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Water Break Weekly: Duct-Tape Uniform, Brent Becker Breakdown, + DCi Opening Recap
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This week, your hosts—Jackie Brown (@spintronixguard), Stephen McCarrick (@stephenmccarrick), Ricardo Robinson-Shinall (@RicardoRRobinson) and Trish O’Shea (@trishdish1002)—sit down with:
- Brent Becker (uniform designer extraordinaire; IG: @bbecker_designs)
- Nicholas Moore (Duck Brand “Stuck at Prom” finalist; IG: @BrasstapeBandKid, TikTok: @BrassTape)
- Brandon Worf of Drum Corps AF Podcast (IG: @drumcorpsafpodcast | https://drumcorpsaf.com)
What’s on the sideline this week?
- 32-Count Life Stories with Brent & Nicholas
- Uniform Room News: Inside Nicholas’s full marching-band suit built from duct tape—and Brent’s pro tips on fit, materials & color theory
- Sponsor Break with Guard Closet
- 60-Second Tech Block: Brent’s rapid-fire deep dive into the Bluecoats’ uniform evolution
- Water We Doing?! Rant & rave on esoteric show themes, secrecy culture and “fast fashion” uniform practices
- Gush & Go: Community shout-outs and hype for DCI 2025’s opening weekend
🎧 Listen & Subscribe
• Spotify → https://spotify.link/OnAWaterBreak
• Apple Podcasts → https://apple.link/OnAWaterBreak
• Google Podcasts → https://google.link/OnAWaterBreak
🔗 Resources & Voting
• Vote for Nicholas’s Duct-Tape Suit → https://www.duckbrand.com/stuckatprom
• Brent Becker’s Portfolio → https://instagram.com/bbecker_designs
• Drum Corps AF Podcast → https://drumcorpsaf.com | IG: @drumcorpsafpodcast
🤝 Proudly Sponsored By
Guard Closet – uniforms, flags & gear → https://guardcloset.com | IG: @guardcloset
Peak Group Travel – expert tour planning for bands & drum corps → https://peakgrouptravel.com | IG: @peakgrouptravel
📣 Get Involved
Want to be on the show or pitch a topic?
• Guest Form → https://forms.gle/7GcpYZLfY8Uo54pp9
• Email → onawaterbreakpodcast@gmail.com
• Follow → @onawaterbreak on Instagram, Facebook & X
🏷️ Hashtags
#OnAWaterBreak #UniformDesign #DuctTape #DCI2025 #DrumCorpsAF #MarchingArts #Podcast
Don’t miss next week’s episode—same sideline, new stories!
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Transcript
Welcome and Show Tease
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everyone, and 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. This week's episode is live on YouTube right now, or maybe you're getting the rebroadcast later. Either way, we have a great show lined up for you.
00:00:17
Speaker
We're first going to find out what Mayden Trish said. And I'm not getting any Melissa Gorga on display. And why Steven said. i feel like they're taking a lot of steps to try to to do more.
00:00:29
Speaker
All this and more on this week's episode of On a Water Break. adolfph the met and go book of joanna water break podcast where we brought a water break
00:00:52
Speaker
Hey everyone, it's Jackie. We have a great episode this week and we are going to absolutely twirl it out.
Hosts' Personal Updates and Band Camp Experience
00:01:00
Speaker
ah If you have questions or if you want to be part of the broadcast, feel free to reach out. If you're watching over on YouTube, hit us up in those comments and let's get this going. Before we see who's on the sidelines this week though, make sure you go and subscribe on your favorite listening app, write us a review, share this episode with a friend.
00:01:15
Speaker
If you have a good topic to talk about or if you have a question for us to answer email us at on a water break podcast at gmail.com or you can dm us on any of our social media we also have a form to fill out if you want to be a guest you can check that out at our link in bio let's see who's on the sidelines this week trish just back from vacation and ready to hit the ground running on some dci i hey girl you're on mute oh hi everybody
00:01:46
Speaker
Am I still on mute? Hello. I was waiting until you said my name. Then i was going to pop off of mute. I've been busy and busy teaching, but I'm happy to be here. ni Ricardo, i saw on Facebook, you just got done with a very exciting week at camp.
00:02:02
Speaker
I did. Jackie, you know, that's where you and I met years ago. And that is the most magical week of the year. It's my favorite time. I get to teach with some of the best people in the country. And I get to teach some of the best kids in the country. And it's just, it's like a magical place where all these band nerds get to gather.
00:02:19
Speaker
And they get to be surrounded by other band nerds and frolic and do band nerdy things. It is just heaven. So I hope that I will forever be on the faculty because it's like my therapy. It's kind of like crack, I think, if you were addicted to crack.
00:02:32
Speaker
Camp is my crack. Yeah. I have to ask what the bander equivalent to heroin would be. you know i mean, maybe DCI the band nerd equivalent of heroin. I don't know. Yeah.
00:02:46
Speaker
yeah
00:02:49
Speaker
That's funny. I think me being out in Dayton, Ohio, they've got plenty of that out there. And that's usually where I, uh, that's, that's, that's drummer crack. That's, that's drummer. hero Yeah. Uh-huh.
00:03:00
Speaker
When in room. Yeah. Well, i love the ah the music for all summer camp. It's such a great, like it like you said, we met there and it's such a great experience. i I've had so many of my students go to, students who went as students and students who went as instructors, like on the Color Guard instructor track.
00:03:18
Speaker
Love it. i could Honestly, we should just do an episode about that at some point too. But today- you should. We are- going to talk about DCI.
00:03:30
Speaker
So we should talk about that. We have and awesome guest with us this this this morning. it's It's afternoon for most of you. It's morning for me still. um Brandon from the Drum Corps AF podcast, just coming off of a recap recording from his podcast. So how is it going, Brandon?
00:03:53
Speaker
we We did that last night, and I'm also coming off of this massive project at my house to rebuild my deck out back, which we started that ah May 8th, and it is now June 30th, and we're still not done with it, and we're almost done.
