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The One About LGBTQIA+ Pride Month in the Marching Arts
128 Plays5 months ago
Join our hosting panel as they talk about LGBTQIA+ Pride Month with some exciting guests Jennie Lang-Powers from Rainbow City Band and David Rosa from Tampa Bay Pride Band. Our hosts bring you their stories, plus news, guests, and so much more!
Special Guests
David Triplett-Rosa, Tampa Bay Pride Band - @tampabayprideband
Jennie Lang-Powers - Rainbow City Band - @rainbowcityband
Meet our Hosts
Jackie Brown - @spintronixguard
Stephen McCarrick - @stephenmccarick
Cindy Barry - @leandermomma
Nicole Younger - @o2bnpjs & @thecookoutcg
Trevor Bailey - @t_pain151
Trish O’Shea - @trishdish1002
Beth Beccone - @bether7189
Chris Rutt - @wildhornbrass1
Cynthia Bernard - @cynthiabern
Ashlee Amos - @famousamossss_
Theo Harrison - @harrisontheo07
Stephanie Click - @stephanieclick
Whitney Stone - @dancerwhit
Justin Surface - @J_dex07
Ashley Tran - @itsashleytran
Jack Goudreau - @goudreau_
Bill Woodward - @remoking100
Emily Nee - @tch.makes.art
Ricardo Robinson-Shinall - @ricardorrobinson
Callie Quire - @cnquire
Austin Hall - @Austin_hall10
Jose Montes - @joeymontes57
Music provided by leydamusic.com Follow him @josh.leyda
Avatars provided by @tch.makes.art
Featuring
Lexi Duda - Host for On A Water Break In Rhinestones - The Stories of the Twirlers @lexi_duda
Thank you also to @guardcloset
#marchingband #colorguard #dci #podcast #onawaterbreak #wgi #drumline
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to LGBTQIA+ Pride Month
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everyone, we are back for another week of exciting rehearsals. This week we are talking LGBTQIA Plus Pride Month. We also find out what made Emily say, and just hearing you talk about how you know important this has been to you. It's like, you're, you're, you're supporting my research. And while Whitney said, I mean, everybody knew that, like, most of the guys were gay, you know?
Panel Shares Pride Month Excitement and Personal Journeys
00:00:27
Speaker
But, like, most of the girls were were straight, usually. All of this and more, so get out on the field, and we'll see you back on the sidelines for this week's episode of On A Water Break. Eight off the Met and go. Welcome to On A Water Break, the where we talk everything marching arts.
00:00:53
Speaker
bring it it's time for a water drain Welcome to another episode of season two of On A Water Break, the podcast where we talk about everything you and your friends are talking about at rehearsal on a water break. I'm Ricardo Robinson Chanel, and we are in for an exciting rehearsal this week. But before we get to all of that, let's see who's on the sidelines this week. My forever roommate Whitney. Hey. What's going on, girlie? Happy Pride Month. Happy Pride Month to you as well. We also have Emily on the sidelines. Emily, what's happening? What's up, y'all? I have spawned in once again. Grad school is hard sometimes. Child, I know that grad school ground, honey. So I applaud you for making it through it. And you know what? You will come out stronger on the other end.
00:01:46
Speaker
That's what I keep telling myself. We will see. It's hard in the thick of it, but when you get done, it is such an accomplishment. So you know we're rooting for you. You're going to be great, sweetie. You're going to write all those papers. You're going to get it done. Thanks for believing in me. Always and forever, and happy pride to you. Okay,
Introducing Guest Clinician David Triplett-Rosa
00:02:07
Speaker
now that everyone is on the sideline, let's meet our guest clinician for this part of the story, my friend and homegirl, David Triplett-Rosa.
00:02:19
Speaker
um naly but Happy Pride Month to you. So David, we do this thing here at On A Waterbreak, and it is called a 32-count life story. And here's how it happens. So we'll give you eight off the net. Then you have 32 counts to tell us your entire life story from birth or where life went from like start and end, all the way up until now. And honey, you know, me too, so. You divided into 32 counts. Got it. Got it. You ready to do this? I'm
David's Life Story and Formation of Tampa Bay Pride Band
00:02:52
Speaker
ready. All right. Here we go. Eight off the met.
00:02:58
Speaker
Hi, everyone. Like everyone said earlier, my name is David Triplet Rosa. I graduated from Fort Myers High School, grew up there. My family is from Puerto Rico. I went to Florida State um twice for my grad and masters. And a few years later, I was teaching high school band and then moved to Tampa. and decided to form the Tampa Bay ah Pride Band, now with the symphonic band and the jazz band, the marching band, and um teaching in Hillsborough County as a middle school band director. How'd I do? Oh, was great. That was a perfect 32-bit life story.
Creating an Inclusive Marching Experience with Pride Color Guard
00:03:38
Speaker
So I first met David years ago when I was doing one of the several pride color guards that we have here in the Tampa Bay area. And we actually started our color guard and our friends who were also band people were doing the pride guard. We started our pride guard for the St. Petersburg pride place, which is one of the largest in the Southeast. um And David and some other band friends reached out to us and said, hey, We're going to do Tampa Pride this year and we have a band and we would love to have a color guard join us. So we kind of joined forces and marched in a parade together and it was an amazing experience. But David, you have taken the Tampa Bay Pride Band and you have done some amazing things with it. It's not just about doing the Pride Parade. Tell us about some
Growth and Achievements of the Tampa Bay Pride Band
00:04:26
Speaker
of the endeavors that that the Tampa Bay Pride Band is doing.
00:04:29
Speaker
Yeah, so um we started in February, ah basically of 2014, and our organization has grown in many different ways. um Lots of things to be proud of. um The membership, obviously. um we We started at, you know, our starting meetup was at the honeypot, which is the the gay bar there. That was our rehearsal spot. And it was one of those things that that um and going to rehearsal and smelling the bar from the night before, the sticky floors, I mean, it it added a whole new kind of element to rehearsal. ah But it's grown leaps and bounds and we're now at HCC Hillsborough County Community College in Ebor still. um That's our roots, that's where we want to stay.
