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The One For WGI Percussion & Winds Championships 2024
219 Plays1 year ago
This week we are all about WGI Percussion/Winds Championships 2024. Hear the hosts picks for Percussion / Winds to see this weekend. All this, plus news, Water we doing, and more. Don’t miss this WGI prep!!
Featuring
Stephen McCarrick - @stephenmccarick
Callie Quire - @cnquire
Austin Hall - @Austin_hall10
Jose Montes - @joeymontes57
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
Austin Hall - @Austin_hall10
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
Introduction and Episode Focus
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey everyone, we are back for another week of exciting rehearsals. This week we are talking everything WGI 2024 wins in percussion championships. And we'll also figure out what made Austin say. I didn't have to deal with what Callie dealt with. I'm sure she probably had to help fold the floor and all that stuff after. So she probably got home a little bit later than me. And why Callie said it's just a kicker. I don't know. And pun intended with the balls.
00:00:24
Speaker
But it is just, I love it. I think that they do things that nobody else does. All this and more, so get out on the field and we will see you back on the sidelines for this week's episode of On a Water Break. Eight off the Met and go. Welcome to On a Water Break.
Introduction to Marching Arts Discussion
00:00:44
Speaker
The podcast where we talk everything marching arts. Everyone bring it in. It's time for a water break.
00:00:54
Speaker
Welcome to another episode of season two of on a water break, the podcast where we talk about everything you and your friends are talking about at rehearsal on a water break.
WGI Percussion Week and Color Guard Recap
00:01:03
Speaker
This is Steve McCarrick and we have finally made it to WGI percussion week after a hugely successful week of on a water break with WGI color guard championships. If you miss any of those live live streams or shows, go check us out on YouTube. Check out our social media for the amazing interviews you missed.
00:01:20
Speaker
and check out these new interviews coming out this week still to be released. But if you are listening to this now, the week it comes out, you are either on your way to Dayton in Dayton, waiting for Dayton to begin, or you're just an avid fan of the podcast and you're listening to us at home and you want to hear these deep dives into wins and percussion. But either way, we've got it all for you this week.
Preparations for Dayton
00:01:42
Speaker
So before we get into it, I want to get into who's on the sidelines.
00:01:46
Speaker
And we've got a lot of interesting, exciting folks with us today. For starters, we've got Callie back with us again. How are you doing, Callie? Hi, I'm good. Thank you for having me. Awesome. Yeah. And final rehearsals, they're wrapping up. You guys must be about to leave for Dayton, I'm guessing, right? Yes. Yeah. Infinity progression leaves today. I think our sun off time is actually 7pm. So.
00:02:10
Speaker
Oh, wow. Okay. So you guys have to, you're probably a little further than United is then. That makes sense. Absolutely. Yeah. Do you guys drive or do you fly? We drive. So we, uh, we get a charter bus for each ensemble, um, and we stuff everything in there and we get going.
00:02:28
Speaker
Yeah, that's a long drive. I remember like being in high school and thinking that my 10 hour drive to Dayton was a lot, but that is surely light work compared to what you guys put up with in Florida. Yeah. I don't know the exact time. I can't remember even though I've done it so many times, but it feels like forever. Oh my gosh. Well, we'll get back to that in a minute. I want to hear a little bit more about what's been going on over at infinity these last couple of weeks, but I've also got jelly with
Recent Performances and Travel Preferences
00:02:55
Speaker
us. Joey, how are you doing?
00:02:57
Speaker
Uh, pretty good. Um, I'm surviving. I can imagine you've got a lot of different groups competing these last couple of weeks. Um, I believe you had a couple at color guard, maybe a couple coming out this week as well. Um, why don't you tell us a little bit about what's going on with you?
00:03:13
Speaker
Well, so got got some color guards this past weekend. They did well. Some of them. I mean, it's great to be able to say that they had their best performances on the the idioms biggest stage. So we're very excited about that. Highest placing.
00:03:29
Speaker
shows in the organization's history. So we're very excited about that. You know, going into this weekend, I've got a couple of percussion groups and taking two wins groups this year. So I'm just happy. Yeah, dude, it's been it's been quite the season and I'm holding on. I've got a single thread, but we're going to make it happen.
00:03:48
Speaker
That's crazy. I can't believe I couldn't imagine running all those different ensembles would be so difficult. It's a shout out to you, man. I appreciate it. It's a it's a labor of love, I think. But at the end of the day, I think it's all worth it. And we're going to make it happen. Awesome. Well, good luck to you with your group still yet to compete. We'll get back into them in a little bit here. But Austin, Austin, how you doing, man? Happy to have you on the show.
00:04:14
Speaker
Hey, I am super, super tired. We have, we had FFCC championships last night. I don't think I got home till about one o'clock in the morning. Wow. I didn't have to deal with what Callie dealt with. I'm sure she probably had to help pull the floor and all that stuff after. So she probably got home a little bit later than me. Oh yeah. Yeah. We had a, we had a great day yesterday. Had a great run. Just kind of prepping for Dayton, getting ready to go with the horizon wins.
00:04:41
Speaker
Nice. Yeah. That's crazy that you guys are all the way till like the wee hours of the morning down for your regional championships in Florida. We just wrapped ours up, but maybe our circuits a little smaller up here. We were done by like 7 PM on Saturday. Saturday. I wish that was Monday. Weird. Uh, we were scheduling things happen this year, but you know, what can you do? We made it work.
