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OAWB From The Stands 2024 WGI Winds Roundtable (with Susie Harloff, Jose Montes, & Austin Hall)
158 Plays1 year ago
Join Chris Rutt and his amazing panel as they discuss the what’s going on with WGI Winds 2024. His panelists include:
Susie Harloff - @1417sooze73
Austin Hall - @horizon_winds & @austin_hall10
Jose Montez - @eva_winds & @joeymontes57
Listen to the main episode to keep up on everything going on in the marching arts with our hosts:
Meet our Hosts
Jackie Brown - @spintronixguard
Stephen McCarrick - @stephenmccarick
Cindy Barry - @leandermomma
Nicole Younger - @o2bnpjs & @thecookoutcg
Trevor Bailey - @t_pain151
Trish O’Shea - @trishdish1002
Beth Beccone - @bether7189
Chris Rutt - @wildhornbrass1
Cynthia Bernard - @cynthiabern
Ashlee Amos - @famousamossss_
Theo Harrison - @harrisontheo07
Stephanie Click - @stephanieclick
Whitney Stone - @dancerwhit
Justin Surface - @J_dex07
Ashley Tran - @itsashleytran
Jack Goudreau - @goudreau_
Bill Woodward - @remoking100
Emily Nee - @tch.makes.art
Ricardo Robinson-Shinall - @ricardorrobinson
Callie Quire - @cnquire
Music provided by leydamusic.com Follow him @josh.leyda
Avatars provided by @tch.makes.art
Featuring
Lexi Duda - Host for On A Water Break In Rhinestones - The Stories of the Twirlers @lexi_duda
Thank you also to @guardcloset
#marchingband #colorguard #dci #podcast #onawaterbreak #wgi #drumline
Recommended
Transcript
Celebrating Indoor Winds
00:00:02
Speaker
Hey, hey, hey, everyone. It's Christopher Rutt, and I'm excited to bring you something we haven't done on a water break podcast yet, and that is celebrating indoor winds. We're here with an amazing panel ready to break down what's going on with the winds this season. So let's get started.
00:00:33
Speaker
Welcome everyone to this special edition of On A Water Break From The Stands, The Winds edition. I'm very excited to be here today to bring you some amazing clinicians standing on the front sideline this week. So first we have from the mighty Avon, it's Susie Harloff. Welcome Susie. Hi everybody. From the staff of Horizon Winds, we have Austin Hall.
00:01:03
Speaker
And we're also very, very excited to have the director of EvaWinds, Joey Montes.
00:01:11
Speaker
So, Susie, we've had you on a few times here already, and I think our audience is very familiar with you, and of course, the mighty
Panelists' Backgrounds
00:01:19
Speaker
Avon. But before we get into Susie, let's talk about Austin and Joey. So you all know how this works. We have a thing called the 32 count life story, where you get 32 counts to tell us everything there is to know about you from birth until now.
00:01:35
Speaker
It's about 30 seconds and you'll get about eight off the mat and then you're in. So, Austin, looks like you're first. Ready, set, and go.
00:01:48
Speaker
All right. Good morning. Um, I am originally from North Carolina. Um, I grew up in there and I went to Martin Ridge high school. I went to, or I marched in the trooper drumming before the cadets from before I've been in Florida for five years now, the, and involved with horizon wins my entire time down here. Currently a visual clinician and designer and just teacher across all the visual arts.
00:02:14
Speaker
in Florida, Texas, groups in North Carolina, just kind of all over the country and kind of really just expanding my brand right now. Okay, Jose, it is your turn now for your 32 Counts of Life story. Ready, set, go! Oh boy.
00:02:33
Speaker
Well, my name is Jose Antonio Montes III, but most people call me Joey. I'm originally from El Paso, Texas, and I'm a visual designer currently based out of North Carolina with clients across the US. I write drill, I design props and uniforms, and with my extensive dance experience, I also choreograph for band and guard.
00:02:52
Speaker
I come from a music family. My big brother's a band director and a percussionist. My little sister's a clarinet player. My little brother and dad play guitar. My mom is a singer and my grandma's probably a huge supporter and inspiration of why I started Evan Independent. I'm a dog dad and a lousy texter, but I don't want to talk about that here.
00:03:13
Speaker
Well, thanks, Joey. That's awesome.