00:05:21
Speaker
and But we've grown in the sense of membership, um location, um musicianship. um
Importance of Visibility and Pride in Networking
00:05:29
Speaker
The program has grown to where we're able to play some really significant music. We were invited to play at um ACB, which is the Association for Contrabands. um in Orlando, which is really ah really a treat to do because we got to see all these other community bands that were not LGBTQ and a part of the Pride Band Alliance. And um so that was really, really great to be a part of that and mixed with those groups. um We also performed in or ah Orlando and we hosted a conference for the LGBTA at the time before it became Pride Band Alliance. I was a part of the board at the time to help
00:06:07
Speaker
help organize and get some things going to where, one of the things I would say that as the band grew, some of the ideas as a band director that could help the the Pride Band Alliance was getting them to network more so with conferences outside of itself, um such as FMEA, Midwest. So I was very, very proud to be a part of the Tampa Bay Pride Band being the first um Pride Band to be a part of the Florida Music Educators Association and being being there at the conference. And then we took it a step further and went to the largest International Music educat Educators association Association conference in Chicago.
00:06:50
Speaker
um So that type of networking allowed more visibility because that's a big part of ah the Pride being Alliance mission is visibility. And I think that's what this month is about, right? Is the visibility of our pride to be who we are and and letting people know that we exist and all in all facets right we enjoy themly and this respect is music right so it's really really great to to to be a part of it and see how well it's growing.
Inclusivity and Support within the Tampa Bay Pride Band
00:07:22
Speaker
David, I love the the concept of you know an organization that is started by gay and queer and lesbian people, um all on one shared bond of a love for music. And you have been able to take this organization and turn it into something that is not just represented you know once a year or twice a year at the local pride festivals. but turning it into a legitimate concert organization, a legitimate jazz organization that is performing at all of these national and state events, you know, that has to...
00:07:57
Speaker
That has to truly you know feel that that semblance of pride for you and the members of the organization. Yeah. and you
Supporting Local High Schools and Trans Community
00:08:05
Speaker
know One of the things that I wanted to do, and and I tell people often but what arts organization doesn't have, gay people, queer people, all all of the the the spectrum. right And we have that, but our mission is for everyone. But our mission specifically is to support the LGBTQ community through music. But it's for everyone, you know, it's not specifically, you know, our membership, you would I think most people would be surprised the 60 percent ally, you know. ah And that's a really, really great thing because they understand our mission. They are allies and supported.
00:08:43
Speaker
um And they love the the music that we do. And and and I think that's a ah very significant difference than other ah community bands. And the other thing that we do ah that is also very different is I make it very, very clear that we need to give back. um There's a lot of communities that they perform for themselves and generate their thing. That's totally fine. Do what you do. um But I like being able to give back um to local high schools. um like Middleton High School, Jefferson High School, and especially the schools that need that support that sometimes doesn't come through Title I and things like that. And um we've we raised a significant amount of money yearly for um donations plus instruments. And we've also, of course, participated in other things for
00:09:35
Speaker
trans community. We've performed for them. We've helped organize with them in Ybor City. My husband played a big role in this um to help to get the supplies and the things that to help get the trans community all the support and supplies to help in whatever they needed and their transition and such. ah And just seeing how all the LGBTQ community being a part of that and supporting that specific group um and the way that we did as a band. So i i it's heartwarming, it's really great, and I love seeing the range of people that support it.
00:10:18
Speaker
David,
Challenges and Resilience Amid Political Climate
00:10:19
Speaker
you know, we we are here in Florida, and I don't want to make this podcast any type of political situation or or theme, but it is very obvious to the rest of the world some of the challenges that we are facing right now in our political climate, ah especially in the state of Florida. ah With the Tampa Bay Pride Band taking on all of these incentives to give back to the community and make themselves visible ah and relying on the 60% allies that are in the band program, have you faced any challenges ah with the band?
00:10:54
Speaker
We have um and we've we face some challenges and and some surprising ways. um I don't want to necessarily get into the too much in the weeds of it because I feel like um I would rather and would rather talk more about, yes, there were some moments, but the best part of what came out of that i which I think is a tale as old as time is realizing or not realizing and having surprises where people out in the community who hear about it, find out about it, and then you you realize, oh my goodness, there's so much more support out there than you realize. And it's a beautiful thing when that happens in that the story that I will tell people is is that
00:11:45
Speaker
If any of you and out there listening have a struggle, ah come your way. being Be brave. you know Challenge yourself to state what it is that's happening. Gather your support and you will you will get through it because we're not going anywhere. At the end of
Community and Government Support for the Pride Band
00:12:05
Speaker
the day, the governor will or this state governor, anybody's governor, this senator, that senator, their Their time will will come and go. um But as a community, we're not leaving. So it's one of those things that it's wonderful to see the level of support because it went from just neighbor, friends, people in the in the area to all the way to the mayor's office. So it was
Encouraging Involvement in Pride Parades and Bands
00:12:31
Speaker
one of those beautiful things to see, even though it was ah tough to get through and realize people were out there being hateful. Yeah. Yeah.
00:12:41
Speaker
I swear this is related, but um recently you ah in grad school, because everything is about band. Everyone knows this. Hence why we're here on this podcast. But um I was actually, so for one of my classes, I had to do a ah research mock paper. And I was like, you know what? I'm going to do it about LGBTQ bands and talk about how my research project, if I had one, would be to interview different people from pride bands and talk about the sense of community and the positiveness associated. And just hearing you talk about how you know important this has been to you. It's like, you're, you're, you're supporting my research. Who knows? Maybe it'll be my master's project. I say do it. I say do it. Gay band. Woo. Yes. Did you say gay band or gay band?
