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On A Water Break with The Pride Guard Roundtable
137 Plays5 months ago
Join us with our new Bonus Content, hosted by new host, Bobbey Biddle. Join Pride Guards from around the Country as they discuss what its like being a part of a Pride Guard, some memories, and lots of other fun stories!
Clinicians
Scott Ruiz - @socalprideguard
Brianna Cipriani - @cfsofband
Jeremy Denzler - @new_england_pride_colorguard
Del Duke - @indy_Pride_Guard
Morgan Jameson - @flaggotsdenver
Listen to the main episode to keep up on everything going on in the marching arts with 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_
Ricardo Robinson-Shinall - @ricardorrobinson
Callie Quire - @cnquire
Austin Hall - @Austin_hall10
Jose Montes - @joeymontes57
Music provided by leydamusic.com Follow him @josh.leyda
Avatars provided by @tch.makes.art
#marchingband #colorguard #dci #podcast #onawaterbreak #parade #drummajor
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Guest Lineup
00:00:02
Speaker
Hey, everyone, it's one of your new hosts, Bobby Biddle, and I'm super excited to do this bonus Pride episode with our Pride Guard Roundtable.
00:00:14
Speaker
Welcome, everyone, to our Pride Guard Roundtable. I am your host, Bobby Biddle. First time as a host, and I'm already by myself. That sounds about right. Okay, well, here we go. Pride Guard.
00:00:20
Speaker
everyone to our pride guard roundtable i am your host bobby bi first time as a host and i'm already by myself that sounds about right ok well here we go pride guard Flaggots, any of the other words used to describe the group of Color Guard people that come together to perform in Pride. I am from the Northeast, the Philadelphia area, so I've been a part of the original Pride Guard that does New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Flaggots. Yes, but ever since then, these amazing groups have popped up all over the country, and I'm excited to welcome ah some special guests tonight.
00:01:00
Speaker
We have Jeremy Densler coming to us from the Northeast New England area. Hi, Jeremy. Hello. Hi, Jeremy. How are you doing? I'm great. How are you? Good. Thanks for being here. Happy to be here. Yeah. And then we also have Del Duke from the Indy Pride Guard. Hi, Del. Welcome on board. Hey there. Welcome to the party. We have Scott Ruiz, who's a couple hours behind ahead of us. I don't know. But Scott's from Southern California. Hi, Scott. Hello. Happy Pride Month. And we've got some Florida in the house. Bree Cipriani from Central Florida. Sounds of Freedom. Hi, Bree.
00:01:38
Speaker
Hey, what's up? And finally joining us ah from the the place of the cleanest air in the country, Morgan Jamison joining us from Denver. Hi, Morgan. Hello, hello, hello. The cleanest air or the lack of air? say yeah Yeah, the air quality here is not so good. I don't know if anyone else is dealing with a crazy heat wave, but you know. It's a little bit insane up here, but thank you all for being with us this evening. Just celebrate pride, talk all things pride, uh, color guard groups and parades and festivals.
Jeremy Densler's Journey and Challenges
00:02:12
Speaker
So we've talked a little bit about the 32 count life story. So I think everyone's sort of ready, right?
00:02:18
Speaker
Have you got it like in your head? You have an idea of what you're going to do? Okay, so you get 32 counts to give us your life story. Eight counts off the mat. And we're going to start with Jeremy Densler from New England. So Jeremy, well if you're ready, once you hear that eight count, let's have that 32 count story. I'm Jeremy Denzer. I'm from just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. I've been doing color guard since the age of four. So I started when I was four. I marched till I was 22, back when there was an age out, from cadet class to world class. And then just a couple of years of drone crew with the Blue Stars. I taught for about 20 years. And in 2018, I founded and the New England Pride Color Guard, formerly known as the Boston Pride Color Guard, which is a story we'll get into later on. I live right outside of Boston. I have a husband and a 22-year-old son, and that's me.
00:03:06
Speaker
and ah Nice. The first time I did it, I was scared out of my mind. So you did a good job. All right. Dell, you're up. You get eight count off of Matt Dell joining us from the indie pride color guard group.
Del Duke's Color Guard Story and Impact
00:03:24
Speaker
And whenever you're ready, let's hear it. Alright, I am Del Dute, born and raised in southern Indiana, last of seven kids. I went to North Harrison High School, marched to Dalgio. Yes, I am that old. ah Black gold, Protestant study, and Northern Lights, as well as the Cavaliers all back in the early 2000s. Graduated from Indiana University with a degree in psychology. Worked for the state of Kentucky as a parole officer. Recently retired from full-time teaching as an educational director for Cherry State Nursing Arts.
00:03:50
Speaker
um but still do some design and choreography. i' Also board member for Pride and Black Gold and like to spend my time traveling with friends and interacting with my bestest rescue boy, Nikki. That was like so polished and so put together. I love it. All right, come prepared. like Exactly. Scott is next. Scott Ruiz joining us from SoCal. All right, Jeremy, let's get the eight off the mat. Hello, everyone. My name is Scott Ruiz. I come to you from the beautiful city of Long Beach, California, one of the ah gay meccas of the country. I grew up in a city called Camarillo, about an hour northwest of here. Started in the marching arts in high school, was in Drumline, defected to Color Guard through Drum Corps, which in turn led me to Riverside Community College, where I did Fantasia. A couple of years after that, I did Diamante, so I was in that kind of WJI world class.
00:04:44
Speaker
um arenas for a little bit, taught at various high schools and now I'm the color guard director at USC and part of the South Cal Pride Color Guard that a sponsor we ah sponsored through the Winter Guard Association of Southern California currently. Love it, love it, love it. And Brie, are you ready? You're up next.