00:05:06
Speaker
Kids performed really well and we're ready to hop on a plane on Thursday. So I will be very happy to not drive up to Ohio. Yeah. I've been doing so much flying, but this year I'm driving. I'm driving again. I want to make the road trip of it. Uh, and also we should have my good friend Woody. What do you, uh, should be here, but it seems like he's caught up in rehearsal.
Special Performances and Recognitions
00:05:33
Speaker
Maybe we'll get Woody in a little bit here. Um,
00:05:36
Speaker
As we get started now, let's hop into some news for this week. I want to talk about WGI percussion, but I have something crazy that I need to share with you guys first. Let's get into the news.
00:06:01
Speaker
All right, cool. Usually I like to be real polite, real kind to the guests, put our guests first, but I can't wait to tell you guys this story. So I had the best gig that I think I might ever have with the Eagle strum line.
00:06:16
Speaker
Uh, WrestleMania came to Philadelphia and it was playing at the Lincoln financial field, which is, you know, that's the Eagle stadium. And then they, uh, they ended up giving us the gig to go out there during WrestleMania, uh, and perform in the actual, well, we were standing right outside the ring, the cheerleaders and Swooper in the ring. Uh, but we needed to do a big drum roll to announce our special guests for the evening who we were performing with, which was Snoop Dogg.
00:06:48
Speaker
So for anyone out there wondering what life after aging out is like, you should go do an NFL drumline. You're going to find cool gigs pop up, especially if you're into like your local team or something like I am. I'm a huge Eagles fan. Like there is nothing cooler than the types of opportunities that you get doing professional drumline. So anyone, you know, Callie, you're probably about to age out. Are you? I am. Yeah. This is my age out.
00:07:15
Speaker
don't, it does not all end aging out. I used to be so sad. I thought it was all over for me. It is not. There are still places to go with it. That's awesome. That's so awesome. It was, it was awesome. They also brought the mummers out. I know we've done some more talking about mummers and stuff, but it was kind of cool to see like at this huge pay-per-view event, like where actually they brought two
00:07:38
Speaker
marching ensembles out and did marching band not once, but twice at WrestleMania basically. So just some cool exposure. It was really neat to see that in my own city. Anyway, though, Callie, what what do you got for us in the news this week?
00:07:57
Speaker
Yeah, so there was this really cool opportunity for some of the All Girls students at St. Mary's Academy in New Orleans. They had an All Girls marching band and they were actually featured on the Today Show. So it's super cool to see especially women in the marching arts being featured on such a wide, you know, national television opportunity. And that's something I think we are all a little bit more passionate about these days, getting girls and women into the marching arts.
00:08:27
Speaker
That was awesome. Yeah, that's cool. When was that today's show performance? It looks like it says April 12th, so it was pretty recent. They did a feature on them. It's an awesome video. I'm sure we can link it in the show notes. Everybody should go check that out. The students were able to kind of perform in a parade and they featured them on the show.
00:08:48
Speaker
Nice. Yeah. That's so cool. I actually, it's really ironic. I don't mean to bring it back towards me, but Eagles drumline also performed on the today show on April 1st. We were doing an autism foundation event with like some Eagles players and the cheerleaders doing clinics with autistic children. So like today's show is really doing a lot to put on the marching arts so far this month. Fantastic. We need that.
00:09:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's so cool. And I feel like you see it all across the board. Marching arts stuff is getting really popular in like America's Got Talent, too. Anyway, though, let's let's move along here. Joey, what do you got for us this week?
Challenges Faced by Teams
00:09:27
Speaker
Uh, so the, the, I got two, one of them is, is the unfortunate news about AMP going into finals or not going into finals Saturday night, um, because of, uh, uh, some food poisoning and, um, you know, the whole team being down. Um, I think, I think that's such a hard decision for the staff and the students to make. And, and for them to, to, to put the student experience first and honestly health first, I think was the right decision. I just, I could not imagine being in the room.
00:09:56
Speaker
making that happen. That was tough to watch and I hope all the listeners can send out their support for the organization because that's a tough thing to do. That was hard to see.
00:10:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's Jeremy. And I'm just going to jump in because I was there, obviously, at Color Guard Championships. And it was it was hard. And I'm going to speak from the fact that we were in the room when AMP was supposed to be going on. And there was definitely an absence of of just feeling and the audience, you know, sort of
00:10:36
Speaker
quietly demanding like their semi finals performance be played on the big, you know, on the big screen. And we all thought like that maybe happened. But it did all happen very, very, very quickly. We did a live on Instagram with Bobby from show day, who's very close with the director, it's actually his roommate. So we had some information there. It was it was a lot for the performers, they actually weren't the only ones, I think,
00:11:01
Speaker
I think it was Tampa Independent I actually believe or somebody else also like half of their performers in semis were like not okay. It basically happened but somewhere between prelims and semis is when the entire like
00:11:17
Speaker
disease or whatever game over. We're not ruling out sabotage by the spaghetti warehouse. No, just kidding. So anyway, it was it was it's sad. It's, you know, it's upsetting, but it does tell you it goes back to that old adage that us as instructors and directors are constantly telling our kids, you never know when it's your final performance.
00:11:39
Speaker
You are just never gonna know and you have to make sure that you're prepared, you know, for it to be your final performance, for you to have one more and that's it. Could be an injury, could be something like this where half, I mean it was more than half the color guard was sick and like several kids were in the hospital.
