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The One About Flourish Drum Majors
115 Plays3 months ago
Get into this episode where Jack and Nicole dive deep into the recent Tatu in Edinburgh Scotland and Colorado with the amazing Colleen and Zac!
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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
Keywords: Marching arts podcast, Marching band podcast, Color guard podcast, Percussion podcast, Marching arts education, Marching arts community, drum major, flourish, tatu
Thank you also to @guardcloset
#marchingband #colorguard #dci #podcast #onawaterbreak #wgi #drumline
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Transcript
Introduction to 'On A Water Break' and Hosts
00:00:00
Speaker
All right. Hello, everyone. We are back for another week of exciting rehearsals. This week, we're talking all things drum major. So we'll find out what made Nicole say. Well, I was just about to say, you know, this is part of the marching arts and, like, this is something that Flow Marching should jump on.
00:00:19
Speaker
and why Colleen said, and and that was a big thing because Scots guards don't have any females and I'm a civilian. All 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 time for a water break.
00:00:49
Speaker
All right, welcome, welcome, 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 Jack Goudreau. So we're going international this week. We're talking about some marching arts um in Scotland and in the United States, all of the focus of mace flourishing.
00:01:12
Speaker
One of our hosts, well, actually, both of them have both just come back from international tattoo events, international Scottish tattoo events, either in Scotland or in the lovely state of Colorado. So let's see who's on the sideline this week. Nicole, what's up? Hey, Jack. You know, I've never done an episode with you. I know. This is awesome. We're finally crossing paths. I'm so excited to have you on. I know. I know. I know. It's good to hear from you. How are you doing?
00:01:40
Speaker
I'm doing great. um you know I'm into the thick of ah judging for marching band right now. I got the first showdown going to New York this week. so you're travel You're traveling across the country then, huh? ah Pretty much. After that, I go to Nebraska. I'm just jaunting here and there. ah sorry are you what What caption are you judging? um I do visual effect and color guard.
00:02:04
Speaker
Love that. Oh, awesome. ah It's going to be awesome to have your perspective on ah on the show today. All right. Yeah. So now let's bring in our two drum majors, two of my favorite people. um ah So both of them, Zach, she and Colleen starting starting with ah Zach. Zach, what are you up to, man?
00:02:24
Speaker
I've been at the S.S. Park International Tattoo in Colorado ah performing as a flourishing drum major. And I just moved into UCLA where I'll be studying and I'll be participating in the Berkshire Band here. Just to shout out for Zach as one of my former students, we were all very, very proud of you. You're doing awesome. with but you know Thank you.
Experiences of Drum Majors in International Events
00:02:47
Speaker
All right. And then my amazing aunt Colleen, what's up? How are you doing? What you been up to?
00:02:54
Speaker
There we go, I'm sorry. um Oh my gosh, I have been trying to recover from a month in Scotland, a weekend in Pleasanton, followed by Estes Park, and now I've got some other adventures coming up. Two more ah events before the end of the season for me. Very exciting.
00:03:13
Speaker
awesome awesome. Yeah, no, um it's so nice to have the person the tattoo perspective on this show because we're talking we've talked a lot of field show on this show we've talked a lot of parade band but it's awesome to talk about the How do you describe it? the One of the big performances in the Scottish drum major circle, which is the tattoo format, right? So I'm so excited to have you guys on ah with all this ah with all this new travel and new perspective. I'm so excited for our audience to
HBCU Bands and the Honda Battle of the Bands
00:03:40
Speaker
be exposed to this. So let's ah let's move on now to the news. Let's go.
00:04:00
Speaker
All right, Nicole, starting with you, what's going on? Oh my goodness. So, Hondel Battle of the Bands is actually revealing that they are going to have a lineup for the first ever showcase that's in l LA, as in Los Angeles. Oh, awesome. At the Snow 5 Stadium. And, oh my gosh, Nick Cannon's going to be the host.
00:04:22
Speaker
ah yeah that's but venue That's going to be a perfect venue for that performance, right? it's It's a great venue. it's well and they've um They haven't had it there before, but like they've always had it in places that are huge because those HBCU bands are Big um, the more bigger thing than this though is like it's Honda, you know, like you can't get a bigger sponsor than that and This is very true So Honda while the bands is the nation's premier showcase with all the historically black colleges and universities and with their marching bands um They revealed a few like a full lineup just to give you a little
00:05:05
Speaker
taste of what it is. yeah um um It starts off with university of our Hampton University and the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff. So after that, Alabama and M University, they're called the maroon marching maroon and white man.
