAR!
Can't wait to see how it comes out! Stay Tuned!!
The music staff is all here, and we are getting ready for our very first song session! Our new Music Director Will Jarvis and new studio specialist Josh Kaplinsly are working on the mix behind the scenes while Russell is running the band through Hinei Ma Tov (to the tune of I Would Walk 500 Miles) with the band -
Bennett Shapiro on drums, Eddie Hochman on bass, Jack Maddox and Sarah Steiner on electric guitars, Sam Bellows on acoustic guitar, and our new song leader Tilly Freedman rocking vocals and acoustic! HERE COMES SUMMER!!
There’s a Beber Camp song that says “there’s possibilities down to the very last hour, cuz it still ain’t over yet.”
Well that is certainly true, but in the true spirit of the Beber credo “All Summer, All Year, All Life,” those possibilities do not necessarily end even after that last hour has passed.
Molly Handelman signed up for the Songwriting hobby on the very last week of camp. She was the only camper in the hobby, and myself and our Teen Leadership director Alex Pomerantz (himself a former camper in the music hobbies!) were her guides for this hobby.
As it turned out Molly had been writing songs on her own – lyrics and melodies – and as we started working through some of her ideas and writing, she revealed to us a dream of hers – that she could record a song to sell online to support her Beber Bat Mitzvah project – she’d chosen to raise money to donate to the camp scholarship fund.
She voiced this dream as if it was not attainable – just a dream. But we let her know right away that her dream was absolutely a possibility. We only had 3 hobby days left, so we got right down to work.
She showed us a song called "Tell Me" that she had started, and we immediately recorded a chorus for the song – with drums, guitars, vocals, everything. It sounded fantastic, and we knew we were off and running.
By the time the last hobby rolled around, she had most of the lyrics written, and we’d worked through most of the chord changes, but we hadn’t really recorded anything except one chorus idea.
On the last night of Family Camp, myself and Alex exhaustedly dragged ourselves into the studio so that he could play through the whole song on acoustic guitar one time. We recorded it at about midnight on the night before we left camp (talk about the very last hour!) and I walked away from camp with just a guitar part recorded.
Over the next 4 months, I started working on the arrangement of the other instruments. I laid down a drum machine to get an idea for a drum pattern, put down a bass track, and then had my friend and former Beber counselor Josh Lee (summer of 1998) put down a keyboard track, since he happened to be visiting me in LA.
I sent the song over to former camper and current drummer in the band Tweedy, Spencer Tweedy, and asked him if he could lay down drums on the song at his studio in Chicago, and explained the charitable nature of it. He said sure, and did an amazing job, sent me the files back to LA, and I then played electric guitars and other keyboards on top of his drums.
Then I laid down a scratch vocal of me singing Molly’s parts, so she could remember how they went, and then once again sent the track back out to Chicago to Alex, so he could go over to Molly’s house with a microphone and have her sing the song.
Two vocal sessions later, she had sung brilliantly, the files were sent BACK to me once again, and I did a final mix and master on the song.
And now here we are over 4 months after camp ended, and this song that started out as a tiny idea in a hobby is now online on BandCamp.com for sale, with every dollar raised benefiting the Beber Camp scholarship fund - so that no child is denied a camp experience for lack of financial ability.
As for the song itself, it’s fantastic, she wrote a great song, catchy melodies, and sang it so passionately you can hear her conviction coming right out of the speakers at you.
What I like most about it is that when she decided to write a song to raise money for camp, she didn’t do what most people would do, which is write lyrics that have to do with camp, charity, or her bat mitzvah. She did what a real artist would do, and simply wrote and recorded a song that was meaningful to her, with lyrics that have a universal message and appeal, and decided that’s what she wanted to share with the world for her debut as a recording artist.
When you produce a song, you listen to it literally hundreds of times. Now I hope YOU will download it, pay what you can ($1 or more,) and listen to it just as many times as I have, because it’s worth it.
So thank you to Molly and her family for seeing this through, thank you to the musicians who donated their time and talent, and thank YOU for reading this, and listening to the song. https://mollyhandelman.bandcamp.com/releases to hear and download.
Rock on!
Russell Wiener -- Music Director, Beber Camp
Noah Yastrow was a long-time camper and CIT who developed his musical skills before our eyes each summer in bands such as Curious George and the Electric Fence, Post-Burrito Depression, and The Noah Yastrow Experience. Since his last camp summer in 2010 he has continued that musical development, as you will see. Check out Noah's guest blog discussing the influence that the camp experience had on his musical journey, and where he's at now!
NOAH YASTROW: It’s hard to imagine taking music as seriously as I do now without the Rock Band hobby. Summer after summer I was a part of something truly special. Whether it was perfecting covers or even writing original material (Fertig, you dog you), I was always involved in the Beber scene. For that I owe a great deal of gratitude to old friends like Nathan Fertig, Adam Becker, Spencer Tweedy, Madison Kommor, Nate Nager, and of course, Russell Wiener. You guys were some of my first bandmates and I appreciate each and every experience we shared together.
Now, I find myself writing music, recording, and booking tours. As college winds down and I await a degree in advertising and film, I still can’t imagine pursuing anything but music. With that said, I’m in the midst of starting a record label called Tegmental with some friends for which I’ll be managing Boston-area booking and promotion.
Currently, the most important part of my life is my band, Houseguests. I started Houseguests with my buddy Evan our freshman year in the dorms. We we’re playing mostly folk influenced music on two acoustic guitars. Since then, we’ve added two members, Graham on bass and Evan (ya, we’ve got 2 Evans, pretty cool huh?) on drums. All 4 of us sing, which is turning into something really special.
