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OAWB with Marching Vlogs
111 Plays2 months ago
Go On A Water Break with Sergio Bravo from Marching Vlogs. Stephen & Joey dive deep into the beginnings of the company and how it grew into the social media juggernaut that it is!
Guests:
Sergio Bravo - Marching Vlogs - @marchingvlogs
Listen to the main episode to keep up on everything going on in the marching arts with our hosts:
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
Austin Hall - @Austin_hall10
Jose Montes - @joeymontes57
Bobbey Biddle - @bobbeyboy107
Peyton Billhart - @peytonbrillhart
Music provided by leydamusic.com Follow him @josh.leyda
Avatars provided by @tch.makes.art
#marchingband #colorguard #dci #podcast #onawaterbreak #marchingband #colorguard #dci #podcast #onawaterbreak #wgi #drumline
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Transcript
Introduction to 'On a Water Break'
00:00:00
Speaker
ah Welcome back to on a water break, the podcast where we talk about everything you and your friends are talking about at rehearsal on a water break. And this week we go on a water break with marching vlogs. Eight off the met and go. Welcome to on a water break podcast where we talk everything.
00:00:25
Speaker
Everyone's bringing it. It's time for a water break. So everybody we got steven here and we've got joey on the sidelines with us as well.
Handling Closers During Marching Season
00:00:35
Speaker
Um, joey, how you been doing? Uh, we're doing all right. It's it's the busy times we're trying to get, you know, those closers on i'm trying to get some closers out to drill clients. So, um, it's uh, it's the busy times but it's the best times because after this it's just judging on the weekends and praying and hoping that we can get some of this choreo in Yeah,
Introducing Sergio Bravo from Marching Vlogs
00:00:56
Speaker
I feel you. I feel like I have absolutely no free time to myself, but I carved out a little bit of time today for a very exciting guest. So we've got Sergio Bravo with us here from Marching Vlogs. Sergio, thanks for hopping on the call.
00:01:12
Speaker
Thanks for having me, guys. This is cool. Awesome. um Just before we get going here, the so the way we always introduce all our guests is this 32 count life story. ah You'll get eaten in from the Met and they'll give all our listeners a chance to know who you are and what your background is in the marching arts. You ready? I think so. All right. Let's give it a shot.
Sergio's Marching Experience
00:01:35
Speaker
All right, I'm Sergio Bravo. I'm 28 and I run and I've co-founded Marching Vlogs. A little bit about my background, I marched starting... Well, I was marching since high school, but I ended up marching in University of Nevada, Reno. I did Santa Clara Vanguard Winter Percussion.
00:01:57
Speaker
Santa Clara Vanguard cadets. I did NorCal indoor percussion in Sacramento. I did Envision, which was in Reno. I did Mandarin's 2017-18, Pulse 19, and then the H-doubt, that is. Wow. Wow, that's crazy. I didn't even know that we were marching at the same time and that you were running marching vlogs while you were marching.
00:02:20
Speaker
Kind of. We can get into that. I mean, it started while I was marching, but yeah. we Yeah. Why don't you take us through that a little bit? Like, when did the page first start? um I guess to give some context for the listeners, it'd be better to to tell ah the audience a little bit about your page first. If somehow they know our podcast, but they don't know your page. Good.
00:02:43
Speaker
Sure.
Origins of Marching Vlogs
00:02:44
Speaker
Yeah. Marching Vlogs is a community-based platform where we make a bunch of content, documentaries, um anything really related to the marching arts, and and we kind of just flood it onto you know major socials like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook.
00:03:02
Speaker
Yeah, and you're not mentioning it, but the page is huge. It's a very big page. One of the biggest pages that I'm aware of in the activity, at least definitely if you're excluding like the DCI page itself. So you guys have had a really successful run at it. When did you first make the page and what was kind of like the inception of the idea?
00:03:26
Speaker
Yeah, so officially a marching vlog started in 2019 when actually Gridbook, Mark Prett specifically, was watching my personal, I guess, video journal that I had when I was aging out. And he just liked the idea that I was in the way I was vlogging it. And he was like, man, this would be cool if somebody would take this idea and kind of centralize it and have other people journal their experiences onto one centralized platform. And so, you know we kind of chatted and I was like, you know I kind of already did this and it'd be cool to to bring the community together and actually execute that idea. so
00:04:06
Speaker
Yeah, during the summer we started off with kind of like an experimental takeover thing where we had, I believe it was five vloggers throughout different drum corps and they took over the Instagram for about a week at a time. So we got an in-depth look at, you know, like a raw uncut kind of like, here's what's going on candidly. I'm going to put it on this story and whatever comes about it is what's being seen.
