Camp Jammer on Nick News!!

Cleveland

Drummer has the beat

September 1st, 2008

By LISA HLAVINKA

LIVERPOOL TWP. — With her teased black pigtails, Egyptian eyeliner and black and blue nail polish, 15-year-old Cayla Asvestas certainly looks like a rock star.

She’s been playing the drums for three years, but to hone her skills, Cayla attended an unlikely place for an up-and-coming musician: summer camp.

When most people think of summer camp, they think of mosquito-ridden cabins, canoeing in a lake and hiking for miles through the woods.

But Camp Jam is not your average summer camp. It doesn’t teach kids how to tie knots or build a fire.

It teaches them how to be rock stars.

The counselors are musicians, and the guest speakers are rock legends.

This year, Cayla watched Billy Joel’s drummer, Liberty DeVitto, perform at the camp.

“He didn’t work with people individually, but he drummed for us,” Cayla said. “He was amazing, so it really helped to watch him.”

Cayla Asvestas performs July 18 at The Boneyard in Cleveland, the culmination of her time at Camp Jam. The 15-year-old Liverpool Township drummer will be featured on Nickelodeon’s Nick News at 9 p.m. Sept. 21. Producers from the show wanted a drummer from one of the 15 Camp Jams around the country they could follow around and film for a day and Cayla was selected. The camp teaches kids how to be rock stars. (Photo courtesy of Asvestas family)

Cayla has also met Jeff Carlisi from .38 Special, Ricky Byrd from Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Jim Peterik from Survivor through Camp Jam.

Cayla has attended Camp Jam for two years, but the end of this summer came with a special surprise: an appearance on Nickelodeon.

Cayla will appear on Nick News at 9 p.m. Sept. 21.

Producers from the show approached Camp Jam looking for a drummer they could follow around and film for a day, said Stacey Asvestas, Cayla’s mother.

Each of the 15 Camp Jams across the country were asked to submit one drummer, and the Cleveland-area camp submitted Cayla.

After Nick News producers narrowed the field to four contestants, Cayla did not hear from them for a few days and figured someone else was chosen for the show.

A few weeks later, however, Cayla received word from Nickelodeon they wanted to film her on the last day of Camp Jam on July 18.

At 9 a.m., camera crews came to Regina High School in South Euclid, where Camp Jam is held, hooked Cayla up to a microphone, and began filming.

“It was a little nerve-wracking, but I loved it because I always wanted to be on TV and I was so excited, so I made the best of it,” Cayla said.

The final day of Camp Jam always culminates in a performance at The Boneyard on Mayfield Road in Cleveland.

“It’s something only Cleveland gets to do, though,” Cayla said. “The rest of the camps have to play where they were attending the camp.”

At 8 p.m., Cayla waited backstage with the rest of her band mates while the sold-out crowd packed The Boneyard.

Cayla said she was nervous while waiting to perform, but she said she always gets that way right before she gets on stage.

“I get really nervous backstage, but then when I get on, it’s like, ‘Too late. Let’s do this.’ ”

Wearing a black dress with bright violet ruffles at the bottom, fishnet stockings and combat boots, Cayla forgot her nervousness, sat behind her drum kit and did what she loves best — jam.

She and her band mates performed “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister.

“I thought it was classic and perfect for a kids’ show because they all know it,” she said.

The band went with the name Bobbing MELons, a tribute to Cayla’s Camp Jam counselor, Steve Mehlman. Her brother Corey, 17, played guitar in the band, and her friend Tori Butash, 15, of Doylestown, sang.

“It was fun. The cameras were all on stage and it was great,” she said. “It made you more pumped.”

Cayla’s musical inspirations include The New York Dolls and The Misfits, but she said her favorite band is Motley Crue.

In her spare time, Cayla plays in her brother’s Irish bagpipe band, Red Hackle.

Despite her children being brother-sister band mates, Stacey insisted musical talent does not necessarily run in the family.

“They’re teaching us a lot,” she said. “We’re trying to keep up with them!”

Playing the drums in a rock band is not Cayla’s only talent. In addition to the drums, Cayla also can play the piano and snare drum.

“I love making people happy through my music,” she said. “And it makes me happy as well.”

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