00:05:21
Speaker
Alabama State, ah Mighty Marching Hornets, Hampton University, The Marching Force, North Carolina A and&T, Blue and Gold Marching Machine, which I have friends who are on staff there. office so Good luck to them. And Southern University human jukebox marching band, which is so great. Man, they're amazing. Oh yeah. I mean, the sound can be heard for miles. I love the HBCU sound. In my opinion, that just that punch, that brass punch, nowhere else on earth can you find that. Except in those schools.
Support for Apalachee High School and Community Impact
00:05:59
Speaker
I mean, they they have it down to a T. So I mean, I i love that that
00:06:03
Speaker
That's coming to LA too. you know like It's awesome that we get to be exposed to that, right? I'm loving the fact that HBCUs are becoming more of a household thing and not something that people are like, oh, what is this? um Two years ago, i did during Black History Month, I did a kind of a roundtable with different sections of HBCU eu marching bands.
00:06:26
Speaker
all together from different marching bands. So it was really cool to have that like coming together and people were talking about how it is because this is all like, yes, they do come together and they play, but there's a swagger that comes with it. There's an attitude and it's all, it's all strumming chip. So it's very good.
00:06:47
Speaker
The history of it too, i mean like the history and heritage of the HBCU band, i mean i mean like it's awesome. that's ah It's such a tradition that should be kept ongoing, right? Right. Check that episode out because it goes into the tradition and how it started and everything else.
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and Cultural Exchange
00:07:02
Speaker
um But just to give a little little more about that, so ah Nick Cannon's going to be the host ah and um We all know about Nick Cannon, but to give you a little bit, he's just done he's a celebrity. So he's done film and he's done TV. um He actually did the show the movie Drumline.
00:07:19
Speaker
oh Oh, awesome. That's awesome. He was that drummer in Drumline. um So I think this kind of like brings kind of some things full circle and hopefully, you know, amplifies those voices even more. um So let's see, there is a huge process for this event. um But the way that we watch it as spectators, you would never even know.
00:07:44
Speaker
I'm not going to go ahead and get into all of that, but I will go down into letting you all know that ah the bands were receiving the bands receiving the two highest votes because they have a roster that they go through. um These schools are eligible for two final spots and the Honda Battle of the Bands 2025 lineup.
00:08:04
Speaker
Um, next so that's how they bookend it. So we back yeah Okay, awesome. Yeah. Well, bill thank you for that awesome piece of news. All right moving on to zack zack. What what do you have for us today? So we're going to be moving to the region of washington d.c Where the eastern high school? Has been honored with a street named after their marching band in june ah the dc council Yeah, the BC Council passed an act to pass a portion of a street after the Eastern Blue and White marching machine to celebrate the achievements of the band. And this street is between North Carolina Avenue and 17th Street, Northeast, um which is going to be located near the school. So what an awesome feat for the marching band and what an awesome way to honor that.
00:08:54
Speaker
That would be really cool. Like somebody asked you like, hey, what high school do you go to? um I go to Bishop Manor. Where is that? Bishop Manor Road. Exactly. Easy. all All right. And back to Nicole. Nicole, what's going on at Appalachian High School?
00:09:11
Speaker
Well, we all know about the um the school shooting that happened um at Apalachee High School. um I know that ah they did have a marching band. um Just to go a little bit more into that, there was a post that was made in the band director's um Facebook page. um Give me a moment. I'm just going to go ahead and read this verbatim because I think it does it speaks more to ah to why this is happening. right So William Kilgore posted this and he said, in an effort to encourage continued support for the Apalachee High School community in Widener, Georgia, we're encouraging bands across the nation to join us. We're asking school bands of all types to perform, record and post their performances
00:09:57
Speaker
of the Apalachee fight song on social media and throughout the internet. They want to honor um those affected by the Apalachee high school event by filling the air with the sound of their school's fight song as an ode to the Apalachee community.
