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The One With NFL Marching Ensembles
107 Plays5 days ago
Join our host and member of the Eagles Drumline Stephen along with Woody and Trish as they have a roundtable with some amazing NFL Marching Ensembles. With a Great Water We Doing from Bill Parent (@williamparent75)
Keith Rousu - Seattle Seahawks Blue Thunder (@bluethunderdrumline)
Lindsey Schueller (@lschueller) - Washington Commanders Marching Band
Keith Wallace - Pittsburgh Steelers Steeline Drumline (@pgsteeline)
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Transcript
Introduction to NFL Drumlines
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everyone, and welcome to On A Water Break, the podcast where we talk about everything you and your friends are talking about at rehearsal on a water break. And this week it is my long awaited NFL marching ensembles episode. I've been really excited about this one, so we're going to figure out what made Trish say. And we only like, we performed like after victories outside the stadium, we never performed. And why would he said? Drums are set up, fan room is all cleared out, and they're ready to go. All this and more on this week's episode of On A Water Break.
00:00:31
Speaker
um a off The Met and Go. Welcome to On A Water
00:00:51
Speaker
Hello, everyone. It is Steven, and we are back for another exciting episode this week. And we are all about football, baby, bringing it to the marching arts. And I've been so excited about this episode where we get to learn more about NFL drum lines, other marching ensembles, and really what's beyond just the regular activity the way we know it. So let's see who we've got on the sidelines this week. We've got Trish. Of course, you had to be on this episode, Trish.
00:01:19
Speaker
Of course I did. Hi, everybody. Am I the biggest sports fan of the I don't want to break hosts? Like, do we think that's a thing? Maybe probably because I really go die hard for the Eagles, but you get you cross more sports boundaries than me. i um yeah die hardd eagles fan i do I do. Sorry to say I live in New Jersey. I drive past MetLife Stadium on my way to work.
00:01:42
Speaker
I know, I know, I know. No, I'm sorry to hear that. It's been a rough year, but how about those nicks? It's OK. You've got plenty of things to be happy about up there with the Yankees. Oh, I do. Absolutely, absolutely.
Meet the Guests from NFL Drumlines
00:01:59
Speaker
Well, happy you're here, and Woody, I'm happy you're here as well. Definitely knew right away that we wanted Woody on an episode about NFL drum lines. Yeah, birds, baby. Birds, baby.
00:02:11
Speaker
Let's just say ah about those Cowboys. no playoff Oh man. Well, I, I could not agree more man. Um, we're definitely going to have more than enough time to trash everyone in the NFC East.
00:02:30
Speaker
including certain members of this call. There's so many of us here. We have the Eagles, we have the Commanders, we have the Giants, and so many of us here. We've got it all represented here. Yeah. We'll get into that in a moment here. We just need a cowboy fandom. We have the whole NFC here. We were close. We were really close. It didn't work out. We almost had them, but yeah, who needs cowboys? It's okay. We do just fine with the rest of the animals. I'm with you. I'm with you.
00:02:59
Speaker
So here we are. Last year we did an episode with the Baltimore Ravens marching band director. And ah ever since then, I knew we had to pull this episode together. ah You should definitely go back and check out that episode. But for this one here, let's figure out who's joining the team tonight. We've got Lindsay Schuler of the Washington Commanders marching band. Lindsay, thank you for joining the call. Yeah, thanks for having me.
00:03:23
Speaker
Awesome. Yeah. And we'll come back to you in just a moment. I'm excited to hear about everyone's background. And I think all these different ensembles are so different. They operate and do all different kinds of things. It's like wildly different world than what most people are familiar with in the marching arts. So I'm really excited to hear what everyone gets into. But we've also got Vince Wallace here from the Pittsburgh Steelers Steel Line. Vince? How's it going? Thanks for having me.
00:03:50
Speaker
Yeah, thank you for joining the call. We're happy to have you here.
Vince Wallace on Steelers' Drumline Season
00:03:53
Speaker
um Just had a big game this last weekend against ah the Steelers man. um Yeah, that that was a tough one for us, but still got a couple left hoping we can ah pull off a strong end of the year here and get a get a home playoff game, maybe division win and let the chips fall where they may.
00:04:14
Speaker
Well, that's the big thing, man, really going to be a ah playoff bound team and you guys are really strong. um So exciting things in January for you guys coming. um And Keith Rosso, I'm sorry, I hope I probably mispronounced your last name, Keith. Please correct me. Ah, Rosso is fine, no worries. Rosso, great. um Keith Rosso, who is a member of the ah Seattle Seahawks Blue Thunder. So coming to us all the way from the West Coast, Keith, thank you for joining the call.
00:04:43
Speaker
Absolutely. Thanks for having me. yeah bird is a bird is a bird is a
00:04:50
Speaker
um yeah I'll agree with that, Woody. Go birds. But Lindsay, you were here in a season one. You were one of our first few guests that we've had, actually. And a lot has changed since then. I don't think you actually gave us a 32-count life story, because we hadn't invented that bit yet. Now we've probably done that 50 to 100 times. But Lindsay, why don't you kick us off? We'll give you 32 counts, eight and in off the Met. And you could ah tell us who you are, your background, and kind of what brought you to today.
Lindsay Schuler's Journey to the Commanders
00:05:20
Speaker
Yeah. All right.
00:05:27
Speaker
I was born and raised in Michigan, so I'm actually a Lions fan despite working for the Commanders. I live in Atlanta. I now work for the Pacific Crest Drum Corps. I work with Q2 Indoor. This is my third season with the Commanders, and it's their third season under the new umbrella and the rebranding. It's been a ton of fun. It's such a unique thing. I have my doctorate in audiology, and I don't use it at all. I write drill full-time, and I love it.
00:05:55
Speaker
Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. Congrats on bringing time. We're going to have to talk off ah off hours here because I need to get out of my full time job. I don't want to be there. I need to make money ah doing something creative someday. But yeah, we're so happy to have you here. Your third year doing the ah commander's marching band. I'm going to want to hear because it's ah it's a whole marching band, right? It's not just a drum line. Yep.
00:06:19
Speaker
Yep, a full marching band. We have saxophones and brass and drums and we coordinate with some of the other entertainment wow departments. Yeah, it's it's a unique thing for sure. That's what's going to be really interesting to me because ah the Eagles drumline is very like we we exist within the ah Eagles game day entertainment structure and we're we're part of the Eagles organization, but we're very like a Contained there's not a lot of like we're very self-contained if you had a whole marching band There must be so many logistics that go into all of this and you're you're like a very very big piece of ah What's going on on the stadium every weekend? So yeah, can't wait to hear more about that. um But real quick Let's get 32 count stories from ah the rest of our panel tonight ah Vince. Do you want to get us going with your in your introduction?
Backgrounds of Vince and Keith in Drumline
00:07:10
Speaker
Sure thing ready when you are. All right, let's get it. I
00:07:17
Speaker
All right, so my name is Vince Wallace, born and raised in ah Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, East suburbs, I'm in Roville area. I went to IUP for music education. I'm a band director, elementary, middle school band director in the Pittsburgh area. um And I've been running the Steel Line for 13 years now. I do a lot of other freelancing and gigging too, but Steel Line and, you know, teaching full-time are my main gigs. Steel Line feels like a full-time job in a lot of ways. It's a ton of work, ah but we love it. We've been doing it a long time and it's a really great thing. Yeah, wow. Sounds really similar to the Eagles drumline in some ways. There's a lot of IUP guys at the Eagles drumline as well. Yeah, Zach Larimer, Andy Moffat, know all those guys, great guys. Oh man, I love Andy. I love Zach too. those are Those are some really cool dudes that I've gotten to meet since I've ah been in the program there.
00:08:11
Speaker
but Yeah, it'll be interesting to hear you said gigging. That's a huge part of the Eagles drumline experience too, so I can't wait to hear more about what you guys get into. But before we do that, Keith, why don't we get your 32 count life story so we can know a little bit more about you before we go. Roger that.
00:08:34
Speaker
Keith Rosu, born and raised in Seattle, Washington. I went to the University of Washington. I was in the drum line there for four years, and then I was a cheerleader, which led to my first gig in pro sports. I worked as a cheerleader for the Seattle Sonics before they left and became the Oklahoma City Thunder.
00:08:51
Speaker
Then I went back to school for degree in sports management, started the Seahawks drumline 21 seasons ago. I just retired from the Seattle Sounders FC marching band that I started 16 years ago. And chased the rock and roll dream for a long time, but Seahawks is what stayed. That is so cool, man.
00:09:11
Speaker
Wow, it's really awesome to have you know not just one, but two guys on the call here that like actually created the ah the ensemble itself. That's really, really awesome. Thank you guys both for joining.
00:09:22
Speaker
um Cool. So I think a good first thing that we can talk about here is just how we got involved in the ensembles. For me, it's like quite far the opposite from what you guys just described. Like I didn't even, I wasn't even that aware. I knew the Eagles had a drum line, but ah my buddy Alex just texted me and he was like, dude, you got to come audition with me. Um, it's just a video. You submit a video. Um, he was like my best friend from college. He was the center snare from the drum line at Penn state. And, uh, I was doing a lot of independent band at the time, but
00:09:54
Speaker
Submit a video. I wasn't fully sure what I was getting myself in for, but knew that I loved the birds. That was my big thing. Loved the eagles. And since then, it's like totally, totally changed my perspective of what a drumline is to the rest of the world. Like entertainment band is really what most of the world knows drumline to be, and it's what most people are interested in hearing as well.
00:10:17
Speaker
um the craziest thing for me to discover. like We can talk more about it later, but I honestly have more fun playing the entertainment band stuff than I do playing. like drum corps pieces. It's like most of the stuff that we're doing, yeah, most of the stuff we do for regular people in Eagle's Drumline is like, hey, that's everything I wanted to do anyway. Just like super big, loud, fun notes, like groovy stuff. It's cool. I love it. But why don't we ah why don't we go around the horn here a little bit and and hear about how everyone
Commanders' Rebranding and Drumline Integration
00:10:52
Speaker
got involved. I have a feeling for Vince and Keith, this will be a kind of more
00:10:57
Speaker
lengthy story here since you you had to originate your groups. But, um, Lindsey, why don't you get us started and tell us about how you got into the commander's marching band. Yeah. So around 2020 ish, I don't know exactly around the time, but the now commanders were um interested in kind of rebranding, renaming,
00:11:22
Speaker
they They were the washington football team for a good minute until they settled on commanders and previously there was a marching band that was associated with the team they were employed by the team they were just kind of adjunct i guess is the best way to describe them.