Bree Cipriani's Roles and Reflections
00:05:04
Speaker
Brie joining us from Central Florida. Alright, Jeremy, let's have it. Hey, I'm Brie. I'm in Orlando, but I'm from Indianapolis, Indiana. um I did
00:05:16
Speaker
eight seasons of Color Guard there, and um I did a little bit of WGI as well, and then I moved down here in about 2019, and I took two years break, and then I found Central Florida Sounds of Freedom, and now I'm the current Color Guard director there, and I also sit on the board of directors. Love it. Oh, and she left a little bit of time. I love that. All right, last one ah coming to us from Denver. We have Morgan. Morgan, whenever you're ready, Jeremy, let's hear that Dr. Beat. My name is Morgan Jamison. I'm from Denver, Colorado. I've been marching color guard since 2003, marched all four years of high school, did drum corps with the troopers, did lots of WGI in a open and world class, marched with my university. I performed on the local stage show here um with a dance company called Oracle Performance Ensemble and performed their alumni course. And for the last 10 years, I've been involved with Waggots Denver. And for seven of those 10 years, I've been the director.
00:06:15
Speaker
And in my real life, I'm a bilingual speech language pathologist. Well, clearly we have some exciting, interesting and accomplished people to speak to. So I look forward to digging into your stories. um I think Jeremy asked me to host this episode because, well, hello, my sister. But secondly, um I'm also have been a previous performer. with ah the Mid-Atlantic Pride group. I decided, I think it was 2018, I was like, I'm going to do a one and done because you can't tell that group that they're not either the Blue Devils going down the street. So I was like, I'm going to get one and done. And it was a fun time doing it in you know my home city of Philly. And um
Bobby's Pride Experience and Reflections
00:06:57
Speaker
so I can empathize with the heat, and the summer heat and but also sort of the meaningful
00:07:04
Speaker
part of participating in the groups that march in the Pride Festival. So I look forward to digging into each of your different experiences here soon. Let's take a quick break and when we return we will dive into what it's really like behind the scenes of being a part of a Pride Guard.
00:07:31
Speaker
Hey everyone, it's Jeremy, and here are your announcements coming from the box. Don't miss all of our bonus content, including On a Water Break in Rhinestones with your host, Lexi Duda, exploring the world of the Twirlers. Don't miss parades and drum majors at Step Off with your host, Jack Goudreau, and Get Lost in Translation with your host, Cynthia Bernard, exploring all the words that confuse all of us in the marching arts all across the world. and go behind the lens with marching arts photographers all across the country with your host, Chris Marr. Plenty more bonus content from On A Water Break, so listen anywhere you get your podcasts. If you want to be on On A Water Break as a guest, or you know somebody that would make a great guest for On A Water Break, email us at onawaterbreakpodcastatgmail.com or find us on social media. Okay, field staff, take it away. Let's reset.
00:08:28
Speaker
are
00:08:41
Speaker
Welcome back, everybody. We're having a good time already. We're going to dig in and find out a little bit more about everyone's different experiences around the country. And so let's let's get to it. um We want to know a few things from each of you. So I'm going to pose the same couple of questions. And we'd just love to have a dialogue and find out how each area does what they do. So Jeremy, ah Talk to us a little bit about you know what the process is like in New England and you know we're looking for maybe the funniest thing to ever happen and maybe the most challenging thing to happen and also what it you get out of it and your performers get out of it by being involved.
00:09:30
Speaker
So one for us, I think one of the one of the biggest groups, we have about 80 performers in our color craft. So the challenge right there is yeah yeah keeping everybody, yeah hey and A, just getting aing things organized. And I think I've chatted with many of you offline. The biggest challenge we have is is by far sound. like we yeah we Our color guard stretches like ah probably almost two city blocks long. so um that that you I think for us that that our biggest challenge is just how to how do we make the music loud enough for everyone to hear it?
00:10:09
Speaker
it's it's yeah um but it's also for For me, it's really great. This group of performers from 19 years old through 70 years old in our Color Guard. so it's really We have people from all generations of Color Guard New England that have come together in this group. and um I think that's, yeah for me, that's the thing I like the most about our group is that we are just, yeah, it's it's a broad spectrum of performers, but everybody is on an even playing field and everybody, it has fun and everybody enjoys it. And yeah are we the cleanest? Maybe not always, but but we... I'm being honest. yeah it's It's a struggle when you have that wide of that wide of of a range of performers yeah and yeah getting some people that haven't marched in 20 years to be able to understand how to do modern choreography. it's it's it's it's ah They work hard and when we all work hard with them. but um
00:11:02
Speaker
I think that is to me the most rewarding thing. of is ah is like I stand in front of the Color Guard as the director, and I've got people that marched in some of these classic quasar and St. Anthony Imperials, and I've got people that march in Blessed Sacrament right now. yeah And they're all together in one gang, one group, and that that's really great. would you
00:11:22
Speaker
Jeremy will always get you with those sound effects. What would you say that there has been um maybe a specific fond memory or a a specifically fun year that you'll remember from all of your your your ah your years of doing it? um i think For me, year two was my favorite. We did Cher, and it was fun. The first year we were a really ginormous group. We did our first night parade. We started out the first year just doing Boston Pride, and that was the only thing we did. Then we added two more parades the second year. One of them is Providence, Rhode Island, which is still our favorite parade because it's an evening parade. It's in the dark. It's a lot of fun.
00:12:06
Speaker
yeah we We had a ah great group of performers. and We got some great footage of the group. and It was like the the best time I ever had marching in a parade in all my years of performing in Color Guard. I love that. yeah and Do you find that you have the same you have like a good return rate that people want to come back year after year and participate? We do. It's it's it's very interesting because if anything, I feel like we could just keep getting bigger and bigger. and yeah um it's it's It's a nice problem to have, but it also has its test challenges. You might have to do like a JB team. ah we've We've talked about having a like a world in an open. Yeah, there you go. There you go. Well, I love that. I've always thought about going up to Boston and New England. We're not that far. So maybe I'll i'll venture up. You're welcome. You're welcome anytime.
00:12:55
Speaker
So Del, my Indiana friend, ah same couple of questions, fond memorable memories, maybe some challenges and sort of the the overall ah what you get out of it and what it means to all of you to participate.