Drum Corps Season Insights
00:04:08
Speaker
ah still have some railings to put up, but my life is... um I would use a different term, but it's it's it's it's crazy chaos right now. Normally, I would use a different term, but yeah, we're not the AFers that we're used to. so Other than that, Drum Corps season's here, and ah we're underway, and it's kind of hard to believe that it's already here, because I feel like we just did WGI percussion two weeks ago.
00:04:32
Speaker
yeah you know Well, I feel like it sneaks up on me, and and then I end up missing a lot of the ah new stuff, at least. i'm I'm still excited to hear about it now. um I'm still processing ah George Washington kicking up punting a baby into the scoreboard of Dayton Arena. I'm still trying trying to let that marinate a little bit. Well, they're coming back. George Mason did not age out, so it's my understanding that he'll be back again.
00:05:01
Speaker
He's in the Spartans. Oh, he's marching Spartans. He's in the Spartans. Little breaking news. Somebody told me, somebody from the Spartans told me, did you see George Mason this winter? I said, yeah, saw it. I wasn't there, but I saw a video. George Mason is in Spartans.
00:05:18
Speaker
I heard he turned into a local celebrity local bit of a celebrity ever around Dayton after prelims because the show was so popular that people were following him around for several hours afterwards. Oh my gosh. I will try to get us George Mason. Don't worry.
00:05:32
Speaker
I'll try to get i try to get him for George Mason, if you're listening to this episode. and I'll pull some strings. I'll try and get them. Ricardo was live at a show.
00:05:43
Speaker
How did that go? oh my goodness. It was amazing. First of all, I'm going to start off by saying this. To all of you people who sit at home and get on your keyboards and talk a whole bunch of crap about drum corps, the activity is not dying. It is alive and well.
00:05:58
Speaker
It is thriving. It is evolving. And it is super freaking cool to watch. Like, I know that I get the benefit this year. Yeah. yeah I get the benefit this year of actually creating drum corps, which is totally fun.
00:06:13
Speaker
But seeing other groups do it and seeing what the the things that my friends created like live and in person, it's like a kid. I'm a kid every year at that first drum corps show because you don't know what you're going to get.
00:06:26
Speaker
you know We live in this age of everybody doing these elaborate uniform reveals and show reveals and all that stuff. But that doesn't mean anything until like you actually see it on the grass. And child, let me tell you, the stuff that I saw, I only got to see three cores week. I saw Cavies, Phantom, and Carolina Crown.
00:06:44
Speaker
And all three of them, it's just like, wow. Like, this, this, everyone is smart, everyone is thinking about things, and the kids are pushing the activity.
00:06:56
Speaker
Like, it is... It's so awesome. It inspired me to be ready to go back on tour today, which I'm going in just a few hours to rehearsal. But ah um i you know like the the creativity that comes along with it and and things that are being pushed in design, and especially now in the age of like all the digital printing stuff and how things can be coordinated from top to bottom, from uniforms to flags to props, all of that those things. I mean, it's just and something spectacular to see.
00:07:26
Speaker
And you know all drum corps is good drum corps. I don't think that there is such thing as a bad drum corps, because any corps that makes it out onto into the field has already like beat the odds um with all of the stuff that it takes to be able to do that. But just the stuff that I saw at the show,
00:07:42
Speaker
ah My face was blown off by the Carolina Crown and the Phantom Regiment. um How I was a proud alumni seeing the Cavaliers take a step up this year and do something that was really cool and kind of went back to the roots of being the Cavaliers.
00:07:57
Speaker
It was great. Then i have been on the internet because fortunately my algorithm has flipped over to summer mode. So I'm getting all of these clips from all these other drum cores. And I'm like, I can't wait to see everybody's show.
00:08:12
Speaker
I cannot wait. I cannot wait.
Costume and Design in Drum Corps
00:08:14
Speaker
So my first drum core show is in three days um as a competitor and I'll get to see the West Coast cores. And I'm super jazzed about that.
00:08:23
Speaker
So we'll talk about that after I go and see that show. with that I haven't seen much yet, but I'm really, really jazzed about ah the Blue Coat show because it reminds me a lot of like the 2015 Kinetic Noise type of vibe. And that's my favorite drum corps show ever.
00:08:37
Speaker
Can we talk about those uniforms? Like, I love how that uniform is like a modern take on like their old, old uniforms, like the the old policeman jacket uniforms. yeah And I, the the clip that I have seen so far, um which I'm going to rant and rave on this, um,
00:08:54
Speaker
they they have this giant swing flag that they open with, and it made my heart so happy because I don't know who made the rule that we can't have swing flags in drum corps, but I don't like that rule, and I'm over it.
00:09:07
Speaker
a The only argument I have ever heard for it is, that's so band-o. um Guys, drum corps is just advanced band. That's literally all it is. Drum corps is band-o. So, bring back swing flags.
00:09:19
Speaker
2026, if I'm designing a show for somebody, somebody's going to have swing flag, and everybody's going to love it, because going beautiful, and we're going to get them GE points. Love me some swing flags. I'm so excited to see that. ah To piggyback on what Ricardo was talking about, ah we recorded for Drum Corps AF last night, and one of the themes of discussion was how the Bluecoats feel like they have kind of gone back to their 2013 to 2016 era conceptually, and they're really playing up a lot of the tropes that they did during those three or four shows. And it's, you can see that they're doing that in addition with what they're using to push the activity forward through kind of what they did between 2022 and last year.
00:09:57
Speaker
ah a lot of ah E flat, E flat major, ah seven ah third inversion chords, you know, that D on the bottom with the E flat up top, but, ah yeah ah I also want to point out that this is the first year in a while that we've had a net gain in total cores in the activity participating this year as compared to the previous year, especially with All Age and the former DCA ah crowd. We actually have 15 or 16 ensembles participating this year. I think we'll get 14, maybe 15 to Indy, but we'll we'll see how many to get down there.
00:10:30
Speaker
um Yeah, its it's going to be a fun year. I didn't realize that, but that, uh, it kind of reminds me too. I feel like I see DCI doing a lot of the old stuff it used to do. And I know they just got a new CEO recently. I feel like they're taking a lot of steps to try to, to do more.
