The 29/1
Official Podcast of the West Ottawa High School Athletic Program. 29 Sports, One Team. The show that brings you into the lives of student athletes, coaches and other faces in the Panther Sports Community. Bringing you the stories you might otherwise never hear. Join Rodney Vellinga and Athletic Director Bill Kennedy as they dive in with you to get to know each other a little bit better.
The 29/1
Lighting The Fuse : How IGNITE Transformed A Friday Night Halftime with Sebastian Ruiz, Bennett Veele, Nathan Boschaert & Chris Janowiak of the West Ottawa Marching Band
The lights drop, the crowd gasps, and the drumline hits the tunnel—suddenly halftime isn’t a break anymore. We invited band director Chris Janowiak and three juniors to share how West Ottawa’s Ignite show turned Friday nights into a must-see, must-hear spectacle without losing the musical heart that drives a great band.
We talk through the why and the how: the move from traditional competition sets to a performance-driven format built for community connection. Chris brings Nashville-seasoned insight and a creative partnership with arranger Benjamin Easley to blend wind writing, backing tracks, stadium lighting, and smoke effects into a tight seven-minute arc. The students open up about learning choreography with ribbons, setting smoke on the podiums, and locking tempo to a track that never budges—a shift that raised accountability and sharpened their skills.
Inside rehearsal, fundamentals took center stage, from balloon breathing for stronger air support to focused ensemble work that’s already lifting tone, blend, and balance ahead of concert season.
The payoff is visible and loud. Fans stop mid-aisle. Visiting administrators ask, “What was that?” Respect rises as the show’s accessibility draws in “Nacho Joe” and new listeners who pull out their phones to capture the action and sounds. Favorite highlights—like a Johnny Cash Ring of Fire sprint, the color guard’s high-energy visuals, and the addictive echo of the drumline in the tunnel—keep the flow going until the game returns. Along the way, we dig into leadership, buy-in, and legacy: why this cohort will be remembered for trusting fast, adapting hard, and setting a new bar for what a high school band can be.
If this conversation fires you up, share it with a friend who loves Friday night lights, subscribe for more stories from the Panther community, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.
This episode was recorded on October 2, 2025.
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Special thanks to Laura Veldhof Photography.
You know, Nathan mentioned the part of the show where like the instruments are in the grass and we're like doing choreography with ribbons. Like that's pr like a pretty significant difference from what was happening before. You know, and like pitching that to the kids and going, like, hey, this this is gonna be different, but like it's gonna be cool, you know, and that payoff that Nathan is talking about of like, hey, we do that, and the crowd kind of goes nuts. It's like super weird for us, like when it was August and we were in the gym, like learning that for the first time, and everybody's kind of like, we're gonna do what?
SPEAKER_08:Hey everybody, this is Rodney Valinga with the West Ottawa High School Athletic Program, and you're listening to the 29-1 podcast. 29 Sports One Team, the show that brings you into the lives of student athletes, coaches, and other faces in the Panther sports community, bringing you the stories you might otherwise never hear. Join myself and athletic director Bill Kennedy as we dive in with you to get to know each other a little bit better, but I'm gonna go to the city.
SPEAKER_09:Halftime at a Friday night football game at West Ottawa Stadium isn't just a break anymore. It's become must-seat. Today we sit down with four members of the West Auto Marching Band who, along with the Color Guard, have flipped tradition on its head. The time between the second and third quarters is now buzzing with the anticipation of Ignite, their performance-driven show, and it has a community tuned in together at halftime like never before. And it's our pleasure to ask who is it? Sebastian Ruiz, Benaville, Nathan Bosgart, Chris Genoviak.
SPEAKER_07:Thanks, guys, so much for taking some time today to come in and sit down with us. I'm so stoked of what you guys have accomplished already. In three nights, we get one more shot at this at a football game, and I could not be more excited to maybe try to add a little bit to that next time around.
SPEAKER_09:Oh, really? What are we adding, Mr. Kennedy?
SPEAKER_07:There might be a light show during the band performance. Might be. In the stands.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah. Oh, the in the stands. That's right. All inclusive experience. Okay. All right. We're stepping it up. Well, you guys have done the Ignite show three times now. How are you guys feeling about your effect on Nacho Joe? Are you familiar with that term?
SPEAKER_05:Did you tell them that?
SPEAKER_03:So I was I was telling them about in like at a football game, like not a lot of people understand necessarily what's happening with the marching band or how much maybe how much work goes into it. And so our job is to appeal to Nacho Joe, who like doesn't have that knowledge, but is there like for a football game? Maybe eating nachos, maybe his name's Joe. I don't know. Nacho Joe.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_09:But you guys feel like you're having an effect on the crowd at night on Friday nights? What does it feel like, Nathan?
SPEAKER_10:I I think it's awesome just like seeing the crowd just like erupt, and especially like during certain scenes, especially when we get done with our choreo during uh part two with the percussionist. It's it's awesome just seeing the crowd just blow up and just it's awesome.
SPEAKER_06:I like seeing like the people and just like he said, like when uh Nathan said and just uh blow up, but um also like people staying there to watch the halftime show. Yes, that's good stuff. Yeah.
SPEAKER_11:I love the support from the community and just uh friends and family, just like supporting what we are doing and just kind of helping us keep the flow going and just leveling up this band.