00:13:33
Speaker
Yes. Gay band, gay band. Come on. Everyone else. They're like, Emily, where are you going this weekend? ah To the gay band. Which one? Yes. yeah ah you know For someone who grew up in the South and just and being able to move it from the country to the city, country come to town, as they say, i I just find it so refreshing that there are organizations um that are specifically founded on gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer people who
00:14:12
Speaker
can come together and have a shared sense of community and then so spread that love out into the further community of musicians and the arts. I just think it's just a powerful thing. could i i wanted as if i could I wanted to make sure I say this before I forget, ah you know with the Tampa Pride and such, you know I'm i'm a the the band liaison for Tampa Pride, which basically I tried to get the high school bands to participate in the parade. um The Tampa Pride organization gives them a stipend of sorts to help them with buses and so on and so forth, which is really great. um The Tampa Pride band hosts a spot for them so that they're not in the heat so much. i And it's one of those things that there was a time that I was very, very concerned about opening the Pride
00:15:06
Speaker
parade up to schools, right? Secondary. And it became really scary when, uh, don't say gay happened. And, you know, it It became one of those things that it really tested a lot of people um and their courage. And it was really, really a beautiful thing that I, you know, I had an administrator that was just beyond supportive and I brought approached it with, because I'm currently teaching middle school, I taught high school.
00:15:39
Speaker
Most of my career, but I'm now teaching medical school so I can do more of the ah the temporary pride bands that stuff with my community band But when I brought it up to her, she was all for it We had you know, make sure that it was in a voluntary format so parents did not and Say no, no, we can't do it or we don't want to or whatever the case may be And my middle school band was the first middle school band to march in the Tampa Bay Pride Band, not to say that it was, which is really great. and visit for it But what was most significant to me is when I had the sign up and it.
00:16:17
Speaker
It touched me so much when the parents were signing up, registering their child, and I'm just seeing the list grow. And it just was a testament to society that even though there are some loud louder voices out there at the moment about this or that, I mean, and i and it it was just it was just a beautiful thing to see and it was a testament to society. ah And again, happening through music, you know, like who would have thought like these things could have happened and really show a sense of force and strength that you're not going to support marginalizing a community.
00:16:58
Speaker
ah and even at the middle school level and then the high school came through and it was just a beautiful thing to see so these pride parades um wherever they are are extremely vital and the more bands that participate in them the better. And I would encourage anybody who's out there listening, if they don't have a band that would support that, go to the Pride Band Alliance. Find that band that's near you. And for us, you just show up the rehear the two rehearsals before the parade and you're in. um So it's something as simple as that. So fine, go out there and research your community bands out there. That's under the Pride Band Alliance if your bands are not a part of it.
00:17:40
Speaker
But if anybody wanted to reach out, they can easily um go to the Tampa Bay, the info at TampaBayPrideBand.com. If you had questions about how to join, how to start one in their organis in their area, I can help um lead them in the right directions to help grow this. Oh,
Introducing Guest Clinician Jen Lang
00:17:58
Speaker
David, we love it. We love that fact the fact that community is fostering fostering community. It's meta community if you want to think of it that way. We are so honored that you and other Pride bands have taken on this amazing feat of ah getting recognition out into the world and what the high schools and middle schools performing and that we are seeing that you know society is different and that people are changing and that we do have many allies.
00:18:29
Speaker
you know, all out there. So, you know, David, thank you so much for talking about this. David, if people want to reach you on social media, where can they find you? They can simply search for Tampa Bay Pride Band through social media. We have our Facebook, i Instagram, TikTok, and we have our website, TampaBayPrideBand.com. You can reach us there. ah Specifically, our info ah info at ah our email info at Temple Bay Pride Band. If you want to send any specific questions, um please reach out to us. we We're happy to help. I've been a part of the Pride Band Alliance Board, so I know how to direct if you have any questions to get you connected with more things. But joining a group in the area is definitely something I can help with, for sure.
00:19:22
Speaker
Awesome. David, thank you so much for joining us today. We are about to go to commercial, and when we come back, our next guest clinician for this part of rehearsal is Jen Lang, who is the marching band director of the Rainbow City Band. We'll be back after these announcements.
00:19:49
Speaker
Hey, this is
Support for Performance Arts by Guard Closet
00:19:50
Speaker
Christine Reem and Chris Green. Guard Closet was founded as a consignment business in 2000. Since then, it has grown to include Winter Guard, band, percussion, and other genres. We can help you with custom flag and costuming designs. Our consignment inventory has plenty of great looks for your color guard, drum line, and marching band. Pay it forward. When you purchase consignment, you help other programs. Last year, we sold over 400 sets of consignments and returned over $125,000 in payments to our consigners for their skills. Additionally, Guard Closet offers custom and pre-designed costumes, flags, floors, and formal wear, full or partial showwriting, educational programming, and other services.
00:20:34
Speaker
Max out your rehearsal time and set up a microsite for easy student ordering for shoes, gloves and other equipment. The Guard Closet team is here to help you get everything you want and need for your season. Check us out at guardcloset.com and follow us on social media.
00:20:59
Speaker
All right, listeners, we are back from commercial break and we are still here on a water break. And Emily,
Jen Lang's Contributions to Rainbow City Performing Arts
00:21:05
Speaker
our next glass clinician is a friend of yours. So I'm gonna pass the mic over to you to let you introduce your friend. Who do we have with us? Yes, hello. Look, I finally brought a person. But yes, I brought our adultier adult, Jenny Lang from Rainbow City Performing Arts. So this next part's going to go is that basically you're going to introduce yourself in the 32 and 32 counts. You're going to hear the met, count out you off, and then you're going to tell us everything you know in those 32 counts. Ready? All right, going to do my best. I believe.
00:21:41
Speaker
Hi, I'm Jenny Lang. I use all pronouns. My band origin story is I grew up in a couple of small towns in Texas, started playing c clarinet when I was in sixth grade, um did marching band all through high school, and it just kind of escalated from there, majored in music education, taught high school marching band. Now I ended up in Seattle and it love it. I ended up in Rainbow City performing arts as a performer, and then somehow, some way, ended up working my way into leadership there, and then darn it, I did not make it to the third, ah, so close. It was so good though, we appreciate it.
00:22:23
Speaker
but ah She's like, I had to think on it really hard. I'm like, have I actually ever existed? What is life? What is existing? Who are you? How did we get here? Right? It's like, what is even happening right now? Jamie, tell us a little bit about your organization and what your organization stands for and the LGBTQIA plus community. All right.