00:04:34
Speaker
And so that was kind of the idea, you know, the raw behind the scenes look on the ground, ah boots on the ground level and above the member level. So yeah, that's how it started. Yeah, that's really cool. That's like you're getting back towards like the roots of the idea, because I know you guys produce all sorts of other visual like content related to the marching marching arts in different ways. um But kind of giving that power back to the ah the member in the line is what makes some of the best content. Have you ever had? I've always been like a little bit worried, because I do a similar thing with the Yeah Base page, where I run takeovers. And I'm always like in the back of my head, like
00:05:14
Speaker
don't do anything, I wouldn't do. um Has there ever been any trouble with that with ah with the marching blogs page? um You know, I think maybe to some degree, like people might say something stupid, for example, that they didn't need to get on the blogs, or maybe there's curse words or something like that, but never like anything terribly bad where somebody got kicked out or anything. but Yeah, I think whenever I have a takeover go on, there's a process for sure. And we we try to do our best to to kind of streamline that and make sure that they understand what is being asked of them and who they're representing and why they're doing it most importantly. What what
Challenges in Content Creation
00:05:58
Speaker
is your process to to get somebody like, let's say that I have a drum line and I want to get on the marching vlogs page, what's that process look like?
00:06:06
Speaker
Yeah, so it changes, but you know, it's kind of slowed down of how we've made great changes with the system as of recently, um maybe like the past couple of seasons, but ah we don't really discriminate. The only thing that we don't kind of have on the page is maybe high school level or below, only because you know, there's probably a bigger issue with hosting minors that I don't really want to tie them into. Or just the liability sake, like I would need parents permission, I guess. And that would just be another step. you know so But i honestly, what I want is to expand it to
00:06:49
Speaker
more niches, if you will, um you know, ball band, not just drum corps, not just in the world, the color guard scene, the the horn scene. Yeah. Even like the educational space, like I would love more educators taking over because then we get, you know, the time of day for them to like, okay, here's what I do as a tech at XYZ. And it's just another perspective in the marching arts that, you know, somebody could take away ah somewhere in the world. say Yeah, that's that's interesting there. what It sounds like you do have like some visions and goals for what you think the future of the marching vlogs page might look like. Are are there any other sort of ideas and places you might want to take it? Or just like um big big lofty goals and stuff like that?
00:07:38
Speaker
Yeah, i mean there's I feel like Marching Vlogs has been growing and evolving over the last five years. and To be honest with you, if I were to tell you where it's going to go like each year that you asked me, it kind of changes and varies. um Because, I don't know, I like to go with the flow and and this activity kind of tells me what works and what doesn't, right? So if, for example, I have this idea of doing this kind of content, but I get a lot of pushback because I don't have access to specific educators, for whatever reason, then I'll probably shift you know the content structure to to fit what we can handle and what is being asked of me, I guess. and
00:08:22
Speaker
in some regard to the community, right?
Dreams of a Drum Corps Movie
00:08:25
Speaker
Because people do request specific content. And sometimes we can, sometimes we can't. Yeah. I guess for bigger goals, though, for the sake of it, I really want to make a drum corps movie one day. That would be super cool. Yeah, okay. That is cool.
00:08:45
Speaker
Like I don't know something like drumline the movie but drumcore s you know, so dude actually I think like a drumcore season would so perfectly fit the like runtime of a movie because they tried to make a series out of it and like I I didn't watch the series but I didn't hear great things about the series either the one with the series you're talking about Oh the cut was it clash the core Yeah, like Clash of the Core or something. Did you see it, Joey? Yeah, you didn't like Brandon Olander playing snare drum on the top of a mountain. What? They did that? Yeah. wasn't I even watch it, to be honest. i I can't even comment. Now I feel like I should watch it because I do want to watch Brandon Olander playing snare drum on top of a mountain.
00:09:31
Speaker
And i um I might just be misremembering things. And I'm sure if if I get things wrong, we know how the internet works. And and this is the last podcast I'm a part of. But I i feel like I remember like specifically seeing Brandon playing snare drum on a stand. And The Rock was just like,
00:09:48
Speaker
Yeah, you know and if and if that's not it then that's just the vibe I took away from all of the Advertisements that were going on it felt it felt like I was like who when does the rock been about marching band? How did he get in with the cadets and and the blue dough? IP cadets, you know, I'm gonna ask questions. You don't want to know the answer to about how i didn't know theets yeah
00:10:15
Speaker
ah Yeah, what does rock have to do with bands? Like honestly, what does he know about? Can you run he remind me when Kanye said something about how like Lady Gaga's a music producer, but what does she know about cameras? and totally What does she know about cameras? What you know about drum corps, bro? That's one of my favorite Kanye quotes. Yeah.
00:10:41
Speaker
memorable and yeah
00:10:44
Speaker
Drum Corps movie would be awesome though, dude. Get Kanye to produce it. Yeah. Oh, I don't know about that. but But yeah, for the brand, probably bad for the brand. I agree. Probably just unpredictable for the brand. and Unpredictable for the brand. That's the most truth. Yeah. no But Drum Corps movie, that would be really cool because you could like actually take like 15, like 10, 15 minutes. The three acts of a movie would kind of play out through like your auditions, spring training and tour, you know, and like ramping through up to that like crescendo at the end with finals. like You definitely should make that happen.