00:10:47
Speaker
Like they're bringing back the, uh, theater. show, the one where they ah ah do the Fathom events in movie theaters around the country. That's coming back. I'm so excited for that. they actually a tour premiere They've been doing tour premiere in theaters for a while now. They actually ended up killing off the ah prelims event in theaters last year because that apparently was losing a lot of money.
00:11:11
Speaker
ah yeah Mainly just because you the theaters aren't going to make much from that and we're not going to make anything from it because... you know, it's how how do you charge with that? I fear for that. When I saw they were bringing it back big loud and live, I fear for that. Cause I used to love that.
00:11:24
Speaker
bunch of my friends would go to the theater right here at Garntay Plaza. Like we would all go meet up, but now is everybody just so used to, cause it wasn't, it wasn't there last year. Are we all just so used to watching it home on flow marching?
00:11:37
Speaker
I hope it's a success. I think so. Yeah. na But I'm not, I'm a little worried for it. I definitely think the streamability has been the thing that killed that off. And to go back to what Steven was talking about, um what's it what's what's old is new again has really been a big ah big thing this the last couple of years, especially like what Cavaliers did in 23 with their anniversary show where they pulled back whole elements of previous shows and put them in. And you know the uniforms are kind of evolving into old designs are new again with new elements on top of them.
00:12:13
Speaker
ah arrangements are coming back with the same kind of ah style and mentality. it's i think some I don't want to say designers are getting lazy, but I feel like some of them are going back to the well because they're looking for inspiration in a sense.
Show Designs and Trends
00:12:29
Speaker
Well, think, you know, when you say that going back to the well, I think that the well is so deep and there there's so much fullness yeah inside that well that there's so many things that you can pull from. And I know for myself being a designer, it's like, how how can I challenge myself to do something that I know is that that i know works and that I know is good?
00:12:47
Speaker
How can I do it in a different way? How can I approach it in a different way and still keep the integrity of what it is? And I think we're seeing that with the design of most of these shows, at least the shows that I've seen so far and the clips that I've seen so far.
00:12:59
Speaker
So it's super interesting to kind of watch that that transformation and that cyclical like repeat of taking elements back, even back some back to like the 70s. We've had some throwback stuff you know to those days, and I'm here for it. I am here. Play me some Chilin and Gioni.
00:13:17
Speaker
Do it. bring it Bring out the Chick Corea. Yeah. I definitely feel one of the big ah catalysts in this, I think we're in the midst of a paradigm shift in the activity in terms of trying to reconcile the history and and the heritage of where drum corps and a lot of the marching arts so came from in the mid-century, mid-20th century up till now, to try and bridge the gap that seems to exist between the elders of the activity and the the incoming members. And they're trying to do it in ways that are palatable for the people and the alumni who have been there before, but also it's entertaining and exciting and inspiring to the younger performers who are trying to come in or that they're trying to get into the activity so that we can keep it going and keep it rolling.
00:14:04
Speaker
It's so funny because I feel like this is the perfect way to segue into I was at the All-Aid show on Saturday night in Shelton, Connecticut. Stephen, were you there? Yeah, Bush was there. I was there.
00:14:15
Speaker
We had to get in and out. Yeah, no, I heard. oh you Exactly. But um I feel like now, I feel like all age is going to be, like, rushing to catch up. Like, you got, like, it seems like Worlds, and probably Open, have, like, done everything that you guys are talking about, kind of bringing it back a little bit. And I feel like all age took...
00:14:39
Speaker
Like they're taking your former approach a little bit. Like the shows in all age are so innovative and so like, you know, I think they're going to be running a little bit to catch up with you guys as you swing it back around, you know?
00:14:54
Speaker
So, um, yeah, it was really, really interesting. I mean, just the, the, I'll tell you what, you got to listen on July 11th to my all age episode, but I won't go too far into it. But I'm going to tell you something right now, Steven, you're going like this.
00:15:07
Speaker
It's not a two, it's not a two horse race this year. Although the bucks are very, very strong out of the gate as usual, super innovative. I keep busting Nick Tavares is chops though, because, um, who, for those of you who don't know, he's like their program designer. Um,
00:15:24
Speaker
And keep us in his chops because the show is entitled on display and I'm not getting any Melissa Gorga on display the show at all. So swing and a miss.
00:15:36
Speaker
Yeah. Where is it? Come on. Where's Real Housewives in New Jersey? Come on. Let's get Melissa Gorga on display, on display. No, come on. Anyway, but they're out of the gate.
00:15:47
Speaker
Phenomenal. Phenomenal. Can't say enough you know good things about it. But Bushwhackers and Caballeros. I mean, a little torn here because I'm a Bush alum.
00:15:59
Speaker
I believe Magenta and Blue also. um conflict of interest. As as um a Bush alum, I get the whole infinity thing.
00:16:10
Speaker
Very, you know, very special. But wow, the show is really incredible this year. But I also have two kids in the Caballeros, two former students in the Caballeros. So there's that, but they were good too.
00:16:23
Speaker
I just think it's everybody's, you know, really stretching out, pushing the envelope this year. And I think it's really, really going to be something. Well, here's the big that i think.
00:16:35
Speaker
Yeah. at least when it comes to Bush. Like at the end of the day, it's still hard to compete with the size of cabs and bucks horn lines. But this is the first year where I think Bush is really doing like a fun forward show. The music for the Bush show is awesome. All three movements are really cool, modern and fun.