Scott Ruiz on Evolution and Challenges of Pride Guard
00:13:12
Speaker
Uh, sure. So I would say my fondest memory would be the first year of performing, uh, was invited by friends, said, sure, sounds like a great time. When we go up, we do rehearsal. After rehearsal, lots of alcohol, bad decision. The next day is like 92 by 11 o'clock. When we step off, they had just repaved the road.
00:13:36
Speaker
We get a quarter mile down the road and everybody's looking at each other going, I'm seeing stars. Sabres are going up and hitting the ground. Like we're all just running like it's bombshells. I turned to my partner and said, I'm going, you got to catch it and hit the ground. Like it was just hilarious, but awful and funny all in the same. Lesson learned, more water, less alcohol.
00:14:02
Speaker
um so So for sure, I'll agree with Jeremy, the sound. We this year were about 50, which has its limitations. Each year we keep growing, which is fantastic. um We ended up having to split the group in half. There were half in the front, half in the back, and the hard sound system hanging on for dear life in the middle, um which definitely worked worked out much better. Uh, and I would say the thing that keeps me doing this, um, I stopped performing and kind of moved to the admin role a few years ago. Um, but it's just awesome to see the different, cause again, this is Indiana. We've had a lot of powerhouse color guards from the high school level and the independent level and all of that in the area that come in and do this. So some of these high school kids come in and join us and they get to stand right beside their rock star that they've been watching all winter.
00:14:56
Speaker
or their favorite performer from drum corps standing right beside them like being silly and dropping that they never get to see all of that behind the scenes stuff so having the ability to let those kids know we're all human we're all the same like we might look like a rock star in a uniform head on the field but we're still just best in rehearsal trying to get down the road. um this year was really cool too. The Chicago Pride Guard came down and we got to hang out with them in addition to our kids. So just continuing to share those, like everybody loves to do, ah those memories and the connections that we were able to make doing that is just, that for me is the is the best part about all of it. That's amazing. It's almost like a, um almost a bit of a recruiting tool in a sense too. Like the the high school kids interacting with the the independent kids. Yeah, absolutely.
00:15:46
Speaker
And we're we're two conversations in and it's obvious we need some rockstar auto AV company to come together and create this great traveling sound system for parade groups. Yeah. or if somebody wanted to donate like a wireless earbud system for us all, like I don't care if the audience can hear it. I just want to know that my kids can hear it so that we stay on top. but ah Yeah. I love that. I love that. ah Well, let's get Scott in here. Scott, um our buddy from SoCal. So, Fond Funny Memories. Fond Funny Memories. Any challenges and talent is and
00:16:32
Speaker
your overall flowery, lovely wrap-up of what it means to all of you. ah Yeah, of course. um Just a quick, a little back history on what the what the socalled where the Soka'o pride color guard was born from. um There used to be a group here ah locally, and I think there were groups all over the country called ROTC, so it was the Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps. So I see a lot of you shaking your head, so you know what that is. So that was my first experience Uh, back in, in the early 2000s, marching with them, a lot of the older instructors that I looked up to. And again, that whole situation with like seeing somebody in the world guard, now I get to be with them in the pride parade, spending a savory, you know, do a lot of stuff. Um, so that that's kind of where that, uh, originated from that. I couldn't tell you as far as the history of when that stops, but, uh, a group of six of us, uh, were asked to join the orange County pride.
00:17:26
Speaker
Contingency which was comprised of Disney dancers and that was in 2012. So we kind of started back up then ah With with that group which sponsored us for a couple years um The pride guard got really big really popular um and it it just became too much of ah of a logistical nightmare to handle all the Disney dancers a dizzy parade people and then us just kind of shoved in the back and so that's where we decided to kind of break off and start our own group again. um and And that happened, I believe we broke off in 2018. So from 2013 2016, we were kind of part of that Orange County contingency, and then broke off into our own group, um which ah
00:18:09
Speaker
after COVID, I believe is when, uh, the winter guard association of Southern California actually started sponsoring us. So, which, which is really nice to have that support of the, uh, color guard circuit here, which our circuit in Southern California is actually bigger than WGI, which you can imagine that, or maybe it's not now that it was pre COVID. So we're probably pretty matched up. We have, we have over 300 units in in our, in our, um, in our circuit. So you can imagine that, ah you know, for four show sites on any given Saturday or Sunday, you know. um So with with that said, I think the evolution of what we've seen through throughout the years is now it encompasses a whole range of instructors, directors, performers. So like, you know, some of the directors now are getting to perform with some of their graduated students that have moved on to college or doing independent guard, you know.
00:19:03
Speaker
And the biggest thing for me, uh, you know, I'll go back to funny stories in a second, but it is just encompassing the group and providing a safe space for them to celebrate pride and to know it's okay, especially with how, uh, you know, tumultuous the situation is right now politically and like, you know, with all these groups coming out and getting a lot of fuel under the fire with their. but their agendas against you know the LGBTQ plus community it's it's very important for us to be out there and for these younger especially for these younger performers to know that you can celebrate pride you are you are welcome to do that this is a safe space for you and again being there for the community in the parades is also just just a just a beacon of
00:19:46
Speaker
of love and light, you know, to, to our communities here. Cause we have obviously in Southern California, it's a little bit of a bigger area. So we do, uh, we usually start our season in Long Beach, which is a cool parade. It's right on the coast. Then, um, I don't know if you've heard, but there used to be LA pride and now it's, we hope pride and LA pride. Don't ask me about that drama. I don't know how it all split up, but now it's two separate events on two separate weekends. So, um, that, that would, So that's really fun. And then we usually end our season down in ah San Diego, which would be the third third week of July to kind of um encompass that area of the country because we do have a lot of counties here and a lot of performers that come from all over the ah area and also Southern Nevada. the are We kind of are part of Southern Nevada now, the Las Vegas area color guards are kind of in our in our jurisdiction, which is totally awesome.