SPEAKER_09:That's a really good take on it, keeping the flow going. I hadn't heard that yet. I like that.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. So last week, from time to time, the okay conference commissioner will stop by different schools. He tries to make his rounds just to see, check in with ADs, see a little competition on a Friday night. He walked in with like three minutes left in the first half on Friday, and I said, Perfect timing.
SPEAKER_02:I said, Ready, buddy?
SPEAKER_07:Dan, you're in for a treat. And now his background is that he was the principal at Reese Puffer High School for 29 years. Reese Puffer is a very long tradition, awesome marching band. Awesome. And the performance ended, and he's like, It's gonna take me a day and a half just to comprehend what I just saw. Seriously, seriously. And he just turned around and we looked into our crowd, and like you guys were alluding to, no one's getting up to go get those nachos. Uh at the end of the day. Well, concession sales have spiked during the third quarter.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. Oh, there we go.
SPEAKER_09:Just changed. Just a different time. Well, let's get to know you guys a little bit. Maybe we'll start out uh with you yourself, Nathan. Maybe tell us a little bit about the instrument you play, where you are in the school grade wise. Tell us about that.
SPEAKER_10:I'm a trumpet player, just pretty standard. Well, I'm like play second part. I'm a junior currently in high school, just taking it easy, enjoying my time a little bit, just having fun with my friends.
SPEAKER_09:Nice. How about yourself, Bennett?
SPEAKER_06:I'm a drum major, and then I'm also a junior. You guys are both juniors. Okay.
SPEAKER_09:So you're coming back next year. And how about yourself? Uh I'm a junior as well. Oh my gosh, we got three juniors in the room.
SPEAKER_11:I'm on the drum line, so one of our snares. I mean, I I'll be one of the section leaders this year and will be our section leader again next year. And I've done this, what, since fourth grade. You guys too, since you were smaller?
SPEAKER_10:I mean, I've been doing it since like sixth grade, so I don't have as much experience.
SPEAKER_11:Yeah, sixth grade is when it usually starts from middle school, but I decided to go ahead, jump ahead and take piano lessons during fourth grade. Okay. With Sue Gainforth, if you know. Oh yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_09:There's a time where the school ends last year and you're moving into this year, and you hear that this is going to be happening. How did you guys feel when you first heard the band was switching from a traditional competitive band to a performance style Friday night band? How about you? Do you remember that, Sebastian?
SPEAKER_11:Yeah, I was excited. I'm a little bit of myself as Janoviac knows a DCI guy. So I listened to DCI, it's Drum Corpse Drum Corps International. Okay. You know, and it's professional marching band. It's a different level. It's they put a whole summer worth of work into an amazing show. But the big thing was the sound speakers. You wanna explain the sound speakers to us a little bit?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and that's that's been the biggest difference from a musical standpoint is the addition of the sound reinforcement. And so just adding those different effects and backing tracks and stuff that's sort of enhanced what we're doing musically.
SPEAKER_09:Absolutely. Yeah, I got you sent those to me. I had a chance to listen to them just straight.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Last week I gave a fire safety talk and nobody paid any attention. This is why I'm hot. This is why I'm hot. This is why this is why. This is why I'm hot. This is why I'm hot. This is why I'm hot. This is why. This is why. This is why I'm hot.
SPEAKER_09:Nice. Well done. Yeah, it's really, really well done. How about the rest of you guys? Were you excited when you heard that you're gonna take this new direction? Oh, a little tentative, maybe? That's okay. That's alright.
SPEAKER_10:I think it was just like at first, I was like just asking myself a whole bunch of questions. Like, I don't know, I didn't really, I don't listen to too much like marching bands or whatever, just whatever pops up on my feet or whatever, but like I was willing to see what was different and was willing to just check it out. And I'm glad I stayed in the band program for this long to see the switch. I got to experience just like a more traditional band, I guess, for two years, and now this year switching it up, and it's like it's a nice difference. I like the backing track, it really adds an element that we probably can't, you know, add ourselves too much just because like maybe it's just harder for people to understand like the recognizableness of some of our songs in past years, and this one it's right in your face, it's kind of obvious what songs are on the speaker. Sure. Yeah, it's grey. I I think it's I think it's cool.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, and it's not really like one versus the other, they're just different ways to do this.
SPEAKER_03:For sure.
SPEAKER_09:Right? Yep. And Chris, this really comes out of you living in Nashville for the last number of years and your experience at Ravenwood High School. You want to tell us about that?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, absolutely. When I was at Ravenwood, we did we did competitive band stuff. So our big focus was getting ready, the getting the band ready for performances on Saturdays and traveling all over the country to do that. But sort of in the southeast United States, like the sort of style of show that we're doing has sort of already taken off a little bit, you know. So groups that are not doing competitive band that are doing Friday nights like we're doing have sort of moved this more. It there's more choreography based, you know, there's you know the light show that's happening, you know, with the stadium lights and the backing track and all that. So I think this is a trend that's definitely started already down there that's gonna, it's gonna work its way up. So we're definitely setting the trend up here, but it's by no means an original idea. This is already happening in the South.
SPEAKER_09:So Yeah, it feels real original around here when we see it for the first time. And so you moved up here after being in Nashville for how long?
SPEAKER_03:I was down there for 11 years. Oh, 11 years. West Ottawa graduate, graduated in 2004. Right. Taught just outside of Kalamzu for a while, ended up in Nashville, played music, taught music, and then had to move back because my wife and I had a couple little babies and we want to be around our family. So it's been great.
SPEAKER_09:All right, so it's a little nicer to be around come back home in a way.
SPEAKER_03:We needed help.