00:16:53
Speaker
And I just think like seeing that happen in Lucas oil is just going to make Bush look even more attractive. And it's not going to be long at all. I think that's going to really add to it, whatever they wear. are Yeah, that'll be a big part of it because I like the color scheme a lot already. So I'm excited to see kind of that get filled out. It's very bush. It's very magenta and blue. It's very, you know, with other things going on there too. But I can't wait to see if the guards wearing. I think that's going to take it up even another notch. So my thing for the my bottom line here is even if Bush doesn't win it this year, I think that this show is going to draw a lot of people to Bush. And it's not going to be long before they have the same size horn line at Bush that they do at Cabs and at Bucks. Agreed. I definitely have to say that ah the placement is going to be hard to suss out for a lot of these groups because there's so much parity across the top six particularly. ah
00:17:49
Speaker
First, second, and third is going to be really tough between Boston, and the Bluecoats, and probably... BD or... ph and And this is where it gets interesting because Phantom looks like they have something that could give them momentum from last year to vie
Creative Projects and Interviews
00:18:02
Speaker
for metal. ah Crown is still in the mix with those. So Phantom, Crown, and BD are all going to be duking it up. And do not sleep on the Santa Clara Vanguard either. Right. Vanguard is coming out swinging this year because they got momentum from last year and they were able to prove that, hey, we can do this without the props. We can rely strictly on our visual game like we did 30 years ago. the Mandarins are still in that mix. The Blue Stars...
00:18:23
Speaker
probably building up something last year that may have a little bit more momentum. And then everything from ninth place on back through 16th is a complete toss up. And it's, it's going to be utter chaos to see it from here until finals.
00:18:37
Speaker
I was just informed that Ricardo needs to get on the bus or he's going to miss it. So we're going to let you guys go. i And Brandon, if you want to go and get that Drum Corps AF podcast produced and up so we can all listen to it, it'd be awesome.
00:18:57
Speaker
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00:19:05
Speaker
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00:19:21
Speaker
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00:19:35
Speaker
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00:19:47
Speaker
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00:19:59
Speaker
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00:20:12
Speaker
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00:20:26
Speaker
All right. Welcome back to the sideline. going to take you guys to the uniform room today for our news segment. So let's go do that.
00:20:52
Speaker
I am so excited that this worked out because we actually have a newsmaker here with us on the pod today on the live show. If you have not yet seen it on social media, our next guest is absolutely making news.
00:21:06
Speaker
He's trying to win a contest. He made an entire band uniform out of duc tape. So everybody, please welcome Nicholas Moore. Now, of course, when I knew we were going to have Nicholas on, I immediately thought about one of my good friends who is ah band uniform designer. So super professional here. Brent Becker. Hey, Brent.
00:21:33
Speaker
So I think we had you on our previous show that we used to have, but this is your first time joining us on a water break, right?
00:21:43
Speaker
So we need to get your 32 count life story. Sounds good. Yep. All right. You know how this works, right? So we're going to give you eight off the mat, and then you're just going to dive right in and tell us everything that has happened to you from the day of your birth till today. All right.
00:22:05
Speaker
Hello, I'm artist educator and uniform design specialist Brent Becker. Music and art are my lifelong passion and profession. I've been a uniform designer since 2007. Several prominent cores, college bands, and high school programs have worn my uniform designs.
00:22:19
Speaker
I'm also an adjunct instructor of studio art and art history with 20 years of classroom experience. My personal artwork has been shown internationally in juried exhibitions it can be found in many private collections.
00:22:30
Speaker
Outside the studio and lecture hall, I've been a brass musician for 36 years, performing in a variety of concert and marching ensembles, including symphony orchestras, eight years of drum corps, including top five drum corps and other community music organizations.
00:22:48
Speaker
Awesome. Okay, so now that Brent has set the standard, ah Nicholas, are you ready? Yes, I am. All right, Adolph the Met, and we're going to start all the way from the beginning of your time to now.
00:23:09
Speaker
So i was born and raised in North Carolina, and then in first grade, I joined the Boy Scouts, and I'm about to become an Eagle Scout soon. In second grade, I started to do science fair, and I found a passion for science and engineering, and I really love it.
00:23:22
Speaker
And then in sixth grade, I joined i joined um the band and decided to play French horn, mainly because my brother played sax and I wanted to kind of fall on the footsteps with the band.
00:23:33
Speaker
So, um um and then whenever I joined high school, I learned trumpet and mellophone and currently learning baritone. And I have a love for music ever since.
00:23:45
Speaker
Right there, right on the dot. That was awesome.
00:23:51
Speaker
So I got to say, as as a science teacher, I appreciate the love of science and engineering leading you in as you join band, because that's essentially what happened with me as well.
00:24:03
Speaker
And I can see something interesting behind you back there. This was actually a completely new story to me. So I'm curious the why, the how. ah Tell us a little bit about this duct tape uniform that you're creating and the contest it's for and and the whole story here.
00:24:19
Speaker
Right. So when I originally started thinking of a design, I really wanted to incorporate music somehow because I, marching band, concert band, and basically anything musical. um And I thought with all the instruments I've learning, it only makes sense that I make a brass musical themed duct tape suit.
00:24:35
Speaker
So I decided to do that. And I decided to also incorporate, um, gold duct tape to act as kind of the brass in it. um I decided to also put like sheet music in there there ah that you can actually kind of read.
00:24:50
Speaker
um i wanted to make it an actual song, but I decided not to because that might conflict with like copyright. But yeah. um But I also incorporated a Shaco because i thought the uniform itself might not be seen as marching band and I really wanted to incorporate marching band because I i love i love drum corps, I love marching band, so yeah. So I added ah i added a Shaco and Shaco wouldn't be complete without a plume, so I had to make a really big plume as well. Have you seen this up close?
00:25:24
Speaker
I have not. I've seen images through social media. It's rather impressive. A lot of times when thank you folks are starting out in uniform design endeavors, they forget things like, oh, where the arm sleeves and all that, where that seam should be, that there should be a neck hole. You're noticing things that need to be in place from a practical standpoint, but the aesthetic of it is is it's truly amazing. And I wish you the best in this contest endeavor of yours.
00:25:53
Speaker
Thank you so much. Yeah, so it's a scholarship contest. And if it's the same as – I feel like I remember seeing this when I was in high school that duct tape brand, duct tape, holds this contest each year for you to build your prom dress and tuxedo from duct tape.
00:26:14
Speaker
So how did you first hear about this contest? What made you want to like actually, you know, i know you said talking about science and engineering and wanting to build stuff, but like, like what made you say, Hey, could, I could do something with this.