00:11:25
Speaker
Right to be Sorry to cut you off. But like recently we just in in uh yesterday to be exact we just got done with a shoot that Started to like have an experimental early phase of what that idea could be Uh-huh, and so we're really excited to put something together. It's not a full-on movie Yeah, there's stuff in the works for sure like narrative type stuff so narrative type stuff that That's cool. Where would that go? Does that go up on your YouTube? um Well, we have a strategy for distribution, which we won't talk about right now. but Yeah, that makes sense. but yeah but it will be I think it'll be really cool. We're trying to garner a lot of interest and we're going to see who watches it and and take them. what
00:12:11
Speaker
you know, what kind of engagement we get. um And then hopefully it turns into something bigger, you know, that's always the first step to to something great, I think, is just taking small steps forward. Right. But we were really proud of what happened yesterday. I'm like, I've put up BTS stuff, so it's no secret. But like, for for what it actually is, we're excited to to announce what it will be soon.
00:12:34
Speaker
Yeah, that'll be, uh, that'll be really cool. Good luck with that
Community Connection and Influence
00:12:37
Speaker
project. And, uh, if you will ever want to come on a podcast and talk about it and when, uh, you know, you need to promote it sounds like a conversation I would love to have, but, for sure um, what would you say have there been any hurdles along the way, uh, towards growing the page, getting it off the ground?
00:12:59
Speaker
hurdles? Yeah, I mean, a fair number, I'd say. um I think the takeovers have been always our bread and butter for what kind of content we we started on them and and continue to maintain. um And so I think the biggest hurdles, at least within that has always been kind of the onboarding.
00:13:19
Speaker
and and making sure right like our system and how we ah have people sign on, the information we need from them in order to streamline you know what we have to do to make sure that they know what they have to do. And so you know we've done 12 seasons of it and I've made different videos explaining you know here's what to take over them and after a long form of what they'd have to you know give me information on the introduction of themselves And then after that, they all have to sign a contract to to ensure that all those things are met. So I guess that was a whole struggle, like trying to figure out that system. um and And I think that once I had that kind of more in place around like season six,
00:14:04
Speaker
That's what I was just thinking about, man. I was like, that's, that's real. Cause I do takeovers with the yeah, base page, but that's, uh, I, we're not at the contractual level yet, but that's clearly like the more professional way to get it done. It's inspiring. Something I'm going to just like nonchalantly approach you from the United page, be like, Oh yeah, we need to do a takeover. And the whole time I'm just going to be like taking notes on how to do it better. Yeah.
00:14:33
Speaker
Yeah, no, for sure. Because, you know, the last thing you want is something to happen to the account and the page and not have your bases covered. You know, we've worked super hard to maintain what we got. So, got to check our grounds. I see what you did there, bases covered. This guy.
00:14:53
Speaker
up, did that on purpose. yeah
00:14:57
Speaker
p What would you say is one of the biggest like rewards? ah you know We just talked about hurdles, but like what do you feel like is one of the biggest rewards you've you've had ah with the page, with with marching blogs? That's a great question. um There's a lot that I could talk about, but I think just meeting and expanding my network has been really great.
00:15:22
Speaker
I think I've learned just a lot being in front of different ensembles, educators, being in their spaces because you know we're more than just a takeover page. like We've built a whole community, our platforms. you know I don't know where we're at with followers now, but I think it was like half a million across everything.
00:15:42
Speaker
and we have i'm sorry bunch of messages um but you know Whenever we go out to big events and stuff, ah being in front of like these different groups in and out and just like shaking hands and and saying what's up to people and then having people also tell us like they joined GAN because of NV. That's so funny. Being in the middle of the space and having people tell me that, that to me was like,
00:16:11
Speaker
Just fills my heart, I think, because I started so young. and And I think we all have our our journey, you know? And so to to be one of the influences into why they joined, saying, like, you know, your takeover stripped the door, and it wasn't so intimidating anymore. And I just noticed everybody's just human, trying to make and a dream ensemble. And so that, yeah, you know, it touches me a little bit. So it's really fulfilling. Yeah. aspect Yeah, that's awesome. It's definitely like I can emphasize or ah just recall being in their shoes too like when I was auditioning back in like 2016, 17, 18 type time period because I would see like those types of marching vlogs posts and it would make it seem a lot more accessible.
00:16:57
Speaker
Um, so that's cool. That's a, that's awesome that that's done that and had that effect on the activity. Um, is there any one moment we did have this other question here that like one most shocking moment over the years? Is there anything that sticks out in your head? or yeah like who That's crazy. Maybe like the first time something was really catching off or, uh, I wanted to work with you that you were like, wow, this is becoming a thing.
Honors from Prestigious Groups
00:17:24
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, man, there's a lot of those moments for me. When another group's like, come on by, I'm like, really? Let's go. I'm so down full of bigger groups for sure. This past summer, I was just doing outreach just to people I know. Tom Rarick, the head of Bluecoats Percussion was like, Sergio, please come by. We love your stuff. Oh, that's awesome. Oh my gosh.