00:11:40
Speaker
um And with the rebrand, they wanted to really incorporate the band as part of the entertainment division. um And so that meant ah employees, that meant um kind of onboarding everyone and having a plan with everyone else within the division. yeah um And really like coordinating all of that. And I just happened to know somebody who knew somebody who knew somebody who was like,
00:12:08
Speaker
hey, I know this person who can can write this drill and will be a part a great part of the team. um And so the director who um teaches some groups in Georgia reached out to me and was like, hey, I got a recommendation from this person who knew this person who knew this person. What are your thoughts? Do you want to be involved? And um it was still kind of in its infancy of the team figuring out exactly what the band was what was and what separate things to the drumline. Folks do are there separate things for a smaller ensemble so is very much figuring things out in the first year but it was it was just. Somebody who knew somebody who knew me and we kinda got connected and it all kinda went from there yeah wow so what is what is your exact role then with the ensemble did you say you were you're writing the drill there or.
00:13:06
Speaker
Yep. Yeah. I write the drill and all of that's in coordination with, there's, uh, there's a couple of different subsets of dance teams. Um, so often that involves them where some of the hip hop dancers, they don't ex they're not exactly cheerleaders. They definitely do more of the like hip hop style. Um, some of them get involved in our show, um, like get into the form and, know you know,
00:13:35
Speaker
perform with us. So a lot of that is in coordination with them. And um yeah, it's just been kind of an ever evolving thing. That's like a heavy degree of coordination between the whole different sectors of game day entertainment that you guys have. Is that like, are you doing new things for every game? Are you working similar routines throughout the length of the season? Like what is there? How's it really go down? There's a pregame.
00:14:03
Speaker
routine that they do at every home game. and And that is coordinated with with the the dancers that command force is their name. um And then they, they give us a halftime Performance at one of the home games where the past two years it's been the salute to service game And so it's been very like armed forces oriented um Last year season. Oh goodness um last season it was like playing the medley of all of the
00:14:43
Speaker
different branches, anthems, and had vets out on the field opening their flag. This past year, we did a little bit more focused music of the Vietnam era and specifically were celebrating the vets of the Vietnam War. But the first year, we did this big Christmas spectacular that involved a juggler and some stilt spokes.
00:15:11
Speaker
it It was wild, so it's been very different every year for that single, single halftime show. um And that's the one. it's It's literally just a one and done on the halftime show. And then every other game, it's pregame and playing stands, which has been kind of an interesting thing working out with miking through the stadium yeah system and how that works and how we can play along with things that don't exactly like sync up with what we hear. it It's been pretty cool and being able to go in here and stuff too, right? I wish. um Yeah, and I during
00:15:53
Speaker
the like November-ish part of the season. i I'm in DC at least once or twice a week, rehearsing the band, teaching them the drill. um so that That's really great for me that I get to do that and kind of like include some um like additional production value, just simply because I'm there and I can teach it to them directly.
00:16:19
Speaker
um Which has made our halftime performance just that much more interesting and crowd pleasing. Yeah, no, that's awesome. yeah That's like probably one of the closest versions of like band as we know it that I've seen in um in the NFL context. Yeah.
00:16:37
Speaker
So that's cool.
Drumline Rehearsals and Logistics Discussion
00:16:38
Speaker
I'll definitely want to come back more because really from everyone I'm going to want to hear like what your game day routines are like, um, what your rehearsal routines, if you rehearse, cause you know, in my world, we actually barely rehearse. I'll, I'll explain. There's a whole litany of reasons why we almost never rehearse. That was going to be my number one question I was going to ask Lindsey, but it really is for all of you. Like what is the rehearsal schedule? Like, like, how do you do this?
00:17:02
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, why don't we go around the horn real quick and we can we'll start with Lindsay um and do quick answers because after that I want to get into Vince's ah story of how he got involved and how he got the group going. But Lindsay, how often do you rehearse? So auditions are have have been happening kind of in the March.
00:17:22
Speaker
area and that includes like prepared etudes and and a small marching portion as well because that's definitely a part of what we do. um And then music gets handed out and then we reconvene in August ah right after DCI finals, like literally the day after for kind of our like band camp week.
00:17:48
Speaker
where we learn the pregame show, just run through all the music, make sure everyone is good to go for upcoming game days. And then it's really like twice a month or so during September and October. Maybe a little bit more in October is Wednesdays, ah typically, um just as we're getting ready for more games. And then once we know a little bit more about the halftime performance, you know, and most things with the NFL are subject to change.
00:18:24
Speaker
at any time, all the time. Oh, yeah. So, yeah you know, even just yeah that's true for all four of us. Yeah, even just this past year, our original halftime performance date was changed two weeks earlier. And so we had to just kind of like, okay, let's scramble and and make sure this is right for two weeks earlier.
00:18:47
Speaker
um than we originally had planned. As we got into November and as that date was getting a little closer, um right after Veterans Day, that's when we just had a little bit more rehearsals, making sure everybody's good to go. um and Thankfully, we're allowed onto the field on Sundays in the morning before the game starts. We always have just a brief rehearsal on the field um before we actually are out there doing the thing.
00:19:16
Speaker
ah That's pretty cool. i mean like the The degree to which you guys are all involved really indicates that your front office and like executive management is into what's happening because like it's no small undertaking. You guys get time on the field. You have a lot of members to support. um so It's cool to see that they're they're really supporting the marching arts in that way.
00:19:39
Speaker
um Why don't we go Keith and can you tell us real quick, uh, what, how often does a, I believe it was blue thunder, right? yeah sounds correct How often do you guys rehearse?
00:19:52
Speaker
Uh, somewhat similarly, you know, with the NFL league technically starts in April. Um, so this is, you know, so we, we audition in April and then we rehearse weekly, uh, pretty much starting then, uh, to bone up for the year. And, uh, really, you know, the first kind of six weeks are getting the rookies ramped up to a kind of a veteran status, at least to be able to perform. Um, and then we, once we get into the season, it can sometimes be two or three times a week, depending on.
00:20:21
Speaker
the features and that we do for the games. um so it it when they They are dynamic per week. um so We have different different guest artists that come sit in with us, ah different get different people that we work with and different you know for production or performance elements ah for each game. so Everything is unique. um Nothing is really repetitive other than you know some of the beats that we play. That's probably the best nutshell of it.
00:20:50
Speaker
So what does the game day performance typically look like? If it's not always the same thing, is it always in the same slot or the same area of the stadium? Yeah, sometimes. Yeah, I mean, we've got a routine around our stadium where we play pregame before the gates are open. Once the gates open and kind of working our way around the apron of the stadium exterior, then we perform in our event center, which is attached to the stadium.
00:21:17
Speaker
as kind of like a tailgate area because we don't really have much tailgating where we are in the city or our stadium is part of ah kind of the city fabric. So there's not really much places for fans to tailgate um right bars bars right next to the the stadium. And so and we take a little bit to them. But then, yeah, we play pregame on the field or up in the upper deck, depending on our guests or or lack thereof or whatever we're doing.
00:21:44
Speaker
um and and the other elements on the field then usually we get a timeout in game could be in the second quarter or the third quarter based off of what we might be doing at halftime so sometimes we're included there and sometimes we're not and then of course after every home game we perform outside ah once we win.
00:22:00
Speaker
ah We don't perform after we don't perform after losses anymore ah fans ah took it a little personally ah yeah years ago and and they don't they don't seem to want to be entertained and and have ah have a positive vibe but when you lose. Yeah i i'd feel a concern for my health and well-being my safety if eagle's drumline performed after a home game loss.
00:22:24
Speaker
I don't think it would be good. and It's funny because the the Sounders band performs after every game. ah Winter loss ah doesn't matter. stay you know In the same city, in the same stadium, in the game yeah arguably for some of the same fans, but the Seahawks fans tend to be a little bit more passionate and not as understanding after a loss.
00:22:44
Speaker
That's funny. Something about football. Just really, it's like war gets you going. Truth. Truth. You can imagine if I had a Giants color guard and we only like we performed like after victories outside the stadium, we'd never perform.
00:23:01
Speaker
We'd never perform. You would never perform. No, we don't win at home or everybody. I thought you meant ever, but it's true. You don't win at home. I'm so sorry. Yeah. it's it Yeah.
00:23:14
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. ah It's okay. You know, just down, uh, two 95, there's a very nice ah football team. um all um um You could become a fan. No, no really stop. now Have fun. Uh,
00:23:32
Speaker
All right, ah Vince, why don't you tell us a little bit about your rehearsal schedule? ah And then after that, we're going to pop to a quick commercial before we hear more about your and Keith's stories ah originating these drum lines. Sure. So, um, Steel Line, actually we audition in June, ah which is a little late, uh, compared to a lot of drum lines. But one of the main reasons we do that is because our busiest month of the year is May, believe it or not. Um, i believe yeah that's outside of football season, you know, uh, but,
00:24:02
Speaker
There's just in the Pittsburgh area, I don't know for whatever reason, there's just a lot of ah organizations and groups bringing us in for outside events in the month of May. I think usually we're around like 10 to 12 events every May, parades, corporate events, community events, charity foundation stuff. um So we can't really be functional with a brand new drumline in April if we have all this work to do in May.
00:24:26
Speaker
um And then June, oddly enough, it's summer, but that's usually our one of our least busy months. So it just has always worked out that we audition in June. ah So the first two weekends in June, we have two Sundays where we'll have open auditions. We advertise it starting in April on our website, social media, things like that. um And auditions open to anyone 18 and older um come out.
00:24:50
Speaker
very typical drumline style audition. ah You know, vets, new folks come out, have everybody re-audition again every year, hold everybody accountable. um And we'll set the line usually by mid-June. And then by the last or second to last Wednesday, just depending on how the calendar falls, we'll start rehearsals on Wednesday evenings, seven to 10. And we rehearse at local school sites.
