And they all shine on

Students crammed into the John Lennon Educational Bus as its crew of three showed them mixers, microphones, video cameras and the tiny bunk beds squished into a full recording studio on wheels.

But they knew some of this stuff already, as some tinkered nearby in a classroom nearly as crammed with gear — walls of guitars linked to digital recording equipment, along with computers filled with recording and mixing programs.

That classroom is part of a cutting-edge program in Huntington Beach High School’s Academy for the Performing Arts. The program’s director, teacher Jamie Knight, said he got the bus to come after a chat with sponsors Apple and Roland U.S. He called the bus arrival a way of celebrating what the kids are doing.

As high school junior Johnny Wilson looked on last week, sound engineer Jacob Voelzke mixed a recording by student band Smokestack, set to become a music video in a few more hours. The pair talked equipment and microphones, and Voelzke gave aspiring producer Wilson some advice about the music industry.

“It’s a lot of work right now,” Voelzke said. “Anyone can do this with this gear. So if you want jobs — legit stuff — you really got to fight and put yourself out there.”

Meanwhile bus producer and engineer Tyler Winick showed students the full-scale recording studio crammed into the back half of the bus, with bunks right in among the equipment.

He called it a perfect match with what was going on at the school.

“We’re trying to bring music education back into the schools,” he said. “If they do have a music program they tend to run traditional.”

That’s also the message of the Commercial Recording Arts program Knight runs.

Rather than just playing music, teens work on mixing, podcasting, even writing jingles and making cover art for their music, Knight said.

One of these days, he hopes to see a merger with the video department, not only to pool resources but also to give students yet another leg up into multimedia production.

“What APA wanted to do was to reach the kids who don’t feel reached by a traditional music program,” he said.

“They do a lot of real world projects. It’s a combination of music education and technology education.”

That music education runs old-school, with a heavy emphasis on classics of rock from the ’60s and ’70s.

There’s a tradition of doing whole Beatles albums for concerts each year.

“I didn’t like it at first,” said male vocalist Sam MacDonald of the older music he had to learn. He prefers newer acts like Jack Johnson.

“It wasn’t my thing, but then I got to play some Elvis Costello, and it was fun. My mom really got into that.”

Students were getting ready for this year’s concert with a rehearsal last week.

A dozen teens onstage sang the Beach Boys’ “Sloop John B” in multipart harmony for a crowd of 100, while a handful of students strummed to themselves offstage on guitar, getting ready to show off original compositions.

The kids were wildly enthusiastic about their time in the program.

“I really polished up my rough edges,” said senior Bri Norero, who has been part of the program since it began four years ago. “I’m more well-rounded as an artist. I’ve gotten to work with a million different artists. I’ve had to practice stage presence.”

Current and former students from local band Claira’s Daze then took the stage with confidence, but made sure to try to help out their classmates.

“We’re always looking for opening singers, so call us up,” lead singer Katie Chappell said.

That’s exactly what Knight, who has been pushing local music since he hosted battles of the bands as a librarian in Fountain Valley, said he’s looking for.

“We’re creating a scene here,” he said. “We hope these kids will become a network. We want a family of musicians like what happened in London in the mid-’60s.”

Commercial Recording Arts Dept. students will perform the entirety of the Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” album and the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” album at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at First Christian Church, 1207 Main St. For tickets call (714) 536-2514, ext. 4025.