00:26:26
Speaker
Yeah. So my sister actually was in the competition before. And um that's kind of how I learned about it because she also is really into design. And um so I decided to to give it a shot as well. But i think the main thing that made me want to do it is i i'd really just have a love for for like all types of arts, not just the not just like the music industry.
00:26:49
Speaker
um So I thought this would be a good way to showcase my other forms of art too, like design. Yeah, definitely. And I bet along the way, it probably has been like a good learning process and solving problems. I think that's a lot of what goes into engineering and science to begin with.
00:27:04
Speaker
So this entire construction is probably a much more complicated endeavor than it looks like from the outside looking in. Yeah. Yeah. Brent, you think you could walk us through like the actual making of a uniform? and Oh, my goodness. Well, the abbreviated version, or at least like I think what we want to focus on here when we talk about structure and form here, because I'm seeing it um on a dress form in the background there.
00:27:28
Speaker
and and as worn in the images that have been circulating through the interwebs, um yeah they're it it needs to have um a certain amount of structure. I'm curious, Nicholas, did you look at a pattern? Did you go over an existing men's suit form or tuxedo form?
00:27:47
Speaker
ah what was What was your process in terms of getting that structure that, yes, that reads as a structured garment there? um Yeah, so i used kind of old clothes as a foundation or a base to tape over. um But actually with the the jacket, I needed to make it a little longer just because of how it designed better.
00:28:06
Speaker
So i i i um I actually sewed on some muslin to the end of the suit jacket in order to tape over that as well. So you are getting kind of what we refer to as a practical draping experience here in the the garment industry. And that's where you are actually modifying existing forms, which is what so much of of fashion design really relies on.
00:28:30
Speaker
um There's only so many ways to make a suit. It's really down to colors and materials here, which in this case are are very much enjoyed by me from you know my years in the in the industry. So did you do anything with the way of of buttons? is there How are you approaching the the textures the there of it? know I heard brass earlier and I heard stuff about script music or sheet music notes there.
00:28:54
Speaker
What other fun details have you incorporated? Yeah, so I did a lot of, I did do the buttons. they For coloring specifically, I did a lot of gold highlights. Like you can see in the lapels, I made the tie out of gold and I made all the buttons out of gold as well.
00:29:12
Speaker
um If you look really closely at the vest, you will see actually um um a lot of different, like, uh, cutouts of instruments on them.
00:29:22
Speaker
Um, there's like, there's French horns on them. There's trumpets, they're baritones and melliphoses. Cause I wanted to or incorporate everything that I, um I can play. And I will, um, it was very hard to do all that. Uh, had to like cut out each individual one. And not only that, had to just design each individual one and make sure that they were all, ah uniform, all, ah uniform, but they, it turned out really good.
00:29:48
Speaker
So. I agree. It looks great. For future reference, something like a Cricut machine can help you if you digitize those forms. You can just print them and peel them out and stick them. Just a pro tip for later on, right?
00:30:00
Speaker
Yeah, I used a Cricut machine to cut them out mostly. Nick, how long did it take you from start to finish to put the design together? i actually had to log all of that. It took quite long, but it took around 97 hours, I think is what he said.
00:30:17
Speaker
And another question we had, how many rolls of duct tape? We also had to log that. It was around 42 rolls of duct tape.
00:30:28
Speaker
Okay. I it was expecting more too. they Yeah, this is ah so this is ah ah contest for scholarship. and People can vote on it. So it's it's based on votes from the public.
00:30:39
Speaker
um so How do people find this and vote for your design? um So it's on the Duck Brand website. And also with my social media links, I post out um ah links to voting and QR codes to voting.
00:30:52
Speaker
um And I have ah friends who run like rest. I have some friends who run like restaurants, like some family friends, and they put up like QR codes in their restaurant. And I'm also making little like button pins that have the QR codes on them um in order so i can just hand out to people and they can go vote online.
00:31:09
Speaker
Awesome. Well, we need to let Steven go to his rehearsal and let's go, let's all go vote. Let's
Travel and Design History
00:31:18
Speaker
go do that right now. Yeah, I'm going to go vote right now.
00:31:21
Speaker
You should too.
00:31:37
Speaker
Ready to elevate your travel game? Welcome to Peak Group Travel, the ultimate adventure creators. Whether you're planning an unforgettable class trip, a once in a lifetime parade experience for your marching band, or a choir tour full of memorable performance venues, Peak Group Travel handles it all, so you can focus on making memories.
00:31:55
Speaker
From breathtaking international destinations to amazing adventures right here at home, Peak Group Travel customizes every journey to your vision. We're not just planners, we're your partners for the trip you want for your students.
00:32:07
Speaker
Our online registration portal makes managing your pre-trip experience smooth and convenient. We even collect your payments if you'd like. Picture it. Effortless planning, unmatched experiences, and smiles that last long after the journey ends.
00:32:21
Speaker
That's the peak group travel difference. And if you choose to partner with Peak on your next tour, and you mentioned that you heard about us on the On a Water Break podcast, you'll earn a $100 trip credit. Discover why groups everywhere trust Peak Group Travel.
00:32:34
Speaker
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and be sure to visit peakgrouptravel.com today. You pick the date, and we'll make it great.
00:32:52
Speaker
So we were just talking over the commercial break and Nicholas, I, I gotta know about these shoes. Tell me about the shoes that you made with this whole ensemble.
00:33:03
Speaker
um Right. So the shoes actually, they, um i kind of wanted to incorporate a little bit of ah marching style to them. So they are ah black, but they do also have um shoot sheet music swirling around it.
00:33:17
Speaker
And they have a girl gold trim at the bottom. That's awesome. They look so good. i of course, what's your, ah what's your Instagram handle so that people can go and look at pictures of the, ah of your ensemble.
00:33:32
Speaker
Right. So Instagram is at brass tape, ah brass tape band kit, I think. And then TikTok is at brass tape. Nice. All right. With that.