00:25:16
Speaker
ah We rehearsed at my school, we've partnered with other schools in the area. um It's just been easier for us to function that way, you know, relative to the team and their facilities, things like that. Um, but we rehearse every Wednesday night, seven to 10, um, from mid to late June up until mid December. We actually just had our final rehearsal of the season, uh, this past Wednesday. Um, and there may be a few Wednesday nights in there where we're off like the last Wednesday of October. We always take off and have a steel line Halloween party and, um, the end of August, everybody's really burnt out from preseason. Cause that's one of the more intense stretches of the year. Again, that may be strange to hear, but preseason.
00:25:54
Speaker
is is really hard getting those gears grinding again. ah We take a week off there, Thanksgiving, stuff like that. A few random breaks, but for the most part, end of June up until mid-December, where every Wednesday night, seven to 10, learning new music, you know rolling out new things, reviewing and tweaking what we need to, and just getting better and making a better product.
00:26:17
Speaker
Yeah. So that's like, uh, it's kinda, it sounds a lot like the EDL experience in terms of how you guys gig a lot. And that's a fundamental part of what you do. Um, absolutely. That is, it's, it's an enormous part of what we do. We average, uh, and these are rookie numbers compared to Keith over there, but, uh, we're about, uh, 50 to 60 events a year. And, uh, NFL regular season is, uh, is 10 games, right? Uh, so 40 of our events every year.
00:26:43
Speaker
are not game events. Now granted, a lot of those are for the team, team direct, things like training camp or the NFL draft party. We also work with a lot of corporate partners who book events at the stadium. The Steelers have event space at Acresure Stadium. And so we're in direct contact with some of those folks who handle that. They'll bring stuff to us and we work with them to book them. So a lot of it is team direct. A lot of it's just people in the area who just want to ah ah bring a little taste of the Steelers to their event and we're an accessible way to do that.
00:27:13
Speaker
Yeah, that's ah that's the same deal with the Eagles drumline. So in the Eagles drumline, we're a part of the same like package of um cheerleaders, Swoop, the mascot, and also the pep band, which is kind of like a small mummers style band that the Eagles also puts out. A little bit of Philly culture in there. um but ah Yeah, the Eagle strum line, you have to maintain a minimum of 30% of a gig attendance in order to stay involved year over year. If you don't make at least 30% of the gigs, because it's not mandatory, there's a lot of gigs that come out all different times of the day. Could be during the a weekday workday, could be like weekend at night, weekday at night. There's all types of gigs that come out. um And most gigs of that the Eagle strum line do at least only require like
00:28:04
Speaker
maybe six to ten people for some other larger events might require the entire drumline um so bottom line of that story is like that in order to even stay in the group the gigs turn out to be the most important thing you have to do the gigs that's like the fundamental way that the group ah justifies its own existence almost for the organization is that it gigs and it can ah produce revenue to offset the way that it also costs um Yeah, absolutely. And yeah i sounding you sound exactly like me talking to my group but you know just about how important it is to do those events. We have we have something similar. We have a five ah event minimum outside of game day that are our guys must do in order to maintain their membership. So someday after every year, we keep pretty meticulous track of that. And we also kind of
00:28:54
Speaker
you know eyeball certain events for certain people or encourage like, hey, we know that you work a flexible schedule. Here's a morning event. you know Do you think you could do this? And I found that that helps a lot as we go go through all this, um you know sort of tailoring the right person to the right event, not just the drummers, but with schedules and who's available at certain times.
00:29:14
Speaker
Yeah, that turns out to be huge. It's honestly shocking to me sometimes that we even make it all work. It's like we always find a way to have coverage for all the games. Oh, yeah. Scrap it together. But we're going to jump in with way more.
Teaching 'Fly Eagles Fly' Drum Part
00:29:30
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like even on game day sometimes, it's like we're figuring out what we're doing here. There's a little bit of ah guesswork or we're just going to do it live. you know Screw it, we're doing it live. but that's right That's right. Just do it. Let's jump back in. We're going to ah get more from our guest clinicians here in a minute, but let's send everyone back into the stands. We're going to learn the drum part for Fly Eagles Fly, and we will be right back.
00:30:07
Speaker
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Starting the Blue Thunder Drumline
00:31:18
Speaker
All right, we are back and I've been itching to hear more about how you guys got these drum lines started. So ah Keith, why don't you kick us off and tell us a little bit about starting the Blue Thunder.
00:31:29
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Well, I went back to school for an degree in sports management after a a very close shot at a rock and roll ah dream. And, ah you know, it was kind of thinking, well, I guess it's time to do something different, still play drums. And um what else was I passionate about? But I love football, you know, and I was in my second quarter of of the professional certificate that led to my master's degree.
00:31:56
Speaker
and ultimately a woman came in and said she was from the fan development arm of the Seahawks and they were kind of reinvigorating the fan base and trying to appeal to a ah broader spectrum and one of the their initiatives was to start a drumline. I just raised my hand and said, how many people are you looking for?
00:32:16
Speaker
Lo and behold, ah ah another gentleman entered my class, ended up getting the internship in the department. He was tasked with you know staffing up, talked to me for about a month in class, and then last thing I knew, he said, well, why don't I just get you an interview?
00:32:35
Speaker
um I was just looking to play, to be honest, and yeah went. and ah My brother-in-law and my college roommate, we all drummed together at the UW at the same time. and ah As part of my interview, we drummed for them and you know put in like the sprinkler visual, which was something the Seahawks receivers were doing after they scored touchdowns back in you know the the late 90s and early 2000s.
00:33:01
Speaker
And and during during the audition or interview, you know, um they couldn't, they were doing the, I can't believe, they just did the sprinkler while they were playing and, you know, trying to have sidebar conversation while we kept playing because we're drummers, we keep playing.
00:33:18
Speaker
and and I was like, okay, maybe I hooked them. and Then a week later, ironically, on my mom's birthday, I was late to class because I went and had dinner with my mom. and I walked in and they were all like, hush, hush, hush. I'm like, what? did i like Did I spill on myself or something? and Then ah that my counterpart ultimately told me in front of the class that they were offering me the job. so That's 21 seasons ago.
00:33:45
Speaker
So a little over 20 years old ago. And it's it's been a fun ride ever since. so You know, um yeah, so in my second year is when I stopped drumming full time. um I made the tough decision and it still kind of hurts, but on the other hand, it's definitely been the right move for my ensemble for me to be more of a figurehead in charge, planning everything and not having to worry about executing all the beats ah and trying to keep it on time for the the rigorous schedule that we keep on a game day.
00:34:20
Speaker
um I still do drum in the in some smaller groups out in the community ah when we're doing gigs so I get plenty of opportunity to still throw down and um Sometimes my head is a mishmash of parts because I do sit in on snare snare drum of quads bass and cymbals still um you know and and It's funny it sounds like um the whole spectrum It sounds like my experience in a way, because I'm still an alternate in the Eagles drumline. The Eagles drumline is a bit like the Mafia. Once you're in, you're in, and you're not out until you like die, basically.
00:34:54
Speaker
um Yeah, I can understand that. So like I'm still alternate. I'm waiting to become a made man. um But and in being an alternate, I have to like learn so many parts. I'll know like up to six different bass parts and stuff. And then I'll be in there trying to play two, and I'll be thinking of one. And it's just, oh, it's a mess. but yeah that was That was very South Philly, a made man. That was very South Philly.
00:35:23
Speaker
Yeah, dude, it's real. That's what it's like out there on Broad Street. But um yeah, that's really cool, man. 21 years with the ensemble. Why don't you tell us a little bit about what it was like in the beginning and how it's different now?
00:35:37
Speaker
Oh, in the beginning, man, we were, uh, wow. We were wet behind the ears. You know, it was, uh, the Seahawks wanted to start it all under the radar and unveil us at the preseason game. So I, it was my roommate from college and I covered about an eight year span of, of drum line, uh, together. And so we were able to fortunately recruit, um, 26 of our friends and then my sister and, uh,
00:36:04
Speaker
you know My sister didn't play drumline, but she was a French horn player, a trumpet player, and she played cymbals, learned cymbals. My brother-in-law helped her out with that, and ah she had great timing, and I'll be dinged if the fans didn't love her. ah you know and ah But yeah, we started out with ah that small group that kind of ah just kind of trying to figure it out. you know i mean I think we had five cadences and about three and a half minutes worth of music.
00:36:30
Speaker
That's why we you know from when we started till when we had that first game day um But it was well received by the fans and then it was just kind of okay. How do we make this work? And how do we grow? um And those were the great challenges, you know, and I know that Vince will talk about some of those growth challenges to you know getting ah standards set and and creating the identity that we wanted to have, which like you were talking about were entertainment via the drum line. You know, we're not just drummers. Um, and some, we've had some great cats come through over the years from from DCI, WGI backgrounds that just couldn't, uh, they struggled with the identity of, of the entertainment style and that little bit of dirt factor that, you know, you think the, the,
00:37:15
Speaker
the The drunk football fan does not care about the dirt and they want to be entertained, you know And the kids they want to be entertained. they don't They're not no one's up there with a microphone. Um, i'm sorry snareline You just had a flam drag that just uh, you know didn't out connect there You know, um, it's that that doesn't really matter in the nfl spectrum, you know the so like once we got developed and I think it was about you know but season three through five, like you're saying, in season three of the podcast and and kind of really starting to find your groove. Well, that was kind of where we you know started to find our groove. and that you know My crazy idea of bringing in guest drummers um you know was was born during that time and we've had some amazing people. only mean Granted, Seattle has a great, wonderful musical fabric, yeah legendary bands that come out of here. and So we've been able to tap into some of that.
00:38:09
Speaker
and then Tell us a little bit about that real quick. I have to just stop you in your tracks because you've alluded to this a couple of times. Guest drummers, like what are some of the ah guests that you guys have performed with? Well, if you want to go all the way back to the originals, ah you know the the very early on we had you know Mike DeRocher, who's the original drummer for Heart, sit in these and he was a rudimentary champion back in his day in the state and the man can run, I'll tell you that much.