Growth and Challenges of Indoor Winds
00:03:15
Speaker
So, Susie, you've been really instrumental in getting the WINS competition off the ground. How do you think things have been going since 2015? Well, I'm pleased to say that it feels like the WINS activity is continuing to grow, especially in the A class level, which is where it should grow. We have more groups signed up this year than ever in the A class. What I wish would be happening more is that we would get
00:03:42
Speaker
A little more visibility from WGI, from the local circuits, and more people in attendance. This weekend, Avon and several other groups competed in the Mid East Power Regional held in Northern Kentucky, Cincinnati area. And we had a prelims and finals on the same day.
00:04:01
Speaker
And at prelims, the crowds were low. Of course, it was in the morning to be expected. And we were all excited for finals, hoping to have, you know, big crowd of other groups watching. Maybe the percussion guys hung out a little bit to check out the indoor wins. And when they pulled back the curtain, it was just sad. Like we just, we need people to come watch wins. It's such a great activity. It's still building and still like every group is so different because we're still trying to figure out what it is. And that's one of the coolest things about it is how different everybody is.
00:04:30
Speaker
I just wish more people would come see it. It is growing, but I wish it would grow a little bit more. I agree. Why do you think people haven't really grasped onto the whole indoor winds thing yet and want to stick around and watch it? Yeah. Well, I mean, I think first of all, a lot of people don't know about it. I mean, it's still funny to me how many people have never heard of it.
00:04:54
Speaker
Which again, more visibility from the circuits and WGI would be great. But I think another reason is there are not a lot of groups in. And so, you know, if a high school brings a percussion group to a percussion event, which wins are usually grouped with percussion a lot, they don't have a wins group. And so they take their percussionists and go practice or go eat, you know. And so because we don't have a lot of schools that have them,
00:05:21
Speaker
we don't get the students and the parents from that school to watch. So more visibility I think would help and just getting the word out that it's a cool activity people should check out. Yeah. Oh, I agree. Agreed. I know in Southern California here, we have just a smattering of the indoor winds lines. Um, then they're not even in like the top judging circuit out here too. They're in a more, uh,
00:05:46
Speaker
a lesser circuit. But they're trying.
Innovations and Community Focus
00:05:50
Speaker
They're trying to get out there and do stuff. But I agree because the circuit's almost about 10 years old now, the whole indoor winds thing, which is crazy to think about that this has been around for almost 10 years. But yeah, we definitely need to get some more people
00:06:08
Speaker
involved in watching and promoting and pushing out content to really bring focus to what this whole indoor wins thing is. Yeah, and Christopher, can I add one more quick thing, too, about hesitation schools might have to start an indoor wins group? If they would just reach out to the people that do it and ask us why we do it and what the benefits are, if they even just try to put out a little A group and just see the effects
00:06:35
Speaker
that indoor wins has, not just on marching band the next season, which obviously having kids moving and performing all winter is a huge help in marching band. But our concert bands have seen benefits because the kids are playing more, you know, and they're stronger players because they're playing in indoor wins on top of concert bands. So not to mention the performing and the friendships and the memories and all that stuff. I mean, it's it has been huge for us. And I just wish people would, you know,
00:07:02
Speaker
Give it a chance. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. I will say this. I know that my wife, the middle school band director out here, she'll show the WJI wins videos to her, to her middle school kids to say, look, this is what's possible. This is what you could possibly do yourself. Just got to get your band directors involved and say, hey, we should try this. And the junior high kids are just enamored by what they're doing on the gym floor. It looks so foreign to them, but they're so excited about it.
00:07:33
Speaker
Austin, can you tell us a little bit about Horizon Winds and how your season's been going so far? Yeah, Horizon, we're in a really, really good place right now. So recently the organization was kind of just restructured just from top to bottom and it's been really great. So we've had two directors in the past and
00:07:55
Speaker
They've just kind of done everything, but now we've kind of restructured, kind of turned it more into like the drum core side of things. So like we have an administration team, now we have caption heads, not just kind of like every man for himself and like just kind of everybody does everything type deal. Like we have caption heads, we have a music person, digital person, movement person, and we all have staffs underneath. And it's just, I think the benefit for the kids and seeing the structure that we've been able to provide like rehearsals and everything has just
00:08:24
Speaker
really been able to get us in a better spot. We've been able to do more than we've ever done before from a production standpoint. We've had more kids than we've ever had before and honestly they're really thriving with the product that we're giving them right now. The biggest thing that we're doing
00:08:48
Speaker
is we're actually kind of experimenting with what we can do and we're doing something different that I haven't seen a wins group do ever. So I'm really really excited to put this product out for everybody and I cannot wait for you guys to see it.
00:09:06
Speaker
That's fantastic. Can you explain maybe one or two things that you guys are doing that's experimental that you haven't seen other groups do without giving away anything? Because, you know, season secrets and all that jazz. Sure.
