{"id":10915,"date":"2018-07-02T16:12:41","date_gmt":"2018-07-02T20:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/takenote\/?p=10915"},"modified":"2025-12-15T16:35:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T21:35:25","slug":"combat-rock-berklee-online-student-fights-military-ptsd-one-track-at-a-time-with-vet-traxx-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/combat-rock-berklee-online-student-fights-military-ptsd-one-track-at-a-time-with-vet-traxx-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Combat Rock: Berklee Online Student Fights Military PTSD One Track at a Time with Vet-Traxx Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-vet-traxx-project-uses-music-therapy-and-berklee-online-training-to-support-veterans-with-ptsd\">How Vet-Traxx Project Uses Music Therapy and Berklee Online Training to Support Veterans with PTSD<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eric Lewis, a 20-year veteran of the United States Navy, has faced the sort of difficulties through his life and career which might be unfathomable to a civilian. But music was there with him. <\/span><br><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt&#8217;s the only thing that keeps me level,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_12187\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12187\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12187\" src=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/MFS19-20_Designation_150x150-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-12187\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Berklee Online recently received the Military Friendly School designation for the 2019-2020 year. Read the full list of schools to obtain this designation in the May, 2019 edition of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gijobs.com\/issue-gi-jobs-magazine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GI Jobs<\/a>.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><br><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Knowing he was not the only veteran who saw music as a lifeline to the real world, he started Vet-Traxx Project, a Northern California non-profit organization which operates a recording studio where disabled veterans can play and record music as a means of therapy. He\u2019s been using the Post-9\/11 GI Bill to pursue an Advanced Professional Certificate in <a href=\"http:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/certificates\/music-production-using-pro-tools-advanced-professional?pid=8023&#038;utm_source=takenote&#038;utm_medium=blog&#038;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-article-promotion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Music Production using Pro Tools<\/a> from Berklee Online.<\/span><br><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vet-Traxx Project works with veteran musicians and bands in which at least one member is a veteran, with particular attention to serving those who are suffering from disabilities such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10927\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10927\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10927\" src=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/retirement-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/retirement-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/retirement-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/retirement.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-10927\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">YN1(SCW) William Eric Lewis, USN Ret., far right, is shown here at his retirement ceremony.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe see it, and we know what&#8217;s going on in our bodies: We can feel the rumble like an earthquake,\u201d Eric says. \u201cIf my body feels off, I know there&#8217;s a PTSD moment ready to happen, because anything can trigger us. . . . I start grabbing at my neck, clawing at my neck. My leg starts bouncing. It&#8217;s weird. You just see my whole body transition, and you&#8217;re just thinking \u2018he&#8217;s just nervous or something.\u2019 And next thing you know, once you get to that point, you can&#8217;t stop it. It&#8217;s just got to run its course, so I&#8217;m just fortunate that I have the studio. I use it too. I&#8217;ll go out there and bang on my drums for hours on end, just to feel better.\u201d<br><br>Eric began playing drums at the age of 13, and joined the Navy five years later. He played music when and where he could find time to make it fit alongside his career in the service: he had a stint with a band in San Diego which got picked up by an indie label, a side job as assistant manager at Guitar Center in Oxnard, and many trips to the National Association of Music Merchants convention, also known as NAMM. <br><br>\u201cI&#8217;m super antisocial, super high anxiety, but when you get music involved I&#8217;ll talk your ear off.\u201d <br><br>Eric describes the adjustment to civilian life after retiring in 2014 as all hell breaking loose in his life. \u201cEverything that I knew was gone,\u201d he explains, \u201cand I had this urge. We call it Kaleo; it\u2019s a calling, like somebody pulling you to something. I had to be around veterans, because I just felt that I could relate. Musically, I could relate to anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10928\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10928\" class=\"wp-image-10928 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/studio-being-built-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/studio-being-built-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/studio-being-built.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-10928\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eric Lewis is pictured here as the Vet-Traxx studio is being built.