00:33:44
Speaker
We have our wonderful ah designer expert here. So he's going to give us a 60 second tech block to get us all ready for our new
00:34:03
Speaker
60 second tech block. That's my favorite part. I laugh every time. Shades of Patricia. for you guard people. Oh, it's like Ricardo came back. short Brandon's back.
00:34:18
Speaker
Hey.
00:34:23
Speaker
All right, let's do 60 second tech block. This is the segment where one of our hosts or guest clinicians is put on the spot to deliver a nonstop 60 second tech session on a topic that needs some serious attention after the last run.
00:34:35
Speaker
Our special tech this week has come prepared with three topics they think they can talk about for a full 60 seconds straight. No hesitation, no pauses, just pure technical gold.
00:34:46
Speaker
And this week... We're going to throw it over to Brent. So, Britt, you said your best topics were dressing up the occasion of the performance, making it special, winning at all costs, or the 2011 to 2015 blue coat uniform designs.
00:35:06
Speaker
What do you guys think? Let's vote. um They're all so good. I agree. I'm going to lean in towards the blue coats uniforms. i knew you were going to say that. I say the same.
00:35:19
Speaker
Everybody wants to know about the blue coats uniform. It's very precious, yes.
00:35:25
Speaker
Brent, are you ready? i guess that's the topic that blew everyone away. Let's go. o We see what you did there. Trish, can you pull up 60 second timer on your phone? All right.
00:35:37
Speaker
Let's do it. 60 seconds on the clock. All right. So I was approached by my employer and the executive director of the Bluecoats to refresh an image that they established in 2009 with Michael Gray.
00:35:53
Speaker
His uniform design had been based off of an anime series of all things. So there's some pop culture reference happening there that's kind of law enforcement oriented. tying into the blue coats history there.
00:36:06
Speaker
After that look was um played out for a second, we moved towards the long ah British Bobby style, more 19th century look there with the long coat ah that was featured prominently in the show Tilt.
00:36:21
Speaker
So ah that again, there's a lot of history and a lot of cultural references happening within all of those looks. 10. 10. and
00:36:31
Speaker
oh I thought I was just giving you a warning and you were like beating the clock.
00:36:39
Speaker
I, okay. I remember. They definitely do have that, uh, that 19th century British brass band look to them. I just remember the moment I saw the anime that the, the previous design was based on. And I was like,
00:36:52
Speaker
I don't remember my husband was watching it or something. And I was just like, what that what is this? Is it a drum car uniform in an anime? And, and then i so I had to text Brent and be like, what is this I'm watching? And he said, you know, it's the other way around.
00:37:08
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. So there's definitely some trans specific cultural, uh, ah what what we call like pollination going on there between these ideas and that. So inspiration comes in the most unusual places. And I think sometimes the more obscure, the better.
00:37:25
Speaker
But, you know we should own where these things come from and ah not try to disguise it too much for sure, especially if you're trying to connect to that reference directly. That ties perfectly into Nicholas and where he was getting the inspiration for his designs.
00:37:39
Speaker
All right. That was a solid 60 second tech block. So hopefully someone out there just got that tech advice. They didn't even know that they needed, especially as they're designing their fall show.
00:37:50
Speaker
So it's time to switch things up and get into our favorite segment. What are we doing? What are we doing?
00:38:06
Speaker
What are we doing? All right. This is the part of the show where we let you let loose a little bit or maybe a lot. This is your chance to rant about something in the marching arts that just doesn't make sense.
00:38:18
Speaker
Maybe it's a tradition that needs to go. Maybe it's a habit that performers can't seem to break. Maybe it's something that makes you think, why are we even doing this? Or why haven't we started doing this yet? Whatever it is, this is your moment to call it out. So who's got something they need to get off their chest first?
00:38:33
Speaker
Trish? i' I'll start. um I got something that we were talking about last night on Drum Corps AF when we were recording. i What are we doing with... And this is a common complaint that's been around for a couple decades, so it's not necessarily new.
00:38:49
Speaker
But it's starting to become actually a little bit of a thing, I think. like Maybe it's just because I'm getting old. ah it it What are we doing with these shows that seem to be esoteric for esoteric's sake?
00:39:00
Speaker
Where are the show concepts that are accessible to the audience member and the people in the stands that don't have access to the show notes or the program notes? Where is the digestible, uh,
00:39:13
Speaker
<unk>s and music and repertoire and themes that are ah are consumable at face value without having to have a dissertation to go with them. where What happened to those? it's not We don't have to go over to the show bands and HBCU got universes.
00:39:31
Speaker
They still have the ability to do that, to put something on the field that is immediately consumable and recognizable. why or Why did we go away from that? Is the quest for GE so sacrosanct that we cannot maintain some kind of some kind of accessibility.
00:39:46
Speaker
Sometimes I think we're just pretending to understand what the show is about so that we seem like we're as smart as what's going on in the room there.
00:39:57
Speaker
i also For me, it's always been, and you guys that have studied music can absolutely shut me down because I don't. But um for me, through the years of working with marching band and listening to people talk and listening to music ed and music performance majors in school, think a lot of it has to do with the fact that back then, and I'm a back then girl, you didn't, it was just,
00:40:22
Speaker
You did drum corps for different reasons. Now, I think you see more music ed majors and music music um performance majors that are studying this large you know library of repertoire that are sitting in a practice room somewhere going, this will make a real, you know what, when I'm a band director, I'm going to play, I'm going to show about this piece of music.
00:40:49
Speaker
And now those are the people that are doing drum corps. And also ju drum corps has also made themselves more accessible to those people by changing the, more you know, the move in times, you know, when you have to be at spring training is largely based on when the college kids get out of school. Well, who are those college kids?
00:41:07
Speaker
They're the music majors. So, you know, I think that for me, that's always had a lot to do with it. Talking to my, you know, music ed friends that, you know, around marching band, marching bands I've worked throughout the years.
00:41:19
Speaker
Oh, they, you know, they know this piece by Mahler and they know this piece by, and I'm like, you know, don't even give me the score. I need the MP3 to write the work. Like, I don't know anything about that, but like, yeah I think that has a lot to do with it, that there are, it's geared more towards that.
