In early 2007, a group of young friends (age 9 to 11) came together to start a band. They were all new to their instruments, but quickly matured under the direction of Derek Kudrow, a musical director who also taught five of them to play their instruments. Named Chasing Maya, the band played their first block party six months later.
In the fall of 2007, Chasing Maya was invited to play at a fundraiser for a film on pioneering woman drummer, Barbara Borden. Entitled Keeper of the Beat, the film is produced by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, David L. Brown. Brown was filming the band’s performance to capture Lotus, the drummer, who is Borden’s drumming protégé. During their 20-minute set, the band played and sang an original song, Winter for Me, which eloquently expresses the feelings of a soldier fighting in Iraq. After the performance, Brown was so impressed with the young musician’s skill and social-consciousness that he asked the parents for permission to begin a documentary about the band.
That fall, the band was approached by Donna Sillan and Tsegaye Bekele who had started a non-profit organization named Common River dedicated to helping the village of Aleta Wondo in Ethiopia. Sillan and Bekele hoped to develop a grassroots movement that would support their efforts. The band members spontaneously offered to host and perform at a fundraiser for Common River and played two concerts to sold out crowds in the Tam Valley Community Center and the local elementary school, Edna Maguire. The band raised $10,000, enough to build a schoolhouse in Aleta Wondo, the first ever built in the village. They were honored by the children of Aleta Wondo, who named the schoolhouse after the band, Chasing Maya.
Since then, the band has helped to sell Aleta Wondo coffee, and has played at a recent fundraiser at the Edna Maguire School that raised enough funding to gift a milk cow, 20 chickens and school supplies to the children of Aleta Wondo. The band has been invited to play in Ethiopia, but changing financial times have not yet allowed that dream to be realized.
The band has also played to raise funds for Performing Stars of Marin, an organization that offers music programs for underprivileged communities, and raised $3,000 for Pencils for Kids at the Tesla auto showroom’s holiday party in West Los Angeles. While in L.A., the band played at the legendary nightclub, Whisky a Go Go.
Seeking a new direction in 2009, the band members and parents selected a new band director, Ozzie Ahlers, and the band chose a new name, Third Rock. Brown has filmed over 80 hours of footage of the band including performances, rehearsals, song-writing sessions, family gatherings and interviews with the members, parents, the band directors and the co-directors of Common River. He has also acquired many hours of footage of the village of Aleta Wondo and the building (and now operation) of the school named Chasing Maya. He believes the film, when completed, will inspire a large audience with its portrait of an evolving young band that believes that they, and their music, can make a difference. As Chase, the bass player, commented: “Initially, I thought I could make a lot of money by being in a band. Now I know I can give away a lot and make a difference.”
The band members cut their teeth on classic rock - Beatles, Stones, Police, U2 -and now are branching into contemporary rock - White Stripes, Raconteurs, Paramore.They also have a very strong intention to write more of their own material.
David L. Brown’s website, with clips of the band, is www.DLBfilms.com. The band’s website is www.thirdrockband.com. The documentary is fiscally-sponsored by San Francisco Film Society. Tax-deductible donations to the film can be made at http://www.sffs.org/filmmaker-services/fiscal-sponsorship/current-projects.aspx?filter=t. Search for Third Rock.
The band members are:
Lotus age 12 drums
Chase 12 bass
Zac 11 guitar
Ryan 12 guitar
Taylor 11 vocals
Reed 11 keyboard
The Original Third Rock Video
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New! Third Rock in L.A.
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New! Third Rock "Help for Haiti" Benefit Concert in Marin, California
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New! Third Rock Plays at the Mountain Ampitheatre in Marin, California
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