Houseguests has released two records, and we’re currently working on a 4-6 song EP to be released this spring. Our sound has evolved from folk to indie rock to heavier alternative with even some punk-y elements. Working with Graham and the Evans has allowed me to explore new musical bounds I never imagined even existed.
For the past 3 months I’ve been networking and making new connections while booking our first tour. This winter, Houseguests will be playing basements, bars, and venues from January 2nd - 18th. In the coming weeks, we’ll be releasing our tour schedule so you can see if you’ll be able to come see Houseguests perform live this winter!
Here are some links to us and our music -
https://houseguests.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/houseguestsband
Again, I’d like to make my Beber family aware of how much I appreciate everything they did for my love of music. Without them, who knows, I may be studying accounting or something serious like that."
Recently I asked former camper Spencer Tweedy to tell me a little about how his camp experience has played into his current gig of "professional musician."
He certainly talked about his camp experience, but being the low-key guy he is, didn't mention much about his current endeavors, so I'll do that real fast!
Spencer recorded an album with his dad Jeff Tweedy, released under the band name Tweedy. They played shows recently both in the U.S.A. but also a string of concert dates in Europe. It thrills me as the music director of camp, having known Spencer since he was 11, that he is on tour, recording professionally, and that I can hear songs that he played on when I turn on the radio in my car in LA. To find out more about Spencer's endeavors both with his dad, and his other bands and projects, check out spencertweedy.com and wilcoworld.net
And now, without further ado, here's Spencer himself, on his camp musical experience:
#Music at Beber Camp
When most people think of summer camp, they think of the outdoors, the waterfront, the bright summer sun… and mosquitoes. But anybody who’s been to Beber Camp knows there’s another side to camp, and it’s just as fun as waterskiing or biking.
Music: Rock Band, Recording Studio, Songwriting, DJ-ing… SONG SESSIONS! Music is a founding pillar of Beber camp, right alongside Judaism and all the other, famously camp-ish activities we like to do there. It’s hard to imagine camp without it.
When I think back on my time as a camper, my nights at the Recording Studio sneak-out with Russell Wiener stick out as some of my funnest. Later, when I was invited back to camp as an “artist-in-residence-for-one-day,” I had the opportunity to help kids work through songs in the Rock Band hobby. All throughout my time there, whether as an aspiring lil’ drummer Makor, or as a (slightly!) more experienced PIO, music remained at the center of my camp experience.
Of course, that wouldn’t have been so easy without the Crown Hall recording studio, the instruments in it, the music hobby programming, and the fearless leadership of one Russell Wiener, who continues to generously bring his talent and expertise to Beber Camp every summer.
And that’s the beautiful thing about Beber Camp: there, everyone is your family, but within that, it’s easy to find a special place that feels like it’s all yours. For me, that was music. For you… What will it be?
At camp there are sunny days, windy days, rainy, hot, cold, humid days, sometimes it hails, sometimes there's lightning...
And yes, every now and again it DOES rain tacos!
And here's one of Beber's very own Recording Studio hobbies singing all about it! Enjoy!
There is no greater joy a Music Director of a camp can have than being able to announce that a camper has a new album out!
Yes, Spencer Tweedy, camper from 2007 to 2012, (and special guest in 2013 and 2014!) has released a double-album of tunes penned and sung by his dad Jeff Tweedy. Spencer plays all the drums and percussion.
I had the pleasure of going into my local record store and picking it up on vinyl! (This is the first time I've ever bought a new album on vinyl, I was raised in the cassette-CD era!)
The songs are outstanding, Spencer's playing is creative, evocative, and excellent, and I would highly recommend picking up a copy. For old folks, don't worry it's available in traditional formats like iTunes and Spotify! But for the younger set, vinyl is the way to go. ;)
As a bonus, here's a recording from summer 2012 - a cover of a White Stripes song "Turning Into You" featuring Spencer on drums! CLICK HERE TO LISTEN!
Congrats Spencer, and rock on Beber!
---- Russell Wiener, Music Director
Two topics that tend to get written about in the Recording Studio hobby on a regular basis are: Beber Camp... and Cheese!
Here's a piece that combines the two, along with musical twists and turns that the audience cannot predict. It's almost like a symphony. A bizarre summer-camp electro-rap symphony for the senses.
Nah, it's just a lot of fun. Enjoy "We're Glad You Came to Cheese to Have a Good Time!"
If you are anything like us, you LOVE medleys! Even better hipster-song medleys! And better yet hipster-song medleys performed by a BEBER CAMP BAND!
So bust out your skinny jeans and ironic mustaches and enjoy the second-session band intEriordEcorators medley of "Kids" and "Little Talks."
One of Beber Camp 2014's premiere rock and roll ensembles was Owen the Hawks Come Hunting In, made up of long-time Beberites Hunter Borowick, Owen Frankel, and Emily Bear, and first-timer David Hawkins. They were supported by amazing CIT's Bennett Shapiro and Alan Brint.
Hunter and Emily both play shows throughout the year, and have for many years, but in very different styles of music from each other. While David had only been playing drums for 3 months when this band came together!
They all gelled together and managed to learn, record, and perform several songs, in just five short hours. We asked Hunter Borowick how the practicing and preparation methods at Beber differ from his year-round band back in Louisville.
Hunter said - "Focus is a key element in preparing for a performance. In a scenario such as the one at camp, where we don't really have much time, we have to stay focused on the objective. Honestly, in my band at home, we goof off a lot, but we have loads of time (practices can last up to about three hours) because we practice once to twice a week for between two an three hours. But when we make our song list for the week at camp, we learn them and play them together at the next practice, allowing us to get a lot done at a time.
Check out their recording of the song Pompeii below, and then look around the site to see and hear more great performances!