00:09:22
Speaker
Let's see, the best way I can put this is that we're really experimenting with what they can do with their bodies in a specific character role. And we're trying to implement that character role throughout the show as much as we possibly can.
00:09:40
Speaker
And we've given our students the creative freedom to kind of really explore that more than I've ever been involved in in any sort of indoor or outdoor show. And it brings a whole new sense of life to the show and a whole new sense of performance quality to everything that they do. And it just makes the entire show just a lot more believable.
00:10:05
Speaker
Great. Yeah, I always agree that if you give the performers a little bit of ownership to their role in the production, that it becomes that much more personable to the audience, because now the performer is able to connect with the audience member in a very unique way, but still fitting within the confines of the program itself.
00:10:29
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. Yeah, that's that's what our performers have started to really grasp on to the past couple of weeks. We're in a very unique situation with our season this year. We we had like three or four shows right out right out of the gate, like in February and then just kind of with the way that our circuit championships and Dayton lined up there. We're we're like in six weeks of no shows.
00:10:51
Speaker
Um, so it's we're a little, we're a little scared, but we're, we're really digging into production and really digging into making sure it's super, super presentable by the time we show up to our circuit championships, which happens to be the Sunday before we have to go to date. Just how schedules line up really weird way, but happens. It's part of the gig. That's how, that's how it's going to go. And right. Yeah. Uh, well that's great. Um,
00:11:22
Speaker
Joey, what about the season over there with Eva Wins? The season's going fantastic, I feel. Kind of like what I'm hearing with Horizon, we've restructured. This is our second year in existence. And so last year, I joke around a lot where it's like the end of the year, what happened last year in A-Class. We were really excited for, but definitely not expecting. There were more rehearsals that we were planning where we were going to eat.
00:11:49
Speaker
afterward, then I feel like rehearsing or even just getting anything constructive happening. But I think it really built a culture of community there at EVA. And so this year we knew that we were going to have a bigger community. So we needed structure and staff in place to help grow the young guns that we were going to get this year. And so now we have caption leads.
00:12:13
Speaker
And we have dedicated section tax and we have an administrative team and we've kind of absorbed a little bit of Empyrean winds that ended up not coming out this year. And so they've been pretty helpful up in Virginia. They've offered us their sound system and a trailer and they've given us horns.
00:12:32
Speaker
The season has really, really been about community and how do we come together. There's kids that have been part of world class wins on groups, Scholastic wins groups. And then there's kids that this year was their first year doing marching band and the marching band was 12 strong. And so getting those people on the same level has been interesting, but definitely fun. The show this year is called Flawless, which is a terrifying thing to call something that's judged.
00:13:01
Speaker
because I feel like it sets up an expectation. We put it to a vote and the members are like, now we can, we'll work. And I feel like they've done that. The story is about a lump of coal and its transition into a diamond. We talk about it through pressure, heat, and time. And it's a metaphor for the organization. I felt like last year, like I said, we were a lump of coal. I mean, we walked into prelims,
00:13:25
Speaker
warm up there in Dayton without a generator and we're like, oh, um, I guess we're gonna, we gotta warm up. Let's figure this out. You know, it's so like just little things like that where, you know, like it's your first year as an organization. You're like, well, that didn't make it on the trailer and we're 12 hours away. That's not gonna whatever, you know? And so.
00:13:44
Speaker
you know, starting as a lump of coal and hopefully by the end of the season have something refined and a process going forward is kind of what we wanted to make the show about. And then the show in its entirety is about just being yourself and having fun. And we've tried to get the staff and the students to focus on that and grow together. We have like a
00:14:02
Speaker
we call it family dinner so after like a show or a Saturday night rehearsal they'll go out eat some food together and and just communicate and and hopefully uh build uh build relationships that they'll see forever uh see uh grow forever um that's fantastic yeah that really is to to build that sense of community
00:14:23
Speaker
It's super important. And also learning how to get down the road. The logistics involved with getting down the road is absolutely insane.
00:14:36
Speaker
Hunter. Oh, he's in Texas. Yes, he was talking about how he got his business degree after being a band director and he was shocked to learn the amount of things that he would learn in his business school that band directors automatically have to do already with logistics and getting down the road. So I thought that was
00:14:59
Speaker
Really, really interesting. Before we go to a break, Susie, can you give us an update on how Avon's been doing, especially in the wins category? Well, we're having another wonderful year. We're going to the Macy's Parade in this Thanksgiving. I know. And so we just assumed our numbers were going to go down because that's a lot of money for kids to pay for marching band and pay for indoor wins and pay for marching band again next year.