00:17:51
Speaker
Like we'll be get that from Eric is like a real compliment No, for sure. And like i met I met him a couple years ago, but you know he's a you know big time dude, so I'm sure he didn't remember me at the time. But um when he actually said that he's seen my work and stuff, it was like, oh, great, man. like That's so cool. And and that was a moment I was on the blue coats of my gimbal, pulling back and just living the dream of like, oh, I'm on field with blue coats. And I still get that feeling, you know being 28, it's like,
00:18:23
Speaker
the one week a year that I'm like in front of the restroom course all in a condensed period of time it's like yeah can ask for anything better so I'm sure the work is pretty seasonal then in that regard where it's like for a couple weeks each year it goes really hard and then like how do you fill up the rest of the time Well, you know, the, the condensed periods of time that we have that we're doing, um, I'm sorry, I'm getting bombarded messages. that Yeah, no worries. I mean, you do, you do, uh, operate, you know, pretty large social media page. I'm sure that that is, that's like producer chats. They're all talking about the shoot yesterday.
00:19:10
Speaker
ah That's how you feel your time right there. That's we just saw it. Yeah, right ah very yeah for sure well Well to answer that actually it's interesting because we shoot, you know in a condensed amount of time But it takes so long to process everything that okay I never not have enough content to edit like the backlog and terabytes of footage I have is kind of insane. ah And yeah if I'm not, you know, working, I am editing for the the content I'm watching live. But also the bank is so fat now of completed projects that I could take something and put it up and put it on Instagram. not And it doesn't take me that long. Like I have templates for all that.
00:19:55
Speaker
That makes sense. Okay, so you're probably spending more of your time working on producing actual longer form videos for the YouTube page that you can make clips out of for the Instagram page.
00:20:09
Speaker
For sure. i mean We try to have our strategy and and see what kind of content would take up i guess the least amount of power and the most amount of value. so if we go That's why we like to spend the last week usually at WGI or DCI i because we don't have to worry about bad reps most of the time. it's like I can show up at any point in the week and not have a logistical problem of like, I'm coming on Tuesday.
00:20:38
Speaker
You guys are going to probably be fine. It's finals week. But if I were to come visit earlier in the season, there's a little bit of that. Like, I don't know if I can use this yet. It's not representative of who they want to be seen as. Yeah. know Simply because it's early season. So yeah that's one that's always been weird for me as well with like doing the bass drum stuff is that you want to fill up the whole season with like videos of people drumming, but no one actually really wants their drumming video out there until finals week.
00:21:09
Speaker
Like unless you like just say you like got this one really great rep that you were like, whoa We want to put this out there so everyone sees that this is what we're up to right now But even in that moment, you're still like but we gotta to be cleaner next week, you know fellas like for Next week comes choreo, you know, like yeah
00:21:31
Speaker
Well, we're gonna take a quick break here so let's get out onto the field that way marching vlogs can get the cameras set up and record everything that they need but we will be right back with water redoings and gushing goes in a moment.
00:21:54
Speaker
Hey everyone, it's Jeremy, your producer from On A Water Break, and here are your announcements coming from the box. While you're enjoying this amazing episode, don't forget our other episodes, including the one about Peggy Twiggs, the one where we go behind the scenes of the Olympics and the marching arms.
00:22:10
Speaker
We check out the first female drummers from Crossman. We also have amazing special features, including at Step Off with Jack Goudreau, Lost in Translation with Cynthia Bernard, and Behind the Lens with Chris Marr and Russell Tanakaya. Don't forget our other bonus feature, On a Water Break With, where we explore individuals or small groups. We talk to people like Eric Carr, Forte Athletics, and comedian Tony Deo.
00:22:36
Speaker
If you know of a story, or you know of someone that would make a great story, email us at onawaterbreakpodcastatgmail.com. Okay, field staff, take it away.
00:22:57
Speaker
All right, everybody, we are back now with Sergio Bravo from Marching Vlogs.
Expanding to Media Solutions
00:23:02
Speaker
And Sergio, you were just telling me that ah Marching Vlogs and MV is actually involved in like a little bit more um maybe than just some of the videos we've been discussing already. What else does a MV get into?
00:23:15
Speaker
Yeah, so Envy is currently in this like phase of expanding to not just create a community, but to also help different marching arts businesses, brands, and so organizations themselves with different media solutions. Okay. And so in a business aspect, you know we want to make sure we contribute to the brands that actually make a difference in the community and kind of share our knowledge that we've learned by building marching rods with video production and and social media and all that good stuff.
00:23:49
Speaker
and so yeah we've we've been you know like especially this past season at DCI, i we had a few clients reach out that were spread amongst marching arts that needed content during the DCI finals week. And so we were able to help them with things that they couldn't get on their own, you know especially considering that it's the last bit of their season and they'll never be able to go back in time and and record those things that you know we wish we would have got for example.
00:24:17
Speaker
Finals. Yeah. No, that's interesting. That makes sense. So like you kind of start to branch out and become a production company of sorts, leveraging all your resources and experience in like recording band effectively that now groups can reach out to MV um in order to get like such a quality like representation of their finals week and something like that.