00:11:57
Speaker
So this was like, you know, beyond just normal sort of sort of stuff. So our hearts go out to them. You know, they were missed. You know, everybody in the in the arena missed them. You could feel it. But we did get some really great performances that night. And, you know, as the activity moves forward, I'm sure, you know, they will get to come back next year and be just as, you know, amazing as they they've always been. So
00:12:27
Speaker
I just wanted to jump in and give you all a little bit of more insight to it that we sort of had. But I will launch it back to the percussion. We can jump out of Color Guard. Yeah, I'm sure we're going to have plenty of time to talk about Color Guard immediately after percussion. We're going to have some more good content coming your way soon. Thank you. So it's such a shame. My heart certainly goes out to AMP. I couldn't imagine if something like that were to happen over at United Knockwood.
00:12:56
Speaker
Anyway though, let's wrap up here. Austin, what do you have for us this week?
Inspiration and New Ideas in Marching Arts
00:13:00
Speaker
Yeah. So GQ actually did a awards dinner and they incorporated the marching arts. And I was looking at some of the pictures a little bit earlier today and they really incorporated like styling. GQ is like a big style fashion thing. And
00:13:17
Speaker
Just the way they incorporated the marching arts and all of it was really, really cool. I actually got a lot of great costume ideas for maybe the future to kind of be like, hey, this is kind of what this looks like. How can we evolve the activity, make it kind of more contemporary or just maybe come up with a couple of unique show ideas. So hop on GQ, check out that article. I think we'll link it in the show notes and go get some ideas for yourself. But just being able to see
00:13:48
Speaker
a lot of incorporation of the marching arts in like real life outside of like our little social circles and everything is super cool because we all we all wish for exposure going into we all wish for like exposure going into like real life and it's really hard to explain what we do and being able to get it on
00:14:12
Speaker
like a mainstream kind of stick is a really good thing. And looking at the pictures, the instruments, they're actually holding them pretty correctly. I was impressed. It looks good. Like that photo shoot was like awesome.
00:14:27
Speaker
It's actually pretty crazy. I didn't realize till I clicked in this involved Erica Badu. That's wild. Yeah, she's like mysterious and she's she's excellent. Yeah, it's cool. It's kind of the same stuff we're talking about in our stories with the Today Show and with WrestleMania as well, where like there's a little bit of a cultural current putting marching band and drumline into like the front stage of regular pop culture.
00:14:53
Speaker
Which is pretty cool. It's been a long time coming for that. Quick aside, if there was one drum chord or drum line that you think should be modeling for GQ, who do you guys think would be that ensemble?
00:15:09
Speaker
I feel like the old school original Bluecoats uniform with the helmet, with the big cape and everything is like straight up GQ should just be in the mag. There's gonna be some other good ones. Oh, I thought you were talking about like, who should be wearing it? Like what's drum corps is like, I guess at that point, the cutest? I don't know. I'm saying who's got the best style, but thanks.
00:15:35
Speaker
Yes. In that case, I'm going cavaliers. I'm going cavaliers. I like that, too. I've really enjoyed the Scott Chandler uniforms over at BD. And I feel like I feel like a collaboration between that and seeing what they can do with how creative that team is. I think them doing a fashion show show like essentially Phil and ask again, you know, Phil and ask ask would be dope.
00:16:04
Speaker
Dude, you're right. That would actually be so cool. A BD fashion show show would be awesome. Like super meta.
00:16:13
Speaker
I know I'm not a color guard person, but I think that the turn it back to my home team, I think the Boston Crusaders color guard could just like throw down in a photo shoot. I'll allow it. Thank you. They are some of my favorite people in the in the activity. And oh my gosh, do they they just the way they move their bodies is just incredible. And I really think they would they would be awesome for something like that.
00:16:44
Speaker
All right. Well, GQ, I know the executives at GQ listen to the show every week, so get on it. All right. We're going to pop out to a quick commercial, but I get back with us here soon. We got to load the bus and get out to Dayton.
00:17:12
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.
00:17:42
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.
00:18:15
Speaker
All right, everyone, it's time to dive a little bit deeper into who we're excited to see live and date in
Anticipation for Performances
00:18:20
Speaker
this week. So let's start off. Let's just get one quick pick of someone you're excited to see. And Callie, you're not allowed to say infinity, but who are you excited to see? OK, so my first pick is actually RCC. I know that's like not like super common or maybe that's also going to be my pick. I need to quickly think.
00:18:45
Speaker
I am such a huge RCC fan. I think last week Dougie and I were able to talk about Rhythm X a little bit, who I also love. But RCC just does such, I think, incredible and innovative things. And their show this season, I think, is just a kicker. I don't know. And pun intended with the balls.
00:19:06
Speaker
Um, but it is just, I love it. I think that they do things that nobody else does. Um, and I think this year they're a little underrated. So I'm rooting for them. I really am thinking the same thing. Like to me, RCC does such a good job every year being genuinely artistic and different. I think I even said this last time we had this conversation, but they're like never derivative of another group. They're never trying to copy a trend that they think is doing well in the activity.
00:19:36
Speaker
Like this year, I'm just excited just to see what they're doing because they have this whole like trippy aesthetic. I've only seen lot performances, but like I think that it's going to be a big show for me. Yeah, they are they are like unapologetically themselves. And I think that is just so important in this activity. You know, you like you said, like they don't follow the trends. They
00:19:58
Speaker
create something new and unique and innovative every single year. And that is just so important to keeping this activity alive and fresh. Mm hmm. And they just like they really make art of it like that. Not all it's all art, but RCC is very artful in their approach to the activity. I love them. I'm a huge fan. Me too. I'm going to have to spend some time thinking about my new option since we just took RCC right away.