00:10:13
Speaker
ah This fight song videos is just a way to show support to the students in these days of restoration. Performing and posting the fight song is an avenue for band kids who wanted to express their love and care but weren't exactly exactly sure how to contribute.
00:10:30
Speaker
So he says, I'm thankful that we can use music to unite us and create something beautiful in this time of healing. So join us in um actually performing the Apalachee Fight Song. So there's a Google Drive ah that's been shared for Apalachee High School Fight Song um that's been shared on social media. And um let's see, ah William Kilgore is the band director of Jackson County High School. um So the idea is to have every school in America um basically perform that and post it so that the folks at Apalachee can just, you know, feel the support. Absolutely. In music, we have that special opportunity to be one voice together. And I think it's moments like this where we as musicians and as leaders need to be one voice. So
00:11:24
Speaker
For all our listeners out there, our band directors, um we're going to we're we'll share the the Google Drive um in our ah in our posts. ah And if you can just do that, that would be awesome, just honoring those who um who had to go through that incident. It's a very, very delicate situation. And um we send all our ah all our best wishes out there to Dabilachi High School.
Logistics and Performances at Edinburgh Tattoo
00:11:46
Speaker
Absolutely. All right.
00:11:48
Speaker
And just to wrap up our news today, a piece of news that comes near and dear to me and Colleen specifically, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo lead designer, Michael B, is going to step down from his senior role as design lead after his three years on staff.
00:12:06
Speaker
So during his three years, congratulations, an amazing set of performances. He had the responsibility of producing the following ah following Royal Edinburgh military tattoo productions. Three years ago in 2022 with The Voices, in 2023 the theme was stories,
00:12:27
Speaker
And finally in 2024 was Journeys. And these three performances really served as a bookend for the past three years, which has been awesome. It's told the continuous concept of unity and ah kindness through all humanity ah throughout the performance. And he's just done an amazing job at the effects. He's brought on hes brought on ah new shows such as the techno pipes portion of the Royal Edinburgh military tattoo, which has been a really cool hit.
00:12:53
Speaker
It's a proud favorite. Everyone goes berserk. It's really cool. if yeah If you don't know what it is, look it up on YouTube. You'll know exactly what it is. Jack, I have a little ah fun fact for you. Yes, absolutely. When I was in high school, ah junior going to be a senior, um our theater went to the French festival and we actually attended the Edinburgh military tattoo.
00:13:17
Speaker
Isn't it a once-in-a-lifetime experience just to be able to see that level of performance, right? Just to see bagpipes from all over. We saw folks from Egypt dressed in the regalia, playing bagpipes. It was amazing. Colleen, do you have anything to say about it since you've been in two out of the three? You've been in two out of three of those? Yeah. Oh, it's such an amazing experience. Event to be and to participate in the first the first year jack when you and i were there for voices and we did our own Flourishing routine which was i had not been done and yeah never
00:13:55
Speaker
And we had all the performances and um fortunately didn't get rained on. So that was nice. But um meeting all of the the cast and you know talking to the people from where they're from when Jack and I were there was the the kids from Mexico. and They were so much fun. They were such a blast. And then this year we had the um the team from India that came and ah they included the tattoo dancers and they did the Bollywood kind of thing. was very, very culturally um enriching and just really fun to watch. But being in the role this time for me as a regimental drum major was just, ah it was it was awesome. It was very, ah it was fun to actually to be able to walk across that drawbridge and um march down the S-1A and it was mind blowing.
00:14:48
Speaker
Yeah. And so for people who don't know the entrance into the into the performance zone is the Edinburgh Castle. So the entire cast basically goes back into the castle. They light these ah goblets of fire on either side of this drawbridge and the cast marches out onto the Esplanade and Esplanade is a big flat area in front of the castle. And that's where the grandstands are. And so you get these massive grandstands going up stories.