00:15:27
Speaker
That was not the case. We had 90 kids this year and it is, it is kind of a thing at Avon. We don't cut people. If you want to do it, you do it. And, um, especially indoor winds, just, it's such a great training and, um, it's a great tool for us. And so we're like, okay, how are we going to do this 90 kids? Well, Richard Hinshaw, who writes our drill, he has figured out how to, how to do it. But we, I think we've reached a point where we're like, okay, if this happens again next year, we might need to,
00:15:55
Speaker
make some changes, restructure some things. I mean, we're obviously thrilled that so many kids wanna do it. It's awesome. But our show this year is called Start a Wave. It comes from a Cody Fry song that they use at Disney's California Adventure. And it's basically about how you can do something in the ripple effect and how it affects other people, but obviously in the pageantry arts.
00:16:17
Speaker
It's very easy to do waves visually. And so we just tried to think of as many ways as we could to represent every kind of wave you can imagine. Um, and that's been really fun. We have two sided uniforms where it's lighter on the front, darker on the back. And so that has been really fun to play with visually. Um, and of course Vince Oliver is our ranger and he's just freaking genius. And it's just been a great year. Our daughter's a senior and she starts the show. She's so cute and, um,
00:16:47
Speaker
We're just having a blast and loving watching other groups and loving that like, I think we talked about this before we started recording that indoor wins the community as a whole is incredible. How supportive we are of each other, how we love watching each other shows, how the kids cheer for each other. I mean, yes, it's a competition in their scores, but really it's just a celebration of band and what we do. And it's just such a fun,
00:17:15
Speaker
And so we're loving being a part of that. Yeah, exactly.
Looking Towards 2024
00:17:19
Speaker
And we were talking, as you said, before we started recording that, like, in the drumline world, they're all about a tenth here and a tenth there. And ooh, and ooh, they lost GE by six one thousandths of a point. Ooh. And in wins, we're like, look, look what we're doing. We're playing music. And it's awesome. We love it. And we wanted to be as clean as possible, but really, we just want to perform.
00:17:43
Speaker
stuff. That's awesome. Okay, so we need to we need all the woodwinds with Suzanne and Joey to go over and learn the new body section and Austin and I will grab the brass and go over that last lick in the opener. We'll be right back to talk about what's going on with winds in 2024 and who our panel is excited to see.
00:18:18
Speaker
Hey everyone, it's Jeremy, and here are your announcements coming from the box. You wanna drink up on a water break lost in translation with Cynthia Bernard, uncover the glitz and glamour of twirlers with on a water break in rhinestones hosted by Lexi Duda, get the insider scoop from the stands with on a water break from the stands with Cindy Berry, aka Leander Mama, and join the band family in on a water break family style with Stephanie Klik, plus much, much more to come.
00:18:48
Speaker
Make sure to follow us on social media at onawaterbreak for all the latest updates and bonus content. Got something to share or a burning question? Email us at onawaterbreakpodcastatgmail.com. So don't be the person that doesn't tell their friends about a water break. Make sure everyone stays hydrated. Okay, field staff, take it away. Let's reset.
00:19:18
Speaker
All right, we're back. We're talking about all things WGI wins 2024. And so we're going to ask everyone on the panel what shows or groups that they're excited for this season. Let's start with Susie. Who have you liked? What are you seeing? Who do you like? Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Do I only have to pick one? No. I'm going to do like a quick list, okay?
00:19:45
Speaker
So I watch some of the virtual groups and I'm always excited when Mililani from Hawaii is coming out. Such kudos to them. Avon, we drive two hours down the road, we're there. I can't even imagine what they go through to get here. But anyway, I watched their prelims video. Their show is not complete. They didn't have costumes on.
00:20:05
Speaker
but I can just tell it's going to be pure Mililani. And one of the things that they are so good at is movement and performance. They're just beautiful movers. And I'm just excited to see them a date and what their show complete and all their movement in. I'm looking forward to that. Catawba Ridge, which I believe they compete in Scholastic Open. So well trained, so well trained. Like those kids, everything they do is just crisp and clean and beautiful. I can't wait to see them live. And then some of the groups that I got to see this weekend,
00:20:34
Speaker
in the independent world category, both Vaquero, which I think used to be U-T-R-G, whatever. Help me Austin and Joey, what was that? Yeah, they did used to be a U-T-R-G-V, which is University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, all the way down in Brownsville. I'm glad they changed their names because I love it. Vaquero wins and LSM. Like I want people to see wins because these groups are so good and they're so different. Like Vaquero,
00:21:03
Speaker
very movement based. They have these skirts on that on their uniform that they use so beautifully and it's a very like intellectual kind of a show. I was just intrigued the whole time and then LSM comes out like and they look like they're in Italy and they do uh what was the opening song? I forget anyway it's like quintessential Italy, Italia and they're very character driven and just so entertaining and so
00:21:29
Speaker
Those groups are great. I can't wait to see the other independent world's groups at Dayton. And then my last one, I have to give a shout out to Westfield wins.