00:20:27
Speaker
Joey, what are you excited about? So I'm on the wins realm. I'm excited to see that Quero. I think I think the aesthetic is so beautiful and I've really fought to not watch the show throughout the season. So I've kept like my flow marching account as far away from it as possible because, you know.
00:20:46
Speaker
Every every time that we we see them in Dayton, it's just it's such a beautiful. I mean, they play so beautifully and they move so well. And so to see to see that in its, you know, full idea and its full vision, I think, is is something I'm the most looking forward to on Sunday morning or Sunday afternoon. That's that's my pick. Nice. Yeah, you're you're a little bit more nestled into the wind scene than I am. And we were just talking about how like
00:21:16
Speaker
In percussion, some groups might be trying to do what they think they need to get a gold medal. Other groups are really trying to forge their own identity and be something different. In wind, since it's more new relatively, do you think there's more of that new earth being shed by these groups where they're figuring out new stuff and each year there's leaps forward in what winds is?
00:21:40
Speaker
I definitely think so. Maybe Austin and I can tag team this question. I think we're still trying to figure out what wins is. Is it marching band inside? Is it theater? Is it choir? Are guitars allowed? At the end of the day,
00:22:00
Speaker
It's so new. It can be anything. And I think that's the beautiful thing. Watching groups like Valhalla and Horizon do so many cool things with aesthetics and props, and then watching groups like EVA that have a monochromatic
00:22:17
Speaker
aesthetic and they're just going. Those kids, the other kids are just running around and doing band to the fullest and seeing Valquero's aesthetic and just knowing what that staff can have their kids do. Everybody's got their own take on what wins is and it's exciting to see it all culminate together to make just a beautiful show that you can sit through four hours of band.
00:22:41
Speaker
No, that's actually so interesting to think about. For these new directors in that space, you really get to define what this competitive landscape is because it's so fresh. That's kind of cool. Austin, what do you think about
Winds as a New Competitive Space
00:22:55
Speaker
it? Yeah. Joey got it exactly right. The way that I kind of see it is that there are certain groups that are just doing the whole
00:23:05
Speaker
marching and we're just marching and playing as traditional marching band and there's other group and they're and they're still pushing the envelope with that which is awesome and they're and they're finding new ways to do things underneath like really technical passages and they're really pushing that space but then there's other groups that are out there and trying to make it more theatrical so sometimes like you're kind of sometimes you're comparing apples to oranges and they're going up right up against each other and that's kind of the beauty of wins is that
00:23:34
Speaker
It's the Wild West. There's no rules. Literally. There's no rules. That's kind of the way the Winds Realm has been designed from the advisory board.
00:23:49
Speaker
and all that stuff which is really great they've been they've done a fantastic job at like not saying like oh you can't do this can't do this can't do this can't do this because we want the freedom to be as creative as we possibly can with this less limitation as possible of course you have your typical boundaries and props and all that stuff
00:24:08
Speaker
But there's no rules on whether or not you there's win scripts that have front of that have back ensembles, like full percussion back ensembles. And then there's a lot of groups just use a backing track. And it's fantastic. Joey, I know you guys. Do you guys use a back ensemble or? No, we don't. We have a we use a hip hop, a local hip hop producer here in Raleigh that that makes some pretty fire beats for us.
00:24:34
Speaker
Dude, this is such a cooler. This is way cooler than color guard or percussion. No one talks about wins this way and actually explains it for what it is being a more like creatively open division in which people can compete in WGI. That's like.
00:24:50
Speaker
That's super interesting, man. Now I'm excited to see what it shapes into over years, because like I think for people that are less involved in wins, there's a bit of an impression of like, it's yeah, it's undercooked a little bit or it's still on the come up and people don't understand what it is and why it is perhaps so loose. It's loose to not stifle creativity. That's really cool.
00:25:15
Speaker
Yeah, I would say we missed so like there's not there's not a lot of rules. There is one world that you need five wins players on the floor. We missed our opportunity to to hire Kenny G to come out and play for seven minutes and have people have a dance team run around. So is there an age out?
00:25:31
Speaker
No age out. No age out. No age out. We were thinking of bringing Rihanna out for finals, but it's a lot of money. It's crazy you say that. She also is an avid listener of the show. So I'll DM her after and tell her that she should come out with you guys. Riri, we need you for a closer. Come out.
00:25:52
Speaker
Awesome. That's so cool. Well, that was that was cool. Thank you guys for sharing that with me because I honestly didn't know all that about like the rules and how the competitive landscape of wins works. That makes me way more excited to see more of it over the next couple of years. Yeah. But bring it back to the first question. Austin, do you got a group you're excited to see live and dating this week?
00:26:12
Speaker
You know, after what Joey said about Eva, I've got to pop in and I've got to pop in and see their show. I really do. On the wind side, I got to see Eva. I think they're in, you guys are in independent open, yeah? Yep. Nice. Definitely looking forward to that. Percussion side, I haven't seen too much. I got to see all the Florida groups last night. Infinity was phenomenal.