00:38:37
Speaker
Um, probably one of my, arguably one of my favorites and a huge influence of me, Will Calhoun, uh, from Living Color kind of came in and, uh, I mean, what a, what a bad man. Uh, Billy, Billy Cobham, uh, came by our rehearsals a couple of times when he was playing in town and clubs. This is so cool.
00:38:54
Speaker
And then Steve Smith from Journey, Alan White from Yes. ah you know And then kind of moving on to the current era, um we relaunched the guest drummer program after COVID. And so since then, it's we've kind of leveled up. And not to say that those other guys weren't leveled up. I mean, we've had plenty of other guys. mean Kenny Aronoff came in during those those early years too.
00:39:16
Speaker
ah But, you know, we've had Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Charlie Benetti from Anthrax playing with Pantera now, ah Matt Cameron, of course, from Soundgarden Pearl Jam, ah you know, John Tempesta from White Zombie the Cult, ah you know, just had Tony Coleman from BB King's Band sit in with us just a couple weeks ago. And honestly, this upcoming week, I'll i'll i'll drop a hint here. We have Steven Perkins from Jane's Addiction coming to sit in next Saturday or Sunday with us. And yeah, so you never know who's really going to grace our presence. Yeah, Ray from Corn ah came in last year. um and um um ah Are you sick of me dropping names and your feet feel okay?
00:40:00
Speaker
No, man, I'm just like, I mean, I came through. um Yeah, so yeah, you never know how how far my tendrils can reach to pull a drummer out of the woodwork to come sit in with us. And ah we give them a cool experience. You know, I i typically try to arrange ah some of their music and grooves to drumline and then make something happen like that. Or we'll take one of our stockbook arrangements and have them just drum the hell out over the top of it.
00:40:31
Speaker
So ah it's it's been a fun experience and and it's just been awesome to be able to connect with people who who think it's one of the most unique drum experiences they can have. um he you know And that also led to the drum line doing some other gigs outside. And by that, I mean, 20 of us went on stage and played with Pantera opening from Metallica in Seattle this year. That's awesome. So that's outside of football.
00:40:59
Speaker
but Yeah, that's what some of my favorite EDL experiences have been like, is stuff that we've done through the whole gigging process. like ah we we don't do as and We don't do anything with drummers like that. I'm going to steal that idea. I'll be totally honest. I'm just stealing it. Nothing else. I'm going to talk to Andy about it. But someday, the Eagles have got to try that. That's a cool, cool idea.
00:41:24
Speaker
um yeah Yeah, not too many people are doing it you know we all it. It does happen from time to time, but I'll tell you what, it's it's a lot of fun and the guys tend to be very gracious about it. um under it's ah It's a good time.
00:41:39
Speaker
You know, it would be so Philly of doing it with like some rappers just like yeah hitting the big fat trap beat. We've done some of that with our halftime performers. So we played we played with DJ Cool ah earlier this year. We we played with, you know, for one of the halftime shows. And ah um we also played with Aloe Blacc last season. And ah I mean, yeah, you've you name it, we've done it. Mr. Mixk a lot a couple of years ago, too. So Definitely having a good time. We performed along with Macklemore. Well, if ah if I'm going to drop a name drop on you guys for this one, I performed with Snoop Dogg at WrestleMania because of Eagles Drumline. so Well, that's awesome. I just got done arranging music for the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl. Damn. just you're Your drumline does a lot. You guys are impressive. ah stupid I thought I had a big one.
00:42:36
Speaker
Snoop Dogg is getting active in the NFL drumline community. I did not have that one on my bingo card for tonight, but all right. Well, that was really cool, man. I definitely, uh, if you got more to add at any point, I'm, I'm totally excited to hear more about what you do, but why don't we pop over and learn a little bit more about the steel line? Um, for sure. Vince, how did that all come together? How long ago was it? And what was the process of inception for the steel line?
00:43:03
Speaker
Well, um, how much time do you have? Cause it is a wild story, but I'll try to, uh, try to keep it, uh, reasonable. Um, to, to tell the story of the steel line first, you have to go back to 2010. Um, and I was living at the time, uh, in rural Missouri of all places. Um, and I was living out there and I was going to grad school.
00:43:28
Speaker
And it was a great school, great teachers, great students. I was a teaching assistant, so kept real busy with that. Really great opportunity, but there was not much else going on in this town. So on weekends, I was trying to find something to do, so some way to really make the most of my time in a new environment, you know meet some new people, especially in the music world. So I got ah a teaching job, a tech job with Gateway Indoor Drumline, which was a world-class group out of St. Louis area. A friend of a friend was working there, got me the hookup like so many of these gigs go, you know brought me down. I was like a second or third rung like pit instructor, just like helping out, doing this and that, um just getting involved. I had a group email or Facebook. I can't even remember what it was now, but a message came across saying,
00:44:18
Speaker
Is anyone interested in doing a gig with the St. Louis Rams drumline at the Purina dog chow offices or something? I was like, what in the world is that? And I asked them about it and they said, oh yeah, um one other thing we do on the side is we produce the St. Louis Rams drumline.
00:44:38
Speaker
um I was like, wow, like I had no idea that these were even a thing. i mean I'd been a Steeler fan my whole life being born and raised in Pittsburgh, but I had no clue that this was a new thing. I know Keith started you know a few years prior to this, but that this was something that you could do. yeah so I just started to ask him a little bit about it and what they all did.
00:44:56
Speaker
I found out about ah Matt Arnett over in Kansas City. ah He knew some mutual connections out in that area um in Missouri, and I emailed back and forth with him a little bit, learned about what Kansas City Chief's drumline was doing. and i just Basically, I just became obsessed with it. um and I started researching it and thinking about it, and I just was completely you know sold on the idea of starting one of these with the Steelers in Pittsburgh. um And I finished grad school in Missouri. Again, great school, great degree, did not leave me with a lot of great ideas on the next step. um I was you you know in a place that I had only recently moved to, small town, rural, not a lot of opportunities to teach, to gig. So I loaded up my car and I moved back to Pittsburgh.
00:45:47
Speaker
unemployed with no other goal or idea in my head than starting a Pittsburgh Steelers drumline. So I was motivated, had all the time in the world, no responsibilities, other than you know applying for a real job, which you know was okay and still was able to do that. ah hum But I kind of just got to work on this and um it wasn't something I stumbled into. It wasn't something that just sort of came about. This was an incredibly intentional decision in a years long process ah that got to the creation of it. So anyway, I'm back home, I'm back in Pittsburgh, ah trying to figure out how I'm gonna do this. um And finally, I got an email address from a guy who knows a guy who worked with a guy at the Steelers ah that would bring in high school marching bands, like pretty common thing, you know, bring in a band for halftime, sure a lot of cities do that as well, ah always happened in Pittsburgh with the Steelers.
00:46:46
Speaker
would bring in a high school or college for half time. And one of the guys I knew just from my marching arts connections had an email address. And I emailed him, this gentleman at the Steelers, and said, Hey, listen, this is what we're interested in doing. This is what we're want to try. We're gonna form a Steelers drumline. Are you interested? Did not hear back. So this is about now we're into the spring of 2011. So I decided to kind of take a shot in the dark. And I sent him something through the mail. Maybe it'll get more notes. No rereads their mail anymore. Maybe if I present something interesting enough, it'll get noticed. A buddy of mine from grad school and I were talking, he said, why don't you send him a portable DVD player? I was like, what? He's like, make a DVD video presentation, mail him the portable DVD player because you have to put it in a box.
00:47:38
Speaker
If he gets a package, it's going to look a lot more enticing to open than just some random envelope and a stack of other envelopes on his desk. Send him a DVD player. So I went on Craigslist, I bought a um portable DVD player, and we are put together a video, ripped stuff off of YouTube, um put it all together, sent him a DVD with a DVD in it ah about why the Steelers need to create an NFL drum line.
00:48:05
Speaker
we had a lot of talking points inside baseball type stuff that went into that. But again, we still didn't hear from it. Finally, drew through some creative googling and asking around, I was able to get a phone number. I called him, left messages week after week after week. All of a sudden, it was July. I had called every week ah for six, seven months, I think. Finally, he picked up. And he said, I already said to him, this is Vince Wallace. so I've been trying to reach out to you. We really want to try to create an NFL drumline for the Steelers. We sent you this presentation. ah
00:48:36
Speaker
You know, here's all the reasons why. What do you think? He said, well, it might be a ah tall order for now, but maybe we could bring you guys into a game. So, okay, he's like, do you have drums? Do you have music? Do you have people to do this? Do you have something to wear? I said, yes, on all counts. ah I had none of it. We had absolutely nothing. We had no music. We had no uniforms. We had no drums. So over the next couple of weeks, we put this thing together with, you know, duct tape and chewing gum.
00:49:04
Speaker
and we're able to pull off a first game performance for the team in 2012. We played it the last preseason game, went really well, we liked it. Didn't hear anything from weeks and weeks after that. We decided at that point, we still had the drums, still had the people, still had the music that we had written, created, still had the uniforms ah to keep going back on our own. So we would show up at tailgates around the stadium. Pittsburgh has a pretty big tailgate culture, a lot of parking lots. um Yeah.
00:49:33
Speaker
so we would perform at tailgates for three or four hours before every game that season. And eventually we got to the final game of the year, phone rings, it's our contact at the team. He said, some of the people in our organization recently watched the movie Drumline and they loved the drum battle at the end of the movie. Do you think you could do that?
00:49:54
Speaker
Yes, of course. So at that point, I had to go find another drum line. So we found a local indoor group ah that was interested in going to a Steeler game. ah They came out with us. We performed at halftime. We did a ah drum battle on the field. Everybody liked it. More months go by, more months go by, seasons over, don't hear anything. We get a call in June. Hey, yeah, we'd like for you guys to be our official drum line. Why don't you come down and meet and we'll talk about it.