Mission of Rainbow City Performing Arts
00:22:51
Speaker
So Rainbow City Performing Arts is an amazing,
00:22:54
Speaker
performing arts organization are just kind of the general of our mission is to promote the promote the equity equity and visibility of LGBTQIA plus musicians and the LGBTQIA plus community through our music, through what we do. as being both performers in concert halls or out in the community, whether that is at a parade with the Rainbow City Marching Band or at fundraisers, or we have a Rainbow City Jazz Band that performs regular gigs all over the Seattle area, abi our City Concert Band, Rainbow City Orchestra. We perform at Manoriah Hall in Seattle, which is one of the biggest performing halls in the Northwest. And that is it's an absolutely beautiful facility.
00:23:40
Speaker
And if we just wrapped up our first season there, and it was just amazing. So we try our best to reach out to as many communities as possible, particularly those that are underserved and under-recognized to make sure that there is access to what we're doing, access to our mission. You talked about fundraisers. um What are some of the organizations that that Rainbow City is is raising money for?
Connecting with Broader LGBTQIA+ Community
00:24:10
Speaker
Well, sometimes we do 50-50 raffles with or we involve ourselves with various community organizations. I am b blanking so hard right now on some of the ones. It's like, as if I've never done this, I've never um heard of these before. I know. You're on the spot, so it's okay. I know, I'm just trying to remember things as hard at this point. ah So let me actually look real quick. So one of the organizations that we have worked with
00:24:39
Speaker
is Gay City Seattle, which we performed at the World AIDS Day at Memorial for the area where we were able to use our music to connect with ah part a really important part of our LGBTQIA plus community and bring awareness and bring ourselves into that fold with our what feels like a sister community organization. That's awesome. Oh, I i think I remember what it was. There it is. The Elizabeth Gregory House is another one. which Okay, so the other one. All right. Hold on, hold on. Take a break, take a breath, and then start with, and another one is, and Jim can edit it out. Yes. And another organization we have partnered with in the past is the Elizabeth Gregory House, which and the organization works with
00:25:30
Speaker
at risk women and LGBTQIA plus community members to make sure that they have access to safe housing situations and safe situations. I think that's fantastic. I love the idea that it is you know an organization, again, started with the ideas of LGBTQIA plus people, but getting out into the community, showing that we are all part of a greater community, it's just an amazing thing what you guys are doing.
00:26:02
Speaker
Tell us, what is one of the biggest challenges that you have found in your organization being a an organization that is based on queer ideals? Honestly, one of
Post-COVID Growth and Managing Membership
00:26:16
Speaker
the biggest challenges we've been experiencing is the sheer amount of growth the organization has experienced after COVID. Mostly because, I know, it's a beautiful thing. Because we realized during COVID, we were missing so much community connection. And in 2022, that is when the concert band got back together. We kind of had a soft start in 2021 with the marching band before the Omicron COVID wave came through.
00:26:49
Speaker
So we were able to play a few events and get together and connect and it was amazing. And then 2022, we started our concert band back and it was a huge group that was able to come together to really get the organization going again and literally bringing the band back together. But we've experienced so much growth in the past two years where people are seeking connection, they're seeking affirmation with each other and seeking community, which is one of those huge, things. We've been experiencing so much growth that right now the organization is kind of playing catch up when it comes to facility space, instruments, and having the minimal amount of barriers for people to be able to join. That's awesome.
Affirmation and Support in Rainbow City Performing Arts
00:27:32
Speaker
What are some of the things, um you know, you were just talking about the growth that's happening with your paying program. What is it like running an organization that is based in LGBTQIA plus groups?
00:27:44
Speaker
It is absolutely amazing because there's something really beautiful about being a performing arts organization that has that intersection with the LGBTQIA plus community because arts people set seek affirmation with each other. The LGBTQIA plus community seeks affirmation with each other and we are just this beautiful, beautiful intersection but between the two where we are able to be together for a common cause and be there as a big affirmation group together because we have people with similar experiences. We have, like I love them, our gay moms. I love our gay moms at the organization that have been there forever. A shout out to Cindy Ronheim and Betsy Smith and Pamela Bennet. We have so many
00:28:37
Speaker
amazing people in our organization that have such a a rich history and it's almost like having a queer anthology. of band history within the Seattle area from all of these individuals. so It's really a beautiful thing. like The Rainbow City Marching Band, we have been around since 1998. We just finished out our 25th anniversary year, which is a huge thing for us. and
00:29:09
Speaker
It has been very interesting. I actually got to meet the original director of Rainbow City Band, ah Joanne Christensen, Mashi Reston Power.
Celebrating 25 Years of Rainbow City Marching Band
00:29:18
Speaker
arch I got to meet her um before she had passed away. And one of the things she had told me is that she never thought that her little ragtag group of musicians would be doing these things that we were doing. like performing at ah Seahawks games, being asked to perform in so many different huge spotlit venues. So it's just such a cool thing to be a part of something that's so much bigger than yourself and also paving the way for our next generation. You know, performing at Pride, seeing all of those
Creating Safe Spaces for Queer Musicians
00:29:53
Speaker
kids, teenagers that are in such a different place than maybe myself and Emily since we're pretty close to the same age. It's such a different environment to grow up in in one in the 2020s versus you know early 2000s. Very different as a queer youth to grow up here, but we're paving the way to make sure that there is a that there is a social safety for our next generation of queer folks and musicians.
Importance of Allies and Personal Reflections
00:30:26
Speaker
So it's a beautiful thing. I love that. We were talking earlier about meta communities and your community and with your gay band. It's just sparking interest and outside of our community and showing that there is a place for everyone to belong. I have a quick question for you. So will you tell us, how do you know How many allies are the ratio or percentage of allies that you have in your band that are not necessarily clear, but they are just supportive of our community? are I don't know the exact ratio, but we do have there's two members that I think of in particular. They're a wonderful couple that they have been in RCPA for so many years, and I've seen the organization through so many things. um And they recently,
00:31:17
Speaker
had their anniversary as like married man married woman and ah the husband of the pair is like I realized that me and my wife have been able to call ourselves spouses legally way longer than so many of our friends who have been together the same amount of time and that was just one of those things he was like he had actually just put on Facebook really At such a a level of introspection on that of realizing this is a privilege that I've had and that in my my loved ones have not been able to have. And so we do have such amazing allies and supporters within our organization that really do make such a huge difference for us.