SPEAKER_09:Let me ask you this. Why do that here?
SPEAKER_03:I mean, I think it was just, you know, when I found out that I was going to be taking kind of the lead role of the marching band, it was like, well, what do we want to do with this that's gonna engage the community? You know, Sebastian kind of talked about it, like just feeling like we're getting some support from the community and that they're engaged. And you guys mentioned they're not, they're not leaving their seats at halftime. How do we do that? You know, and if we want a different result, if we want something different, we have to do something different with the product, right? We just keep doing the same thing. It's that's great. There's nothing wrong with that. But if we want a different result, we're gonna have to change some things just a little bit. And so that's kind of where the idea came from. We just wanted to engage the audience members and Friday night crowd just a little bit more.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, one of the things that stands out to me as an AD, so I travel on Friday nights with our football team. I haven't missed a varsity football game in my eight years here. Every school does it a little bit different. You know, two weeks ago, or yeah, two weeks ago, we were at Hudsonville High School, you know, and they have a ton of props and things that they're bringing out onto the field. Another great band. An unbelievable band. Um, you go to like Zealand West, it's very much more traditional, straight line, marching type of stuff. So it's cool to then have our own kind of thing here because there's really not anyone else that's performing the way we are right now.
SPEAKER_09:I'm like crazy proud when I watch you guys. Thank God that's what I was like. I watch you guys and like, yeah, that's us. Yeah. Like I'm glad it's us doing it, not somebody else. Yeah. Right? Like, that's the way I feel about it. Bennett. I asked you if you were excited about this to start, and you went, nah nah, kind of like that, right? Um, what kind of doubts or apprehension did you have when this started? What was that like for you?
SPEAKER_06:I think uh at the start for me, it was kind of just I wasn't like I was more into what we've been doing in the past years, and that was kind of my flow. But as like I've been through it more, I've gotten more used to it, and it's definitely more comfortable, and I can be more excited for like shows.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, I mean if you really love the way you were doing it, that's that's not fun either, right? Kind of goes the opposite direction.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, it's like a coach coming in and deciding we're going from a motion offense to a you know pick and pop offense and basketball.
SPEAKER_03:And there's a and there's a lot of differences, right? You know, and we're leaning heavily on like the visual side of things. I mean, you know, Nathan mentioned the part of the show where like the instruments are in the grass and we're like doing choreography with ribbons. Like that's pr like a pretty significant difference from what was happening before you know, and like pitching that to the kids and going like, hey, this this is gonna be different, but like it's gonna be cool, you know, and that payoff that Nathan is talking about of like, hey, we do that, and the crowd kind of goes nuts. It's like super weird for us, like when it was August and we were in the gym, like learning that for the first time, and everybody's kind of like, we're gonna do what for a second.
SPEAKER_10:Yeah, and like hearing everyone's like, my leg hurts and stuff, like my leg hurt for like two days after we did that after being honest. Man, it was worth it seeing it on tape and stuff.
unknown:Cool.
SPEAKER_11:Yeah, I want to jump in talking about doubt. I think there was a little doubt over here too. I know I said I like the idea, but it was a different role for us as drumline because before we kind of had the role of settling the groove and stuff, but with the backing track, that kind of creates the groove and we help like at the backboard of it essentially. Like the groove is played by the uh what do you call it? The uh yeah, the backtrack sure.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah.
SPEAKER_11:And we have to like support it in a sense. And tempo is a big thing I think we've worked on as a drumline, being able to hold it steady because that track's not going anywhere. So we have to stay right with it, and so that's something that's helped us grow a lot this season.
SPEAKER_09:That's one of your biggest challenges for you personally.
SPEAKER_11:I would agree, just as like a whole drumline.
SPEAKER_03:Because there's no ebb and flow with the tempo, right? The tempo is what the tempo is gonna be. So it's really their job. Like they can't be off at all, you know. So it heightens their accountability as musicians.
SPEAKER_11:They they cannot be wrong, and switching our drum line from no pit at all. We just have drums, bass drums, cymbals, that's it.
SPEAKER_03:So there used to be keyboard instruments on the front sideline. Yeah, and okay, so we're not doing that this year. And that was something that that Sue Gainforth sort of was like, you know, this is like kind of the perfect time to kind of switch gears a little bit and have everybody be on the field and give everybody that experience. So pretty cool.
SPEAKER_09:Bennett, big adjustment for you, biggest adjustment that you had to make was the hardest part for you.
SPEAKER_06:Well, from the year before, I used to play tenor saxophones, so this is my first year as a drum major, so it's a lot different in the role, and just instead of like playing this instrument like last year, I couldn't really hear the tenors, but this year they're like almost too loud.
SPEAKER_09:There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes to pull this off. Anyone that does any work in well, you know, first of all, the work in sports, but performance arts, the work in the background is tremendous. Chris, there had to be a creative process for this, right? Like, did you write this, come up with this arrangement? How did how did this come about?
SPEAKER_03:Sure. There's a buddy of mine in Nashville who who, again, was sort of piloting this in Tennessee. And him and I just well, we became really, really good buddies. Really great band program down there. And when we started thinking about switching some things up a little bit, I was kind of like, man, like it'd be kind of cool to go this direction. So I totally leaned on him. His name is Benjamin Easley, awesome music educator. But he was the one who wrote the music for all of the wins. He put together all the backing tracks, and so everything that we're doing is sort of like his brainchild, you know, and we were just able to get that product and adapt it for what we've got going on.