00:24:44
Speaker
ah Yeah, pretty much, and and we've called it MV Productions. So, producing you know marching blogs productions, pretty much. Yeah, that's awesome. Now, I'm pretty sure I did see that on Instagram at some point. I saw that out there and I was like, what are they cooking up? What are they doing?
Focus on Professional Video Production
00:25:00
Speaker
When we were talking about the movie earlier, I actually started thinking, I was like, maybe that's what MV Productions is about. For sure. and and To that point, you know there was a production company who had a drum corps motivated writer, and he needed help facilitating video, essentially what I'm doing, which is like providing those solutions for their production. right so I was able to put together a drum line through the network with MD and kind of leverage those networks to give them a cast, for example.
00:25:33
Speaker
Oh. And so that's like one solution that revolves Marching Rocks, right? And it doesn't have to necessarily mean we'd be doing video, but we figure out a way to fit that piece into the puzzle, right? Yeah. um if that's ah If it's an organization that needs help with video, then we obviously have the capabilities for that too. You can probably see the camera behind me of a whole studio full of gear. And this is the stuff we use to make Marching Rocks content.
00:26:01
Speaker
So you can kind of expect the same quality that we've put up on the public to be resonating with you know different organizations. Yeah, that's awesome. That's a that's such like a smart idea and a great way that you can like try to grow this page out into something that's more than just um like an Instagram page for vlogs about Drumline. um yeah Have you considered maybe trying to like work with NFL Drumlines or anything like that?
00:26:32
Speaker
Right. Yeah. I mean, to kind of to touch my point earlier about the takeovers, I would love for that to happen, like at NFL drum lines. And that way it kind of opens a connection to doing the production because then they would see what else we're doing. But yeah, I mean, 100% if I were to get flown out to shoot some NFL drum lines, like I'm packing my bags out of there. That sounds like fun.
00:26:56
Speaker
Well, that's what's that's what's so tricky. I do the eagle strum line and um ah I feel like even mentioning it on the podcast, I'm like leery about because I think the reason that these so many ah NFL lines don't have a great like social media representation is that ah their organization from the top down wants to be very hands-on about how it's represented online. So like the Eagles have still yet to become comfortable with giving us an Eagles Drumline Instagram account. you know Interesting. That's good to know. Yeah. But then in that same sense though, like
00:27:33
Speaker
The Eagles drumline is doing a lot for the Eagles. I don't know that it would work out, but like, if you were to reach out, you might end up collaborating with the Philadelphia Eagles page, you know? Yeah, I mean, yeah like dis defense that's the reality of a lot of these lines is they don't have their own pages. They use the actual social media of like the football team.
00:27:53
Speaker
but Yeah, I wonder I wonder I know Lindsay Schuler just posted about udb with the the commanders out there in Washington. I wonder what that looks like or what that you know what she's allowed to do what she's not allowed to do that's sincech I didn't know that about that. I did a little bit with with a drumline out in Kansas. and And it was something similar where, hey, you don't talk about this. You don't, no, no, no. Like your, your, your job is to teach them drums and to have something, you know, at the, at the, you know, the get togethers or the tailgates or what have you. Um, but, um, that's very interesting. I didn't, I didn't, I didn't know about that. I mostly just came in and was just like, we're going to do choreo right here. Um, I didn't know that there was so much hush hush about that. That's cool. Yeah. They're definitely. andy
00:28:40
Speaker
It can be and I think it's more of like the marketing teams at all these organizations and and stuff because they have their strategies obviously to how they want to promote their stuffs. It makes yeah sense. and I think for what works during those situations is you come in as a contractor within their organization so that way there's no like brand mix-up or anything. They still have full control of that.
00:29:05
Speaker
And I found that to work out, like I've just been in like Kainan as an in-house, uh, either producer or a shooter. And then I just still have my eye on the marching arts portion. So, you know, it doesn't necessarily mean marching ball always has to collaborate, which is, which is good for situations like that where, yeah you know, where the brain is kind of something that they're sensitive about. Exactly.
00:29:30
Speaker
yeah Wow. Well, that's so cool. It's really like inspiring to me as someone that does run a page. Like I kind of look up to marching blogs cause it's the very big and like successful version of what I would want to grow something like yeah.
Creating Engaging Content for Marching Arts
00:29:46
Speaker
What do you have any like a advice maybe for ah people out there that run um marching oriented ah social media pages, sort of things you've learned that might be helpful?
00:30:01
Speaker
Yeah, I think if you guys stick to you know giving a lot of value, I mean, everyone says that in content information, but like particularly for marching arts, like entertaining with the performances, because I think we all were drawn into that when we were all starting. It was like, wow, these guys are precise. They're great at what they do. you know Showcasing any of that is always a hit. Whenever you connect with the individual I've noticed goes viral. like Whenever we have something that is funny and it's like, oh, I would do that. Or Oscar would do that. Frickin' Oscar would do that. He would send that to Oscar. right you know like ah There was a really controversial video that popped off a while ago on marketing blogs that of a kid like breaking a drum head.
