Eighth grade student by day and aspiring disc jockey by night, Ventiix will make his debut performance tonight during “The Red Rave.”
The event begins a 7 p.m. in The Attic of The State Theatre and is open to anyone over the age of 13.
An eighth grader from Bellefonte, Jack Peters said he has spun at private parties and school events in the past, but this event marks his first traditional show.
Peters said he will be playing both originally produced tracks and songs from artists he likes.
Lisa Peters, Jack’s mother, said he as been playing drums since he was six years old and now also plays guitar, cello and keyboard.
Mary Beth Hoffman, a family friend, said that after a short period of taking lessons, Jack began to surpass his drum teacher.
“He uses the live instruments and puts that into his songs,” Lisa said.
Jack said he started listening to electronic dance music about a year ago and cited Skrillex as one of his biggest influences.
Jack said he began playing around with creating music on a phone application, moved on to using GarageBand and now uses the more professional quality application, Ableton Live.
“What I do now is find a nice melody, chords to accompany it and inside Ableton I add noises,” Jack said. “From there it is all about mastering the track.”
Lisa said Jack spends anywhere from two to six hours a day working on his music.
Jack said his ultimate plans are to be signed by a record label and have his music heard worldwide.
“I’m doing it all for fun but, in the end, I hope I’m able to have my dream job,” Jack said.
He said he uses SoundCloud, Facebook and Twitter to promote his music.
“I’m impressed with his ability to put himself out there,” Mary Beth Hoffman, a family friend, said.
In fifth grade, Jack transferred from Bellefonte Elementary School to Centre Learning Community charter school, which gave him the opportunity to focus more on music and music projects.
Hoffman said she thinks Jack’s biggest musical influences are his parents, who have always supported his passion.
Peters said as a Christmas present to Jack, they rented out The Attic for “The Red Rave” event.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while,” Jack said.
Lisa said that the money would have been spent on some type of musical equipment anyway, and this gift may give Jack the chance to gain notability or a local following.
“I’m just hoping to have a good time and get as many people as possible to come to and have fun at my first show,” Jack said.