00:50:21
Speaker
And just like that, that was spring 2013. And we have been doing this ever since. Dude, that is. Wow, dude, that's actually pretty crazy um to see an idea all the way from starting it out, moving from a different city. And your really only goal is to create an NFL drumline. It's like, dude, props to you for going down that road and just like insisting that it's going to happen um is so cool. And it reminds me a lot of the Eagles drumline inception story a little bit, too. um I wasn't there. But from what I hear around the horn is that ah it was a lot of just
00:50:59
Speaker
showing up in the lot, ah not being allowed in the stadium, just being a completely unaffiliated entity that's drumming in the parking lot. and doing it for long enough until people get into it. And eventually, you know, the Eagles front office starts to say, hey, how about you ah come into the fold and we make something out of this? um But that was that was super cool, man. I can't wait to ah hear more about it. Let's ah let's actually check out some some more like most funny or or most shocking different ideas we can get into. We'll be right back with it in a minute.
00:51:45
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:52:24
Speaker
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00:52:53
Speaker
Sweet.
Drumline Experiences at Major Events
00:52:54
Speaker
Let's go around the table here. And I've had some crazy moments for sure being in the Eagles drum line. I mean, I definitely mentioned already the one that was probably my craziest, like performing at WrestleMania was insane to me. Just like thinking back to the little kid inside of me that was in love with WWE wwe and stuff like that. Um, it was just like, wow, how did Baystrom get me here?
00:53:16
Speaker
I like constantly find myself at EDL gigs or at the Eagles stadium thinking like, I can't believe that bass drum got me here. So let's go around the table here and see what all your versions of that are. Lindsey, what's that experience for you with the ah Washington Commanders marching band?
00:53:35
Speaker
You know, there hasn't been anything to like completely outlandish, you know, and considering that I don't I don't go on any of those smaller. Yeah, right. Of course. um But what was kind of fun this past season, um the the higher ups Whoever they are ah made it really clear that they wanted to see a full pregame show at every game. No holes, even if, you know, Susie can't be there. Someone needs to be there in Susie's thought.
00:54:15
Speaker
um which is totally understandable. But in the world of an actual full marching band that I mean, we use, we use ultimate drill book, we have dot sheets where we're marching drill. It's not just a stand still and jam or like move over this way. Like we're making the shape of a football. We're making the Washington W. Um,
00:54:43
Speaker
ah so So if anyone is missing in that, it's it's very obvious. um And there was this one particular game where there were several folks who had excused absences, but someone still needs to fill that position. um And it ended up that I was one of the better options to fill those positions. um Well, you did write the drill, so I would hope you would know where to go.
00:55:10
Speaker
Exactly, exactly. So um I borrowed a trumpet, and I was out there. I was i tried to play some um to at least like keep the facade going. Trumpet's not my primary instrument. So I was just doing what I could here. um But that was like one of my favorite moments, despite like working with the group and in a variety of capacities, actually performing with the group.
00:55:40
Speaker
was one of my favorite parts. um Not exactly a crazy story, no crazy fans, no you know but it was yeah definitely unique um with that situation where it's like, oh, I'm learning my own drill. That's weird. I guess I'll play trumpet. Yeah, I guess no one really does that. That's very rare to march your own drill. I've never actually heard of that now that I think of it.
00:56:08
Speaker
Yeah, it's cool. Everyone is really receptive of it and and really, really cool. So it is an interesting experience. Yeah. And it really is a blast. Like ah actually performing in EDL has been kind of more fun than a lot of performing that I've done prior to this. And like much of what I've done prior to this is what people dream of doing. It's like oh doing a a good DCI i group or like Rhythm X or something like that. Yeah. it's like Honestly, that was all just a step on a ladder to go get to play some simple beats at the link.
00:56:43
Speaker
but
00:56:46
Speaker
yeah Probably one of my more funny stories, a little bit unrelated, but somewhat related to other folks is a couple of years back, maybe two years ago, I was judging a marching band show with Chris Romanowski.
00:57:02
Speaker
who works with the Steelers. And so um so we're up in the box getting our our papers ready to judge these bands. and It was like Tennessee or Kentucky or or one of those. And so they're reading out the the bios of all of the judges.
00:57:24
Speaker
And ah we we must have been in Tennessee, I swear, we we must have been, because um they're reading through his bio sheet and got to, like, he writes for the Steelers and the, I swear, this entire marching band parents, like, usually the sweethearts of America, these marching band parents were like,
00:57:45
Speaker
bo Like they wanted nothing to do with him. Must have been Titans fans, but they they were upset. They didn't want this guy anywhere near their kids. We didn't hear that because our six Vince Lombardi trophies deflected the sound back down on you.
00:58:08
Speaker
That's funny. Yeah, it would be a massive like ah at a local Delaware County, like right outside of Philadelphia. If someone was like, and judging your so your son today is a Dallas Cowboys ah executive. they would Oh God, people would. ah and And just kind of speaking to like what we've been talking about, like some of that just resonates so much more with the common people of the world. like They know so much more. and Even if they hate the Steelers, they know so much more about that than they know about just, oh, this person judged this WGI group. They were a part of this. They did the you know like kind of the the marching arch niche.
00:58:56
Speaker
portion, they were way, even if they were booing, they were way more into the idea of, ah you know, the l NFL team. Yeah. And that's kind of what I lead with whenever whenever I'm in an Uber. Oh, yeah. Always tell them like, Oh, yeah, I write the you know, whatever. I'm just like, Oh, yeah, I work for this NFL team. And they're like, Yeah, oh, it's literally the funnest fact ever. It makes me the boss at my corporate office. Yeah.
00:59:25
Speaker
just like, Oh, yeah, well, that's the coolest thing ever, man. I've never, I've never done anything like that. And I'm like, part of me deep down is like, I didn't even know that this was like something I wanted to do until my roommate told me I should try. why Which I'm so thankful he told me to do it. It's been huge, but Yeah, it's like the coolest story to go to people. um Cool. ah Well, Keith, why don't you tell us a little bit? What's like the ah the craziest thing that's happened to you guys at the Blue Thunder?
00:59:58
Speaker
And that's a really, really tough, uh, tall order. I mean, twenty one minutes yeah so so many ah moments that that strike a chord. Um, you know, probably I'd start with, you know, the Superbowl 40 when we happened to, uh, you know, go to Detroit and we were playing a mishmash of symbols because we started up so quickly. We didn't really have an opportunity to order proper symbols.
01:00:25
Speaker
um And Sabian was our partner at that point. And ah Nick Petrella, that man was. wonderful ah representative to deal with from Sabian. He drove 12 pairs of symbols to our hotel and their brand new HHX synergy you know top of the line bad boys and we pulled them out of the box and we played them all weekend. Ended up cracking a pair literally that morning right in front of him. um and We're just like, so do we just give these back to you now?
01:01:00
Speaker
and He's like yeah, I think I'll take those back ah um ah So a wonderful wonderful gentleman and that was that was ah one of the many humorous moments um i Fast forward a couple years. We were playing with Queensrike at a concert and seven dust opened for them and we taught Morgan rose the drummer for seven dust the the bit we were gonna play with Queensrike and And then he went out on stage with us, one of my guys dropped out, and Morgan was nervous as all get out. and then you mean If you know Morgan, to me he's a fantastic drummer, yeah and he was he was asking my cymbal player, cover me up, cover me up while they're playing, ah because he was just was afraid of getting lost and getting exposed of it.
01:01:46
Speaker
What was he playing was the plan is playing his play snare drum we're playing that opening to anarchy x from the operation my crime record and it's got a couple you know time changes you know to four four four you know in the build up and and i think he just ghosted right through one of the two fours news he was lost and you know what to do is he's just like in front of me. um that was That was a good time. i think you know Playing along with Odessa for one of the block parties here in Seattle, that was ah definitely a ah ah wild ah wild experience. ah yeah No doubt. um like tried That was our first kind of genre into playing with a hip-hop slash electronica.
01:02:26
Speaker
house artists and um super fun, super cool. Drumming with Macklemore for his second record ah was a lot of fun. I mean, pretty much getting called into a studio and just say, play some beats. and So I tell him I can start playing beats and Mack walks in and he just starts bobbing his head. Next thing you know, he's just writing stuff down. you know and I was like, oh, okay.
01:02:53
Speaker
That's awesome. Inspiration strikes. So um yeah yeah, definitely more stories than that. But those are some of the great ones for certain, for certain, for certain. That's so cool. Man, I would love to see EDL in the Stu. That'd be crazy. Oh, yeah. To get like Meek Mill because we're in Philly instead. But ah that would be awesome. Well, that's so cool. Thank you for sharing. events What's been like some of the craziest stuff that you guys have been up to with Steel Line?
01:03:23
Speaker
Well, I had had some time to think here while I was hearing everybody else's crazy stories, which are all, all cool. Um, I have a four rapid fire. I'm going to give you all of them are interactions with current, well, I guess not current anymore, all with former NFL players. they Four times where the steel line interact with a player that was awesome and very positive. yeah Um, so first off, we were playing the Colts. This had to be like 2014, maybe 15 somewhere in there. Pat McAfee. running off the field. We sit right by the visitor players tunnel. Um, Pat McAfee's running off the field. He says, steal line. I just want to let you guys know you bleeping rock. I love you guys with all his Pat McAfee energy. And it just runs off. We're just like, what just happened? That was great. That was pretty cool to have a visiting player. Did he have Aaron Rogers standing with him? and No, no, such unfortunately not. I guess we're fortunately. Um, but, um,
01:04:21
Speaker
That was pretty crazy ah for talking to Pat McAfee for a few minutes. Another one, during COVID, we were doing an interview with the local CBS affiliate um in ah in Pittsburgh, and we met up outside the stadium, you know do like a distance performance. They interviewed a few of us. Franco Harris drives by, gets out of his car, like illegally parks it, puts his four ways on, runs out onto the sidewalk outside of the stadium where we were performing, and starts just like dancing with us. And then he gave everybody fist bumps after,
01:04:51
Speaker
Franco, you know rest in peace, he was a really huge Steel Line supporter. ah So always be really, really thankful for that experience with him and and getting to to share that moment with him. Another one, 2013, we were doing the Steelers Fashion Show, which is ah a fundraiser of the Steelers do every year. They do a fashion show. We performed at it. There was a dinner beforehand, like a buffet style dinner. I was reaching with ah you know the the tongs for a chicken wing. Another pair hits against mine. I look up Troy Palomolo.