00:20:36
Speaker
Funny story, the first year we marched with Orange County, probably came back 2012. My best friend ah Eric, he was... Uh, getting onto the truck, um, and getting his flag. And when he stood up, the truck started moving. So he fell back, which isn't very, isn't very funny, but he kind of shocks out, got out for like, okay, okay. You're good. You're good. Yeah. I was okay. You ever kind of freaked out about it. And then we did the whole parade, finish everything, go to pride. We're in the car driving home from San Diego. And he looks over at me and goes.
00:21:07
Speaker
I fell off the truck. Like you did. And his time like totally like the whole way home. We're just laughing like uncontrollably. So that but again, like pops in my head is like one of the, one of the most like, uh, funniest memories that I have ah of doing pride guard. Um, again, challenge get on me with music because we have about 50 to 60 performers in any given, uh, parade. So it does become a little bit of a challenge. And also this year with rent, the truck rentals, we usually get a 32, we usually get a 32 foot bed and this year they've been only having like eight foot to 16 foot trucks for us. And that's been a little bit of a, of a challenge to, uh,
00:21:44
Speaker
work with these ah rental companies to get the float space and to get the speakers in the correct place. but Yeah, again, it's just really exciting. I personally, um shameless plug for me, have not been marching with a pride guard the last three years, but during COVID, my COVID project was to learn how to DJ. So I wanted to use my ah musical talents to kind of uh, foster myself in that way. And so I, so I started, uh, doing that a little bit locally at some LGBTQ plus nightclubs here. So my role with the South cod pride color guard is a to direct and be, to just be on the phone and be the announcer in the DJ for, for the pride guard. So, um, that to me is, is very fun to announce them to the crowd, talk to crowd, explain to them to what they're doing, get the crowd excited about pride. Um, I just had, uh, some of my friends, they just got married, uh, in May.
00:22:36
Speaker
And they rode with us through Long Beach and I got to announce them to the crowd with the pride guard and you know, we're celebrating love. We're celebrating their marriage or celebrating our freedom to do that and love who we want to love. Definitely. That's so amazing. Oh my goodness. I love that. Definitely so important to uplift our community in those ways as well. But the group that we have is just so dynamic, so fun. Again, you get, you get a range of people. I mean, a lot of, a lot of these, uh, performers that show up and then I see, I'm like, man, like these are, these are young. This was me like 10 years ago. And it's kind of crazy to think about that, you know, and they're, they're moving up and they're learning. And, um, just to see them when they get on the parade route and I'm standing on the float and I look back and to see a sea of flags and they're smiling and.
00:23:20
Speaker
you know the the crowds just screaming and reacting to them. And but you know that that's the best thing to see ah us come together for our community. And again, just be there to celebrate um love and life and yeah be being free to love who you want to love and and live how you want to live without fear of persecution or having to hide it. you know Especially, like I said, right now in the climate, um you know with our trans brothers and sisters and You know, however they identify, I want to welcome them in too. We have a lot of trans people that marked with us and and really, again, providing a space for them is super important.
00:23:58
Speaker
I love that you say that because we've had a couple of experiences where our second year we had a member who was a volunteer who after our parade finally came out as trans and they said that being around our color guard was like what made them feel safe. And it was like, to me, that was what, as the director of our group, it was one of the most amazing experiences where this person actually messaged me and said, like, being at the parade with you, with your group, made me feel comfortable enough to actually finally be my true self. And we do, well, with that said, we do have the pride guard performs and then during the breaks, we have one of the local drag queens, Lola McMichaels.
00:24:45
Speaker
who will perform like a minute routine in front of the color guard, just to kind of give them a little break. And ah she performed in some local color guards here and grew up but doing color guards. So it's nice to kind of encompass her too with us um during the parade. And I love that. I love to have her with us. you know It's, it's just nice to show the, the, the, uh, inclusion in that too. So mar I'm going to have to steal that. yeah yeah i mean I mean, literally the water break. Yeah. You got to get in the water break, put the drag queen in on the water break, you know.
00:25:18
Speaker
Well, it's easy. I think it's easy to sometimes forget when we are directing and performing and organizing and worrying about sound trucks that there's this whole greater purpose for which we're serving in a way. And like you said, ah Scott, it's it's an election year. There's so much on the line. I heard that one specific presidential candidate say that on day one, he's going to eliminate trans protections in schools. He's going to pull federal funding from schools. If they, if they're, ah you know, it's just so discouraging. And I certainly don't want to take us down a sad place, but our presence, even with our rainbow flags is our using, us using our voice in our unique way. We may not have to do tosses in Wendy, Wyoming for all eternity. And mean he always talks.
00:26:14
Speaker
hu well Well, and here's the thing too is we're, you know, we we're in Southern California. There's a lot of support here for the LGBTQ plus community, but there are other places that I think you go sometimes, you know, a little bit in Florida and the East coast, there are more rural communities where they're having pride. It's so important for you to be there and so important for you to show up. to show solidarity in those places, you know? So, you know, letting people know it's okay to let these people live how they wanna live, you know? And be who they wanna be. And you know even if you don't like it, you know, and you don't have to agree, you know? let Let them celebrate, you know? Let them do what they're gonna do. There's a lot of things they do that I don't like, but I leave them alone. Exactly, exactly. I mean, I am Jewish and I don't see my rabbi in the grocery store trying to take bacon off the shelf, you know? So.
00:27:06
Speaker
It's funny. I love that you say that because we we we do like we do like some really big parades, but we also do some parades where there's like 50 people in the and the entire crowd. And I think those are just as important. Absolutely. because Absolutely. Because you're creating visibility in those rural communities. know and that and that and that's I think the main issue is the exposure to diversity in in those in those more rural communities. you know they don't have ah They've never been some of those kid that've been to the big city, never seen that. And maybe they're afraid to come out and, you know, lo and behold, here's a pride color guard coming down the street and, you know, gives them, ah gives them a beacon of hope, you know, that they can be who they want to be. If I can add on to that. yeah Oh, sorry. No, go ahead. Okay. Sorry. No, I mean, if I can add on to that, um, we, but we start our season performing in Colorado Springs, which is where the club cue shooting was.