00:26:39
Speaker
completely, completely beautiful show front front to back. But I've always been in the percussion world. I've always been a music city mistake fan. Hmm. I don't know anything. I don't know anything about
00:26:57
Speaker
any what anyone's doing this year because i've just been so focused in the wind's realm but i've always been a music city mystique fan um they always like to push the envelope and everything that they do they've been kind of like the pioneer of the percussion activity and they just continue to do so um another group that i really want to see i'm very good friends with the paradigm people they really forged an identity over the past couple years and i really want to see where they run with it and
00:27:27
Speaker
I know they're doing it. They're doing like, the dog show show. And it's super straightforward. It's super like, I don't want to use the word cheesy, but it's like, it's in your face. They're like, this is what we're doing. Here we go. And they drum well, everything's designed, everything's designed great. And they've just been, they've kind of been on a tear the past couple of years. And I've really, really enjoyed all their products since COVID.
00:27:53
Speaker
Yeah, no, that's cool. I think that's kind of local to me. Is that in like the Maryland area? No, they're in North Carolina. That's where I'm originally from. Oh, okay.
00:28:02
Speaker
My bad. I know it was East coast somewhere. Um, and I'm from up near Philly. Uh, cool. Yeah, dude. That's awesome. Um, MCM show this year, I know is, is one that I haven't gotten to look too closely at yet, but it's like a little bit out of their normal. Um, cause I think they're going down more of like a hip hop and like urban aesthetic a little bit for their program this year, which is like a little bit out of what I usually just get like very intense shows from MCM. Yeah.
00:28:30
Speaker
I'm loving what MCM is doing this season. I have a pretty good amount of good friends that I marched with in DCI that are there and I just I'm into it. It is so cool. There's I don't know if you guys have seen their show but there's like a section of it where there's it's like extended silence.
00:28:47
Speaker
And I think it's, this is something that you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's from, or like a tribute to the one piece that's like four minutes and 33 seconds of silence. You know, that piece, I forget who it's by. I'm not a big, I guess I'm not a good enough music nerd, but I'm good.
00:29:06
Speaker
I know. And then they just like, like scream. And I know that sounds so odd, but it is just so beautiful. Like it gives you goosebumps, you know, and it makes you just like, it draws you in. And I don't know what they're doing. I'm a photo ensemble person and their pit is always just incredible. So it's a pleasure. We were able to see them in Atlanta and I was able to stand next to some people that I got to march with and it was just, it was awesome. They're super cool.
00:29:33
Speaker
Nice. Yeah. It's funny. You say Atlanta, it brings me towards the group that I'm going to hop out there and say, I'm excited about. Um, AQ is baseline, man. It's just always something crazy. So good. I was just, and that's so funny. So that I was just talking about that with some of my friends and
00:29:51
Speaker
We were like, Oh my gosh, I made knock it out of the park every year. Their baseline is stunning, stunning. It's awesome. They have like a real culture of excellence. I'm real good friends with someone who was there. He was like a six year vet of Quest or something stupid. And he was like the base section leader for like the last three or four years that he was there. So like he was a big part of bringing that
00:30:13
Speaker
entity to be what it is, you know. So it's so cool to me to see them actually like he's long since aged out. He's not associated. They're just like they've they're building on that legacy of great bass drumming. So if you're in the lot and you see Atlanta Quest, you need to go listen to their baseline. It's honestly probably one of the coolest things that's going to happen in the lot on Saturday.
00:30:40
Speaker
All right, let's let's let's get out to that lot. Actually, we're going to pop by for a little commercial, but you can come find me in the tent in about two minutes for our next segment. Hey, this is Christine Reem and Chris Green.
00:31:04
Speaker
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00:31:33
Speaker
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00:32:14
Speaker
All right, everyone, it is that time in the week, we're going to go off against something in the marching arts that bugs us.
Humor and Practical Advice
00:32:20
Speaker
I know I've got a thing or two about the end of the year around the end of date and time that I might do a little different than than what I've learned. But let's get into it here. What are we doing?
00:32:41
Speaker
What are we doing? God, I will never get tired of that intro sound with Trish. It's so funny to me every time. And fun fact, fun fact, Trish got to hang out with the arranger all weekend in WGI. And so like, he is like, your, like the rhythm was just perfect. I had to use, anyway, go ahead. I love that. All right, Callie, do you got something?
00:33:01
Speaker
Yeah, I was trying to rack my brain when I was thinking about this, because like, when I go into Dayton, it's just like, I'm not thinking about anybody, but you know, just my ensemble, you know, I'm thinking about like, what can we do to just be better, you know? And mine is really silly. But I, when I get fired, and it's just this is just about like, like preparedness. I need people to bring chapstick.
00:33:26
Speaker
No, I know that someone has been dating, you know, a million times on someone who's from the South. It's very, very humid here. And when we pull up, I've got all my itty-bitty friends who, you know, they've only done it. They've maybe never been to Dayton before, like bring chopsticks.
00:33:43
Speaker
Bring chapstick. And they're like, bring chapstick. And I'm like, bro, you need chapstick. You're going to dry out. And they never believe me. And then they use up all my chapstick. And I know that's so silly, but it is real. So anybody listening who's ever going to be able to follow.
00:33:59
Speaker
You're going to need it. Just trust me. I've never considered it because for me it's like I'm from the Northeast. So I go a little bit over to Dayton. It feels the same, but I've always figured if you're in Florida or you're California, then you like go up to Dayton and some years it's like 40 degrees and raining or snowing.
00:34:18
Speaker
Yeah, it's such a shock. You know, I always talk to them like bring layers, bring chapstick and bring hand lotion. And they're like, why? I've never used it in my life. I'm like, you're going to need it. I promise you're going to. Yeah, no, that is a good pro tip. That's one that I maybe also need to take into consideration. Joey, do you got anything for us?
