On July 11, the doors will open for the annual benefit concert Do Good Fest. Organized by the Montpelier-based insurance company National Life Group, Do Good Fest raises money for youth mental health while simultaneously providing an opportunity to the teenagers of New England: Beats for Good.
Beats for Good provides an opportunity for musical acts from Vermont and the surrounding areas to perform on the main stage at Do Good Fest as the opening band, as well as raise 5,000 dollars for their corresponding school. Bands or individuals make their submissions via a Youtube video of one of their performances. A panel of music professionals and educators then choose the top entries, which are then voted on by the public to determine the overall winner and performer at Do Good Fest.
This year, three EHS students entered and made it through to the public voting round of Beats for Good: Jasper Hammack, Matthew Mallory, and Desmond Ku. Together with Truman Sienicki of South Burlington, they make up The Project.
Hammock, Mallory, and Ku were in a different band prior to the project, before two members had to graduate. “We started this group to keep playing together,” Hammock said. “I’ve played with Truman, our drummer, for years… so at the beginning of this year, we all met to play a couple songs, and soon after, we formed The Project!”
The band Hammock, Mallory, and Ku were a part of previously received second place in last year’s Beats for Good competition. However, the group wanted another shot at an opportunity to perform at the festival.
“[We] also [wanted] the opportunity to devote lots of time to putting together an original song and record a music video,” Hammack said.
The original song and music video that The Project chose to enter into Beats for Good was Nights Like This, which was made collectively by the band at rehearsals.
“For that song in particular, I had already written the chords and lyrics when I brought it to the band,” Hammock said. “In that rehearsal, each of us brought our own ideas to the song and helped develop all of the different unique parts until we had a complete song.”
Beyond Nights Like This and the Beats for Good competition, The Project is hoping to write more original songs, as well as get some more gigs within the Vermont community this summer.
“Our goals as a band are to keep playing for fun and become stronger and more experienced musicians,” Hammack said. “You can see us perform [for free] on Wednesday, July 22nd, where we are opening for local funk band Soul Porpoise at the Double E in Essex!”