SPEAKER_07:So pretty cool. Well, I can tell you it has already led to a lot of speculation on the sideline on during halftimes, like, what's next year? We're already talking, like, okay, are we gonna stay in the earthy themes? Are we going water next year? Yeah, are we going window? Fire's a nice go-to for number one. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03:I think Mrs. Jernigan asked me that question the other day. You know, she said, you know, there's already buzz about next year. What are you gonna do next? And it's like, you never just you're never trying to like outdo it. You're always just trying to have like that piece that like people will remember, you know. So it's like hopefully the band is bigger and better next year, like of course, but as far as the product goes, you know, maybe similar vibe, you know, but some different twists and turns in there as well.
SPEAKER_09:You guys are talking about the the vibe for next year already, the buzz for next year. Have you ever experienced that being in marching band where that's been even a conversation in the public space? Not too much, no. I haven't really experienced that. I mean, it's so rare, and here we are, and it's it's so exciting. For you, Bill, we're up in the booth a lot. So for football games, I'm up in the booth the whole time, so I can I can see everything. Bill generally goes on the sideline. What was it like for you, Bill, the first time you took this in?
SPEAKER_07:So the the first show that I saw it, I did not see our performance again in our home opener against Grand Ledge because I was actually over down by the locker rooms talking with their AD. That's very commonplace amongst ADs. We try to connect at some point. I saw the background, I basically saw everybody's backs, and I saw that the stands were packed and everybody was going nuts. So the next week we had the next time in, we had Grandville, and Grandville's very much more a traditional marching band style.
SPEAKER_02:Another great band.
SPEAKER_07:Another great band. So I stayed on our sideline so that I could watch the show. And then I walked over to the Granville side, and the first thing they said to me was, Holy cow, what was that? And their one assistant principal actually looked at me and she goes, Oh my gosh, I wish that we would do some of that kind of stuff. And I was like, Oh, all right, all right. So we're having an impact. But yeah, I just the way that our fans react to it all. I I told Chris from the very beginning when he first stepped in and you know, he came and played around with lights during lacrosse season last year to try to see how that was gonna work with the show. My goal is that when people leave West Ottawa on a Friday night, they say the first thing they do when they walk out is I'm going back there next week. And I think we've done that. Our stands are packed every home game.
SPEAKER_09:I get a really big kick out of when halftime starts. The first time I saw it. So usually when you're up in the booth, it's like bathroom break time at halftime, right? You're gonna try and get out of there, and I'm like, oh, not this time. And I remember going, What is going on down there? was like the first we all kind of like, what's happening? And of course, Mike Hammond was coming up and they're doing all that stuff there. But we went out on that that porch and kind of watched, and I'd never done that before for that, and so it was pretty, pretty cool to go out there and do that for that moment. Guys, what is your rehearsal schedule like? How has your rehearsals changed? What different things are you doing now to you know to ramp this up and get get through it?
SPEAKER_11:Well, so a big key is uh Monday night rehearsals, is what we do. So during school we have an hour, it's uh fourth hour for the wins, fifth hour for percussion, and we rehearse an hour during school, getting better, just really leveling up, raising the floor so that the roof just goes with it. We're just going like that. It's like we use that a lot in cross country as a runner. It's just kind of like the consistency you build, you're gonna get better throughout that. And then Monday nights we do 5 to 8:30, do a rehearsal there, and we just work on getting drill done, making better music, and so that the listeners can enjoy it even better. And it's our best product by festival.
SPEAKER_10:Yeah, so a lot of what uh he had to say, uh something different that we kind of started last year, but I also kind of want to point out was the use of balloons for the wind section being newer, of course. That I think that's really helped musically. And it sounds weird. Like, what do you do with the balloons? Well, you blow into them, obviously, but what's going on here? I have no idea what you're even talking about.
SPEAKER_03:So, obviously, like as a wind player, like the the biggest tool and asset you have is your air and your breath support, and using balloons to sort of like simulate how air should be flowing through your instrument and how much and at what speed and how many counts is something we started doing last year. And I think it's really helped the horn line specifically. They just they have a bigger sound, it's more full, it's more mature because we've we we use balloons in rehearsal every single day.
SPEAKER_09:So you're just trying to match it and then learning how to match it, is that what you're doing?
SPEAKER_03:Yep, and translating it from the balloon to the instrument, right?
SPEAKER_10:Yeah, and it's helped tremendously as a win player myself. A trumpet, it's just helped tenfold, I think. And especially my section just sounding spectacular after it and hearing all the other sections. We've definitely made an improvement with the use of balloons and like taking more time to work on fundamentals and like everything that goes into playing an instrument rather than actually playing the music and playing the instrument. That's really helped us excel more as a band, I think, from my perspective.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, and this year we made a change. So, like normally we would go outside during fourth hour because we have a fourth hour band, and this year we haven't been really doing that. We've been going outside on Monday night rehearsals. I think that like really balances out the horn line, like the music and the marching itself.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and sometimes we would rehearse the dots, the different formations on the field during class. And so, kind of what they're talking about is we've just spent a little more time on the music inside. Because the, you know, some of the there's a few less formations than there have been in the past. So maybe it doesn't take as long to rehearse that stuff. But if we're really trying to elevate what we're doing musically, you know, and and to Nathan's point about fundamentals, it's just like athletics, right? Like you're you're getting much more accomplished in an athletic practice when you're doing drills and when you're doing fundamentals. You know, an athletic practice isn't mostly scrimmage, you know, it's it's mostly you know the drills and fundamentals. And so that's what we've been really trying to focus on, and I think it's paid off.