00:21:37
Speaker
our little Indiana friends, not little, they're not little, it's a good program. They moved up to Scholastic World this year and I am so glad they did because their show is just, it's very different than Avon. We are approaching the activity in different ways but equally as awesome. They're very movement based and I love their choreography and their performance qualities and I'm just so excited that they took the jump up to world class. So big shout out to them. Fantastic, thank you.
00:22:07
Speaker
Austin, your turn. Susie, you beat me to the punch on Mililani. I'm sorry. They are, I've always just been in awe of that program. I can kind of jump into some logistics and how they, on how they do things. So they actually have two, they actually, from what I understand, I know I'm friends with some people who have worked, who have worked there in the past and who still currently work there. They actually purchased two floors. They have one in Hawaii.
00:22:35
Speaker
And they also, at least in the past, they've had one in Hawaii. And then when they come out to here, they actually ship a floor to somewhere close to Dayton. I don't know how they do it, but they do. They
00:22:51
Speaker
obviously do the virtual prelims and everything and then they come out and they have rehearsal facilities and that's just kind of what they do. They're just incredible movers. I've always been in awe of what they do just from top to bottom. They train every single one of their students in movement
00:23:09
Speaker
And like even their pit, even their pit, their pit does dance block every single day with them. It's, it's incredible just to kind of see what emphasis they put on movement training. And that's something that I think that we can bring to the mainland a little bit more overall.
00:23:23
Speaker
just because of the quality of everything that they do. Very expressive things. Couple other groups that I'm really excited to see. I'm really excited to see Kent City indoor. They've, from what I understand, restructured a little bit and jumped over to the independent side so they can pull more from their local community and have more than just their high school.
00:23:45
Speaker
which I'm really excited to see their show. They've always been very good at what they do. It's very simplistic, it's very A-class, but they achieve everything very, very well. Baja Lewin's out of Miamisburg is an open-class group that I'm really excited to see. Very young organization.
00:24:02
Speaker
But the Miami's bird people are just awesome. They they're very very smart They design everything very very smart and they train and train and train their students I think they actually have one of the largest age ranges in the winds activity like one of my one of my instructors from the troopers actually
00:24:22
Speaker
He's in the group this year. I think he's 31 and he's just like I just want another shot at it I just want to do it again. I'm like good for you, man. I respect it. I really do and World class on that side of things. I mean, how can you not be excited to see Avon? How can you not be excited to see them? I actually got the opportunity to
00:24:43
Speaker
head up there and hang out with them this weekend. I'm still trying to figure out how Richard put 90 students on a floor and made it look like 60. He made it look like 60 the entire time. It's absolutely gorgeous. They play
00:25:02
Speaker
They're just Avon. That's the best way I can put it. Avon is just doing Avon things, and they train their kids so well, and they set themselves up for fall, and they're just really, really, really good at what they do, and those are the groups that I'm really excited to see. Fantastic. Yeah, but absolutely. Joey, what about you? I think everybody said all the things already. I do have a grievance to pick. I'm 31. What are we saying about people that are 31?
00:25:31
Speaker
My body hurts. My body hurts. My body hurts. I can't do it. Yeah, we are borrowing some Jupiter tubas and those things are tough to hold. We actually put a big horn manual in and the tubas are like, can we make this a two count? And I go, but the music's a one count. And they go, you come and do this.
00:25:56
Speaker
Maybe I shouldn't march. The kids keep joking around every time I put a that's the thing we do at EVA is like, OK, you know, last year we played laying down on the ground facing up towards the ceiling. And this year there's some like they're sit rolling and playing. And there's a kid that does a backbend and plays and.
00:26:10
Speaker
And the way we're doing it, and I'll tell everybody, fitness is key. We have a physical trainer that does an hour of physical training with the kids every rehearsal. And then they have homework during the week. But the silly things that come in, I had to go, hey, what if you just backbend here and did your solo? Or what if you did XYZ? But anyway.