00:30:51
Speaker
And it got millions of views and you know it it stirred like a bunch of people talking about how like, oh, super irresponsible. you know kids you know People need drum heads, but on the other end, that head was stretched so far already that it was not usable for any given scenario. The two sides of the coin, it's like, yes and no. But that's what, you know if you're a marching arts social media page, pulling on those relatable heartstrings almost, like we'll we'll bring a lot of reach in. And then you could talk about what you want to talk about. it's like you can You can make all this other stuff, but if you don't kind of
00:31:35
Speaker
reach that you know inner child of, this is why I joined the marching arts. This is what I looked up to. And I think we can all find that. And and and that's what i I'm kind of just that that sunglass, the the viewfinder for the marching arts at times. like I see something, the content that we've caught, and I'm like, that's going to work. Because I know what I would like. I would like to see that. um And usually it works out.
00:32:00
Speaker
you
00:32:02
Speaker
what are we doing
00:32:10
Speaker
to bob This is my favorite one. Dude, we got all the types of jams. It's a shame you don't got the news this week because the news intro jam goes really hard unironically. But Joey, do you got any water redoings to get us started this week?
00:32:27
Speaker
ah So mine in kind of in in ah in connection and or in relation to what we're talking about today is about social media posting I just learned about scheduling posts and so my what are we doing is what are we doing not scheduling um regular content for our pages I run a a marching band page for my marching by Montez page for my my services my jewel writing business and consultation I I do one for My independent ensemble ever wins and then I do my own personal stuff that kind of is just sharing some of my hip-hop dance stuff and I am I fail Year in year out and every year like December comes and I go I posted five times this year well I feel stupid and I've been you know, I went to the advisory board in Vegas I went and performed, you know and Vegas with this I went did this I went did this and it's like
00:33:21
Speaker
I didn't post about it. Did it even really happen? And I know it happened and I enjoyed the time, but you know As somebody that's trying to build their business, it is it is really important to schedule these these ah times and schedule these posts and have a strategy to what you're doing. it's no We no longer live in an age where you could just post and things are going to happen. There there have to be strategies. There have to be timing. and and So what are we doing not setting our pages up for it and even our ensembles and organizations for success by not scheduling our posts?
00:33:52
Speaker
Yeah. I feel like that's a big at me. I'm the worst for this. I'll like go hard for like a couple of weeks, right around finals. And then you'll see like nothing for like two months. I just, I just went hard on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And I guarantee you this week, I, if, if I don't ah have, I don't like stick to my schedule, I wouldn't post anything until probably, you know,
00:34:16
Speaker
Dayton, he you know, I wouldn't question anything. Maybe, okay, maybe grand nats, but even then I'd be like, I'm an indie. You know? Yeah. Well, Sergio, do you have any, uh, any sort of advice or things you've run into over the years for how like you keep the content stream flowing? It's there like a,
00:34:37
Speaker
trick Yeah, I think path to least resistance is a huge thing that I try to keep in mind. If there's a lot of resistance of doing and recording and capturing the content, then there's a likely chance you won't do anything at all.
00:34:54
Speaker
um And then even if when we do think about it, there's like that resistance of like, oh, forgot about it. Now I gotta go do it. And then there's this pressure and the cycle that never ends well. So, yeah um you know, why why I really like the way that we've done marching blogs is just like, I just tell the bloggers, record what's in front of you, right? And even some of my my business mentors that I look up to are just like, record your BTS and put it on your story.
00:35:24
Speaker
You don't even have to edit that. Just show people you're working. Show people this is what you're doing. and and And then people kind of build that trust with you. And then when you do put something up there that's valuable, people listen and lean in a little more. So path to least resistance is what I'd say.
00:35:43
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's very valuable advice, honestly, because I definitely have got myself caught in the trap of like wanting to put together some nice project and then getting into that like analysis by paralysis sort of problem where you sit there and you're doing so much work on it that you never actually do anything at all. That's a really good perspective. yeah Sergio, do you have any water we doing for us?
00:36:11
Speaker
so so okay walk me through this what what are we doing like yeah one on re eight Yeah, it's like a hot take kind of tongue in cheek. Like what are we like? Mine last week was what are we doing? Not setting time for ourselves? You know, I'm mostly at myself, but like, you know, ah Susie Harlow, my favorite one that I've heard so far of all time was Susie Harlow was like, what are we doing? Not going to win shows, you know, and and and then that that ah this past finals was the biggest wins What are we doing?
00:36:41
Speaker
Audience that the the idiom has seen and I was like Susie you did it. This is all Susie It be something like that. It can be something is what are we doing? and Not tying our shoes before we leave the house? It's it's pretty tongue-in-cheek Okay um I don't know. I think something I was thinking about over the weekend is like how, and this can relate to the marching arts, but I'm so in the film world that like when I think about production companies and
Optimizing Member Experience for Growth
00:37:10
Speaker
them not treating their crews right, it's like, what are we doing not thinking about the experience of our crew members and to touch to the marching arts?