SPEAKER_07:So you just brought up something that I I have to to pry, I guess. What is more important? The music or the way that you're, I guess, distributed on the field.
SPEAKER_03:So like music versus visual?
SPEAKER_07:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I have my own opinions.
SPEAKER_11:I want to go around the room. I think the music matters most. Yeah. Like me personally, how you sound was a big factor because that's what you hear. The visual is important, and I say there's a balance for both of them, but I think the music is way more important.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, I agree with him. I think there is a balance for both, but overall music is like the thing you're hearing, and I think that's more important as we're in music, we're in band, and like during concert season, we obviously we're not marching anywhere. So I think music is more important for the band in the year.
SPEAKER_03:And I think that's the key, right? Like the centerpiece of of the band program is what we do once marching band is over. Like marching band is by far the most visible thing, but what we are doing right now is to try to set us up to be really successful come concert band season in a couple of weeks. So in that regard, yeah, all the visual stuff's cool and it's fun to like put the instruments down and spin the ribbons and do all the choreography and like and all that, like it's all great, but we gotta be able to sound really killing. Otherwise, when we play a holiday concert in the PAC, we're gonna sound kind of trashy. We don't really want that. You know, we want to sound really good.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, no one's going to a concert where they sound bad but look good.
SPEAKER_03:Correct. Nobody's doing that. I don't know about nobody, but we're not gonna do that. Yeah, we're not gonna do that.
SPEAKER_07:There's some artists out there that I would argue they don't sound very good, but they put on a show and they get a lot of people in arenas.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, moving around, what does it take to like collaborate with that color guard?
SPEAKER_03:Who's in charge of the color guard, by the way? So that's taught by Sue Barrel and Alyssa Lacey. Okay. And some of those students are in the band program, but some of them are in orchestra or choir. We sort of opened it up to anybody this year, can be a part of that. And so they're responsible for sort of they write all the choreography that the kids do with the different the equipment that they have. It's that it's a big undertaking, you know, because they're coming up with all of the choreography themselves, which is it's a lot.
SPEAKER_09:What's fun about the visuals that it's new and it's different and it's crazy.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_09:Stop, drop, and roll. I love that part. That part's really fun. Uh, there's I like Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_07:There's a fact that is one of my all-time favorite favorite YouTube videos videos that I've ever seen.
SPEAKER_09:And there's people like you guys don't see it because you're doing it, but I will see people just look at each other, they'll turn it like this. Like the reactions in the crowd are really fun to watch. And you've been able to do that too. So you're really setting a tone. Getting set up for halftime, actually getting this executed is a massive deal. Halftime is 15 minutes long plus another three minutes. Then at your show is a little over seven minutes long. What does it take to get it all set up to go and it's almost like controlled chaos in the beginning, or what's that like?
SPEAKER_06:I think uh just focus is the biggest thing. Focus throughout the band. Sometimes we're unfocused, and you can see the results in our show. It'll be not quite as good, or you can see like lots of spots where like, oh shoot, like I did that, or you can point out things, but like you can tell when the entire band is really focused and dialed in and we're ready to have an amazing show.
SPEAKER_09:Of the three shows, which was your best so far?
SPEAKER_10:Man, I think our latest show is probably the best one. Just I think and going back to the point of like being like calm or poised, I think it's just like you can really tell a difference. And with this show, I can tell a lot more people were more focused and like locked in compared to like previous shows, and like you can definitely see the result, I think. Like, especially if you have the eye for it.
SPEAKER_09:I'm sure the first time the adrenaline just must have been through the roof on that first night.
SPEAKER_11:It's it's so much fun. I mean, I enjoy it. Like, we would all would not be here if we did not enjoy music. I think that's a big key, is what drives this band. Everybody's there and just loving the process. The process is amazing. And you feel like you've gotten better same thing? Exactly. I think as a drumline too, back to what we were saying, technique and stuff. We've been working technique, working with the metronome. It's just made us way better and just driving us up. And that's something I love to see.
SPEAKER_09:And this is happening in a year where we have four home games instead of five. Yeah. Let's go. We can work out all the kinks, and then I know you guys would have one more night.
SPEAKER_07:Well, next year we actually have a stretch at the beginning of the season. So we are home week two, week three, week four.
SPEAKER_09:Oh wow.
SPEAKER_07:Three straight weeks we're home on Friday night.
SPEAKER_09:Are you guys setting up all the technical stuff too? Uh with those audio backtracks, I know that's Hammond up top. Stadium lights is Hammond, but those smoke machines and all that stuff, who's all getting that set up before we start? You guys don't even know. That's your focus. You're locked in.
SPEAKER_10:Yeah, I'm just a wind player. I'm just on the ground waiting for everything. I'm just a wind player. That's Ben's job mostly, I think.
SPEAKER_03:The drum majors get the smoke machine set up on the podiums. Um, and then I have I I control that from the field, and then Mr. Hammond's up in the box doing lights, and then I'm running all the tracks from an iPad on the field.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah. Oh, you're doing the tracks from the iPad on the field, really. Okay. All right. So, but we have Mike Hammond up in the booth. Yep. So Mike comes up there. Can you tell us? This is a really interesting story, your guy's background. Yeah. Can you tell us kind of how you met him the first time? Yeah. And walk us through that.