00:34:41
Speaker
Similar to Callie, I was really trying to rack my brain and I think just based off of last weekend and how things shook out competitively, my big, what are we doing is why are we paying so much attention to the, I mean, like, I think it's cool to see where everybody's at, you know, and that's a cool thing, but why are we paying so much attention to putting so much, you know, weight on the drum rank stuff? Like, I mean, like last week,
00:35:09
Speaker
You know just based off of the the color guard scores and the seating stuff and everything it really did not shake out Um, like like everybody thought going into the week. So I mean, I feel like it's the same way every year um that uh, you know Kids either get their hopes up or kids go into it with this preconceived notion. That's like, oh, we're not even gonna make semis So we just have to make this the best whatever and you know, and so I think it puts
00:35:32
Speaker
I think it puts a negative hue on some of these young kids. I just wish, while I think it's cool to know where everybody's at, I think putting that much weight on it does not set us up for success. That's my big, what are we doing?
00:35:51
Speaker
Like Hallie said, like you just got to focus on you and that there's no there's no defense in this activity. It's you go out there and you give your best performance. And at the end of the day, you get immortalized on a video. And that's what matters. You know, like the medals are cool. You know, all those things. I would tell you right now, my medals are in a sock drawer, you know, like it doesn't it doesn't do it's not anything. It's it's it's about the love of the activity. And I just wish I just wish we we paid less attention to those things.
00:36:19
Speaker
Yeah. Now you're right. There's definitely something resonant about like, all my medals are in a drawer somewhere. And I don't even remember what drawer it is. Like it's a, you come to find as you get older, it's not necessarily about that. You're absolutely right. Um, Austin, what do you got for us?
Savoring Final Moments of the Season
00:36:38
Speaker
Um, what are we doing not savoring the last week with our teammates?
00:36:45
Speaker
That's the biggest one for me. We always, I mean, at least when I was performing, it's like, oh, we're pushing the end, we're pushing the end. Regardless of what happens during this season, you're never gonna be with that specific group of people again. So savor those moments with your teammates, with your staff, with everyone in your organization, and don't try to, the push to the end is so important.
00:37:14
Speaker
But it's so important to just slow down and just take it all in and be like, just reflect back on what you did. You like we we've come so far since November, December, January. And we've built, honestly, we've all built lifelong friendships with a lot of these people like Callie, I'm sure some of your best friends are standing right next to you in the front ensemble. And
00:37:40
Speaker
Joey, people you've marched with, I'm sure you're in their weddings and Steven, same thing. We just gotta, we honestly just have to savor the time that we have with them because we're never gonna be with that same group of people again. And it's so, so important to just take it all in and take it for what it is and enjoy your time at the end rather than just push, push, push, push, push and be like, all right, I'm done.
00:38:11
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. That's all we want to do. Is because you still got those friends, you have those friends forever, like you're saying, but you don't have this experience with them forever. So take that time and savor it while you're doing it. My water we doing for this week.
00:38:30
Speaker
I honestly don't know if you guys will agree with me, but I feel like sometimes we're not preparing our students as best as we can when we just tell them that Dayton is like any other competition. And what we need to go today is just go out here and it's nothing's different, guys. We need to do the same thing we do all the time. It's almost like you're gaslighting your students' anxiety about performance.
00:38:50
Speaker
Where you're just like trying to act like this is not different. It's clearly different. There's clearly dialed up pressure. I think that like one of my best educators ever in my age out season at X, he was telling us for like the entire last six weeks of the season that we need to like confront every single rep during the rep that this is about to end. Like you need to put yourself in your finals rep, especially like the age outs and think like, yeah, I'm, I'm done. I'm aging out. This is done.
00:39:20
Speaker
Because if you don't actually confront all these emotions before your finals rep, you're going to get out there and you're going to get hit by a wall of emotion during your finals rep. That's going to make you tick. Like to me, I think the best thing maybe we could do for our students in this last week is like.
00:39:37
Speaker
Be really direct, be really blunt, try to get them to really feel the emotions of the fact that this is going to end and do anything you can to get them to feel that prior to when they go out there and do their final rep. Because I think in a lot of the time, a lot of instructors will just try to just pretend it's not real, pretend we're not out here, you know, not doing this again after, you know, today.
00:40:02
Speaker
Maybe a more mature way to get a good finals rep is to just face those emotions head on throughout the week. All right. Well, I agree with you. I'm going to say, I agree with you, man. Like, uh, I think, I think it's, it's hard, uh, it's, it's hard to navigate those last couple, those last couple of rehearsals, you know, uh, you know, and you have to kind of sometimes wait, like, do I clean X to the end or do, do we work on, you know, this section is just get comfortable.
00:40:31
Speaker
Do we get into the nitty gritty and clean XYZ, XYZ, XYZ? Or do I put the member experience first and just have a good time? And then do we say like, hey, when you're in Dayton, this is going to happen. We get to the top of the tunnel.
00:40:46
Speaker
your heart's going to be racing. We've got to practice breathing. We've got to practice XYZ. When they say go, and it's time to get on the floor, there's going to be a rush of emotion. And so if you're not practicing doing that, then you really aren't setting up your students for success. And so I think there's a lot of validity to what you said.
00:41:05
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, as someone who this is my last, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm aging out. It's, and I've been there many, many times, like something that I think we do really well at infinity is where I've done the majority of my marching career.