01:05:21
Speaker
Troy graciously offered me the chicken wing. I said, absolutely not. If Troy Palomali wants that wing, Troy is getting the wing. So I backed off, let Troy get that wing. Is any good Steeler fan or thats say a good Steeler's fan, you'd need to give that man the protein. That's absolutely right. And the last one was a Ben Roethlisberger. We, um, we used to line up in the home team tunnel and came onto the field, uh, before the game, uh,
01:05:49
Speaker
And, uh, they sent, we would march out and drum and then the team would come out a few minutes later. We'd form a tunnel for them. Don't do that anymore. But at the time we did, uh, they sent the players out early. I turn around and it's Ben Roethlisberger, both of us just unconsciously go for a high five. He was pumped up. I was obviously pumped up, ready to go. That game been through for, I think 500 plus yards. It was his highest, uh, passing game ever.
01:06:13
Speaker
So I think my high five to Ben was good luck. I'll tell everybody in the group moving ahead that that was ah that was my moment. A year later, we ended up performing at his son's birthday party. oh ninth I was really interested in drumming. It was up, you know, north of Pittsburgh at a venue up there. And we got to meet Ben and his family and hang out with them for a little bit and perform. I don't know if his son still is a drummer, but once he turns 18, he wants a spot. You better know that Ben Jr's got a spot if you ever want it standing up. Those are my four right there. You know, I listen to you guys and your stories. I haven't heard any, I love the acronym, EDL stories, but I can only imagine because I know so many. Oh, yeah.
01:07:00
Speaker
but ah We've been. I remember I saw you at a at the Eagles game once, Woody. That's a little quick EDL story. I have to tell you, man, that was a pretty awesome experience. I really felt good, you know, after you're teaching this activity so long, you know, like.
01:07:19
Speaker
the things that are supposed to make you feel good don't anymore. It's moments like that Eagles thing. They just sit and watch all these guys who were kids when I last left them clicking sticks in front of them that are all grown men jamming in Eagles gear. I was like, it was an awesome experience. Oh yeah, dude. It's crazy. Cause even down to me and I look at some of the older guys in the line and I'm like, dang,
01:07:47
Speaker
You were playing bass drum and Eagles drumline when I was like 10. I've been like 26 now. And we're still on the drumline together. But you've taught all of us. You're like the godfather to the Eagles drumline. I listen to all of these stories. And way back in the day, Trish, you'll love this.
01:08:09
Speaker
ah The Nets. you Don't you love how when it gets the way back in the day, they fall on me? Don't you love that? you Because you know we're not exactly in the same range, but you're like the 10-year-old man. All right, go ahead. Anyway, well, do you remember the last time that the Jersey Nets won the championship? Anyway, it was way back in the day, way, way, way back in the day.
01:08:41
Speaker
I used to do the drum line there. I did it for three seasons. Burnout from Philadelphia to the Middlelands was terrible. But I had to tell you, one of the funniest things I ever saw there was where Stan and we're talking and Jason Kidd gets out his car and he's dragging his kid, who was throwing a tension tantrum. And he's like, oh Daddy's late for work.
01:09:08
Speaker
It was the funniest day ever. Oh my god. You don't see that, you know? No. Yeah, I did that for like three seasons. So I'm listening to you guys. I'm like, well, that's the same thing. It's just you don't get cold. But I do have a question for all three of you. Do they feed you well? Oh, I get fed very nice at the Eagle strum line. I'll let you guys go. But we we get treated a little nicely over there.
01:09:36
Speaker
because the spread for the Nets was unbelievable. Every time we went there and we were there for all the games. So that was, that was a really, I got burned out three years driving from Philadelphia to the middle of those games, but I can appreciate what you guys are doing. I really dig it.
01:09:59
Speaker
Yeah, it's nice. at ah At Eagle Strumline, I think they ship us down like the same catered food that they send to the actual like luxury booths, because that's probably just the easiest thing for them to do. Yeah. Well, that's pretty cool. Yeah, it's like, dude, that's nice for me. You send me this luxury food. I'm clocked in for about six hours. I'm clocked out at half time. I'm walking up, and I'm standing in the vestibule of section 116, and I'm watching the section the second half of the game.
01:10:29
Speaker
It's like, oh man, they treat us nice. Do any of you get a chance to shoot the people with the t-shirt gun? No, they don't tap me for that. oh Oh man, people are crazy about that. They love to get shot. we Well, actually with me being the alternate, this is a great idea. I'll talk to Andy. I should have a t-shirt gun. And since I just follow everyone around anyway and just cheer it on, they should let me pop off some t-shirts. Yeah. Shoot them out in the tailgate lot. But
01:11:03
Speaker
I don't know that we've got our great attitude going just yet for Fly Eagles Fly, so we're gonna have to get back up into the stands and get a couple more reps before we get out there and get back to our what are we doing and our gushing goes.
01:11:27
Speaker
Hello, On a Water Break fans. I'm one of your hosts, Kate and Brillhart. If you or someone you know is contracted to March Drum Corps this summer, I'm putting together a round table for all things upcoming season, whether it's your rookie season, one of your middle seasons or your age out. Come yap about band with me. We're putting together a round table and it's going to be a great time. We're going to talk about all things Drum Corps related and we would love to have you. So if you're interested, please fill out the Google form that we have in our bio.
01:11:56
Speaker
We can't wait to see the responses.
01:12:08
Speaker
All right, and we are back. It is time to dive right into things, but it seems like someone got here super late to rehearsal this week, or perhaps Trish just had him stuck taping sabers in the corner. Trish, who do you got for us?
01:12:26
Speaker
I have my best friend, Billy Parent, um who's in town. He actually Lindsay lives in Georgia as well. And um he's actually in town this week and to stage my winter guard show. um He's done a lot of amazing things in the activity. He'll tell you, you know, whatever.
01:12:46
Speaker
But um his major, major claim to fame is um he wrote the 2009 WGIS Glass to Gay Champion show, North Syracuse Central, the Y show. um And that's every you know every time we bring that up, somebody goes, oh my God, I love that show. So it's still remembered to this day. So it's it's really pretty cool. But I think we're just going to jump right into what are we doing? I know he's got a really good, what are we doing? So why don't we just get into it?
01:13:15
Speaker
what are we doing what are we doing all right billy what are we doing this week hi guys what are we doing with staging blanks at our staging camps so for me So for me, since I come so far for a staging camp, I kind of expect everybody to be there. So I only see the kids a couple of times before they go out. So for me, when I come to a staging camp and there's a blank, I'm not staging that person. And if they have a fill-in, that's great. But other than that, um I'm not trying to stage a blank. What do you guys feel about that?
01:14:07
Speaker
Well, definitely at least to weigh in with my perspective right now from teaching at United, like several of my students are out doing drum corps auditions at this time of year, about once a month. So then for them, it's like this is also big staging time of year. Sometimes we just get caught in the situation where it's like, well, Bluecoats camp is this week and he's got to go. um And we're also going to fly in our drill designer from California this week.
01:14:34
Speaker
But we are we're much like you in the sense where not filling the hole is a bit of a non-starter. We need to have someone in every spot so that we can actually take in the the writing that you're trying to do and and let the writer actually create a good product. But you got to make the effort to be there. It's got to be a good excuse. Yeah, fair enough. Yeah, Lindsay, what do you think about this as a drill writer?
01:15:02
Speaker
um i mean There's a good balance, especially in percussion land, of things that can be put through a computer or written down beforehand versus staged live.
01:15:15
Speaker
um but So, yeah it depends. I don't know. I guess is the is the good answer. um what's What's nice about percussion, folks, is that if you have nine snares, you have nine snares. You know you know what order they're in, who's meant to be where.
01:15:34
Speaker
right You have five bases and base one is base one. They will never be base two because that's not how it works. um And in Guardland, it's a little different. You could have featured saber one, you could decide you want featured saber two instead.
01:15:51
Speaker
um And so it's a little bit more malleable in that way. So um I think it's a little bit more flexible in guard land, but it's a little bit more convenient in percussion land.
01:16:12
Speaker
Yeah, but that definitely makes sense. I could see that um for percussion land. I think a lot of it is a little ah regimented to keeps you on the rails a lot less. so Yeah, you're not switching drums. You're not picking up someone else's drum, but you might pick up someone else's rifle.
01:16:29
Speaker
right staging gets a probably a lot more important there i'd be way out of my depth to even try to discuss that with uh with you billy you know so much more than i've ever even thought about when it comes to color guard staging but yeah you know when it comes to color guard staging you know having a blank You know, ah picking up equipment is one thing, but you know, picking up each other is another doing exchanges, you know, having a person there, it's almost like, you know, you can't really go anywhere and putting in someone to learn that spot is one thing, but then that person has to come back and teach that spot to another just backs things up, in my opinion.
01:17:11
Speaker
Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, it's inconvenient. Still want to avoid it at every cost. Definitely. I think drum corps auditions are about the only thing that we would really tolerate to create this situation at United ah or like a wedding or something. It would have to be a really significant life circumstance to be able to miss a staging weekend. Yeah.
01:17:34
Speaker
But Billy, thank you for ah popping on and being our first guest star for a what are we doing? Yeah,
01:17:45
Speaker
yeah absolutely. We'll have to have you back on some time with Trish to talk more about ah some of the different stuff that you've done throughout your career and and get some more color guard people on for the call, too. it's ah you like You've got a lot of drummers around you for this one. but Trish, nice to meet you.
01:18:04
Speaker
Nice to meet you. Thanks for popping on. Um, cool. Woody, do you got a water are we doing for us this week? Oh, what, what am I doing? What are we doing? We are in the basement almost 24 hours. I shouldn't say 12 or 13 hours a day, writing music, two wind programs, two drum programs, and everyone wants their stuff yesterday.
01:18:30
Speaker
but they only gave two days before. Yeah, give me the bad chimes. But I'm positive. I'm kind of glad my high school program that I just recently took over, as you guys know, ah we had about 95% participation. So we got a wins, a guards, and a drumline program. So obviously, something happened to them. Nice. They liked me enough for that.
01:18:59
Speaker
yeah No, that's cool. Actually, that's like building a culture up around there. Good job, man. Yeah, that's that's the thing. That's what we're doing. Can I get a chair?
