Jamie Fusaro-Mobley (12) didn’t always look like a rock star.

“I went from being a shy kid who sat in the corner of a room, talking to nobody, to who I am on stage in my everyday life,” Fusaro-Mobley said.

The person Fusaro-Mobley is on- and off-stage now is far from the shy person they were years ago. Now, they belt lyrics with everything they’ve got, nearly folding over with the effort; they dance to the beat of their drummer and the riffs of their guitarist, and they dress in a variety of alternative clothes, from the tips of their black combat boots to the ends of their coppery-dyed hair.

Fusaro-Mobley’s passion for music and performance began as a love handed down in the form of piano lessons inspired by their grandmother’s career as a concert pianist and piano teacher. Playing also became a way to transcend distance and lingual barriers in Fusaro-Mobley’s family.

“My family in France listens to English music all the time and they have no idea what it’s talking about, but that connection—that joy you get from music—is very bonding,” Fusaro-Mobley said. “What’s nice about music is that you don’t need to understand what is said to still have that [intended] emotion.”

Before it was theirs, the dream of pursuing music had belonged to Fusaro-Mobley’s mother, who had aspired to become a singer in a band.

“My mom never had the chance to have vocal lessons,” Fusaro-Mobley said. “She couldn’t afford a cheap keyboard as a kid, let alone a piano. I have a lot more opportunities now than she did then. I’m living my own dream, but it’s nice that I get to share that with her a little bit.”

When they were 12, Fusaro-Mobley’s parents insisted they step out of their shell. Thus, their parents enrolled Fusaro-Mobley in School of Rock, a youth program providing music lessons in instruments and voice as well as opportunities to perform live.

“I was really nervous about singing in front of other people,” Fusaro-Mobley said. “It was really difficult for me to hold conversations in groups or in social settings.”

As part of School of Rock’s house band, Fusaro-Mobley was quickly and frequently thrown into performances. During the first song of the first show they ever played, Fusaro-Mobley had a bout of extreme nerves.

“I was shaking, nauseous, and holding back tears,” they said. “[It] was one of the scariest things I had ever experienced. But the minute I realized that first song was over and I’d survived that dreaded moment, I had nothing to fear anymore.”

Since then, Fusaro-Mobley has overcome their initial nerves at every performance. They said that once the first song of the set is over, they start having too much fun to be anxious.

“When I got to perform, I got to be my complete self on stage for hundreds of people,” Fusaro-Mobley said. “I wasn’t judged for it, a fear which was mostly in my head as an insecure middle-schooler. I wasn’t treated differently for my interest, I was being admired for it. It helped me become my true self in those public situations.”

Becoming themself has meant that Fusaro-Mobley sometimes has to resist musical categorization.

“I’ve been told repeatedly that I have a pop voice, or that I should stick to a singer-songwriter style, but I also enjoy rock music,” Fusaro-Mobley said. “One of my favorite things that I’ve been able to do is explore that [genre] even when other people didn’t think that was the best choice for me.”

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and live performances weren’t possible. Instead of succumbing to the situation, Fusaro-Mobley’s band figured out new ways of making music together.

 “I learned how to record and edit music on GarageBand,” they said. “I recorded friends and myself, we made a makeshift studio, and then we edited all the music together.”

Fusaro-Mobley used their newfound freetime to avidly write music, finding inspiration in eclectic artists and genres. From Pink Floyd’s psychedelic rock to pop ballads, Fusaro-Mobley embraced variety in songwriting.

“If I’m feeling an intense emotion or I’m in a difficult situation, sometimes a lyric or a line will just hit me and stick,” Fusaro-Mobley said. “Once I have that one line, the emotions flow out and I can write the rest of the song surrounding it in just a few minutes.”

Since the pandemic, Fusaro-Mobley has been able to express a broader range of emotions through their songwriting. They said the evolution is indicative of their larger mental health journey.

“I used to write all these super sad songs about how I had no idea where I was going,” they said. “Now I’m writing about the things that I’m excited for. I think music has been super helpful for my mental health.”

Fusaro-Mobley considers themself more of a vocalist than an instrumentalist. Thus, they said their School of Rock friends who have expertise playing different instruments have had an impact on how they write songs and which genres they use.

“My songs can go from that singer-songwriter vibe when I write it by myself to some heavy rock stuff when I write with my friend who plays electric guitar,” Fusaro-Mobley said. “It’s a big inspiration to me when I hear something one of my friends at School of Rock is doing, and I try to take that and use that for my own music.”

Fusaro-Mobley has also learned certain performance quirks from their friends, allowing them to have more fun on stage.

“My guitar friends will jump off the stage, or play with their guitar behind their back, or play back-to-back with other instrumentalists,” they said. “It’s so much more fun that way and it’s more fun to watch.”

Fusaro-Mobley began playing live music again in early 2021. Since then, they’ve used opportunities to play shows at big and small venues to improve their stage presence and confidence in performing.

At one memorable show, in the summer of 2022, Fusaro-Mobley’s band played at Whiskey a Go Go, a historic nightclub in Hollywood.

“That tour was the first time we left the San Diego area,” Fusaro-Mobley said. “Not only did we get to perform at a venue where lots of famous bands have played, I also got to have dinner at one of the restaurants where fans of famous bands eat, and we stayed at a hotel where they had guitars from famous artists. It felt like living a rockstar experience.”

Fusaro-Mobley stepped into that rockstar persona when they performed with School of Rock in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Cafe, June 22. They spent 13 hours playing and watching other bands perform in an all-day show.

“It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life,” they said.

During one particularly heartfelt moment, Fusaro-Mobley played their signature cover of “Gimme All Your Love” by Alabama Shakes.

“I play that song at every show and I cry every time,” they said. “It’s a very emotional song and I notice that people really listen when I sing it. I might slide on my knees across the stage, or dance around, or get everybody to clap along. I feel connected to it and I feel amazing.”

At School of Rock, Fusaro-Mobley has had the opportunity to mentor younger students in music, in the minutiae of performing, and in the social collaboration needed to play in a band. Fusaro-Mobley is passing down a relationship between mentor and pupil that they were once on the receiving end of.

“When I first joined, there were older students who made me feel welcomed and accepted,” Fusaro-Mobley said. “I still keep in touch with those people. I want to know that when I leave School of Rock, I’ll still have students who are messaging me and letting me know how they’re doing. I’ll have a community of all the people I could ever ask for.”

In order to continue experiencing the joy that music brings them, Fusaro-Mobley plans to study music performance and music education in college. They hope that will open doors to a musical career, whether it be one of professionally writing and performing or teaching.

“My backup plan is to become a music teacher or a college music professor because I’ve loved being a mentor at my music school,” Fusaro-Mobley said. “But I would love to be a successful artist. It’s always been my dream to be in the music industry; it’s my passion.”