00:27:54
Speaker
and we performed in that that parade the year after that happened and the Grand Marshal of that parade was the man that stopped the shooter and so it's also just like a nice way to be with the survivors and say no we're we're still here and we're still beautiful and like you cannot bring us down and like that was a really special moment to get so like definitely see both like all the full spectrum of experience with that of you know like showing you know the the protest half of it but also like the community half of it of like we're gonna come take care of our own and we're gonna give those people that need it the round of applause that they need you know so definitely feel that definitely feel that
00:28:35
Speaker
Yeah, Morgan, if you want to keep ah if you want to go next and talk to us a little bit about Denver and actually a place that's on my bucket list to visit and um give us all all the things that are happening out in
Weather Challenges in Pride Events
00:28:48
Speaker
Denver. Absolutely. I can totally do that. um So. Oh, where do I start? So I guess I could thinking about sort of that problem of of practice question. um Ours is actually the weather. um The weather in Colorado is famously volatile. um So one year
00:29:08
Speaker
In 2016, we had 100 degree temperatures. And our parade, you wouldn't think it, but Denver has the third largest parade parade in the country. um It's New York, San Francisco, and then Denver. um But we have about 100,000 people show up to just the parade, and then about um half a million show up to the festival. um And so ah our parade's pretty long. And we were in the back that year. We were um one of the later groups to go on. So we had to sit and bake in the sun. for while we were staging. And then when it came time to go do the show, it was midday. It was like noon, you know, like 11, I think is what it was. But the asphalt was so hot that it melted our melted our shoes, um which was pretty wild. So and then so we've had like that end of the spectrum. And then last season, Colorado got record rain. We couldn't rehearse because
00:29:59
Speaker
ah We don't use the facility, we just use public parks. so it was really like and We got like historic levels of rain and I was doing negotiations with Mother Nature and she was like, this is not your year. We had to work around that. so I'd say that's kind of our biggest problem of practice. and Then um another funny story, our first year out, we ah so the Denver Pride Parade is a single turn out of a park and it's a straight line, which is nice. but The second we turned, protesters came into the street and they separated us from our truck. and ah That year, we we did our sound in the back that year because we were pretty small. and they wouldn't let um They wouldn't let our truck through. They were purchasing the police. The police were behind us. and They thought our car was part of the police, so they kept us from our truck.
00:30:50
Speaker
And our director at the time you know was arguing with them, like pleading with them to let the truck through. And then um they they wouldn't let it through. So we had the driver turn the music on and we just performed on the other side of it. We had the cleanest double on earth because we were like all enraged. like We caught straight up and down and you see why something goes up. back. It was wild. But then because the truck had idled so long and the way we had the speaker rigged, the battery of the car died. ah So we got it around. But then we got you know getting ready to do the the actual on the move performance. like It was Proud Mary by Tina Turner. and you know It has that build. um And like Ryan is like it was about to explode into the choreography.
00:31:37
Speaker
You just hear the music go, and it was, oh no. How unsatisfying. yeah my god um It was so terrible. And then the protesters reached out to us and acted like we did something to them. They were like, you guys were so mean to us. And I'm like, um, And they were, you know, they were trying to say that we hit we had it on video too, like, so they were like, you hit us with your flags. And it it was eyes on top of lies. So we learned a lot of really like it was that first year was a bit of some baptism by fire. um Kind of like it or not.
00:32:17
Speaker
But and then just some of the joys I think overall it's it really feels good to to be a thread in this like vibrant tapestry that is this whole movement from um just the gay rights movement to Um, you know, we're flag it's Denver, but we're a spin off of the original flag is that we call them the mothership. Um, and that tradition, you know, started back in 1991 and to, you know, to see that it has been carried on to now, like it is an honor, like we we have permission to use the name and and it's an honor to.
00:32:52
Speaker
um to be a part of that community and to um to get to benefit from the work that those who came before us provided. And then it's just really good to be a part of, you know, ah Denver's pride parade turns 50 this year and we've been in 10 of those years. so It's really cool to um know that we've been bringing joy for all that time and to see the, ah my favorite is when kids see us, because you know, you get all you the you know the audience is close, you can hear them.
00:33:24
Speaker
um and ah like every year we get a few kids that are like, mom, how do they do that? And it's, it really, ah like overall, it brings it to me, flagots and pride guards um kind of brings things back to that original spark of color guard of like, You know, we all can remember the first time someone put a flag in our hands. um And then like, you know, we all grew into, we all have very good resumes and, you know, like we got to experience the full spectrum of color guard to do like, you know, rip your face off color guard and, you know, everything in between. And so for pride guards, it's really nice to come back to that. You do get kind of that pure that pure spark of like, I am spinning for me.
00:34:07
Speaker
Like I'm not a paintbrush in some director's toolkit. I'm spinning for me. And this is my art and myself. And like, and one of my members talks a lot about like, I want to platform all these. We we need to use our platform for this. And I'm like, I'm platforming you guys. Like, that's the way, you know, like, don't forget that. Like I'm here to platform y'all. So. Yeah, that's and yes so true. Yeah. And it's funny because the, because that word flag it, I actually have a specific memory. of being in high school and
00:34:39
Speaker
walking down a one specific hallway, I think probably to choir band, which is where half of my classes were. And this big, tall, a-hole football player leaning all against the wall going slag it, slag it as I walked by. And it was horrible then. And then now here it is like this beautiful, wonderful thing within our community. I'm like, you know what? I can't wait to see your slagits. Where are the slagits? Exactly. oh I wear that I wear that title with pride now Well free ah you're bringing up the caboose Florida is one of my favorite places to visit but it must be an interesting place to be full-time in the queer space um And you're in Central Florida. Are you near Orlando? Is that sort of the general area? Yeah. Yeah, so we're based in Orlando and So, you know, in all of Central Florida. Right. And so, you know, God bless Disney and the Orlando people for putting up the good fight. And but ah let's let let's hear about ah how things work for you. I know you do you do pride in October in in Central Florida, but.