00:15:13
Speaker
and everyone's looking down on you and at night in the in the uh in the scottish gale when it's pouring down uh it's one it's one of the coolest most epic things you can do as like a scottish drum major is to march across the bridge next to the next to the goblets of fire it's really cool really really cool just a side note so that'll wrap up our news for today all right it's time to get back into the parade block so we can be ready for this new homecoming parade so we'll be right back as we dive deeper into the royal edinburgh military queue tattoo and
00:15:51
Speaker
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00:16:06
Speaker
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00:16:36
Speaker
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00:17:01
Speaker
And we are back. All right. So this has been a whirlwind set of months. The past three months for me have been crazy. Colleen, Zach, I know it's been crazy for you, too. So starting with you, Colleen, let's dig into into more of just the performance schedule
Global Drum Major Community and Collaboration
00:17:18
Speaker
that you've been on. I know you've been running back and forth across the world, actually. So what you've been up to? In the end of July is when we fly into Edinburgh and everybody gets their their kits gets their room assignments and Thankfully had en suite this year. So whoo. That was great
00:17:43
Speaker
big deal. um And um so we, of course, you know, we're on the buses, we're going to Redford Barracks to to practice and to get things down. um And those are really grueling days, because there's a lot of standing, there's a lot of waiting, there's a lot of instruction, there's lots of practice. ah And so um it was just very different being in the drum major With the the other tattoo drum majors um and not being flourishing drum majors, we were off on the grass practicing learning our routines, but having to you know take entire off a file of a band and ah lead them through a drill where this year we made the formation of an anchor in ah in honor of the sea services. So that was it.
00:18:34
Speaker
So how was um how is interacting and interfacing with different drum majors from around the world? How was that? And then like who were some of the names that you were marching with? Yeah, so we had six tattoo ah pipe tattoo pipes and drum store majors. It was Kevin Conquest, myself. um We had Pepe from New Mexico. We had Marco from Frankfurt, Germany. We had, um of course, Michael Binder from Edinburgh. And who am I forgetting? Oh, Matt.
00:19:06
Speaker
Hunter um and he was also from Scotland. I think maybe from Glasgow area Very talented drum majors and it was a lot of fun um And we rotated, so everybody got to be on a
Flourishing Drum Majors: Challenges and Techniques
00:19:20
Speaker
performance. And if somebody had family and friends, we would trade so that you know they could actually see us in a significant part of the show. So it worked out really well. And I was very excited and honored to lead the Scots Guards on a few nights because there it was awesome. And it was funny because saying,
00:19:44
Speaker
You're leading Scots guards and I'm saying yes. and And that was a big thing because Scots guards don't have any females and I'm a civilian. And so that was, it was quite a lot of firsts right there. That's freaking awesome. yeah That's that but so awesome. And so could you just describe for the audience, um, we've, we've, we've talked about it in our one-on-one interview before, but what is a tattoo? Could you describe that for them?
00:20:09
Speaker
So a tattoo is a um military display um and lots of music and lots of dancing on and international acts that will incorporate bagpipes. So we had um acts from, ah like I said, India. We had Australia, New Zealand. um Had, let me see.
00:20:34
Speaker
Well, of course, the, oh, the, uh, Aria are, are. Royal, sorry, I'm getting my acronyms mixed up. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police. There it is. Yeah. So, um, they, they were actually in the same.
00:20:51
Speaker
e They were in the tattoo there. They were also at ah um the Essex Parks games. But a tattoo is a ah ah display of, you know, there's marching bands, there's brass bands. There are, I think last year in stories, they had a steel drum, I believe. That's awesome. Right? So that was pretty cool.
00:21:18
Speaker
So Nicole, when you were there, did you well what did you see? Was it just bagpipes? Or did they begin to add in these new acts? Well, i just wanted I was going to jump on and ask that because like when we saw, we just saw bagpipes from everywhere. And that's what like kind of blew my mind is that there all these different countries had a bunch of bagpipe players. um So there were some dancing, but I will tell you that the majority of the military tattooer, the bagpipe players. So I was going to ask like, during all this, this is during the fringe festival. Am I right or am I wrong? Yes.
00:21:56
Speaker
Okay. Cause I was just like, this is like a huge arts time for Edinburgh. Absolutely. All of this coming in like completely internationally. Um, cause I remember just going for the French festival and that was something that we did as an off time because we were actually performing. So that's actually pretty cool.