00:32:01
Speaker
You know, there was some famous person, and I'm going to butcher the quote, so I'm not even going to really try to say it, but, you know, we are only as strong as the allies who support us. And so it's a great thing to have those people in our community that are not necessarily directly a part of the community, but support what it is and see that everyone is human and love is love and all of those great things.
Podcast Announcements
00:32:26
Speaker
Jeannie, it has been great chatting with you. We are going to go to a quick commercial break and we will be back on our water breaking tips.
00:32:40
Speaker
Hey everyone, it's Jeremy and here are your announcements coming from the box. Don't miss all of our bonus content, including on a water break in rhinestones with your host, Lexi Duda, exploring the world of the Twirlers. Don't miss parades and drum majors at Step Off with your host, Jack Goudreau, and get lost in translation with your host, Cynthia Bernard, exploring all the words that confuse all of us in the marching arts all across the world.
00:33:15
Speaker
and go behind the lens with marching arts photographers all across the country with your host, Chris Marr. Plenty more bonus content from On A Water Break, so listen anywhere you get your podcasts.
Social Media and Other Band Highlights
00:33:28
Speaker
If you want to be on On A Water Break as a guest, or you know somebody that would make a great guest for On A Water Break, email us at onawaterbreakpodcast at gmail dot.com.
00:33:50
Speaker
All right, we are back from our commercial break. I am Ricardo and I'm here with my friends Whitney and Emily. Emily, we did not get Jenny's social information, so could you share that with our listeners? Ricardo, we forgot to ask Jenny before she left. Darn it. Well, good like hey good thing we're in the same organization, so I got you covered. so If you want to follow um ah Rainbow City Performing Arts, you can go to rainbowcity.org and their Instagram handle is simply rainbowcityperformingarts.org. We talked to someone from the Tampa Bay Pride Band too, so if people are curious, they can go to pridebands.org and continue to explore what pride bands are in their area. Love it. Love
Appreciation for Genuine Support in Media
00:34:37
Speaker
it. Love it.
00:34:52
Speaker
listeners, you know that that sound means that it is time for us to report live from the scene on various news articles that are happening right now. Whitney, we're going to start with you. What's happening, girlfriend? What's on the news? So the first thing we're going to talk about is the Skittles commercial that they partnered with the Queer Big Apple Corps. from New York City and they made this cute little video with them and I just think it's awesome that Skittles, you know, they're they're pretty infamous for supporting LGBTQ,
00:35:31
Speaker
um supporting our community. i love because you got taste the ah Right? And I love that mystery bag that they come out with like every year. It's like all white because it doesn't matter, you know, whatever. Love Skittles. But this is just a cute little little promo video they did with them. And it just highlights, um you know, the the queer big apple core. And I didn't even know that this group was a thing. So it's cool to learn about a new group and taste the rainbow. It also means that we should all go outside and go to the store and buy Skittles because they are actually genuinely invested in the LGBTQIA plus community and not just doing it for this month so that they can get their corporate green. So Emily.
Upcoming Pride Band Alliance Conference
00:36:20
Speaker
You are going to tell us about the Pride Band Alliance. What's happening with that? Ah, yes. So the Pride Band Alliance has an annual conference that tens that moves every year, and this year it's going to take place in Columbus. The title of this conference is called The Heart of It All, and it's going to be scheduled for July 17th to the 21st. and it aims to be a conference rich with artistic collaborations, musical performances, vast opportunities to explore the city and events like never before. I wish I could go, but, you know, travel's hard inexpensive and in this economy.
00:37:00
Speaker
I know that's right. Unfortunately, I'll still be on drug court tour, so I can't go. But if anyone is interested in going, Emily, where is the best place for them to find information? Information for the conference? Yeah. Oh, yeah. so it's at ah w Same website as earlier, ah pridebands dot.org. If you just go to their website, there is an entire tab about the upcoming conference. It's on the front page. It says 2024 annual conference.
Personal Stories of Acceptance and Community
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Speaker
Now that's all the information you could possibly need. Fantastic. Thank you so much. Okay. It's time to dive into what it's like being queer in the marching arts. So let's maybe tell your favorite or funniest story about being LGBTQIA plus in the marching arts. Whitney, you want to go first?
00:37:49
Speaker
I've honestly been trying to think about like a funny story, and I just really struggle with this. However, um I guess like for a long time, a lot of people, because you know when when we were marching, Ricardo, you understand this. and journey too like it wasn't i mean Everybody knew that like most of the guys were gay. you know but like most of the girls were were straight usually. um So a lot of people didn't know really that I i was bi or they would assume that I was um you know straight. um And then Heather and I got together and Heather's like really pretty popular in the color guard community too. um So I think we just like kind of blew a lot of people's minds and didn't know.
00:38:35
Speaker
ah including my
00:38:38
Speaker
i mean and And I had dated some girls before that, but she was my first like real big female relationship. But i honestly, I don't really have anything that's funny, I don't think. I don't know. Somebody else probably has a funny story about me. It's funny, but I seared a room with you for months while we were marching together, and I had no idea. So when you got married, you had a husband.
00:39:09
Speaker
No labels. Yeah. You like the line, not the label. Yes. Yes. Thank you, David. Thank you. Emily, tell us a funny or important story in your life about being LGBTQIA plus in the band world. Ah, yes. So I am one of those late bloomers, as they call them, because I didn't really think about it until like after college, even though there were bright neon signs going, Hey, hey, you know, I think you might be queer neon. That's not possible. But anyway, this story is like, not super related to that. But it's
00:39:46
Speaker
It's still funny, I think. So I managed to figure out how to make clip-on googly eyes for certain instruments. So now I am equipping our Rainbow City marching band with mountable googly eyes on the brass instruments. Emily, you're the same level ah as chaos of chaos as my roommate, Chelsea. she Yeah, you two would get along really well. The googly eyes. Mm hmm. Yes. So I found out a specific type of clothespin from Michael's fits exactly over the belle of most instruments. Why do I know? it's i Anyway, and I have them in different sizes, too. There's little ones for the trumpets. There's bigger ones for like the marching mellophones and baritones. And then I have, yep, giant zuzo ones. Love it.