00:41:20
Speaker
is doing that preparation. We have discussions about, the biggest thing that I try to instill in the members of the pit and that I noticed that my educators try to instill in us, I have awesome people in front of me, I've got Matt Albano, I've got Mike Hanson, Mitchell Beckman, people who are just doing incredible things, but something they really try to instill in us.
00:41:44
Speaker
is that when you finish and you do, for us we do like one final little, you know, go below our keyboards type thing, is to really like look at the crowd, you know, and understand that those people are here to see you.
00:42:01
Speaker
It was just so cool. And not something that you're going to really ever experience again in your life. Take that in. And I always say to them, take a mental picture and understand that that's something that's fleeting and you have to take it in. So yeah, I totally agree. It's not the same. It's all the same as your circuit championship. It's not the same as your home show. It's completely different. And that's a good thing. That's the whole reason we go. It's exciting.
00:42:31
Speaker
Yeah, I want to tack on to what you were saying about taking in that moment with the audience on our logistics coordination sheet for the ensemble at United. The last five seconds of performance before we get off the floor are literally called ask in the glory of performance. Like they just want us to sit there and just enjoy everyone clapping for you. Be there. Don't rush off the floor immediately.
00:42:59
Speaker
Just take that in for like five seconds and then go. All right. Well, I think on that note, it's time to get into our gush and goes for the week.
Upcoming Events and Social Highlights
00:43:08
Speaker
Uh, this week we're going to gush and go on about some of our favorite things in Dayton, Ohio, or just at WGI championships. So Austin, what, what do you got to gush and go on about in Dayton? Great job, everyone. Set your equipment down.
00:43:23
Speaker
Um, I'm gushing and going, uh, Oh goodness, this is only going to be my third time in Dayton. So I'm, I'm, I'm pretty new. I'm pretty new at this. Um, I'm gushing and going the wind, the, um, Thursday night for those of you who aren't going to be at percussion prelims. Um, there is a wind like exhibition kind of preview at Miami third high school in Miami's Berg, Ohio. Um, absolutely. Come check it out.
00:43:53
Speaker
It's a great opportunity just to have just pure performance. We want to pack that gym full of not just the other wins teams and their parents, but we want other people to come in and just kind of take in the wins activity for what it is so that you're like, oh, this is great. And then you can show up on Saturday and show up on Sunday to Truist and then UD respectively.
00:44:19
Speaker
just so we can get it's a great time. It's a great atmosphere. It's very chill. We have a great time. The kids are all super excited about it. It's personally my favorite event of the entire year because there's no pressure. We just go in and we get to cheer everybody else on and actually get to sit down and watch other wind teams do what they know how to do best.
00:44:39
Speaker
Nice, yeah. Definitely got to go out there. Could you remind our audience again where and when that performance is? Yes, that's going to be on Thursday. Let's see, what date is that? The 18th Miami'sburg High School at I think 6 p.m. is when that starts.
00:44:57
Speaker
Awesome. Just down the street from Dayton. I think it's about 20 minutes south, 30 minutes south of the arena at most. Miami's bird high school, 6 p.m. Thursday, the 18th be there. Awesome. Be there. Do it. Do it. Cool. Callie, what are you gushing and going on about this week?
00:45:17
Speaker
Yeah, I'm super excited for the lots, and not just like the watching the groups perform, but personally it's seeing all those people that I don't get to see throughout the year that I made, that we were talking about lifelong friendships with during DCI, and just like running up to them and seeing them, giving them big hugs, taking pictures, you know,
00:45:42
Speaker
asking in the glory of performance and of the relationships that we make in this activity. I'm so excited. I'm excited to see all those people. And yeah, it's going to be awesome. I have some friends traveling down who did the activity a couple of years ago, you know, people traveling up with us. You know, I'm just so excited to see everybody. I mean, I'm in it for the people. Obviously, I'm in it for the competition and the performance.
00:46:09
Speaker
The big part of it is the people, so super, super excited about that. I'm gushing already. Yeah, I can't wait. It kills me that I'm here. I got one day of work sandwiched between my last weekend and my trip out to Dayton. I'm so excited. It's so hard. It's so hard that you'll be there in no time. It's going to be awesome. You're almost there for sure. And Joey, what do you want to gush and go on about?
00:46:34
Speaker
So this is, uh, I think my 11th time, 11th week of going to Dayton. And, uh, you know, I've gone and, and, and had a, had a Thursday run and that was the end of the weekend for me. And I've gone and had a Saturday and had no time to do anything. Um, there's tons to do in Dayton. There's hoagies pizza, graders ice cream.
00:46:53
Speaker
At Grater's Ice Cream, you can get a freaking koozie for your pint of ice cream. Take your kids there. Get some pizza. Get some grub. There's a cool art museum if you're just trying to find something to do on Saturday before finals. There's this cool firehouse restaurant just up the street from UD. I don't know if I'm allowed to talk about it. Maybe, you know what? Forget it. Like headquarters. Headquarters is cool for designers and instructors.
00:47:17
Speaker
to go and meet up at the end of the the the end of the season and just get to shake hands with people that you normally don't get to be around. I'm going to tag on to say I'm trying to gushing go right now. I'm trying to tag on to what Kelly said. And you know, the bar goes, let's go. Yeah, I'm trying to say.
00:47:37
Speaker
Yeah, the lot is like, it's like the show before the show. And it's almost like a like a reunion at some of some sorts, you know, and so, you know, getting getting to see friends I marched with 12 years ago, you know, and and getting and just bringing us all back.
