412 District rocks for causes
The portrayal of wacky rock bands goes at least as far back as the mid-1960s with the Beatles in “A Hard Day’s Night” and, of course, the NBC-TV series “The Monkees.”
These days, we have “One Last Chance to Rock.”
“Here’s the story of five guys who are way past their primes,” the promotional video for the upcoming series on YouTube informs us. “Although they aren’t really talented as a band – or as individuals, for that matter – they still have a burning ambition of being the rock stars they were called to be. Or at least that’s what their egos tell ’em.”
The quintet in question is the 412 District, which actually has at its core a trio of school principals, two from South Park School District.
Beyond working their day jobs and playing shows, many of them for charitable causes, members of the group have been working on eight- to 10-minute “mockumentary”-type episodes for their video series.
“We try to make it fun,” lead singer Kevin Monaghan said about their pursuits in various media. “When it’s not fun anymore, I think that’s when it’s going to be done.”
For the time being, he and the others in the 412 District – Rob Furman on drums and keyboards, Jon Weisbrod on bass, and Sean Van Eman and Adam Wheeler on guitars – are coming off an eventful 2019 highlighted by the December release of their first album, “Faith, Family, Friends and Freedom.”
The set features all original songs, including one that goes a long way toward illustrating why the band bills itself as “the Heinz 57 of the Pittsburgh music scene.”
The title, “Funked Up Country Boy,” pretty much serves as a giveaway for a tune featuring a beat you can dance to, accompanying Monaghan’s lyrics telling the story of a guy who has a tendency to combine his musical preferences.
“See, “Uptown Funk’s” his favorite groove, but he can’t deny what’s true/It’s the Nashville sound that he loves, ’cause he’s country through and through”
“We try to mix it up a little bit so that it’s not boring,” Monaghan said.
The Cecil Township native and current North Strabane resident formed what became the 412 District in 2013 for an anti-bullying fundraiser at South Park Middle School, where he is principal. Joining him at that point was Furman, his administrative counterpart at South Park Elementary Center who studied music at Penn State and West Virginia universities.
“When we started this band, it was all about trying to help people,” Monaghan explained. “We really do have a heart for kids and for causes.”
Early on, the fledgling outfit performed at Relay for Life events in Peters Township and Mt. Lebanon. The philanthropic pursuits have continued since with the help of Van Eman, supervisor of special education and principal with Intermediate Unit 1; Weisbrod, a South Park parent; and newest member Wheeler, who joined about a month and a half ago to give the band another guitar in the lineup.
In mid-2019, Alexander Newberry, a British educator and designer of the Numberella math game for children, contacted the 412 District about contributing to a benefit album he was compiling. He then had the opportunity to see the band perform during the International Society for Technology in Education Conference and Expo in Philadelphia, where he explained more about his cause.
“He came to us and said, ‘Hey, for every $2,000 we can raise, we can build a school in Bangladesh,'” Monaghan recalled. “And we were like, that’s a no-brainer.”
The 412 District ended up contributing four original songs to “The Numberella Charity Album,” plus a special mix of the set’s more-or-less title track.
Also during 2019, the band played Vetfest 2019 on behalf of the Wounded Warriors Project at Wild Things Park in North Franklin Township. The setlist featured a moving rendition of the song “Stand,” which Monaghan wrote for his late father, Dennis, who served in Vietnam with the U.S. Army Signal Corps.
In November, the 412 District was invited to perform in the 100th-anniversary Pittsburgh Veterans Day Parade, where the guys met a group of students in Point Park University’s Honors Program.
“They were stuck on a bus right next to us and we were outside, and they said, ‘Play us some music,'” Monaghan explained. “So before the parade even began, we started rockin’ out there on the street.”
The students apparently were impressed, as several of them participated in making a video for the band’s tune “Help Me Find My Way.” And they’re ready to do more.
Following in the footsteps of the late, great George Harrison, the students are organizing a concert to benefit Newberry’s Bangladesh project, scheduled for Jan. 25 at the university. The members of the 412 District are looking forward to the event in keeping with their tradition that goes back to the beginning.
“We’re here for groups and organizations,” Monoghan asserted. “If there’s a cause that’s worth promoting, we’re the first ones to step up.”
And despite the self-effacing nature of “One Last Chance to Rock,” he said that the guys really wouldn’t mind a shot a musical fame:
“We’re hoping that a local country station would kind of listen to our stuff and say, ‘Hey, man. These guys are pretty cool. They’re a local band. They have a good message.'”
The 412 District is scheduled to perform at 10:30 p.m. Jan. 10 at Club Café, South Side, and at 8 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Parlay Lounge, 212 Racetrack Road, North Strabane Township. For more information about the band, visit www.the412district.com.