00:40:34
Speaker
Love it. Well, I guess, you know, I will tell my story now. um I um moved to Florida about 15 years ago. This is my 15th year at the school that I've been teaching at. And when I moved here, I moved because my life was kind of taking a ah really crazy direction and I was just, I needed to change.
LGBTQIA+ Community in Marching Arts
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Speaker
So I packed up and moved to a place that I knew not a single person. um And I jumped online and I was like, there I need to find something to do. And I know that there's a huge gay community here in St. Petersburg in the Tampa Bay area. And at the time, there were two um queer color guards that existed for the Pride Parade.
00:41:18
Speaker
um And i I got online and I researched one and then i I messaged another one. And it turns out that someone that I knew from my years of working with ah the BOA and the Music for All Summer Symposium um was kind of one of the directors and leaders of one of the color guards. and so I reached out to him and I was like, hey, I i don't know anybody here. um i I just need something to do. And so I joined this group called STP, which stood for St. Petersburg Twirling Project. And it was the second gay color guard organization here in the Tampa Bay area.
00:41:59
Speaker
And it was founded by a mixture of Madison Scouts and my brothers, the Cavaliers. And so I started going to rehearsals with them. These guys actually did the St. Petersburg Christmas parade. And then they did the Pride Parade in June. oh So I went into a rehearsal and you know started doing color guard stuff, meeting people that i did the same thing that I did, that had all been involved in drum corps and winter guards. Some were teaching, some were not teaching, and they had other ah therere
00:42:30
Speaker
um careers and aspirations. And I met the first people that were going to be my friends here in Tampa Bay. And, you know, 15 years later, I'm still talking to these people all the time. They're so good together and do stuff. So, you know, it's kind of amazing what our activity brings to the world because there's always an instant family that happens. But to have a family that is specifically LGBTQIA plus to walk into when you don't know anybody and and have a welcoming community, it just it meant the world to me. So I'm grateful for that. And I will always be grateful for my friends, including my best friend whom I met in that organization.
Journey to Producing Major Pride Events
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So it's great.
00:43:16
Speaker
Oh, it looks like our producer Jeremy wants to chime in with a personal story of his own. What's happening, boss man? Oh, boss man. um No, I just he's like hear your stories. And first off, Whitney, I mean, come on, that is a funny story. That is literally a funny story. It's like everyone was shocked. I mean, everyone's like, Oh, my God, that's really funny. but No, you know, but it's just funny. That is funny. No, I kind of wanted to really sort of illustrate my being gay in this activity, which again, Ricardo, I go back further than you. I know it doesn't look that much. Not much, baby. Not much, not much. You were both in the 1900s, okay?
00:44:03
Speaker
So like coming out then, you know, was was very, very different just in general. And, you know, it's like Whitney said, it was like, yes, every boy was gay, and every girl was straight to this kind of delicate. And I was in field of view at the time. And there's a lot of big personalities in field of view. Jay McCarroll, who won Project Runway, the first Project Runway was in when I marched. Joe Heinegger, who now runs Showday Designs, was there when I was marching. These are huge personalities, even still to this day, and they were like... Yeah, you marched with all the designers.
00:44:37
Speaker
um um a little bit, and Michelle Owens and I mean, that's but like a whole other list of people. It's like, Susie Harlow, we can keep going. Yeah, I mean, it's really like, there's like a couple of years, a few of you that it was like, kaboom, like, the minu of color yeah, yeah, yeah. But so, And at that time, I had come from a very small town, very small town, and there was like no talking about anything like that. So when I got to college and was marching, it was like, you know, even that much more of a fear in me, just I almost rebelled against it because of how
00:45:16
Speaker
outwardly open these people were, you know, Jay, Jay McCarroll, Joe Heinegger, you know, these people were very out and open people and were like, you know, knocking at my door, like almost literally and figuratively, like going, like Hey, girl, what's going on? Like, what are you doing out there? And I just couldn't, you know, I couldn't deal with it. So it took me a really long time to get through all of that. I didn't even get through it in the first season. I Marchfield to be the first season. I was not out. It was like midway through the second season that that even happened. But you know, they knew. Oh, God, yes. im knew it's not ah It wasn't a question of, did you know that? But it it was more it was more of like, did i was I ready to say it? Of course, I had been doing it for you know the whole time, but that was a different story. So when I came out,
Supportive Space for LGBTQIA+ Youth
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Speaker
um it wasn't like a big like, Ta-da, Jeremy's out. It was like, oh, well, now he's acknowledging it. So it was like, and then it all just kept going.
00:46:11
Speaker
I say this to sort of tie into where I am today and what I have sort of circled like almost like weirdly not even circled my life it but just like maybe shot off in a completely different direction is now this kid from this little podunk town who was like told to be repressed and don't be and don't be like just produced Philadelphia pride with like 75,000 people, you know, at of and a pride festival, you know, and and and had a 400 foot pride flag move all across the city of Philadelphia in one day with like, you know, hundreds of thousands of people seeing it online and stuff is like is the craziness of it all, you know, it's like the sets of the juxtaposition. And none of it would have happened if the marching band and like the marching arts
00:47:01
Speaker
and Color Guard wasn't in my life. like it like I literally would not be where I am today. and I get to say, it's it's really funny when i I started to take over um and and go into the Philly Pride area and say, like you know this is what I want to do. I want to i kind of want to get involved in this organization. I made it very clear, and I still will make it very clear to every single person. I know that I am the gayest person in Philadelphia area, Mid-Atlantic, to produce a parade. Like, I'm the one, like, I'm the gayest. My boss, Todd Marcacci, love him, boots down, everything could produce a break.