00:22:16
Speaker
i remember I remember when we were there in 2022, the best part about having it be on that month and with Fringe is the city's alive until like three o'clock, four o'clock in the morning. so you the story I think of my time walking with Colleen and senior drum major Kevin conquest at 2 a.m. To a pizza parlor that was closed and gave us free pizza I mean that was that was ah the best part of of ah going out to Edinburgh at night. All right um Zach, what have you been up to man? What have you what have you been ah doing performance wise life wise just to spill it man?
00:22:56
Speaker
Yeah, so around the end of August, so Labor Day weekend, I participated in the Pleasanton Scottish Games, um where it was a great drum major competition with Colleen with Jack. Lots of fun, spinning and performing in the mass bands.
00:23:14
Speaker
Then about a week later, I went with Colleen and a few other drum majors to perform at the Estes Park International Tattoo, which is a ah smaller scale ah drum major or a smaller scale military tattoo compared to Edinburgh, but still a very nicely sized tattoo. It's held in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, amazing scenery, amazing ah nature and wildlife.
00:23:41
Speaker
um And a really fun fact is because we are part of a flourishing drum major act, we have to toss our maces really high in the air. um And because of the elevation, which is around 8,000 feet where we're performing, it feels a lot easier to toss higher.
00:23:58
Speaker
and it um there are more rotations that I can get from the same amount of force when you apply it. And it's it's just a great feeling. um But it is something we have to get used to. Yeah, but Collian and I helped design the flourishing drum major routine, um which we help teach or and perform with the other drum majors at the tattoo, along with being actually functional drum majors leading the mass bands throughout the performance. So you guys were running double duty.
00:24:31
Speaker
We were. I do have to jump in and ask a question. This is a ah non ah-drum major person asking, can you give me a ah definition or a description of a flourishing drum major? Sure.
00:24:47
Speaker
um So a drum major first and foremost is someone who is a leader of a band um and primarily in the Scottish circuit it is of someone with a large mace um so you can identify them. A flourishing drum major is using those while maintaining the same ability of leading the bands and getting drill sequences, um being able to entertain the audience with flourishing your mace, meaning you get to spin it like kind of like in Color Guard when you're spinning something, but it's with the mace that you're getting drill commands with. um Being able to toss it in the air horizontally, vertically, in the side,
00:25:28
Speaker
um ah there's There are lots of spinning routines and sequences like Color Guard, but it's it's different. Do you do that while leading the band? Oh, yeah. You can. What? Yeah. So like in the California high school marching band circuit, lots of drum majors perform their flourishing routines on the parade block. It's similar to that where When we perform to live music, we perform to bagpipes, um oftentimes marching when we're off lourishing.
00:26:05
Speaker
Multiple responsibilities. Okay. I like it. We always gotta fall back on that marching and deportment, right? Always gotta fall back. Yes Yeah, it's I can attest to that entire ah The change in altitude thing my so I was I can throw a quad pretty easy I I was getting like four and a half's just flicking my mace up like it was it was hilarious like it added an entire half rotation So like you have to like actually spend like three or four hours adjusting to that because it'll throw you off Especially when you're throwing parallels Like it can come down backwards on you. So yeah, no it was and that's no joke that that venue is no joke
00:26:42
Speaker
How long are those maces usually? usually upset shoulder We usually measure from bottom to armpit to shoulder, so I mean, we're throwing, yeah. And it's usually made out of a cane, a specific cane called Malacca cane. So it's usually a very aerodynamic ah ah tapered cane that goes down to a metal bar, and that's a ferrule. And there's a counterweight on it called the crown, and that that's the big part of it, the big part of the mace. So um there's ah there's some imbalance on the equipment, so that's what you use to get it up on ah on a toss. so Yeah, no, um there's lots of lots of interesting factors for
Performance Traditions and Venue Preparations
00:27:14
Speaker
different venue changes. So for Edinburgh, infamously, it's the rain and it's the wind that gets you, right? Like think the good beings, we never dropped, we never slipped out there, but it's also on a slant to that venue, so you're going down a hill. So infamously, there's a story, the reason why drum majors don't flourish in the military is because at Edinburgh, a long time ago,
00:27:39
Speaker
<unk> It's kind of ah it's ah it's ah an urban legend, right? In the drum major world, right, Colleen? Yeah. So one of the regimental drum majors dropped a very, very precious ah mace. These maces can go anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000, right? They can be covered in gold. Dropped the mason performance during a toss. It shattered and then proceeded to roll down the venue outside of the venue. And from that day forward, the boot was dropped. No ah military drum majors sell flourish. Fun fact. No, no regimental drum majors sell flourish. And that means
00:28:16
Speaker
A regimental drum major is usually a number one uniform, right? So they're in the big feather bonnet hats, the full played. really, really heavy wear. However, the most recent the most recent time that this has occurred, ah Colleen and I broke that ah tradition after 70 plus years where Colleen wrapped me up in a ah number one gear and we went out there and I threw in number one gear and did not drop. So, you know, we broke that curse. We broke that Edinburgh curse. We don't really like to talk about it that much, but heck, you know,
00:28:52
Speaker
we'll We'll put our signature on that one. Oh my gosh. So um yeah, there's been just so many performances um in the summertime. And you know, it's it's such a crazy ah ah crazy thing to be able to just jump from one side of the continent to the next. So it's been it's been so awesome seeing ah you out on the on the field, Zach, and calling just absolutely just doing an amazing job. I actually wanted to ask one thing.