00:26:31
Speaker
They they try to get me to March every single time and now now that you said that they're gonna They're gonna make me they're gonna make me do something in the future. So so thanks Austin. I Think I think everybody should be excited to see Avon I've seen little clips on tick-tock and Instagram and every time I see it I go
00:26:49
Speaker
One day, one day I'll be smart. One day I'll be smart enough to do something like that. I just need to study more. The waves are so cool. Just how simple the idea is, but how complex you can make it. And I'm sure I'm refusing to watch any of these shows in full until they're done so that I can get the full.
00:27:09
Speaker
the full visual and vision behind it. But I'm excited to see Avon and Waves. I'm excited to see Vaquera. I've only seen their uniforms. And I'm like, oh, that looks so intense. And their social media is so good. And how well... I love that when they didn't have the uniforms, they had their Vaquera shirts and shorts. And the same thing for the group Strike. Strike had the same thing with their jerseys.
00:27:35
Speaker
I just think how put together they look even at the beginning of the season. I can't wait to see it at the end. Horizon, I can't wait. When the show announcement came out, I was like, this is going to be so cool.
00:27:48
Speaker
I think Corinth Holders is something pretty close to my heart. I've had to take a slight step back and work just mainly as a designer and let the staff there do their thing. And I'm excited to see how they bring this idea of when the one door closes come to play. There's 20 kids on the floor and four of them have never played an instrument before.
00:28:09
Speaker
And so, yeah, I just I can't wait. Yeah, the staff has been pretty phenomenal with getting those kids to do open class level things. And then Valhalla, every time I see the umbrellas and stuff and see how put together they look, I can't wait to see. But those are my four. I'll list them out. Avon, Vaquero, Horizon, Corinth, Valhalla.
00:28:30
Speaker
I'm just excited for champs and I hope I get a chance to just sit in the stands. Fantastic, yeah. Side note, so watching all these kids out there doing all this incredible body movement, I'm reminded back to the ye olde days back in 1999 when I was in blast in Bloomington, Indiana at Star Hall trying to learn and Jin Moore is trying to teach brass players dance choreography and
00:28:57
Speaker
We did it. Eventually, by the time the video came out, we were pretty good. But to learn how to play your instrument from a sitting position and standing and not sound bad, that was a challenge. It took us a long time to do it. And now to see what these kids are doing in high school, kids that have never played an instrument before, it is really, really inspiring.
00:29:21
Speaker
My, my, I have one pick for what I'm really liking this year in, in wins besides Avon because oh my God, you guys are phenomenal.
00:29:31
Speaker
is the Carey High School Indoor Winds. They're in Scholastic Open. They're doing a Jackson, well, the show's called Pollock, but it's a Jackson Pollock themed show. They have a black and white floor with all the paint splattered on it. And then throughout the show, they reveal different colors on their costume and on the backdrops. And their drill is mint and their body movement is wonderful. And it's just so entertaining. So I don't know if you're going to WGI,
00:29:58
Speaker
But if they if they're not and they should because that show is a powerhouse and they're in scholastic open. So I actually just talked to that director. He was at the regional lab this past weekend and he was like, are you guys going? And we're like, yeah, we're going to go. We should have gone. We're you know, they were so happy with their their scores and their their critique with the judges. And they were like, oh, my gosh, we should have done this. I'm like, let's.
00:30:23
Speaker
Let's find a way. Let's have a conversation. So I'm going to try and see if there's a way. It might be too late, you know, but maybe next year. I don't know. It's a beautiful show. It's definitely a beautiful show and they sound great too.
00:30:34
Speaker
Yeah, well, great. So we are starting a new segment this week where we go off on something that's really bugging us in the marching world.
Audience Engagement and Community Building
00:30:45
Speaker
And we thought, let's just try it with the indoor winds panel. So we're calling this segment, what are we doing? What are we doing? What are we doing?
00:31:03
Speaker
We're going from H to O. Anyway, sorry. So, Susie, what's in bugging you about the marching arts? What's one thing that we could shine a light on to maybe affect change in the future? Okay. I'm going to keep this wind's focus, and I already complained about attendance. Please go watch wind shows, please. Yes.
00:31:24
Speaker
I'll keep asking, what are we doing? Because I feel like this is a valid thing for audiences watching indoor wins. When, when do you clap? When do you shout? Because like in color guard is so easy. They throw something, they catch it. You go crazy. You know, drumline, snare features done. You go crazy. They play really loud that you go crazy. So I just want to give a couple of bits of advice.