00:41:36
Speaker
music, you know, people that are studying music in college and want to be marching band directors or want to play in, you know, the Met someday or whatever. I think that that has a lot to do with it, that they're asked to study this broad spectrum of repertoire and shows come out of that and concepts come out of that. To me, that's, that's me.
00:41:55
Speaker
Well, Trish, does that lead right into your, what are we doing? Okay, so my what are we doing was going to be about um why are so many color guards wearing blue this year?
00:42:09
Speaker
and didn't know why that happened. Oh my god, yes, why What happened? It's not just a color guard thing, it's drum corps too, man. Everybody's got blue. But I have since changed it. is ah If anybody wants to steal it, go ahead.
00:42:21
Speaker
I've since changed it to like these show announcements and not telling us ah until the day of your first show what your show is.
00:42:32
Speaker
Is it really ruining it for anybody here? Mm-mm. Like if they'd have told us two months ago what their show was like, all right, I knew a little while ago, the crusaders show was called boom.
00:42:43
Speaker
We didn't know anything else. Really. We just knew it was called boom. Watching it on flow. The other night did not ruin it for me. It did not ruin it for me. You could have told me your whole rep. You could told me what the cop, like, you know, all these cores that are like, Oh no, we have to keep it a secret. We to wait until the day of make this big announcement.
00:43:02
Speaker
Is it ruining it for anybody? Really? yeah I have to agree. Like, I thoroughly love the troopers for putting out their show repertoire and concepts back in November and actively promoting it. And I don't understand what the point of this secrecy stuff is, because what purpose are you serving by doing that?
00:43:19
Speaker
No one is coming out and actively trying to steal your concept material in April, you know, after camps have come out. like you cut the crap and just tell us what you're doing. It helps with recruitment.
00:43:30
Speaker
Oh, but it's called marketing. It's not marketing. Build it up and market it. Like for example, okay, I start this, one of my many teacher summer gigs is I work at this summer music program at a school near my house.
00:43:45
Speaker
And i teach a color guard class from 830 to 920. Then I teach a Zumba class from 930 to 1020. And then I have the whole rest of the day to myself. So it's wonderful. But and the first thing at the color guard class this morning, first of all, the color guard class grew in size from last year. So I was like, do we even have enough equipment here? I mean, I have some, I'd have to bring it tomorrow, but do we even have enough equipment here? So I talked to, I was like all right, let's do this today for the first day. Let's talk about color guard, what it is, blah, blah, blah, whatever.
00:44:13
Speaker
And I said, does anybody have any questions? And one girl raised her hand. I said, yeah, she goes, what song are we doing? So like that matters. Like it really matters. Like she doesn't know how to spin the flag yet, but she wants to know what the song is going to be, what the, you know, what, what song going to perform to. It's so important. You know what I mean? so it does matter.
00:44:33
Speaker
Brent. I would say that as a, as a, to real quick to piggyback as a performer, if, if you're not telling me what we're playing musically, because it's the, the show, so the show concept and theme is so secret that you can't even tell the members what they're playing to or what the music they're playing.
00:44:50
Speaker
That happens. I feel like that's name tell them right away either. I feel like that's a detriment towards member retention and recruiting in the long run. And if you're trying to recruit to prospective, uh, know, high school students, college students that want to do drum core, ah it's, it's going to be hard for them to get on board. if you, if you can't tell them what you're working on because, Oh, Hey, how are we going to get excited about secret project X?
00:45:13
Speaker
Right. but Crap about that. No, you're, you're fooling yourselves and you're letting your, ah your, your own vanity get in the way of things.
Sustainability and Technical Elements
00:45:22
Speaker
Brent, what are we doing?
00:45:24
Speaker
what What are we doing? Okay, I'm saying the current costuming paradigm is the marching arts version of fast fashion. This is an idea that garments are designed for single season use, often cheaply produced with synthetic materials that do not biodegrade and are destined for landfill.
00:45:44
Speaker
No one here has the funds to make the i in DCI interplanetary. We have one planet and we need, you know, I'd love to see marching on Mars someday for the sake of that planet. We need to do better.
00:45:56
Speaker
We need to overcome this fear of committing to an image for longer than a 10 show season, insisting on specific au terre versions that needs to go out of style and fast. Any authentic designer can work with what they have instead of insisting on every aspect of a largely musical program.
00:46:14
Speaker
ah bending it towards their visual whims. Save the planet, wear are uniform.
00:46:21
Speaker
I'm reminded of the three R's mantra from the 1890s, the reduce, reuse, recycle thing. And the first step to eliminating or reducing your carbon footprint is to reduce your consumption. And plastic is oil-based. you want to reduce you want You want to cut your carbon footprint, travel less and buy less plastic. That's the two easiest things you can do right there.
00:46:41
Speaker
And beyond that, like every argument that they say, well, we have to theme our our stuff to meet the, uh, the show design. No, you don't. Some of most iconic shows in drum corps marching band or WGI history were done with consistent uniforms year over year that were reused from member to member.
00:46:56
Speaker
And they will forever be indelible in our minds because the, the, the show was sold irrespective of what they were wearing. You know, Spartacus Spartan deal to fan more of those uniforms the year before the year after that, or they were recycled from previous years.
00:47:11
Speaker
Why do we have to have something new every year? Yeah, we can also buy consignment do less do more with less. I think is kind of where where we're going here. For sure. So Nicholas, you kind of know how this flows. Do you have any, uh, what are we doing things to question our whole society color? Our whole ah do marching art society.
00:47:34
Speaker
I do. um What are we doing with the drum corps shows that don't follow, they don't have as much technical aspect in the brass as they use like as they once used to? like they Like, recently they have technical aspects, but but when you look at a show like ah Carolina Crown all the way back in 2014, they had ah like fast triple-tonguing and double-tonguing passages that I think that they should still um try to put on during ah these times instead, like after COVID.