00:47:42
Speaker
But there's nobody more outwardly out there in the community. So when I got a chance to produce a parade, we went to the National Coming Out Day. And so now we're making it a national parade. um And that's just like insane. It's insane to think, like I said, to go from little rising sun, you know, ah Maryland in like the corner of nowhere to like producing a major pride events in the city of Philadelphia is just completely mind-blowing. It's all because of marching bands. Honestly, I think a lot of us, just in general on this podcast or anyone who's had contact with the marching arts, I think a lot of us wouldn't be in the same places as we are if we didn't have band. and I think that's really cool that like band brought us together, in a sense.
00:48:33
Speaker
You know, I mean, I am from a very, very small town in Mississippi, and I've said this on the podcast before, but, you know, my connection to the arts and specifically with band, I mean, that was my way out. I was 16 years old the first year that I marched drum corps, and I got to leave my small town and literally traveled the country. and And that first year, Jeremy, I was only 16, but I was not out to everyone. I knew myself that I was gay at that point in time. But coming from where I came from, I wasn't comfortable sharing that with other people, even though I had gay friends and had a boyfriend, all of this stuff. But I wasn't outwardly ready to tell people that. And just being in the color guard world and the drum corps world and being around people and my instructors being gay and being in a relationship for years and years.
Secrecy and Audience Engagement in Drum Corps Shows
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Speaker
You know, it was, it made it more comfortable for me to be able to understand and accept my truth and realize that I wasn't, for lack of a better word, a freak that society tried to to make me feel like I was. And I love it to this day. I, my first Color Guard instructor, even though I did not get too much color in in high school, except for drum corps. my first color guard instructor and his husband lived down the street from here in Florida. So we meet up all the time for drinks and going and hanging out. And just hopefully I say this, I hope that for my students that I have been around for the last
00:49:58
Speaker
long time that I've been teaching and I don't put a ear on it. But being an example for them to be able to have someone that they can see as happily out and proud and that this world that we live in and the performing arts is a welcoming place for those people. So all that being said, I'm going to shut my face because it's time for what are we doing? What are we doing?
00:50:32
Speaker
what are we doing? All right, Jeremy, what are we doing? So I i i am jumping right in. And this isn't necessarily pride related at all. But I do want to ask it before the end of this month happens. And I know this episode will air before July comes about. And we're really in the thick of drum corps time. But and I'm asking this, what are we doing? it's a genuine question maybe to Ricardo because you're just coming off of tour with a little break um is what are we doing with the not showing any level of choreography show announcement costuming everything has to be this big secret and in drum corps now hear me out hear me out hear me out this is
00:51:24
Speaker
Okay, hear me out. i Okay, if you want to see a summer blockbuster, and it's coming out in the summer, what what what do you see? You see the trailer. And I don't really like a teaser Yeah, but I don't mean these vague crap, like, no. Not just like zooming in and this and that. but Look, those are cute for like the show announcements. Those are show announcements. Those are not like, those aren't previews. Like don't I wanna like, no, like, I mean, wouldn't it be cool to be like, oh my God, I'm gonna see that rifle feature. I wonder what the music is to it. Or like, do you see that music you hear that music? I wonder what they're spinning to it. Like, there's ways to do it. I think that's,
00:52:08
Speaker
smarter that gets your audience more interested and less like, well, I'm just waiting for it to happen. I guess I'll just know what I'd go to the first show. But like, does that really make me want to go to the first show as like a sideline viewer? That's my, okay. That's what I'm saying. What are we doing? Show pre DCI tour, telling people what's going on, blah, blah, blah. Go ahead. Okay. All right. So i'm I'm going to chime in with the inside of all of that because there's there's no multiple layers to it. All right. So first of all, ah being someone that started marching back in the 1900s, the only way you knew what somebody was doing for a Drum Corps show was to get the magazine or the newspaper, Drum Corps Planet or Drum Corps World, all of that stuff. So this whole show announcement and all of this stuff, that's a newfangled thing because of social media.
00:53:01
Speaker
All right. And I do think that we have overhyped some of the show stuff because some of these show announcements now are getting like, like they do look like Hollywood blockbuster productions, which is great. But here's the thing. The reason that you don't hear most people's music is it's because of copyright laws. There's only so much that that chorus can put out with their music and being recorded is one of those things that's a big don't know. So if you check and you follow your favorite core, most of them have some sort of preview thing because I literally got on a plane after our preview performance on Saturday night in Arizona. We previewed all of our music, but it was for select ticket holders in a place. And we specifically had to tell them, you are not allowed to post this on the internet as so that the core will not be sued for copyright infringement. Who is suing? Ah, Disney.
00:54:02
Speaker
yeah okay So wait, back up. These are the these are the things that I think, um um and this again, this is why I'm saying this, because what are we doing? We all need to really look at this and examine it for real, real. I know everybody got really scared like 15, 20 years ago when a certain defunct drum corps who was being, you know, very being ran by a certain person who's no longer in the drum for world said, everybody's going to get sued. So trace own and all these things became
Understanding Licensed Music on TikTok
00:54:32
Speaker
a thing. Fine. I got that. We are in a tick tock social media existence. You are not telling me people are out there Beyonce, like suing people on tick tock for using her music to display them going like boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop. No.
00:54:50
Speaker
yeah Again, I'm not the expert, but I have to play devil's advocate in this because most of the music that is on TikTok, they have paid licensing fees to the artists to be able to use those TikToks. So when you put out a TikTok or something, you can't have music on it unless it has already been licensed by the production companies to be able to use. So it it really is a thing. I don't know who's out there so suing people. I mean, most of the people that drumboard They're playing the music of, I mean, really, your fan base is only this organization anyway, so you should be wanting to promote it, but I don't make the rules, I'm just reporting on what it is. That's my point. You're not promoting what you're selling, and ultimately, you're a product and you want people to come and see that product. If you want people to come and see that product, I need to know what I'm buying. I need to know what I'm going to see. This vagueness is just hard. It's just hard. Okay, I'll back out.