00:29:19
Speaker
um about the design for um for the flourishing sequence. So how many drum majors did you have at Estes? And um what was your guys' goal going into that performance? Zach, I'll let you answer that one. Sure. So we had designed our flourishing design for six drum majors. Awesome. um we're We performed to the music of Two Steps from Hell called Evergreen.
00:29:48
Speaker
And our goal mainly is to put on a show. We had about a five minute slot within the entire two hours or so of performance. So we wanted to make our performance memorable.
00:30:01
Speaker
um A big part was showcasing what each drum major could do. So much of our routine was synchronized, but I would say about half of the routine was meant to display the individual ah capabilities of each drum major. So whether that's solos or a group, um group synchronizations of certain tosses and flourishes, it's meant to display both the the ability of how high we can toss, how advanced our flourishing capabilities are, as well as the rigid and um discipline that we can spin with each other, spin as a group, um and our individual capabilities. Awesome. So what was yeah what was the what was one of the tosses that you brought to the shows?
00:30:53
Speaker
um I would say for me, I enjoy doing parallels so but in in the venue just because how easy it is to toss high. Yeah, absolutely. Colleen? Yes.
00:31:04
Speaker
Um, you know me behind the back up just put it up as high as I can um and I just want to I want to give a shout out to Mel gabba who performed with us He is pretty new to the flourishing part and he worked his behind off to Awesome um We saw him we're walking around getting food and stuff and Mel was off in the corner practicing and practicing and practicing and Even sitting on the bus. He would be Doing this and he pulled it off. He pulled it off and super proud of him and Hopefully he will be joining us again on the team in the future. By the way, he's a colonel. He's an awesome human being Absolutely awesome human being and just an awesome leader as well too. So yes that out is
00:31:56
Speaker
100% granted. Yeah, and um it's so cool to be able to interface with drum majors from different parts of the world when you go to these events and learn new things, right? So you were able to share moves, share ideas and concepts. And that really that really builds the camaraderie of our of our circle. And ah just to see you two doing that, I mean, it's is so awesome. So, so, so awesome. And I'm really proud of both of you for being able to make to make a show. And like, how many how many days did you guys have to prep for that?
00:32:25
Speaker
Oh, we had some time. I mean, Zach and I actually zoomed while I was in Scotland just to you know kind of get some ah formation you know where we're going to be stepping into the arena and when standing. And um a lot of the flourishing came once we got there. But Zach already had some ideas in his head. And it evolved as we worked. But we really, let me see, we were there Thursday, Friday.
00:32:55
Speaker
a little bit on Wednesday, I think, um but that really not long, not long to put it together. And ah so it it gets to be a little, ah it's taxing sometimes because it's thin air and you get tired fast, you know, just trying to walk where we were staying up to where we were eating and we're all huffing and puffing. So I have to ask a question. Whenever this is being put together, it's always a collaborative effort. And Edmara?