00:37:20
Speaker
what are we doing not getting feedback from our members or getting feedback from our staff? What are we doing not optimizing their experience to you know ultimately help the ensemble grow? right like you don't You can't really pursue on without a purpose and without so botaning people leaning on a certain idea. and If the experience is bad, who's going to follow that? like Who's going to be on board with that? so you know What are we doing not thinking about the member experience?
00:37:50
Speaker
Thank you. Yeah, big time. That's what I thought was fun. like You've said that you get connected with lots of people through marching vlogs. We get connected with people similarly through doing the podcast and Blue Devils people always say the same thing that you're saying, that just like prioritizing the experience is the way to go and that that's what's like led them towards their success over time.
00:38:16
Speaker
Makes sense. You gotta make it fun. Gotta make it a good time. Why would anyone want to come? Why would they want to give you your best if you're not giving them your best? I think I said that a little tripped up somewhere along the way. I think we get it though. But we all get it. Hey, let's ah let's pop over into these gush and gos. Great job, everyone. Set your equipment down. Gush and go.
00:38:41
Speaker
Cool. I'll kick things off this week. It's been super eventful for me. ah This last weekend I just did my ah United auditions and they're still in process. So like I actually, I honestly need to be careful. I can't but need to speak very general. Who got cut? Who got cut? Yeah, we got lists. We got names. And this is where you actually figure out that you didn't get a callback. Sorry. Oh, you weren't listening to the podcast.
00:39:09
Speaker
But um it's it's really cool to me. I feel like actually most of my gushing goes keep coming back to United. ah But from being in that group in 2017 to seeing it develop its two ensemble, like its open program, um and now like We have a drum corps sized, practically, audition for these two ensembles, but everyone is just drummers. It's heck yeah like it's such a cool thing to see for ah United over time. And it's also just like really impressive to me how good the members are nowadays. Because when I first made United in 2017, there were six ah six of us for five spots.
00:39:52
Speaker
um And like nowadays, everyone is better than everyone that made that baseline. um And there's 18 of them for two spots. It's like a totally different beast. um I'm honored to be you know one large hand in the pot, and we don't got a lot of base text. So um you know it's cool to have a real say over like the line that I was a part of for so many years.
00:40:22
Speaker
It's been real cool to me. Can't wait to talk in less generalities. as i get through the sea That's so cool. Uh, and I, you know, as somebody, so I, I'm the executive director of Eva dependent. We're in our, we're going into our third year. Uh, and it's so cool to hear that, you know,
00:40:41
Speaker
What's that? What is that? 17 to 24 is seven years, something like that, that you've, you see that much expansion. And we're seeing that in three years right now where, you know, we just put out our, our, our interest form on Friday and by Sunday morning, there were 30, you know, uh, you know, interested people that were asking about like, when do we pay? You know, it's like, okay. And I start looking through the experience and it's like drum core, drum core.
00:41:09
Speaker
world class wins group, world class, you know, it's like, Oh, shoot, this is way different than the five people that showed up at our first audition camp just three years ago. So it's, it's cool to hear the how quick these things expand. And, you know, sometimes you get a little bit of imposter syndrome or worried about the future, but it, you know,
00:41:28
Speaker
It sounds like they're you know and you know ah the group is in great hands with you there and and you being a part of that process I think just continues on you know the work that you put in way back in 2017. I think that's awesome.
00:41:42
Speaker
Yeah, dude, definitely. And it's like we just brought in a staff member from the baseline from last year. um It was crazy. When he was in my baseline, he had it was a bonus year. So he was already teaching Crossman the summer before. And then he came back to age out in my United baseline, taught Crossman again last summer. So like we're just keeping the train rolling of like people that have really given back to that baseline, getting the opportunity to like come take the reins of it.
00:42:09
Speaker
um Really cool stuff, man. I'm really excited for it. Um, but what do you want to gush and go on about Joey? Um, I guess right now last, this Saturday was my first of six weekends in a row where I'm going to be judging across the U S uh, this one was in Western North Corp, North Carolina. This weekend I go to Virginia and I, I get to judge with just an absolute stacked judging panel. Like Josh Bernays is going to be there from strike.
00:42:37
Speaker
KJ Stafford's on there. Doug, Doug Castine is there. You know, there's Dr. Ambrose is ah is a big music person down here. He's on that panel and I'm like, how did I, why am I, why am I teaching, you know, why am I judging visual performance around these just absolute powerhouses, you know, um and then I go, I'm judging in Wyoming and ah Eastern North Carolina and,
00:43:01
Speaker
And and just I continue on all the way through the last week of october So my gushing goes i'm just judging i'm writing drill i'm getting those last, you know movements out of choreography drill um some some ah Last minute set design stuff. Uh, some big band-aids on some some real uh unpolished uh situations that we kind of saw happening and um, yeah, just ban ban ban. That's where i'm at right now Yeah, band-band-band is like all of our lives, especially in between the yeah days of September 1st and October 31st. Sergio, what do you want to gush and go on about? I was going to say I'm like in the opposite boat. i This is the first time I am not top band in 10.