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br>The logical place to focus his sense of siblinghood with fellow veterans and his basic need for a connection to music was in a studio, and this is where Vet-Traxx Project was born. Eric brought the idea to NAMM, and was met with an outpouring of support from companies across the industry. He only had to pay $600 out of pocket to build the studio from the ground up; everything else was donated.<br><br>The therapeutic benefits of Vet-Traxx are tangible. Stress, anxiety, and antisocial behavior decrease as self-esteem is built, and vets make connections with others who have had similar experiences, while they communicate their thoughts and feelings through the unique vehicle of music. Of the veterans suffering from PTSD, which include roughly 31 percent of veterans of the Vietnam War, 10 percent of veterans of the Gulf War, and 11 percent of veterans of the war in Afghanistan, Eric explains that around 50 percent have sought help. On average, 22 veterans suffering from PTSD commit suicide every day; this is the statistic which Eric and Vet-Traxx Project are trying hardest to fight. As he says, \u201cwe\u2019re not going to be able to help everybody, but we are damned sure going to try.\u201d Services to veterans are provided free of charge; at Vet-Traxx, they believe that veterans have already paid in time and service.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10917\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10917\" class=\"wp-image-10917 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/in-studio-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/in-studio-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/in-studio.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-10917\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eric Lewis rocks in the studio.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vet-Traxx Project has served 25 veterans to date, and they currently work with eight bands. Three of their bands have put out music for worldwide distribution, and a Vet-Traxx record label is in the works. They host an annual festival in called Vetstock to bring a community together and showcase the positivity of music for those suffering from PTSD. Eric still reflects on the power of Vetstock 2017. \u201cLast year resulted in three people getting help, not killing themselves,\u201d he says. \u201cSo three lives saved was . . . I cried on stage. It was amazing. I was so proud of everything that we&#8217;d done.\u201d<\/span><br><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eric\u2019s work with Vet-Traxx Project also nudged him in the direction of advanced study in music production and artist management. Building on his prior knowledge of recording, he\u2019s taking what he learns with Berklee Online directly into the studio week by week. \u201cWhen I enrolled,\u201d he says, \u201cI was floored. I know there are crazy, insanely talented professors out there all over the world, but with Berklee I was floored. . . . From what I was recording last year to now it\u2019s leaps and bounds above, and it&#8217;s because of Berklee, because they are VA accredited, I was able to use my GI Bill. . . . And now I&#8217;ve got some of my veterans that are interested in recording. I&#8217;m like, \u2018Well, you&#8217;re a veteran. You&#8217;ve got your GI Bill. Let&#8217;s go to Berklee!\u2019&#8221;<\/span><br><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To learn more about Vet-Traxx Project, please visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vet-traxxproject.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">vet-traxxproject.org<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><br><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n\n\n\n<p><em>For more on how we support service members, veterans, and their families, please visit&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"online.berklee.edu\/military (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/military?pid=8023&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-article-promotion\" target=\"_blank\">online.berklee.edu\/military<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eric Lewis, a 20-year veteran of the United States Navy, has faced the sort of difficulties through his life and career which might be unfathomable to a civilian. But music was there with him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":10918,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,9577,9564,9560,32],"tags":[456,505,585,924,1008,1010,1137,1147,1537,1550,1552,1553],"class_list":["post-10915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-drums-articles","category-features-articles","category-spotlight","category-student-stories","tag-drums","tag-eric-lewis","tag-gi-bill","tag-military-friendly-school-ptsd","tag-namm","tag-national-association-of-music-merchants","tag-post-traumatic-stress-disorder","tag-pro-tools","tag-united-states-navy","tag-vet-traxx","tag-veterans","tag-vetstock"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.8 (Yoast SEO v25.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Combat Rock: Berklee Online Student Fights Military PTSD One Track at a Time with Vet-Traxx Project - Berklee Online Take Note<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hear from Berklee Online student Eric Lewis, a 20-year veteran of the US Navy, who is fighting Military PTSD with the Vet-Traxx Project.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/combat-rock-berklee-online-student-fights-military-ptsd-one-track-at-a-time-with-vet-traxx-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Combat Rock: Berklee Online Student Fights Military PTSD One Track at a Time with Vet-Traxx Project\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eric Lewis, a 20-year veteran of the United States Navy, has faced the sort of difficulties through his life and career which might be unfathomable to a civilian. 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