00:47:54
Speaker
to that moment and seeing just how supportive the activity actually is, you know, it is competitive and there is drama and there's fights and there's XYZ, XYZ, but it doesn't, that all goes away, you know, Friday night, Saturday night in the lot. You just see, it's the circus is in town, man, the tents are up and it's so cool to see everybody shows, like there's so much to do and there's so much to be proud of and to feel a part of that
00:48:20
Speaker
Those are the things I'm excited for. Whether Thursday is our last run, and I have to wait till Saturday for the wind stuff, or we take it all the way in, there's always something to do. Dayton is a beautiful place to be around, especially when the circus is in town.
00:48:36
Speaker
Yes, the circus is in town is exactly the right way to put it, man. It's got to be weird if you're a Dayton local and you don't know anything about band and then you just see the world coalesce around your city for like two weeks. The Uber drivers are like, oh, you here for the band thing? Yeah, we we're we're we take a lot of people to XYZ XYZ. They're loud. And I go, yeah, we're just we're just really excited to do band together. They're a little loud. Yeah, I would say so. Cool.
00:49:05
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm, I'm tacking on here with a very similar message. I guess I got a couple of places I'll probably be. If I'm not at rehearsal, he might find me at bar goes or in the same parking lot. There's a bar. That's a little less known called poor house. They've got some good food, uh, good bartenders to good people over there. Uh, if you are a band director who is looking to go get a meal after your performance, um,
00:49:32
Speaker
But yeah, it's a great time and you should go out to headquarters, go out to Bargo's at the very least. Just do stuff with your friends. Enjoy all the shows. Check out the tent. Check out the lower performing groups, too. It's not all just about the world class lines. But but more than anything, just just have fun. It's like our Christmas week for us band people. It's like this is it's funny you said 11th. I'm pretty sure this is also my 11th year going out. Did you go out for the first time in 2013?
00:50:02
Speaker
The first time I was out, I think was 2011 maybe. It was either my senior year or the year after, maybe it was 2012. But for a little bit, I swapped between guard and drums and then as things have grown and now I have groups in every idiom, sometimes you got to be out there for both weeks and it gets crazy. It gets crazy. I could only imagine.
00:50:37
Speaker
Awesome. Well, thank you for a great rehearsal this week, everyone. Thank you to our hosts, Austin, Callie and Joey. Thank you. Where could they find you, Joey? I'm Joey Montes, 57, on all my social media and on Facebook. I'm Jose Antonio Montes III. All right. Go check him out. Go follow Joey. Callie, what about you?
00:50:58
Speaker
Yeah, you can find me on all of my socials. It's C-N-Q-U-I-R-E. I'm on Facebook as Cali Choir. And yeah, that's it. And what about Austin? Where could they find you? You can find me on Instagram at Austin underscore Hall 10. Just search me up any social media and then obviously Austin Hall on Facebook. That's where you can find me.
00:51:26
Speaker
Cool. And let's review real quick to the groups that we're all performing with or teaching and stuff like that. That way maybe people, if they see our groups, they'll know, uh, Hey, I was listening to those guys. So, uh, Joey, what, uh, what ensembles do you have going out this weekend?
00:51:41
Speaker
So I'm, I'm, uh, I'm coming on as the wins person. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna try and keep it all wins. Uh, I come, come out to Kentucky on Saturday. I've got Corinth holders open, uh, Scholastic open. They go on at 12 10, I believe. And then I've got Eva independent wins. They're in open class as well. On the independent side, we, we go on at two 10. All right. Nice. Yeah. Go check that out. Check out with wins Cali.
00:52:07
Speaker
Yeah, so I'm with Infinity Percussion World. I believe we perform sometime around 4.30 on Thursday. Gonna be real with you, it's gonna be a little bit of a blur for me. And then they're on the bus, you know? But yeah, so I'm with them, and you can also check out our other two groups. We've got Infinity Two Percussion, they are also world class this season, and then Infinity Three, they are open class. So if you're interested in those other groups, you can go ahead and check them out, but I'm with Infinity World.
00:52:35
Speaker
Awesome. Uh, and Austin, where could, uh, what groups are you checking out or going out with? I am with horizon wins, um, independent world class. We are on last at first arena on Saturday. I think it's somewhere around five 36 PM, but we are on the very last unit. Pack those stands out and, um, look for the guys wearing pink. You can't miss them.
00:53:04
Speaker
Nice. Well, good. Check out Horizon.
Teaching and Performances at UD Arena
00:53:08
Speaker
And then I am teaching United Percussion. I am the worst in that I have no clue what time on Saturday we go on. But you will find us at the UD Arena for Percussion Independent World Prelims on Thursday.
00:53:24
Speaker
Definitely can't wait to see all the groups that you guys teach. This is gonna be an awesome week So one more thing don't forget we have our YouTube channel now It's got many of our interviews coming out as well as some full video editions of certain interviews So go subscribe make sure you don't miss those and before you close out your podcast listening app, please Leave us a review subscribe share it with a friend We love seeing any review on our show and we read all of them
00:53:52
Speaker
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Engagement and Subscription Encouragement
00:54:01
Speaker
And we will see you at the next rehearsal on a water break. Go practice. The on a water break podcast was produced by Jeremy Williams and Christine. The intro and outro music was produced by Josh Lyda. To learn more visit Lyda music.com.
00:54:18
Speaker
And until next time, thanks for tuning in.