00:48:04
Speaker
I think after harloff feeding complaints, let's not forget to mention how a lot of things are just unison. nowadays too you know yeah yeah we're losing the articulative uh stuff as well as um the harmonies and counterpoint stuff that used to be in there go back and listen 80s 90s drum cores and some of those beast mellophone sections that were doing all these wonderful little riffs and runs on top of things now we do a mellow sustain it's like okay wonderful for intonation pleasant on the ears but give me the energy of a nice little run there yeah especially like um sorry
00:48:41
Speaker
but
Closing and Listener Engagement
00:48:42
Speaker
Go ahead. Great job, everyone. Set your equipment down. Gush and go.
00:48:48
Speaker
All right. Let's change it over to the gush and goes. This is your chance to shout out something awesome happening in your life. It could be marching arts related. It could be not marching arts related.
00:48:59
Speaker
i Maybe you're excited about a performance, student success, life event, just something cool you want to brag about. We're going to be no negativity here, just pure unfiltered hype.
00:49:09
Speaker
So... Who wants to start us off? I feel like Nicholas should have to go first for this one. Okay. I can, I can start. Um, so obviously I'm very excited about the the duct tape suit and i'm very excited for the, um, the, the competition and everything.
00:49:26
Speaker
Um, and the, the judging that's currently going on and the voting, um, that ends July 9th and you can vote every single day. Um, so another thing I'm really excited about is my great. great um my marching band My high school marching band's band camp is coming up in like later July, which I'm very excited about.
00:49:46
Speaker
ah Two weeks from 8 to 8, so a lot of work. But i'm ah really I'm really excited about um Nightbeat that's coming up. Since I'm in North Carolina, I can ah i get to go to Nightbeat and see it kind of in the mid to later season, all the all the drum corps shows, once they've improved like so much.
00:50:07
Speaker
Yeah, going to so much fun. Trish, do you want to go ahead and gush? think would almost help us to listen. go ahead. As I said, we have an actual young person performer here who could you know give us lots of insights someday, collect their thoughts on repertoires and uniforms and the like. That would be certainly fascinating to hear more of someday time-pending.
00:50:30
Speaker
Trish, what do you want to gush and go on about? I also want to gush and go about the start of the drum corps season. I went to an all age show, um, the other night that had a lot of, also had a lot of alumni corps and, um, and open class corps, seventh regiment. And, you know, it's always just so much fun. It's so exciting to see what everybody's doing and, um, see what, you know, what everybody looks like. And, yeah,
00:50:53
Speaker
You know, even, even that I came home from Connecticut. I walked in the door and I popped on flow marching and I was able to see the end of drums along the Rockies, which was cool. So I love this time of year. i love getting, you know, getting to see everything. And I have two former students of the Caballeros color guard.
00:51:12
Speaker
I, my cousins marching in spirit of Atlanta's color guard. So, you know, I'm all, I'm really excited about all of that too. So bring it on, bring it on. DCI 25, let's go. Brent, what would you like to gush and go on about?
00:51:28
Speaker
I think mine is is bittersweet in that my child is entering their final season of high school band camp here, and they're starting their rehearsals up. and It's my last time to be that band parent. So it's um It's, again, it's nice to see, but it's like, this is the last time I'm like that kind of connection to what I'm doing as opposed to designing for other groups and that sort of thing. So I got to design the uniform that they wear. So it's it's it's really, again, that bittersweet, but ultimately positive thing because you want your kids to spread their wings and and move on from where they are.
00:52:10
Speaker
Brandon, you want to gush and go? ah Yeah, I've got a couple things. One of my students auditioned for the K-State drumline and made the snare line on his first time up as a junior, which is good. we haven't had anybody repped on their drumline in a couple of years from my institution. um My deck is almost done and drum corps season's here and I wasn't ready for it this year, but it's here and I'm kind of, I'm here for it now. So it's it's going to be fun.
00:52:35
Speaker
i get to go to one show this year. Unfortunately, don't get to go back to finals until maybe next year. So yeah. Hey, it's called Gush and Go, not Gush and Stay. Let's go.
00:52:51
Speaker
Thank you guys for a great rehearsal this week. Thank you, Brandon from drum core AF for spending time with us today. Make sure you guys go check out their podcast and listen to their drum core recaps.
00:53:03
Speaker
um Thank you so much, Brent and Nicholas for hopping on, especially, I feel like it was super last minute that we pulled you guys in, but this was like perfect. um Thank you so much to Steven, Ricardo and Trish for hosting with me.
00:53:17
Speaker
um Let's talk social media. Where can people find you guys? Brent, where are you at on social media? I am bbecker underscore designs on Instagram. I'm under Brent Becker on Facebook.
00:53:30
Speaker
Most of what I do is visual. So go go see the sketches before they become reality on Facebook and Instagram. Sketches are super fun too. And Nicholas, do you want to go ahead and throw out your social media handles one more time?
00:53:43
Speaker
ah Yeah. So Instagram is brass tape, ah brass tape band kit. Sorry. ah you should go follow. And then at TikTok, it is just add brass tape. um And then please vote for me at the Duck Brand Stuck at Prom website.
00:53:58
Speaker
Vote every single day. They all count. ah If you guys have ah question or a good topic to talk about, make sure you email us at onawaterbreakpodcast at gmail.com or find us on social media and DM us if you want to be on the show.
00:54:11
Speaker
We even have a form to fill out if you want to be a guest. We love having people on the podcast. So check that out at our link in bio on our social media. Or you could just take out your phone, you could make a video, send it to us, and maybe we'll insert it in the podcast.
00:54:25
Speaker
One more thing, don't forget about our YouTube channel, which we are on live right now. Go and subscribe to our like our show so you can see us on there. You can catch up with the lives. You can make comments, all that sort of good stuff.
00:54:38
Speaker
And before you close out your podcast listening app, go subscribe, write us review, share this with a friend, follow us on all of our social media at On A Water Break, and we'll see you at the next rehearsal on A Water Break.
00:54:53
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.
00:55:05
Speaker
And until next time, thanks for tuning city