00:35:52
Speaker
I would love to hear all about your experience down there. Yeah. um So as you said, our our pride parade is in October, so we get a while to prepare for it. um But honestly, I think my favorite thing about our guard specifically is that we take everybody. There's no audition. um Even if you've never touched a flag before, you're included. And I think it's my favorite thing because I remember um you know holding a flag for the first time. I was like, wow. And you know providing that experience for people who maybe felt like they couldn't because of who they were in high school and and the climate was like down here or wherever they were.
00:36:34
Speaker
I think it's so important to provide this type of, you know um oh goodness, this type of ah community um that we're all looking for and it's it's so nice to belong. you know As someone said, we're one of many threads of all of these pride guards and it's so beautiful, you know all of the diversity. Um, but they're not to say there hasn't been their struggles. Um, you know, we, we do, uh, we've seen the protesters and and the heat always gets us and, you know, we've definitely practiced and gotten interrupted by tornado warnings, which is always fun.
00:37:18
Speaker
and Yeah, so um I'm glad our park that we practiced at has an outbuilding that we got to shelter in place in it was it was a lot of fun. But but no, bri I'm sorry, I was just gonna say, do you have one fond more memory to share and then we're going to go right into commercial. Oh, um, Honestly, I think my favorite memory is you know marching in, come out with pride. ah My very first year I was just a member and I had never marched in a pride parade before. I didn't know what to expect. And of course there were people in the streets because Orlando doesn't barricade um like St. Pete does, very smart.
00:37:59
Speaker
um yeah Yeah, Orlando doesn't have any barricades on the sidewalk, so people just literally come out into the street sometimes. It's interesting. We're ducking and diving and tossing all at the same time. It's great. yeah like We have a similar experience in Boston. There's just no barricades in the crowd, andcroaches androaches and and and croaches. We have like the closer you get to the bars. We have like a great volunteer crew, and a lot of them are our teachers, and they're like, Get out of the way. They're throwing swords. You're going to get hurt. like We call them zombies. I'm like, watch out for the zombies. yeah ah Yeah, we like to joke that we have a point system. If you hit a tall one, it's 10 points.
00:38:43
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Well, look, it's been great chatting with all of you about your different experiences and your different areas ah throughout the country. So we are going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to have what are we doing? We're going to do a gush and go. It's going to be a good time. So
Guard Closet Overview
00:39:00
Speaker
we'll be right back.
00:39:11
Speaker
Guard Closet was founded as a consignment business in 2000. Since then, it has grown to include Winter Guard, band, percussion and other genres. Shot our extensive consignment inventory for great looks for your team that won't break your budget. Max out your rehearsal time and set up a microsite for easy student ordering for shoes, gloves and other equipment. Check out our fun merchandise and gift items. We can help you with custom flag at Costuming Designs. Contact us for custom show design services. Clean out your storage areas and get money back into your budget with our consignment program. Guard Closet is here to help you get all you want and need this winter season. Check us out at guardcloset.com and follow us on social media.
00:40:09
Speaker
Okay, it's time for what are we doing? This is always fun. This always gets a little spicy. But this is our guest's chance to go off about anything they want to, having to do with the marching arts or pride. And because it's all about queer celebration on this episode, and it's our month, no one can tell us we are wrong. So what are we doing? There it is. What are we doing?
00:40:40
Speaker
but what are we doing What are we doing walking through a block of sabers while they're tossing in the middle of a parade? What are we doing? you're like like but I mean, it theme crossing the street like and seems so obvious, right? I mean, but I apparently not. It's not obvious. Yeah. No, I think it's the perfect time to cross the road when the savers are tossing. I'm like, why, why, why do people think it's okay to just like walk through the middle of a color guard while they're spinning? Or ride their bike alongside. Or like if you're a photographer, you've had photographers sit and squat in the block, like to take our picture. And I'm like, you're taking your life in your hands, buddy, but okay. And your camera. I mean, like, if if I hit your camera, it's not my fault. like I've had people try to have full-on conversations with me from the side of the street while I'm performing. Like, no, I don't know where the nearest convenience store is. I'm sorry. like you I'm in a parade. ah What are we doing? I know. All right. What are we doing, Del? OK.
00:41:46
Speaker
I am all for a club. I am all for the bar when the time is there. But when it's 11 o'clock and I'm trying to hear my music, I'm going to need you to turn down your concert system on the inside so I can hear. ah ah There is a half block stretch that just is drowned out every year in our parade. Let us get through this and Honey, I would be more than happy to come back and enjoy your drink special. But I need to survive the day first without somebody dying.
00:42:15
Speaker
Right. Like no competing soundtracks. Yes. Yeah. I was like, I know you want to have a Quinceañeda on your float, but can we let them do a run first before you have a Quinceañeda, please? Just one. Just one run through. Just one good one. All right. What are we doing, Scott? What are we doing? Parade officials rushing my truck. ah Leaving my color guard in the dust. I cannot tell you how many times I have to tell the driver Slow down and don't listen to those people because you're going to lose everybody behind you. So same same but Let's send out a memo to all para pride parade officials that you cannot rush the pride color guard through the parade like you can the
00:43:09
Speaker
um corporate groups that are marching with their employees because they can run with it they can run with their banner right that's cute thanks for the support in the middle right in the middle and i yeah i'm the leader of the block so i set the pace right and like thanks for the support at and&t let me see the receipts where you support all the pride organizations and lgbtq non-profit thanks um but yeah let's send a memo out to them to not rush be pride guard trucks or the pride guards in general, because we are important. We need to be seen and we need to be taking eight to five steps, if not smaller. Exactly. I mean, you could only move so fast when you're hurling. The times I'm like, i just but now being ah the DJ being on the microphone, I can scream at the driver to slow down. And that makes me happy.