Recognizing NFL Drumlines' Hard Work
01:19:13
Speaker
Absolutely. All right. Let's ah let's see. Keith seems maybe you're getting the formula now a little bit. Do you got a water we doing for ah for this week? Maybe a hot take or something about the ah NFL drumline world?
01:19:27
Speaker
Yeah, you know, um I think we're getting close probably to our ah collective, um you know, Vince and I launched the Pro Sports Music Association about 13 years ago, 12 years ago. And so we're getting ready to solicit our ah invites from the the directors around the leagues. So we recognize all of the brass and mixed other ensembles other than NFL drum lines for a ah collective band and then we'll do actual sections for the an all-pro drumline since it's not something that the NFL ah recognizes as a Pro Bowl type entry. So we've taken that upon ourselves to make sure that we recognize and and salute our, you know, our hardest working members on an annual basis. And ah so let's ah we're getting about ready to to launch that.
01:20:25
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's so cool actually. Are you talking to anyone from Eagles Drumline with it yet? I mean, do you guys know Andy and IUP? Yeah, we usually talk we usually talk to Andy. um you know We've got ah an email network ah with almost every music group director or at least some kind of representative ah from most every team across all the leagues have been Kind of curating that for the last ah Decade so um you know, I'm trying to try and track all the movements. We don't always try and get we don't always get everybody It's not that we don't try to but um you know We give we afford everybody the opportunity to participate and try and get ahead of it Enough that we announce a during typically during February ah between kind of the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl
01:21:09
Speaker
Yeah, that's such a good idea. buts something and and i see I see you putting together a ah preseason meeting with all of the drum lines across the country. Just one big program. ah What are you doing for this fall? I think that's that's a task for you, man.
01:21:28
Speaker
Dude, I would love it. I love this NFL drumline stuff. It's so cool to me to hear like how you guys have been so tapped into it for so long. And you you have all these connections to all the different lines throughout the country. Because like this is a world that I just came into two years ago now. And already, I'm like, I want to do this for a long time, at least a decade. As long as I stay in Philly, I'm doing it. I wouldn't stop.
01:21:54
Speaker
so um Yeah, you're doing a good service, man. Thank you for taking the effort to kind of catalog and and be getting everyone together and recognize this great thing we do.
01:22:08
Speaker
um
Complexity and Fun in Drumline Equipment
01:22:10
Speaker
But Vince, what ah what is your water we doing for this week? All right, so mine is ah what are we doing? And it's it's towards myself. um What are we doing adding more and more things to our drums every single year? and In the steel line, we started off with just drums, right? It was great. It was just a good old snare drum. Nothing crazy about it. Then all of a sudden, a few years ago, now we have ah the ah Zilgin, I was at HHX or FXX hot, little high hats added on and that just completely threw the whole weight off of the drum. It is crazy. And then two years ago we added LED lights to the drums. Oh, yeah. That was cool. But then all of a sudden we wanted to be able to control them. So now we all have a battery pack and then we needed a way to hold the battery. Now everybody has a 3D printed canister to hold their battery. Last on Saturday night, I was at a parade we were doing and they requested the lights and I had to also carry
01:23:07
Speaker
the um ah control mechanism that controls the lights and the wireless network so all of a sudden I'm like a drum set and a computer and a light up drum machine all at the same time so every year I ask myself why I continue to do that to myself but here we are who knows what's what's coming next year I'll probably have a kazoo in my mouth and a bass drum on my back and be running around going going even crazier so Dude, I'm just waiting for the day where they make me strap something to my bass drum. That's going to be terrible, dude. The waiting on a bass drum feels so bad because if you put an attachment on it, it's all the way far to the farthest side it could be. So there's all that leverage pulling towards one side of your back. Like I remember
Entertaining vs. Traditional Marching Styles
01:23:48
Speaker
when I was marching drum corps, I had a ah
01:23:51
Speaker
Ooh, crashers or whatever, ribbon crashers on one side of my drum only. And I legitimately had back problems by the time I was leaving tour because it was just unevenly exerting weight on your back every day, all day for months. Oh, none of that. I'm with you on this. We don't need any more attachments on the drums. It's entertainment. The snares can have it. That's all I'm saying. The snares can do it.
01:24:19
Speaker
No, we don't do that. We just take the glory. Well, the basses, we have something good going for us too at Eagle Strumline. We actually do all of our performance INE style where the basses are up in the front of the ah battery arc in the like on the ground campfire style looking arc. um So we're not even like holding them in the in the conventional way. We would have to like get a whole different set of attachments and then put them on in real time right there if we wanted to have anything on our drums.
01:24:47
Speaker
but Yeah. Yeah. Lots of lots of different stuff on there for entertainment band. You got to keep it interesting. Lindsay, do you have a what are we doing for us this week? Yeah. What are we doing with just the drum lines? Where's the rest of the band? Hey, baby steps.
01:25:12
Speaker
don't uh don't get me wrong i love the drum lines but the amount of fan engagement with the wind players in songs that they know in songs that they recognize that they can engage with the performers in that way and it's not just a beat it's a melody they they know this song they heard it on the radio or they it reminds them of a certain time um when the team was doing really well. I think there's something to be said there and I wish there were more horn sections in any capacity um besides just the Ravens and the Commanders.
01:25:55
Speaker
I think there's something there. I just want to dispute that accusation because sextet, six voices on quads and six to seven tonal bass drums can carry melody and I've proven it, I've done it, we've made it work. I'm not saying because I can't run a band for the sounders for 16 years. Not the same. It may not be the same, but it can still make booties shake and that's the whole job. Throwing down for team tonal.
01:26:23
Speaker
That's the goal then. It's true. no take woundy I love that. That's funny. Um, people, have people actually will be doing a lot of booty shaking that you would not anticipate, especially at the ah Eagles games. People will get rowdy for the Eagles drum line, especially because they've been drinking all day. So You know, it's funny that next thing I was telling you that I was doing, the entertainment director came up while we were practicing on the floor and she said, what's that guy doing back there? He's not shaking his butt. You need to take him off the floor. you It's what you want to see. You can't just be standing around. It's like Keith was saying earlier, not every one that does great in drum corps is built for entertainment band. Not built for entertainment drum stuff. That's why we're here with Lindsey.
01:27:16
Speaker
you You guys don't like to entertain.
01:27:21
Speaker
You know,
Challenges in Documenting NFL Drumline Performances
01:27:23
Speaker
I don't know about that. She looked like she took that personal Steve. She got it. She got the screen on that one, huh? Yeah, we're gonna get onto my water we doing for that one.
01:27:34
Speaker
not yet No, I have a quick one here. What are we doing being so concerned about being clean? All these drum corps nerds, anytime I try to talk to them about Eagles Drumline, they're always like, yeah, it it's dirty. umm really ah and I'm more interested in doing books. Shut up. It's embedded in us. You know what? Until you experience what everyone on this call has experienced, you we think that we we are the end all be all of marching.
01:28:02
Speaker
You know, that yeah then he yeah living in a different country, he you have to assimilate, right? yeah yeah they're long and um yeah um It becomes home. It's like the HBCU thing. You know, I was right there like, oh, I don't think it would ever do it. But the more and more I watch it and more of these guys I meet, I'm like, you know, they do some really cool stuff. And I don't know.
01:28:26
Speaker
Pepsi came to HBCU people, they didn't come to DCI, and I think it's because of entertainment value. Yeah. yeah you know Being ah a Lions fan and and from Michigan, I know a lot of folks who have done the Lions Dreamline and they've made a huge effort to try to meld um the HBCU show style with some more core style and and really like provide the full spectrum of entertainment
Impact of NFL Team Success on Drumlines
01:28:56
Speaker
and the shows are incredible and and for sure to all the fans.
01:29:01
Speaker
Which has done an awesome job there. That's the that's the goal. That's cool. I'm gonna have to check that out. That's something else. Another like real quick water we do in almost there's like it's hard to find videos of like most NFL drum lines because I think it's just that usually we don't have a media guy out there. It's like most of the people are in the line performing. So just who's taking a video to share but I think a lot of teams hold pretty tight control onto that in some places. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I know we actually hire a social media manager um to come with us to games and work on content outside of the week. But again, we're an independent organization hired by the team. So it's a little different. But that's something that it would be great to see more out there because there's a lot of really entertaining stuff. And you're exactly right. That's that's the thing that kind of gets us. I've got some evil clips.
01:29:53
Speaker
Yeah. Woody has some Eagles clips, actually. Woody could be our media guy, but I saw someone trying to like review NFL drum lines, just like yeah their own like YouTube, but Eric Carvey. And I noticed that there wasn't much of the commanders because that was like right at the time of the rebrand and we're trying to get the whole thing started back. And yeah, that's the reason why I put like all of my videos this year as completely public.
01:30:23
Speaker
Videos on youtube like it's not like yeah, they're private only for who I send it to like Get it out there. Everyone should see this I'm trying to get more out there, but as long as the Social media allows for those things to happen which it is a hurdle in some ways. Yeah, that's it is he's been doing this Lindsay This is my third season I saw the commander band either last year, the the season before was like Eagles takeover game. We came down. It was like in September, early October, and none of you guys were going to your games. henry And the Philadelphia fans just took over the place, but I didn't know you had a band. They were pretty decent.
01:31:13
Speaker
Yeah, they probably did pre-game. There's a parade around the concourse and a concert type set at the entrance that happens before the game. And then there's a designated place up in the stands. But what's been really cool about this year is the team's actually like, OK. And so all the team knew. Nice. or older fans are coming back out of the woodwork and they're like, oh shoot, you guys have like a full band and drumline thing going on. Like, it's kind of cool to see people rediscover that in kind of the reinvigoration of the team. Yeah, that is really cool. I think like so much of the fun of the NFL drumline is also, well, NFL ensemble, I need to say.
01:32:06
Speaker
Um,
Personal Stories and Drumline Successes
01:32:07
Speaker
it's really tied to like the success of the team because it's all about like how into it are the fans when it's, when the Eagles are doing well, which they have been for the last few years, especially as you get towards the end of the season and people get a little ravenous. Uh, like the drum line experience gets to be really fun too. So I'm sure for you guys over there with like the team really taking leaps forward this year, it's got to be like a whole new level to what you've all been doing.