00:55:50
Speaker
Also, there all the drum corps have these giant media teams now. Like, what what are they doing? What are we doing, media teams? They're making the money on the TikTok. I mean, it' we've talked to Sam Moeller. He's on the Santa Clara Vanguard. They're doing great stuff. and There is an entertainment value there that the media team is creating. And I will say this, and I will defend the media team boots down like they're not getting their job to do they're not getting paid enough money at all. They're like what halfway keeping some of these things going because of like, the views and stuff and YouTube and all that kind of stuff. So they're like making money for the score. But the point like to to show
00:56:31
Speaker
15 seconds is not going to change anyone's copyright or infringe on absolutely anything. This is up to 30 seconds before you have to pay for it on a major news channel. like What are we doing? okay What are we doing? emily why but Yeah, what are
Dealing with Internet Trolls and Pride Posts
00:56:52
Speaker
we doing? I guess since we're on the topic of social media and all that happy goodness, what are we doing when somebody makes a wholesome Pride post and immediately, like, internet trolls are being like, Oh, I hate this.
00:57:08
Speaker
I remember last year at Teaser so I actually this is related I swear because I never thought this would happen to me but it did. um I made a really cute collection of pride flag themed uniforms and I was just like hey like look at these cool things I made and like one of the first comments I got on that post was ew nobody's gonna wear these and I'm like wow I was not expecting this many people to be allergic to fashion so What are we doing? Really unrelated? Done. Unrelated. I was like, wow, you're allergic to fashion. Thank you for outing yourself. Not allergic to fashion. I am gagged right now.
00:57:51
Speaker
I will jump in here with you, Emily, because, you know, having been out monitoring like the Philly Pride 365 account, which is the Philly Pride one, and we've obviously posted that big old flag that's all over Philadelphia and like people wanting to burn it and this and that and this and that. I have really come to the fine art of the comeback with them. Like it is, if you go and check out Philly Pride 365, I'm like coming back at them in just like a really smart way. I think that as marching band people, we could really do it. Think, be smart, Twist their words and come back out. That's that's the goal. No more running away from these police No, I was so close to literally posting Wow did not come here to expect this many people being allergic to fashion and just letting it rip And just that would be the only thing I'd say it'd be like, you know charisma check go vicious mockery
00:58:39
Speaker
Can we just talk about the fact that you are going after people like in gay organizations? Do these people not realize that for our entire lives we have learned how to read people? We are not going to let you get away with it. We are going to read you fulfilled in the comments. Do not come for it because we're going to get you together. We are going to gather you. And I gather them all the time. And if it doesn't, if they don't like the gathering, you turn it just a hair sexual and boom, they're out. get dad i out for god
00:59:13
Speaker
That's a really great deterrent. flip sp right you know those couple of emojis, t ones and a little drool up every time they are done they don't want to talk to you no more a plan i can ah good plan so ah can'tieuse if up my electric equipment down got
00:59:37
Speaker
All right, it is time for our gush and goes because we have done enough complaining.
Updates on Pride Guard Activities
00:59:45
Speaker
My dear witch, what do you have to gush and go about right now? Oh, gosh. um Well, the Indy Pride Guard, which Heather and I actually used to run, we we started it in 2012. And then, you know, obviously there was COVID. Heather and I really haven't been super involved since post COVID so much. um But some new people are taking, um kind of taking over, they'll do
01:00:11
Speaker
Danny Schweiger Young and Ty Zastrow. They're basically taking over the Pride Guard now, Indie Pride Guard. um But I'm just really happy that it's still a thing, even though, you know, Heather and I don't live there and we don't run it really anymore. um And the other people are are still taking care of that, but they had pride this weekend and it went really well. And the Chicago Pride Guard came down um and they got some pictures with the Indy Pride Guard and hung out the night before. So it seemed like it was a really good time. I definitely have FOMO over it, um but I'm just glad the Indy Pride Guard is still so around 12 years if you don't count COVID, you know, whatever.
01:00:55
Speaker
i will I will jump right in on you Whitney because I wanted Gush and Go about something that will hopefully have happened by the time this episode has aired because to come off of that indie Pride Guard statement, we are working on a roundtable with Bobby to host as many Pride Guards to do a little roundtable before the end of June. So hopefully that will have happened and this episode is out and I could be like, going I should be gushing and going about how amazing that episode was. because this episode will be at the end of the month, but we're working on that. So I'm gushing about that happening. That has happened, and we did it. It was great. It was yay. Don't listen to that episode. Okay. Yay. Emily, what are you gushing about right now? er My gush and go is I'm really excited for all of the Pride events. I'm going to be performing it with RCPA. It's all moss excitement. That's fantastic.
01:01:50
Speaker
Well, my gosh is I am, as we are recording this episode of the podcast listeners, I am on a week break from my stand on drum port
Conclusion and Promoting Social Media Presence
01:01:59
Speaker
tour. And I am just ecstatic about my wonderful performers at the Academy. We have a great time learning this amazing show and just pushing. And I will tell you, um I thought that 108 degrees was going to be completely brutal. It only sucks a little bit. ah compared to the Florida heat with the moist humanity. Dry heat is different. And everybody kept saying, oh, it's dry heat. It's different. so
01:02:27
Speaker
um You know, it's not that bad. So, yeah. All right. Well, listen, thanks everyone to everyone for a great rehearsal this week. Thank you to our hosts, Emily and Whitney and Jeremy popping in with us. And also to our guest clinicians, David Rosa and Jen. And one more thing, don't forget that we have a YouTube channel now that has many of our interviews coming out as well as full video editions. Go and subscribe so you don't miss those. So before you close out your podcast listening app, go subscribe, write us a review and share this with a friend. Follow us on social media at on a water break. And we'll see you at the next rehearsal on a water break. Happy pride. Happy pride. Amen.
01:03:15
Speaker
The On A Water Break podcast was produced by Jeremy Williams and Christine Ream. The intro and outro music was produced by Josh Lida. To learn more, visit lidamusic.com. And until next time, thanks for tuning in.