00:44:05
Speaker
All right, Morgan, what are we doing? I'm gonna, what are we doing myself? So I like impart into my members. I'm like, please be nice to all of the volunteers. Don't you dare be rude to anyone. Don't you dare mouth off to anyone. And then the second somebody comes for one of my performers, Mama Grizzly, I get like possessed by like somebody else. And I'm like, doubt no don't you talk to them like that. And then I'm like, I'm the one that's like mouthing off. or like if people walk into the block, I'm like the one that's shouting at them like, get out of there, you know? As you should, as you should. It's, but oh, it's such a, like, I'm like, yeah, here I am, just telling people off, but I don't know what to tell anyone off. Oh my gosh. i I feel like I'm like that with my students, with the students that I teach at the school, you know, it's always like, don't embarrass me. And then I'm embarrassing myself. Exactly.
00:45:03
Speaker
All right, Bri, what are we doing? Girl, what are we doing by putting the loudest sound system right in front of the marching band? Girl, I can't hear the drummers back there. I got all the tempo. I need them. what a It sounds like all the other pride color guard groups need whatever sound system that is that's louder than your marching band. Exactly. Girl, I'll get you like four big speakers on this big parade flow and you are good because I could hear them from a mile away. Oh my gosh. I've been there one year. They put the sponsor of the whole parade Coors. You might have heard of them. They were behind us and they had a big box truck that was amplified. And again, Mama Grizzly came out and I was like, turn your shit down when that's our turn your turn your music down when we're performing. And they were so cool about it. Yeah, absolutely. And then they were like, we love it. you guys afterwards but it was I was like no this is that we shouldn't have been put next to each other why is this happening and we we had the opposite where we were put there we were put right behind a little marching band at a parade and I had to go to the people and be like you need to separate us because I feel bad for them because they're not gonna be like
00:46:14
Speaker
our sound system is going to overpower them, and it's not fair. Yeah, it's interesting that some of these events, parades seem like, they like, why wouldn't that be obvious? But, you know, in Philly, because two out of the five producers are Color Guard marching band people. I mean, thankfully, we know not to put two music groups back to back like that. But, you know, i all I'm saying is maybe there should be a ah national manual that we all refer to. But, you know, who knows? yeah All right, friends. Well, that was a fun. What are we doing? But enough complaining.
Positive Stories and Community Impact
00:46:49
Speaker
It's time for our gush and goes. This is an opportunity for you to boast and gush and just talk about something really exciting happening either with you, maybe the students you teach, your personal life or with your pride group. So it's time for a quick gush and go. Great job, everyone. Set your equipment down. Gush and go.
00:47:14
Speaker
Jeremy Gushango. So, um my Gushango is ah this a story I often tell people as as kind of the leader of our saber line. i I'm merging the front of the block and I'm like this old guy who's in his 50s who can still keep up with him. I turn around, look behind me and I'm like, and it's like me and blessed sacrament 2024, like behind me. So for me, that's like that's like my Gushango is like as a performer, not not not Not just as the director of my prank call, but as as a performer, to turn around and be like, okay, like these people are behind me. and They just got a medal with WGI. like
00:47:50
Speaker
Know them kids, how it's done. That's right. You're aging like fine wine. And who said 50 is old? It's not. I know. The spirit is not gray for nothing. Exactly. All right, Del, it's your gush and go. um ah I'm going to stick to theme. I'm going to gush on our sponsors. like We are completely self-ended. We are not a nonprofit. We just come together, do this, and leave. we learned very early on that we needed things and we went to all of the places that support us during the fall going, could you please help the boar? um And they showered us. Band Shop gives us whatever design shirt we want every year. Dance Advocates gives us whatever design flag we want.
00:48:39
Speaker
Music travel consultants and a marching pay for our sound system in our trial. All the kids have to do is show up, do what they do and go home. um We charge a little bit that kind of goes to getting the bottled waters and doing some of that stuff. But the big projects, we are so fortunate that these groups that We spend so much money with and so much time collaborating with CNF and us and the value of us as people to give back um with nothing in return. So I'm going to get you all about them as much as we can. they're They're amazing companies and we're we're super proud that they continue to support us each year. I love that. I find that, you know, when it comes to ah and projects like this, events like this, that people do dig deep in their wallets when they can and if they can then
00:49:27
Speaker
Um, so that's a beautiful thing. I love that. Um, Scott, what's your gush and go as much as I want to sit here and talk hours about pickle ball. Cause I'm actually missing pickle ball practice right now. Um, I know, but color guard skills do apply to pickle ball and we can have a whole podcast about that. Just contact me and we'll do it. Um, I really am just. grateful for the people that are with me running this, ah Bobby Vega, Joe Leon, some of the other staff members that we have that ah write choreography and keep the guard together. I show up for the parade and we're blocking them. And Joey is our guard captain. He's running them telling the given them checkpoints, cleaning them, you know? So it's a very much a well-oiled machine right now sponsored ah by the Winter Guard Association of Southern California, which again,
00:50:20
Speaker
Uh, for personally, for me, that's the circuit I grew up in marching independent color guards, um, as a reformer, as taught for many years, instructor, and now, uh, been 12 years as an adjudicator. Um, so that, that to me, like they fostered me and it's just wonderful to give back to them and to be a part of the group, uh, during pride season, you know what I mean? And they're, they're definitely taking this the step forward to, um, provide provide this opportunity for all the performers and instructors and directors to keep performing. And another thing, again, just gushing about, the the more we get through these generations, the further away we get from the core history of what Pride was, going back to the ah Stonewall Riots, you know we can all talk about that. and
00:51:08
Speaker
Most of us know what that is, but some of these younger kids don't really understand that. They don't know that. So I do make it up i do make it a point every year to have a little bit of a discussion with them. What was the Stonewall riots? Why is it important? Who is Silver Rivera? Who is Marsha P. Johnson? What was their impact on the community? you know and we And we struggled in the beginning with pride. Pride wasn't always such a pretty little land of rainbows, flowers, and ah you know, uh, sequence, you know, when it first started, there was, there wasn't thursdays yeah, there was a lot of diverse, there was a lot of, uh, animosity and segregation still in the LGBTQ plus community at that time. So to see the evolution from what it was then to what it was now, it's just leaps and bounds. And and I'm just proud to be a part of legacy. And I'll always remind the children of where we came from and and to go back and know your history and respect it because there, there's a whole, there's a whole movement behind what we do.