01:32:34
Speaker
Great job, everyone. Set your equipment down. Gush and go.
01:32:40
Speaker
All right, let's get around for some gush and goes real quick. We're really in the midnight hour of this podcast, almost literally. But ah Trish, what do you got for us? Well, I have two really quick ones. We just finished an incredible first stage in camp at Northern Valley and super excited about the show. The coolest thing ever was that when we showed up to rehearsal today and we didn't have a rehearsal space right away, the kids were sitting outside the auditorium listening to the show music. So cool. Number one and number two, I have a cousin.
01:33:16
Speaker
I have a cousin who lives in South Carolina, and she started doing guard a couple of years ago. And my cousin, her mom, would send me videos. And it would be like real, you know, bando type, you know, kind of basic. And I was like, well, it's really cool that she's doing it. Then they sent me her Winter Guard show last year. And it was so good. And she was so good. Like, she was out there throwing solo fives. And like, I was like, whoa, like, she's really good.
01:33:43
Speaker
She didn't tell me, she never said anything. I saw on Facebook the other day, she went ahead and auditioned herself and got herself a spotted spirit of Atlanta this summer. So yeah, I'm really excited to see her out there. Her name is Hailey and I'm really excited to see her out there. So go Hailey, keep it up to family tradition.
01:34:03
Speaker
Awesome. That's so cool, actually. Yeah. No one in my family is a drum corps person like that. I just can't believe that she's as into it as I am. And I kind of knew she was into it as I am um during DCI i when I was out in California for a wedding, so I wasn't really using it anyway. Could she message me on Facebook and say, can I use your flow marching account? I was like, all right, she's hooked. We got her. She's hooked.
01:34:29
Speaker
Nice. Yeah, it's a cool moment. Done well. um Sweet. Well, let's so let's get on over here. what do you What do you want to gush and go on about? ah Just a very small one. Always about my kids. you know Excited to build a program. you know Very unruly bunch when I met them. This was a our third indoor rehearsal. i walk in a And I walk in, drums are set up, damn room is all cleared out, and they're ready to go.
01:34:59
Speaker
We started time for the first time ever. It's, it's, you know, starting with a young group. Uh-huh. Yeah. You got to like still the ah values in them, you know? yeah Yeah. They don't, they don't got it in them already. You got to put it in them. So gotta put it in that's, that's, that's awesome, man. Good for you guys. I'm excited to see what you get up to this year. Um, ah tell no wrong don't go that far.
01:35:26
Speaker
its Well, I'm going to be checking it out no matter what. You can't stop me. But Lindsay, what are you gushing and going on about this week? um My primary indoor group is within the Atlanta Quest organization Q2, the open class ensemble, the defending independent open silver medalists. It's just, it's incredible ah just how many returning members we have, how many like way overqualified whoop rookies we have.
01:35:59
Speaker
Just everyone is buying in and ready to just hit the ground running. And it's just such a great feeling. um I look forward to it every week. Yeah, I love it. i follow One of my best friends was a big Atlanta Quest guy for a very long time. How long have you been ah with that org?
01:36:22
Speaker
My first season, I was kind of dabbling around in 2018, but my first season working with the group was 2019. And I was exclusively with the open class group, just loving on them, getting them to where they need to be. ah We have like a whole friend group that exists in the open class group. And then there's like a whole separate friend group that exists in the world class group. And so it it just works really nicely.
01:36:51
Speaker
Nice. Yeah. My buddy to DC has like six cues or something insane like that. he's like And he's so good. He's so good. He's he's the best bass drummer ever, in my opinion. Yep. He's the good. He's incredible. We'll have him back on the show soon because ah he's got something really cool coming, but not my place to share before he does. um Cool. Vince, what are you gushing and going on about this week?
01:37:18
Speaker
All right, so we recently announced our Steel Line member of the year. That's something we do every year um at the Steel Line. We have the members vote on one individual that season who just really went above and beyond and really, you know, just gave it their all and just did some amazing things for the group. um So I want to shout out our 2024 member of the year. Her name is Justina Whipke and Justina just basically does anything and everything for our group. There's a menial task, picking up credentials from the stadium, loading the trailer, taking attendance on our shared document for attendance at rehearsals, making sure people are signed up for gigs. I could just go on and on ah about Justina. But one thing she did this year that was really amazing, and I think sealed the deal for her, was we had a fender cap on our ah equipment trailer fall off.
01:38:10
Speaker
on the highway, on our way to a gate. We don't even know where it went. And we had a game a day or two days later. She drove two hours to her dad's house, ah got a piece of sheet metal, fabricated it on her own, drove it back to my house where the trailer is and created a temporary wheel well for our trailer so that we could safely and legally get it to the game. So I didn't have a a chance to get out any of our members or talk about any of our individual members, but thought that'd be a great opportunity to shout out Justina. She makes my life and all of our lives so much easier with her hard work. So awesome. Yeah. Shout out Justina, man. That's so cool. That's like have one of those, right? Oh, yeah.
01:38:52
Speaker
Shows how dedicated people are to their NFL orgs, too. I would I would do something similar for Eagles Drumline. I don't know that I have the ability to craft a wheel. Well, I'll be real about my capabilities, but neither do I. I'd go the distance to try. All right. Keith, what do you want to gush and go on about?
01:39:13
Speaker
I just want to kind of gush a go, I guess, about my ah my whole crew this year. You know, we just had a really solid ensemble overall. And, you know, we just finished a a massive production undertaking yesterday evening for a drone show halftime kind of spectacular that was about 12 and a half minutes long.
01:39:34
Speaker
and it was very involved with ah the whole stadium being dark and glowing lights and drumming along to a track. um I played drum kit in the upper echelons of our stadium along with my crew on the field um and I just ah ah I think but The efforts my crew has put in, um you know, like Vince said earlier, you know, the performances, you know, he says rookie, ah they're putting in good work, but we're in that 95 to 100 appearances a year category. um And so we we work hard and to to know that, you know, my crew has stepped up almost every occasion. Everything we are we are asked to do ah is is pretty awesome. So I got to give shout out to all my crew for for getting the job done and
01:40:19
Speaker
And very much looking forward to kind of processing and building for the offseason and next year's guest drummer list. I won't tease any names, but I guarantee they'll continue to be legendary. Oh, man,
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
01:40:30
Speaker
that's so cool. Drone Show is another new level that, you know, I'll start with, can we get like a either in-ears or just playing to a speaker? That would be a good first place to go for the Eagles drumline. But, but Drone Show, man, that's the future. That's incredible.
01:40:49
Speaker
um I will ah want to gush and go on real quick in a super self-centered way. About a couple of months back, I had on my buddy, ah Ebb, that I make some music with. And ah since the last time that I've been on the podcast, people actually started listening to it, which was cool. We've got about 75,000 streams in the last like ah four to five weeks.
01:41:14
Speaker
um prior to then it had practically no streams at all spare for like a small bump on the day we dropped it and all my facebook friends listened to it um so that has been really cool that's been the exciting new thing for me is is uh spending all my time and the spotify for artists to happen just seeing what comes down the line here uh now i want to make a lot of music and try to keep the foot on the gas but um That would be cool. I hope that every time I come on, I have some new gush and go about getting further and further away from my corporate office. But let's ah let's say it's called gush and go that gush and stay. Let's go. Exactly what I was thinking.
01:42:03
Speaker
You know, that one is a little on the nose. I got to tell Josh that was a little on the nose. but thank you all for a great rehearsal this week. Uh, what a great way to kick off season three of on a water break. Uh, so many things planned for this season. Can't wait to share it all with you guys listening. So thank you to our hosts this week, Trish and Woody. Thank you to our amazing guest clinicians as well. Uh, if you guys could each tell us where we can find you or your organizations online, that would be great. So Lindsay, why don't you go first? Um, Facebook,
01:42:37
Speaker
Instagram, Elle Schuler, Lindsay Schuler, et cetera. Don't email me. I'm bad at email. Well, I am going to try because I have your email now because we sent out this podcast link by email. So that's our primary form of communication to you. Don't, don't do it. it to be a song lindsay Don't do it.
01:43:01
Speaker
don't dont do it Well, what I would like our our listeners to do is go follow you and also follow Vince. Vince, where could they find you? ah We're on Instagram, Facebook, at PGH Steel Line, and also on our website, www.pghsteelline.com. And if you're interested in booking, that's the place to do that too. Awesome. Yeah, definitely should book the Steel Line if you're in the Western Pennsylvania area. Do it. Keith, where could they find you and the Blue Thunder?
01:43:35
Speaker
Uh, find me Facebook, Instagram at Keith Rosu, nothing fancy. It's very simple. Uh, for the drum line, we have a Facebook and IG, as they say in the cool kids era, um, at BT drum line or at blue thunder drum line. Uh, you can also find us on Seahawks dot.com backslash blue thunder, uh, for requests and other things. Uh, but otherwise, yeah, you'll see us out there. We're putting out content, uh, pretty regularly, uh, try to showcase what we do on game days and and in the community and and just keeping our our Seahawks hype alive. Yeah, and you just keep on doing it, man. Everybody on the call, keep on rocking because I love NFL Drumline and all the people at the stadium love all of us, so.
01:44:19
Speaker
One more thing here, don't forget, we've got our YouTube channel now. It's got many of our interviews as well in full video editions. Go subscribe so you don't miss those. ah Word is that people are reaching out to us as well. They want to talk about things on the podcast, and we love that. So you could email us at onawaterbreakpodcastatgmail.com, or you could find us on social media and DM us there as well, at onawaterbreak.
01:44:46
Speaker
Uh, we love having people on the podcast. So take out your phone, make a video, send it to us. Maybe you'll see yourself on the podcast soon. Um, and remember before you close out of your podcast listening app to subscribe, write us a review, uh, share it with a friend. It helps a lot. And, uh, we pay attention to anything that comes our way that, uh, we love to hear your feedback. So follow us on social media at a water break or at on a water break. And we will see you at the next rehearsal on a water break.
01:45:18
Speaker
The On A Water Break podcast was produced by Jeremy Williams and Christine Ream. The intro and outro music was produced by Josh Lyda. To learn more, visit LydaMusic.com. And until next time, thanks for tuning in.
01:45:37
Speaker
super it