00:33:24
Speaker
Like any time that it's being put together, like when you're doing these flourishing um ah pieces like is it a collaborative effort with everyone who is doing it or does one person pretty much write it out? So this is interesting because this is sort of a new thing in regards to tattoos is the flourishing sequences Colleen and I um were sort of like in the US proper we've seen we've seen um groups from across the pond in Scotland and Ireland do flourishing routines and we brought that model out into the to the US and so now what we're doing is
00:34:00
Speaker
ah Now that we have access to more venues and in the tattoo world out here. Thank you to Kevin conquest another shadow. Yeah um uh, we're, what we're doing is we're getting larger groups
Advocacy and Innovation for Flourishing Drum Majors
00:34:12
Speaker
of drum majors. So we usually start with an overarching concept in mind, but then we go down to the macro or the micro level part of me, um, where we focus on abilities because this is a cross-generational performances and individuals, um, are better at certain moves than others. So what we try and do is we try and say, okay, what are we good at at these parts? Where can we strategically place
00:34:35
Speaker
each person so that they can really provide that level of performance and awesomeness in the overall routine and so it's sort of a mosaic at each performance is a mosaic and. The best part is when we when you get that clean run afterwards and it looks like just a well oiled machine right new ideas new.
00:34:53
Speaker
um new different types of throws and moves being given at the same time to each compliment each other be it by different levels, ah different level changes, different positions on the field. It's really cool. well ah We'll make sure to post a video of it because it's an awesome performance and ah we want to get more people to see it. Well, I was just about to say you know this is part of the marching arts and like this is something that Flow Marching should jump on so that you can all get all of the ah accolades that you deserve.
00:35:21
Speaker
yeah Thank you. All right, speaking of tosses, we're gonna toss this to a commercial break and then we'll be back with our gushing goes with Nicole, Zach and Colleen. All right, we'll see you in a bit.
00:35:43
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 arts.
00:35:59
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.
00:36:25
Speaker
If you know of a story, or you know of someone that would make a great story, email us at onawaterbrainpodcastatgmail.com. Okay, field staff, take it away.
00:36:44
Speaker
Everyone's in rank and file, so let's do this. It's time for what are we doing? What are we doing?
00:36:58
Speaker
What are we doing? Nicole. What are we doing not having flourishing drum majors on flow marching at DCI? This is something new that needs to be brought out to the forefront and it doesn't need to be hidden. And I really think that this would be something that would be great to bring on to the fields. I'm just thinking ahead of time, but people get on it. I second this. I totally second this.
00:37:29
Speaker
All right, Colleen, what are we doing? What are we doing not having glow sticks attached to our maces so we can do those night tattoos and just like light it? Right? Or better yet, a lightsaber mace. Who would like, right? Right? Y'all, there are people that can get this done for you. I'm not kidding.
00:37:52
Speaker
That would be awesome. It can be done, just like field, was it field of gold or whatever? Yeah, there's no, right? Yes, it can be done. It can be made. Awesome. All right. All right, Zach, what are we doing? What are we doing not having tattoos being more recognized activity amongst, you know, high school musicians and music in general? That's true. That's true. All right. So my final thing.
00:38:22
Speaker
What are we doing about not spinning in number one uniform? Right? Like, people need to give it a try. People do need to give this a try, right? I know there's an entire soapbox of people saying, oh, you need to just be retimental in a number one uniform. But if you know how to do it, if you know how to do it, give it a shot. Dave Melton, one of the amazing drum majors in the West Coast, he does it every competition. And he has a spotless uniform. His uniform is textbook. Perfect. Yes, Nicole. Jack, what is
00:38:54
Speaker
a number one uniform for those listening who don't know. Okay, so basically a number one uniform is a giant uniform, basically a very cumbersome uniform. You have a giant bear skin or a feather bonnet that goes up roughly about one feet over your head, right? So it's huge.
00:39:09
Speaker
then you have this large tartan, right, that's wrapped around to your body, so it's constricting you, and then you usually have a cross belt intersecting that, so there's another constriction on that, and then you have your undershirt, then you hit you're in a kilt with a horse hair sporing, and then usually you're in dillies with ah metal points at the bottom, so there's a lot of interfering factors to flourishing in this, right?
00:39:35
Speaker
But I will say as the guinea pig for this, it is possible and it is doable. So all our glumming is out there and we're scared to do it. Do it. Just do it. All right. ah Great job,
Hosts' Personal Updates and Show Conclusion
00:39:50
Speaker
everyone. Set your equipment down. Gushing goes.