SPEAKER_03:So I met him as probably 1999 when he applied for his job at at West Ottawa. Because at the time they put together a panel of parents and students that sat on the interview panel. And you were one of those guys. I was one of the students. So when I was going into ninth grade, I was on the interview panel when he got hired. So when I so when he was on my panel, how do you feel doing that?
SPEAKER_09:Is that like a little ego when you're a ninth grader? I mean, I don't remember.
SPEAKER_03:I thought I knew stuff, but I was what, 13? Yeah, I didn't didn't know anything. So but when the tables turned and I was interviewing here and he was on the interview panel, obviously, it was like, oh, the tables have turned.
SPEAKER_09:You know what's really cool about him, and maybe you guys will appreciate this because you're younger, but when you're older, sometimes you can get stuck in a rut or stuck in the way you're doing things, and he is not that way at all.
SPEAKER_03:Not at all.
SPEAKER_09:What is it like for you guys as young students to know that the men that are leading you are so open to new things and doing those things that way? I love it.
SPEAKER_11:It creates everything. It's like everything I feel like just being able to have new ways of music and see different things. I think Genoviak has opened up a new way of how I see marching band and just a different style. And I enjoy it a lot.
SPEAKER_09:Do you like saying the name Genoviak?
SPEAKER_11:Oh, yeah. I call him Mr. J. We call him Mr uh Jahomie.
SPEAKER_09:I love saying Genoviak. I was practicing earlier. I'm like Jenoviak.
SPEAKER_12:Yeah.
SPEAKER_09:I was like, he we were talking on the phone, and it's like it's like Dirk Novitsky. That's the way we uh pronounce that name because it's a W. Yeah. It's not a V in that one spot. What's the difference between doing a Friday night show, so Friday night light show, I'll call it, as opposed to doing traditional a marching band?
SPEAKER_10:You know, I try to keep myself in the head space that it's like just another just reps on the field, you know? And I think I can just get the most out of that because it's like that's when I'm more focused and when I can just make less mistakes. But I think the difference is just like I'm kind of used to it. So like I guess the crowd too and the atmosphere around everyone, too, just being around that, it kind of pumps you up a little bit more. But throughout the years, I've learned to balance that out, and it's just like an amazing feeling. And then when I get out, it's it's awesome saying hi to everyone. And I've talked to many people now after the game, and it's like they they love the show, and I just love that atmosphere. It gets my adrenaline pumping like crazy afterwards, and it's it's great, you know, just being around everyone after.
SPEAKER_09:It's amazing how much people talk about like whether it's athletes, you guys are in performing arts, that when you get into the moment, you have to like lock in and do your thing. You know, with what's going on, it's all this fanfare and noise and energy, but you guys gotta do what you're there to do. Then you're not really can you pay attention to the crowd or doesn't really do you any favors to do so?
SPEAKER_06:No, I think for me, I just personally act as if it's a rehearsal and I try to give my best effort every single time and just tune out everything else and focus on my job.
SPEAKER_09:Do you have times where you hear something like the crowd reacting like, oh, okay.
SPEAKER_11:When the lights go off, it's my favorite part. At the very beginning. It's go time. It's go time. Let's go. Let's go.
SPEAKER_09:I just it is a unique sound in the stadium. How many people are there on a normal Friday night, Bill?
SPEAKER_07:So I would say last Friday, pretty good crowd. We were probably somewhere between 5,500 and 6,000.
SPEAKER_09:Oh wow. Guys, that's a massive crowd here in front of. We had about the same for grand for grand. It's a high school game.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, and it's I mean, it's packed. I would say since we've moved into West Ottawa Stadium now on year four, that's just become the norm for Friday nights. You know, crowds are just which is so awesome.
SPEAKER_03:It's you know that the community has supported the district enough to have a facility like that where they want to come and be, and it's it's cool and everything looks nice. And now, you know, and the march of man thing's happening at halftime, but it's just to your point earlier, Bill, it's just like the Friday night experience here is top notch.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, it's just what I tell people all the time is you know, you come to a game for the first time. You know, I go to the gym here in town, and one of the guys from the gym came to the game last week, and I saw him on Tuesday, and he's like, What in the heck is going on over there? First of all, the stadium is insane. Yeah, you know, and then it's all of the other stuff that we build into it. Right. It it really is a I stay up until 1:30, 2 o'clock in the morning on Friday after home games because I'm too wired. Yeah, I'm in the middle of like this chamber of just my I'm just being assaulted by sound and lights and noise and energy. And I it takes me hours to like get to a point where I can go to sleep.
SPEAKER_09:What's it like for you guys post-game?
SPEAKER_07:Exhaustion.
SPEAKER_10:No, not not usually. I am so wired up. It's not even funny. It's like I've had like 30 cups of coffee. It's crazy. You can ask like every one of my friends in the band or not. I am I'm jumping all around, literally. It's it's awesome. It gets me pumped. I'm just I love the feeling so much.
SPEAKER_06:It's I'd say for me, I'm more relaxed after the game.
SPEAKER_09:I kind of you have that nice relaxed vibe. I'm gonna say that, but it's a good vibe. I'll say that too.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, after I go home, I normally just pop down on my bed and go to sleep and do the next day.
SPEAKER_09:Nice. I love it.
SPEAKER_11:Yeah, I mean, I'm probably just kind of like the same as how I am, just excited. And then I leave the field excited, kind of relaxed a little bit. But the thing is, usually I have like uh Saturday invites for cross country and stuff. Yeah, right, because you're in cross-country as well. And then the rest of the game, I'm like, all right, let's go.
