When entering Greg Wachala’s second-story music school, don’t be surprised if a feeling of nostalgia instantly overwhelms you, if you’ve ever been a professional—or even a novice—musician.
A plethora of instruments adorn the room, including electric and acoustic guitars, drums, piano, and a microphone, which is reminiscent of scenes from “School of Rock” starring Jack Black.
For nearly three years, Greg Wachala has been teaching music in downtown Los Gatos.
Prior to migrating to the west coast, Wachala taught at the university level for 17 years.
But one trip to California made him realize this was the place he wanted to call home.
Since then he’s provided instruction to more than 200 students.
Wachala offers his students guitar, piano, drums and even singing lessons.
Given the success of his small studio—located above a dry cleaner’s storefront, Wachala now has his eyes on expanding his business in the not-so-distant future.
Students at the school, named Music with Greg, range from age four to 74, with the majority of his students being in the K-12 age bracket.
Growing up in upstate New York, Wachala holds the unique distinction of being the only musician in his family.
He began playing guitar at 12 years of age.
“I was racing BMX bikes, and I got in a real bad accident,” he said. “My mom said she couldn’t handle watching this anymore.”
Wachala recalls how his mother urged him to select a different extracurricular pursuit.
It came down to season tickets to watch the Buffalo Bills, or learning the guitar.
Wachala received a baseball scholarship to Georgia College in Milledgeville.
But he left due to another injury.
He finished his undergrad degree at the University of New York at Oswego.
Shortly after, Wachala returned to music, receiving his master’s at Boston University.
That took two years.
“I learned a lot, but it was difficult,” he said.
Wachala has been teaching private music lessons for the last 25 years.
He was a professor at Hobart and William Smith College in Geneva, New York.
Wachala also taught at a private music school on the side. He realized he could start his own music business.
“The curriculum that I teach is to gear the students towards a pre-college curriculum,” he said. “We focus a lot on jazz and blues, which is indigenous to the United States.”
This May will mark the Los Gatos business’s third anniversary.
Reflecting on the benefits of running your own show, Wachala says it’s great to control your own destiny.
“It can be very difficult maneuvering in a college. You have to go through committees to get things done,” he said. “Though mostly positive, the problem I run into now is that I have to wear so many hats with the business side.”
Supply and demand
Wachala recognized a void in the marketplace, and he began offering the means for young students to excel on their journey in musicianship.
In the days ahead Wachala sees an opportunity to rebrand and grow.
“I think there’s a real need for jazz instructing,” he said, stating that youth too often end up showing up unprepared for music class. “There’s not enough private instruction locally to get them prepared for high school.”
He has a dream of hiring a team of instructors—that would be made up of professional gigging jazz musicians, as well as piano, bass and drum instructors—with a quartet that teaches and performs in the area.
Students have found Wachala’s school primarily through word of mouth.
One of his students, named Japhy Herbert, has been with him for more than three years.
He’s currently a senior at Bellarmine High School who received acceptance letters from Berklee College of Music, Loyola New Orleans and University of Miami.
Herbert committed to USC’s Popular Music program, which has about a 5% acceptance rate.
He intends to major in popular or contemporary music with an emphasis on electric bass.
“I learned the upright base two years ago now, and he’s helped me learn theory, musicianship, composition and production,” Herbert said. “I’ve had a lot of fun, and have grown as a musician with his help.”
After finishing his college degree, Herbert plans to play backup for bands, then write and record his own music.
Herbert says that, as a teacher, Wachala is great at keeping it fun by building that enjoyment for his students.
He wants to ensure that learning is a positive experience.
One of Wachala’s previous students won a Grammy for helping with the Alicia Keys musical “Hell’s Kitchen.”
A new culture in Los Gatos
Los Gatos is on the precipice of much change, for example with many housing developments in the works.
Does Wachala see the social and arts culture shifting as well? And could he be part of steering that shift in a positive direction?
“Something that would double as an education center, that also does performances, would be ideal,” he remarked. “You could bring in local or regional musicians, and then the students can perform.”
Wachala ponders about offering a place for community to mesh with education.
Some of Wachala’s favorite artists are John Coltrane, Pat Metheny, Wes Montgomery and Ed Sheeran.
He plays acoustic and electric guitar with a collection of 15 guitars.
When Wachala was looking for a space to teach and hold his instruments, he says that it was difficult to find a place, due to the noise.
“I had a lot of people say, ‘No,’ when I was looking. This was one of the few places that would allow me to rent from them,” he said.
Wachala says that there is very limited music education in the town, relative to the demand.
There just are not enough opportunities for kids to practice and play, he argues.
Every once in a while, Wachala takes his students to Chez Philippe to perform.
He also personally plays at Forbes Mill Steakhouse.
With the interest level remaining strong for music education in the Silicon Valley area, Wachala believes that it would be appropriate for there to be a future music center downtown for people to congregate.
And that would mean engaging performances, building community and developing a rich arts culture.But, for now, he’s already making a difference: Anna Bhorga, a Los Gatos High School graduate who is a former student, is set to sing the national anthem at the Earthquakes game this Saturday.