00:43:50
Speaker
10 years, I want to say. Yeah. I've been teaching drum lines since I got out of high school. So, uh, this is the first fall season. I'm not with any organization. So I can agree. I think i'm it's like so funny that I say that, but, um, but I will be, when I start shooting eventually, like I'm going to, I'm going to message you a schedule really quick. I've got rehearsals starting at two 30 tomorrow. You'll be there. I'm going to tell the, I'm going to tell the band director you're there.
00:44:18
Speaker
So we're just going to get you working. Thanks so much for volunteering your time. y'll be that man Take a deep breath. Take a second deep breath. Those are for me and for Joey. They're not for you.
00:44:34
Speaker
But ah yeah, I guess recently i've been on the I've been trying to expand my business portfolio in terms of video production. So i then ah you know while I have my band clients on those most rampant weeks, I'm starting to build out the rest of my year, if you will, surrounding the non-band moment. Yes.
00:44:56
Speaker
Uh, because, uh, when I did create quit teaching drums, I also quit my day job. So from that moment, I was just fully video. And so nice it's been really fun to like, yeah, that's been my gushing go recently. I was interested in asking, but I didn't know if that would have been like overstepping or what, but it's cool to hear that that is like, you've been able to fully take that leap and dedicate yourself completely to your own page. Congratulations. Oh yeah. yeah Thank you. and And it's not like butterflies and rainbows by any means. It's like it it's totally teaching me a whole new level of like how to manage my life, which is really interesting. Like I've worked clocked in jobs and paychecks for so long and now it's all trying to catch what I eat almost with with video production. It's really fun and really scary at the same time.
00:45:47
Speaker
I could imagine, but now like the ceiling is ah so high. And if at anything, you regardless of how the ceiling would go, it's just cool that you're being able to fully dedicate to your passion. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. Taking the leap has been crazy. Yeah. As, as, as somebody that their, their only income is from marching band. Like I, I empathize and I, you know,
00:46:12
Speaker
I know how, like I, I did not do well at the clock and stuff. I could, you know, I worked for best buy mobile. I wrote a, um, a how to sell book with them. That's, I mean, like I was at that level where it was like, you know, what, how many cell phones do you want me to sell? Okay. You want 13 today. I'm going to, I'm going to move over, you know, a family of 17 from Verizon to sprint. We all know how terrible sprint is, but I'm going to do it because you want phones.
00:46:37
Speaker
I left that you know left those commissions, left those you know the spaces for doing marching band. and very quickly had to be like, Oh shoot, i I, I have to send out emails. Like I have to find clients. I have to, I have to be on time. I have to be professional. And, and that was a different space for me as a, as a person, cause as a dancer and as somebody that was just trying to get, you know, Money to, to buy gas, that didn't matter to me. And so to, to make that switches is real tough. And, uh, you know, I applaud you for making that jump. It's very scary. And I, you know,
00:47:09
Speaker
If you ever need anything, let me know. I'd love to help out in any way, but it sounds like you can help me. You're you're you're way you're way more better set up than I i think I ever was to make a leap, so good for you. Thank you. I don't know if I was any better set up. I think you know i i took the leap when when ah when it wasn't working with my schedule anymore. It was kind of like when my job was like, oh, you weren't here because of a photo shoot. inside And that started to happen more and more. And it was like, and not that I wasn't telling them, it just became to the point where it's like the more miscommunications happen because it was happening more often. and It was like kind of the universe pulling at my string, like it's time to open up more time. you know yeah and that and And I don't think anyone's ready for that. I just, it just happened to be my door that I had to take you. So yeah, you're, you're, you're, I like to think of life as a highway and that was your exit. you know yeah Yeah, totally. I like that.
00:48:07
Speaker
That's awesome. Very good inspirational way to leave off. I kind of hope that in some day I could figure out my own music related niche that fits just right. And I could ah say something similar, but ah thank you for a great rehearsal this week, you guys. Thank you, Joey, for joining me. Sergio, we've been talking about it all episode, but where could they find you?
00:48:30
Speaker
Yeah, you can find us at marchingvlogs or marchingvlogs.com. Find us on all the major platforms. Email us info at marchingvlogs.com. That's where we kind of take in all inquiries and you know answer general video questions if you're a business owner.
00:48:48
Speaker
well Awesome. ah Great. And then you could also find us on our YouTube channel. It's got many of our interviews coming out in full video editions as well. ah Go subscribe so you don't miss those. And before you close out of your podcast listening app, go subscribe, write us a review and share it with a friend. Follow us on social media at on a water break and we will see you at the next rehearsal on a water break.
00:49:17
Speaker
The Ona Water Break podcast was produced by Jeremy Williams and The intro and outro music was produced by Josh Lida. To learn more, visit lidamusic.com. And until next time, thanks for tuning in.