SPEAKER_07:Let's go. What's that like for you to balance, you know, obviously very demanding sport in cross-country, right? You're putting miles upon miles in every each and every week, and then also putting in hours, you know, with with the band. How how does that balance happen?
SPEAKER_11:Well, I I like the balance personally. I think it's two very different things. I feel like you have one thing you're out here like mentally, physically demanding. I feel like marching band's more mentally demanding because you have to be focused at all times. The physical aspect is not as bad for marching band as more like cross-country. But the balance I really like because it kind of gives me like a break in between each, not too much of one or the other. I would like definitely recommend anyone like younger, do music. It's it's really good for you, and it helps you grow as just like a human being.
SPEAKER_09:What are your guys' favorite parts of the show that you're not involved in? Where you look over and you go, I love that we're doing that, but it's not nothing I'm doing right now. But anything stand out?
SPEAKER_06:That's a good cue. Uh for me as a drum major, just watching the choreo, I think, especially when everyone's doing it and it's like right on, I'm like, yeah.
SPEAKER_10:I mean, I really like the the effects that Selene has behind her, like the gas shooting up from the uh drum major stand. Man, that is that's really cool. I don't know. I'm too focused on everything else. I can't really pay attention to anything.
SPEAKER_09:Well, I have a one of my favorite parts is the uh or the ring of fire from Johnny Cash. Come on, Chris, give me something.
SPEAKER_02:I can't get that low, man.
SPEAKER_09:So that's my favorite part. So I'm gonna play it because that's what I was gonna do. So we're gonna play some Johnny Cash. You're going way back artist-wise with Johnny Cash, and then the visuals on that are crazy. Everybody's running. Are you guys all running on the Johnny Cash Ring of Fire? Who's doing what?
SPEAKER_03:Nathan's the one doing the most running. Sebastian and the drum liner in the middle, and Bennett's always on the podium conducting the band. Oh, you're one of those guys? Yeah. Now I get who you are. That's what drum major is running.
SPEAKER_09:I love that. Are you far left? Yeah. I knew it was you now. I was watching that today, and I'm like, that guy in the far left is really in it, man. Because you're like. Yeah.
SPEAKER_10:So Nathan's doing all the running. I I mean, I could score a touchdown if I really wanted to.
SPEAKER_07:So that's one of the things I wanted to ask. So, with the additional movement, do you feel that it's gonna add a level of physical fitness that's gonna be needed for those in the marching band?
SPEAKER_10:I mean, you get used to it. Probably doesn't hurt. I mean, I don't know. It really depends on like how uh mobile you want to be, I guess. Uh like for me, I like to take a tumble during one of the parts.
SPEAKER_09:I'm like, I just roll around in the turf a little bit, but I feel like is that a choreographed part or the little No, that's all me right there.
SPEAKER_10:Mitch Noviak just like make it look crazy chaotic. I'm like, sure, I can do that. I think my wife said that after she was at the last game.
SPEAKER_03:I think I remember seeing that after. Yeah, yeah. I'm not even kidding. She's like, there's kids falling down up there. Are they okay? I was like, I'm pretty sure it's part of the act.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah. Yeah. Do you guys feel with like this style you're being you're able to be, I mean, you gotta be focused on what you're doing, but at times do you feel you can be more creative?
SPEAKER_11:Kind of hard with a drum, carrying the drum for us guys. Not like we do like a triple backflip while we're marching.
SPEAKER_09:There's your creativity. It's gonna have to step up the physical portion.
SPEAKER_03:There are a lot of places though where it's like, yo, here's the vibe. Just sort of create that vibe. And where the kids are all kind of doing some different stuff, you know, specifically the wind players. Yeah. So in that aspect, probably a little bit.
SPEAKER_09:Who's who's carrying the biggest instrument out there? Who's got the hard who's got the hardest?
SPEAKER_11:The big bass drum, I'd probably say.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, maybe Lucas carrying the big bass drum or any of the guys playing Susaphone, playing the tubas.
SPEAKER_09:Are they required to cover any distance, or are you kind of taking it easy on them?
SPEAKER_03:Lucas playing bass drum, maybe taking it a little easier on him, but the tubas, there's no mercy. There's no mercy for them.
SPEAKER_09:I'm gonna have to pay more attention to see who's doing what now that we kind of know who's who. Do you guys think the band is looked at differently from the public now with what what you're doing? Have a feel for that?
SPEAKER_10:Definitely like I guess more respected, I guess, because like in past years I've kind of kind of heard like a little bit more negative things about the band, you know, just being like an athletic or whatever. Now we're out here doing this, and now they're switching up and being like, wow, this show is amazing. I I've really heard a big difference on just how people view us and respect us more, I guess, you know, and just having opportunities like this to be on this podcast too. Like let's go, right? Really open up just the doors and like really let people see like what band really can be, whether it's like just whatever, it's awesome.
SPEAKER_03:I think it's important too. Like what was happening here in previous years was very, very good. Exactly. What we're trying to do is increase the accessibility for Nacho Joe, right? You know, because like if there's people in the stands who are musically inclined, you know, they might they probably would say, I would say that there was much more musical expression in shows previous, right? But we've created sort of this gateway to marching band that more people can experience, I think is kind of what we're after.
SPEAKER_09:And you know the thing too, I've loved marching bands my whole life, just being a sports fan. Like for any college football game or high school game, just the noise of a marching band just feels so good, right? It's part of that pageantry of a Friday night. And I've always loved it. And this, I'm just I don't know what it is. It's just is it more modern? Is it just more now? It's just more accessible.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. It more people can be connected to it because more people understand that's cool.