00:31:46
Speaker
If you feel like you're supposed to clap, just do it. I feel like there's a hesitation in the wind's world. Almost like we're at a concert and we're not supposed to clap. Yes, clap. If no one else is clapping around you, clap. Maybe you'll get them to clap. But if the woodwinds play something really, really fast, when they're done, clap. If there's a soloist, when they're done, clap. If they hit a big... It's just like marching band. If they hit a big loud section.
00:32:08
Speaker
Clap, whether that's 90 kids on the floor or 12 kids on the floor. Like if it's an impact, clap, it's okay. It's not a concert. You don't have to sit on your hands. So number one, go to a wind show. Number two, don't be afraid to clap and scream even if no one around you is. We've got to help the audiences figure out that this is an interactive activity. And when you applaud and clap and scream, it gives more energy to the kids and then they'll give more energy to you. So let's do it. Agreed. Agreed.
00:32:38
Speaker
We live in a society, a screen-filled society, where we are watching everything on a little five-inch screen, and we forget what live performance really is. And you've got to get away from the screen, and you've got to participate in live performance. And that requires applause. That requires hooting and hollering. You remember DCI back in the 80s. The audience would say the most random things to the core that we never heard.
00:33:07
Speaker
But they were, they shouted so much. DCI today is very quiet. You know, there's the cheering, but there's not like, you know, what a maneuver and all that stuff. Anyway, Austin, what's what's been bugging you? Oh, I mean, Susie, you know, you nailed it. Go watch one, go watch the shows to please clap if you see something impressive. I'm going to kind of build off of
00:33:31
Speaker
just this is a whole in general, like, across the entire marching arts. One thing that bothers me the most is a lot of a lot of egos in this activity. I'm not I'm not a fan of I'm not a fan of Oh, I'm bet my groups better than yours, blah, blah, blah, just because just because my groups better than yours doesn't mean that
00:33:53
Speaker
They're not doing something great. You know, that's, that's my huge, that's my huge thing. People just, we need to celebrate the activity and what we're, what we're doing more as a whole. We're not, we're not enemies. We're all friends. This, this community is so, so, so, so, so tight knit. Of course, disagreements are going to happen. Oh, I don't like, I don't like that. I don't like what.
00:34:17
Speaker
I would have done this differently. I don't like this. Obviously there's things that obviously there's things that this activity that aren't acceptable. And that's, that's come a long way in the past five, 10 years, which is fantastic. But when it comes to like the shows and what we're training our kids to do, and just this whole, this whole shtick of my group's better than yours or
00:34:45
Speaker
I don't like the way you did that so I don't like your show at all. I don't like, I'm not a huge fan of that shit. There needs to be more of a sense of community within the entire activity across, across guard, percussion, outdoor, wins, you name it. We're all friends, we're all doing the same thing. Our entire goal is to
00:35:05
Speaker
give kids a better experience than what we had when we were coming up as performers. That's my goal. Whenever I'm doing anything, I want to give kids a better experience than I had. I want to train them better. I want to treat them better. I just want to be better.
00:35:21
Speaker
And we all share the same sentiment, but we can all do it together instead of separately. That's my biggest thing. Exactly. The unique thing about the pageantry arts is that unlike sports, this is not a tribal organization. In sports, it's not tribal. It's a zero sum game for sports. You have a winner, you have a loser. In the pageantry arts, yes, there's a winner and a loser,
00:35:50
Speaker
But it's not one versus another. It's five groups competing against each other. So it doesn't necessarily matter if group A goes out there and does something crazy. We're just focused on our gig and putting out our best performance. And as long as we do our job well,
00:36:09
Speaker
then then the reward will then they'll get the number that they need or that they want but we're always out there encouraging especially if there's like you're competing against a group that's within your same district you know i mean absolutely the same district yeah absolutely like going out and going out and supporting and one thing that we one thing that i mean i don't think that
00:36:32
Speaker
anyone does enough is ask other groups. There's a big Facebook group for WJ wins, designers and instructors. There's probably about four or five posts a week, people asking questions. And that's what I love about the wins community is that, hey, how do I get this? Joey, I've seen you post in there. How do I make this happen? And then there's 25 comments saying, oh, this is how we do it. This is how we do it.
00:37:01
Speaker
the entire time, it's, oh, thanks for the insight. It's great. It's such a great community. And that's what I really, really, really love about the wins activity is that I think if we're pushing anything, it's the sense of community. And there's a lot less, there's a lot less of that kind of egotistical, I'm better than you type deal in the wins community. And that's, that's one of the things that I love the most about it. Excellent. Excellent. Joey, what's bugging you?