00:39:55
Speaker
All right. And now we're here for Gushing Goes. Nicole, what's up? Well, I always gush and go sometimes about stuff that has nothing to do with color guard or the marching arts activity. so Yeah. So I kind of told you about it before. Um, um, I guess I'm on some kind of journey to become, I don't know, older, but I have these great glasses and they're pretty and we always put them out for like special occasions. Well, we got that. And then we got,
00:40:29
Speaker
this really cute picture to match from one of our friends. I can't wait to use it. I just wanna have a dinner party like tomorrow. But I'm gushing and going about that. I'm here for a matching table set. Matching table sets, very, very nice. And what are the chances? What are the chances? All right. ah Colleen, what's your gushing go about this week? Gushing go, on it's all about the barbecue, baby.
00:40:58
Speaker
All right. Tell us about it. Yeah, I have now three barbecues in my backyard. My husband is not happy. What? You're going to get gas. You're going to get smoked, seared, baked, everything.
00:41:15
Speaker
I'm gonna do. Okay, I'll give you my address. I really like brisket. I really want to try that pie. Like. what I also didn't know you can, you can, you can grill a pie. How does that work? How does an that work? go Yeah, it's all convection. And it it was a ah blueberry pie from the pie company out of Ripon. And oh my golly, it was to die for. Sounds good. All right, Zach, gush and go.
00:41:44
Speaker
night gush and go is i'm going to uh survive my first week of classes um yeah yep so zach i want to know like because you're in school now did you come like right home and go into school or what i went home and then i was home for about three days so then and then i moved in yeah dude yeah okay well We are all behind you. We want you to have a good school year. Thank you. You're welcome. And just just for our audience perspective, Zach is one of the most brilliant minded individuals I've ever met in my life. He's going to be my lawyer, by the way, just a fun fact. Got that long term deposit as an instructor. ah So ah yeah, we're all really proud of you. We're all so proud of you. And you're going to do amazing. Thank you. Tell the audience so what what you're going in for.
00:42:39
Speaker
I'm studying applied mathematics at UCLA. um I want to go into the fields of intellectual property or patent law. yeah I'm super proud of him. All right, and I'll finish my gush and go for the week. My gush and go is, I am so happy this week is over because I am an emergency medical responder training this week as part of my medical school. So, let's finish finals. And so we studied, I mean, we studied basically hundreds of hours for this final, got whacked by this final. I did fine on it. I got like one of the highest scores in class. I'm gonna flex on that. How long is it?
00:43:19
Speaker
But then we got like a day and a half break and then we had to do an online course and this week has been basically a bunch of CPRM 225 models. So my arms are a little bit set right now. So ah drum major practice this week has not been too hot. It's not been too hot at all. So my arms have been feeling it. So I'm looking forward to this week. And so I'm gushing and knowing about that. So, amen. Hey, it's called Gush and Go, not Gush and Stay. Let's go.
00:43:47
Speaker
All right, so this has been an awesome episode. Thank you for everyone, all of our guests that have been here. Nicole, you're awesome. Colleen, Zach, you guys are always just a great perspective to have on as well too. um One more thing, one more thing before we go, we want to plug you guys on your socials. ah Are you on Facebook, on Instagram? Where can our audience find you?
00:44:10
Speaker
I am on Facebook. um Also, if you look at k Clovis saves hardware, I post a lot of stuff on that. but um Colleen McMillan, ah Colleen McMillan Wilson on Facebook. And look me up, got a lot of fun videos to watch. Yeah, if you're interested in anything, draw me to reach out to her and Zach. I am on Instagram at Zach period. She.
00:44:37
Speaker
All right, awesome, awesome. All right, one more thing before we go. Don't forget that we have our YouTube channel now so that you can always go back and watch all the interviews that we've had. Anything that's coming out, we have it all out in full video now, so that's awesome. So you can get to see our hilarious facial expressions. ah So go and subscribe so you don't miss out on those. um Also, ah before you close out your podcast app, make sure that you subscribe to us there and write us a review, share us with a friend, follow us on our socials at onawaterbreak, and we'll see you at the next rehearsal on a water break. Band, you are dismissed. Go practice. Yes, not not this weekend though, my arm.