Spread Music---Not AIDS

"I guess since our band's called Quit Clownin'," said Ben Treweek, lead singer of the Fairfax rock band Quit Clownin', "it's time to quit clowning". He then ripped off his multi-colored clown wig and threw it to the beige, linoleum floor and cued his band to start up its next song.

Quit Clownin', a five member high school band based at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) in Fairfax, VA was one of six bands who performed at Y.E.A.A. (Youth Education AIDS Awareness)'s first annual Battle of the Bands, called “Spread Music---Not AIDS." A crowd of over one hundred students and even a few parents went to Little River United Church of Christ in Annandale, Virginia on April 14 to jam to great local music and learn about the dangers of AIDS.

The atmosphere was decisively casual, almost emitting an underground breed of coolness. A make-shift banner, which brandished red hand-painted letters that red "Battle of the Bands" on white cloth, hung behind the performance area---just the bare church basement floor, no stage. The smell of hot pizza and a feeling of excitement and energy hovered in the air. High school bands Freehand Arson, OTC Funk, Die Orange, and Quit Clownin' as well soloists Sophia Bass and Dan Goldberger competed for a $200 check from the Northern Virginia AIDS ministry (NOVAM). In the end, Sophia Bass, a Fairfax native who played many nearby venues (including at Jammin' Java), won the Battle of the Bands. Any indie music aficionado would have loved the evening.

While the musical talent in Little River Church of Christ that night was simply undeniable, the person who truly deserves credit for this unique event is not any one singer or band member, but rather Victor Zhu, a senior at TJHSST, who founded Y.E.A.A. three years ago using a $3,000 grant from Community Foundation for the National Capital region. If it were not for Victor's determination, one hundred fewer Washington, D.C. metro parents and teens would know be familiar, for instance, with the ABC's of AIDS (A is for "abstinence", B is for "be faithful" and C is for "condom."

AIDS is undoubtedly a huge health issue for the District and its metropolitan area. Michael Wrobel, a senior from Yorktown High School in Arlington, VA and a volunteer for the Battle of the Bands, said that he helped with this event because, "I felt like this was a way for me to effectively alert my community about a problem that is too big to overlook."

Victor laments that, "The most striking thing about the AIDS epidemic is that the D.C. region has one of the highest infection rates, ranking with many sub-Saharan African nations. 1in 20 have aids, and many youth don't realize that youth under age 25 are getting infected at the highest rate of all age groups."

But Y.E.A.A. refuses to let the public remain ignorant. Victor said that the "Spread Music---Not" concert reaped $402, all of which will be donated to NOVAM in order to fund AIDS research. Y.E.A.A.'s plans for the future include making the Battle of the Bands an annual event and trying any additional fundraiser ideas that next year's group of students think up. In the past, Y.E.A.A. attempted to coordinate free AIDS testing booths at shopping malls and even promoting AIDS awareness at high school sporting events, but time constraints became a major hindrance in planning. The Y.E.A.A. is, however, thankful for how successful the Battle of the Bands event was, even if they admit that they could have boosted their advertising.

"I had an amazing experience at the Battle of the Bands AIDS concert," says Richard Peche, a freshman at H.B. Woodlawn Secondary Program in Arlington, VA. "It was thrilling to see up coming bands perform for a great cause...Overall, I got to listen to some rad music, eat pizza, and see some friends [so] I'd say that it was great."