00:37:27
Speaker
Oh my goodness. I, I don't know that it's bugging me, but this is, this is my, this is my take. This is my opportunity. And, uh, I feel like I have to give it the caveat that I don't want to give band directors more to do. I think they do a lot already and, uh, they, they definitely aren't paid for the amount of time they're at school, you know, getting there at 6AM and leaving.
00:37:47
Speaker
you know, 9, 10 p.m. after a pet band-aid. Nobody wants to sit in a hot gym watching kids run into each other, you know, and then to tell kids to play Louie Louie 47 times is not fun either. But I would say that if you want to start a group, start a group. I've talked to so many people since this past summer was my second time on the Wins Advisory Board and they kept talking like, help people start groups, let's get more numbers, you know. We're at 45 this year for champs, which is fantastic. I think the goal is 60.
00:38:16
Speaker
As we go into the next coming years, how do we do that? We kind of have groups starting. And I feel like right now, I don't understand the hesitation other than it is a lot of work. There are tons of resources. And what I found is there's tons of people that want this to happen. Somebody needs to say they're doing it. One of my favorite things that I did when I was living in Kansas was
00:38:38
Speaker
They're like, oh, we need a winter guard. We need a winter guard. We don't have a circuit. We shouldn't start a winter guard. And I was like, I think it's really easy to start a winter guard. You just say, hey, I'm starting a winter guard. Bring a flagpole. Bring yourself and we'll put you in all blacks for a little bit. We'll raise some money. We'll put some uniforms on. But that was the easy way for us to start the air capital there in Kansas when it was existing. And the goal was to expand into a percussion and
00:39:02
Speaker
wins, but then I moved. And so now I'm doing that here. We started with wins because I felt like I was more comfortable with it. And next year we're going to be diving into an A-Class guard and an A-Class percussion group. And I really feel like my entire career has been, I want something, I'm going to start it. And so I'm helping my older brother, who's a band director in Kansas. He's going to start an independent A-Class group in Kansas and get all those Kansas drum corps kids that don't have a place to do something.
00:39:30
Speaker
a chance to do something. And so the thing that I'm what are we doing? Like, if we're going to if we want something, let's make something, let's make something together. There's tons of people out here that want to see want to see groups like this happen. And you can be you can be the one that makes it happen. And how cool would that be? That's awesome. That's awesome.
00:39:49
Speaker
I think for the thing that bugs me and this is, I think this can go across the board for all pageantry, but we'll focus it on wins. It kind of ties into what Susie was talking about too, that we need people to clap at shows, but we also need people to stop filming the show and just doing a close-up on Little Billy or Little
00:40:14
Speaker
little Sally and instead just watch the show. Just put down your phone, watch the show. I'm involved with the local percussion circuit out here, Southern California Percussion Alliance, and we announce all the time that due to US copyright laws, blah, blah, blah, don't film the production. But more importantly, we say put down your device and being active participant in today's live event.
00:40:41
Speaker
And we start to see that. We're starting to see people put down their phones and actually watch instead of just watching it through their screen live. It drives me nuts. But even though I have to film my wife's drum line every time we go out, I'm always like, just have the phone right here and I'm cheering and hooting and hollering silently. But yeah, I think that's my little rant.
00:41:03
Speaker
Well, everyone, this has been a great rehearsal this week. Sounds like the 2024 wins championship is going to be a fantastic one. Thanks for a great rehearsal this week. And thanks to our hosts, Susie Harloff. Susie, where can they follow you on socials or through Avon or what? I'll always push our YouTube channel for my husband and I is The Harloff Hub. And
00:41:28
Speaker
The Avon TikTok is really, really fun, and it's at the mighty Avon. Fantastic. Awesome. Austin, what about you? Where can people find you or Horizon Winds? Horizon Winds, you can just go on Instagram, Facebook. We have Horizon Winds social channels. We have a website, horizonwinds.org. Keep up to date on everything that we do.
00:41:51
Speaker
Can't wait for you guys to see our fuzzy birds. Fantastic. And Joey, how about your socials for EvaWinds? You can find us at Eva underscore winds on Instagram. We also have a Facebook group, just EvaWinds, EVA.
00:42:07
Speaker
Fantastic. Fantastic. One more thing. Don't forget, we have our own YouTube channel now that has many of our interviews coming out as full as full video editions. So go subscribe so you don't miss those. And before we close out of the podcast listening app, go subscribe, write a review, and share with your friends. It's the best way that we can promote and grow this show.
00:42:34
Speaker
Thanks so much to everyone that came on today and best of luck to all you performers out there as you start the tail end of your season Can't wait to watch you guys at your championships and follow us on social media on a water break and we'll see you at the next rehearsal on a water break