"We try to make them nice," says Septien, laughing. "We kind of brainwash them. First of all, appreciate the person on the other side. Gosh, are we all just nothing because we're not onstage?" She tries to focus them on a "Hugh Grant" persona where they "laugh everything off."
Later, there are lessons in appearance. "As they learn, then we go into the style of clothing." The key, Septien says, is not to overdress. She has a "no froufrou, no sequin, no lace" rule for pop singers, and rock acts "have to look like they've come off the streets."
Mark Graham
Mark Graham
Maddie Smith, 10, likes lessons at Septien but admits
that her hectic schedule has reduced her to tears on at
least one occasion.
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Later, during a lock-in on the weekend of their final showcase performance, each student takes several hours each day to rehearse their songs with the live band they'll play with at the showcase. Some kids just need to hone their timing, but others will be playing instruments and have to know how to follow the musicians. Most of the kids will be performing original tunes. Before the show, Septien says, she "[wires] their brains so that everybody out there does not matter. You start singing for you and God."
Ultimately, though, the students in the master class are in it to make a living. "Too many talented people play in smoky bars," Erik says. "People more talented than we are. We're learning the business side of music."
In her marketing plan for the guys, Septien mentions endorsement deals with companies like Samsung and Erik's former employer, Guess. There's no overriding indie sensibility here; she plans on breaking these two guys in a big way.
"[Musicians'] bodies are commodities. I'm selling my body." She pauses. "In a healthy way."
Selling an image is just as important as having a phenomenal piece of recorded music to vend. Ashlee Simpson is a fine example. Early on, she asked Septien what kind of music she should sing. Her reply: "Very alternative stuff. She doesn't have the voice that Jessica does. But she's very entertaining."
Once each student's image and act are refined to tip-top form, the showcase is, as Annie Dingwall says, "like a final exam." After months, and in some cases, years, of training, they'll get onstage and have two songs to sell to the audience. Two songs to sum up everything they've learned about pitch, style, performance, entertaining, presentation...the list goes on and on.
This year, Septien's master-class students will walk onstage at the expansive black-box performance space at Maximedia Studios and look out at an audience of friends and, to some degree, enemies. Judges can be blunt, Septien says, and if a kid doesn't do well, they need to take into account what was said and fix it next year, if they can--and if their parents have the money.
"Judges either slice them apart or tell them they're great," Septien says. This year, she says, "it may not happen," but "these [kids] are all going to be artists." If they're not, well, Linda Septien just isn't doing her job.