00:52:05
Speaker
and they need to know, and the generations, we need to keep that know-how alive through the generations. Very important. I gushed about that a lot during during June and Pride season, and with with that was especially with the a younger performers, so that they know. for a little while Well, it's also, it's all pretty recent history too. And we're always on the verge of repeating, repeating bad history. So I think you're so right. It's important to keep retelling those stories because we're only ever a generation away from being placed in a similar situation. So I love that so much. Morgan, gush and go. Oh, I can I, in drum corps, I was never respectful of the gush and go so I could go on and on but I will try to be respectful. of it here
00:52:52
Speaker
um So I mean, first and foremost, I want to just gush over all of you and all of the other Pride directors that aren't sitting here today, because I think it's pretty magical that we have all figured out a way to create a third space for adult performers, you know, like you age out, you kind of fall off a cliff as a go March world class, but um it's nice that we're, we're kind of in a way, we almost create like a rec league um for color guard performers, which is really cool. And like Bree was saying, you know, we, we get emails too of people who said, I always wanted to March, but they didn't let boys March when I was in school, you know, like all those, so bully for all of us for making that space for those people and for,
00:53:35
Speaker
you know even in Even in the marching arts, there's still discrimination against queer people where it's like, oh, we tolerate how how gay the color guard is. you know And here we're like, we're going to feature how gay the color guard is. Thank you very much, you know which is really nice. Um, so I could gush, I could gush over all y'all all day. And then I just wanted to mention that, um, I want to gush over Travis Prudome, who was the founder of Flagett's Denver. Um, he was a Dallas Flagett and then came and started our chapter. And sadly he passed away in 2017 and I made a deathbed promise to him that I would keep the guard going. Um, and so without him, you know, without him, I wouldn't have kept marching. My marching career would have ended in my twenties. Um,
00:54:19
Speaker
And I'm just really grateful for him and the space that he created for all of us. And every year the show that we write is like a love letter to him. And so it's a big honor to be able to do that. And I could gush about that all day too, but those are mine. That was a really beautiful tribute. I love, very lovely. Brie, want to bring us in with the last gush and go? ah Yeah, definitely. So I guess my gush and go would be first and foremost to all of those that came before me. um I'm so blessed to have been taught by so many wonderful people and wonderfully gay people. um I think that LGBTQ people make this activity what it is. um And I really do think that I stand on the backs of giants every time I spend. And I'm so blessed to not only have a place where I can be this creative and be myself, um but I can also now create that for other people. I think it's my absolute favorite thing in the world. Oh my gosh, that was perfect.
00:55:23
Speaker
I think that's so that's such an important thing to bring up. reeace like i i mean like I think for myself as a teenager, Color Guard is what made me comfortable being myself. yeah yeah Color Guard is where I came out of the closet for the first time. Color Guard is like it's the first place I ever felt safe. and i think that If I can give that to any any young performers that want to be a part of our group, then that's what that's what we're here for. Well, I am gushing about my wonderful time with all of you. Thank you so much for coming together, sharing your different experiences. And it's funny because I felt like for so many years, it was like, I just knew my, I knew my local Flagots Pride Guard group. And then I got to see, Bri, I don't know if you've heard of Philly Freedom Band, like their, our area. get your LGBT marching band and to just know that it's everywhere and it's all over the place and it's thriving and beautiful. It's just worthy enough to gush about. So I love that. What a fun gush and go. Hey, it's called gush and go, not gush and stay. Let's go.
00:56:34
Speaker
Well, thanks for a great rehearsal this week. Thanks to our hosts. ah If ah any of our listeners would like to find any of you, let's say, on Instagram or your pride groups on Instagram, if they're local to you and maybe want to connect with you, can we go one at a time? Maybe you can give us a handle. They could reach out to Jeremy. Sure. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, all of the above under New England pride color guard. Great. Del? Also, to also under any... nepcg.org. Okay, great. What about you? Yeah, we can be found on Instagram and Facebook. Just search for indie pride guard. I am dy. We also take anyone so if you're interested in performing, there's also ah members page which we post on there. Sign up and come join us. Yeah, you can find us at on ah Instagram and Facebook at SoCal pride guard.
00:57:31
Speaker
um that it kind of encompasses ah the whole group and if you want to ah Follow me shameless promotion with my DJ career as I DJ for the Pride Color Guard. It is at Retro Cub Music. Morgan. We are on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube as Flag It's Denver. And then we are on Facebook as Colorado Color Guard All Stars Flag It's Denver. And then we also have a website. You can just Google Flag It's Denver. We're like the first thing that comes up. And Bri. So you can find most of our information out on CFSOF.com.
00:58:06
Speaker
um But we're also on Facebook as Central Florida Sounds of Freedom Band and Color Guard. And we're on Twitter, ah Instagram, TikTok, and threads under CFSOFband. You guys have it all covered. And for anyone listening, if you're not in any of these areas, there's great flagots and ah Pride, Color Guard, marching band groups all over the country. All you have to do is probably Google your city, your closest city with flagots or pride group. I know they're in Philly, New York, New Jersey, Columbus, Ohio, Texas, they're everywhere. So there is certainly one near you. um But again, thank you for joining us, all the five of you. It's been such a great time chatting.
00:58:54
Speaker
ah One more thing, don't forget that we have our YouTube channel now that has many of our interviews coming out as full video editions. Go and subscribe so you don't miss them. So before you close out of your podcast listing app, go subscribe, write a review, and share this with a friend. Follow us on social media, at On A Water Break, and we'll see you at the next rehearsal on A Water Break.
00:59:18
Speaker
The On A Water Break podcast was produced by Jeremy Williams and Christine Reade. The intro and outro music was produced by Josh Lida. To learn more, visit lidamusic.com. And until next time, thanks for tuning in.