SPEAKER_07:So one of my favorite parts of Friday night, and it has been since I, you know, I've been involved in high school athletics for 20 plus years, when the when the drum line comes into the stadium.
SPEAKER_11:That's my favorite part.
SPEAKER_07:It's gotta be when the drum lines hit the tunnel. I'm just like, oh, it's go time.
SPEAKER_11:It's like a sense of yeah.
SPEAKER_07:Wait, what is that like for you as as one of the members of the drum line coming into the stadium and that reverberation is that super loud as you're walking through there and that sound is bouncing down?
SPEAKER_11:Well, I have earplugs in to protect my ears because if not, I would probably not hear you right now, no matter how loud it is. But it's so nice walking down because everyone's like turning their heads like, who is that? It's like all of us marching down. They're like, wow, they get their phones out, they're recording, and then we get in the tunnel, it's all echoey. It's like an amazing feeling because it's like we're here. Yeah, we're here, let's go. And we wait, and then we go out on the field, and everybody's cheering. It's just amazing. It's an amazing feeling.
SPEAKER_09:Do you guys take on a different persona when you put on your uniform?
SPEAKER_12:Good question.
SPEAKER_09:Uh I I used to be a mascot, Billy. Didn't know this. I didn't know this. But I'd be a mascot. You can't tell. So I'd put on the mascot uniform, and I'm I when I get in there, like I'm crazy already, but I'm really crazy put that on. Did you guys ever have that like when you get all dressed up and all that? Like, is there a part of you that kind of transforms into this performer? Do you have that at all?
SPEAKER_10:Me personally? No, not really. I'm just I'm just me. Uh just like I'm just a little bit more excited, I guess, but that's just me. I'm I'm it's awesome.
SPEAKER_09:Bennett, you're very animated when you direct. Your movements are very animated. Is anything like do you feel any of that or not really?
SPEAKER_06:Not really.
SPEAKER_10:I think I mean I've known this guy for years, and it's like you you definitely are a little different. Like you're more animated, I guess, too. It's just your face is a little the same a little bit. Like you look more serious, but your hands are moving all about.
SPEAKER_09:You look more it's always important to be ourselves for sure.
SPEAKER_06:I would say just with that, that's just with any performance, and I really make sure to focus and just again do my job, make sure that we can be our best.
SPEAKER_03:And I think we talk about that in rehearsal. You know, we say, you know, we want to have maximum effort, maximum focus all the time. So hopefully there isn't a big difference. You know, maybe we put the super suit on and maybe there's yeah. We're a little more poised, maybe because it's like, oh, to Sebastian's point, now it's now it's go time. Now we're doing this for people. But if we're doing our rehearsals correctly, you know, there probably isn't a big difference. There shouldn't be that because that's when big mistakes can happen. And same thing with an athletic team. You know, you start doing things different in a practice than you would in a game. Game's not gonna go super well, you know.
SPEAKER_09:What's it like for your families to see you perform this way? We had we talked to Tim Beard in our last podcast, and one of the greatest joys he said was that when people can watch their kids do things and enjoy themselves and have success, it's like this great thing. Do you get anything from family or friends where you know they've kind of pulled you aside or anything where they say, Hey, this is really great. I love that you're doing this. Any moments like that?
SPEAKER_11:Yeah, I would definitely say there is so when we had our summer rehearsal where we do like a week straight of like preparing our show up and like wearing all the drills stuff. Band camp. I say band festivities sometimes, you know, band festivities I'm at. Make it sound less than that. Get away from the stereotype. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. I'm at band festivities. But after that, we did our show for the parents, and I remember my dad and sister were watching, and after, like, that is amazing. It's super cool. Especially as my sister, she's in middle school, she'll be probably in the drum line with me next year. That'll be sweet. And then my brother uh also played in the drum line years back, and so he saw a difference. He's like, that's really cool. So I wonder is how good we can get for festival. Like, wow, this is really good. It's gonna be really fun.
SPEAKER_09:How about you guys any?
SPEAKER_10:My my dad mostly, he he loves it. Like, he was he was a drummer at West Ottawa years and years ago, and like he's just told me he's really proud of me too, and just like really cool. We wish my grandpa could have seen it. He passed away just like last year or whatever, wanted everything, but you know, I kind of do it for him a little bit. My grandpa, since I know he he always supported me and just me being in band and stuff. I think it's just real real cool, real cool. My family really appreciates it. My mom, me and my mom, she's like, Oh, you take so much time to do it, but it's worth it. But yeah. Yeah, my family really appreciates it, I think.
SPEAKER_09:How do you guys feel about being this is the year where this kind of changed? Time's gonna go on. There's a lot of teams or years at West Ottawa that are remembered. So we go back to some basketball teams, uh, go to Gabby Reynolds' team back in the day, go to Helen Sachs winning state title. This is the first year of this. We don't know where it's gonna lead or what's gonna happen next year. What's it like to know that you're actually gonna be part of something that kind of tilted the direction a little bit in a in a new way?
SPEAKER_05:Boom, boom, boom. We can take over it because it doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_09:Boom, boom. You guys can speak on it too. I'll let I'll let Bennett think uh I love that Bennett's taking his time. That's really nice.
SPEAKER_11:We gotta let him craft his response. Yeah.
SPEAKER_09:And sometimes you don't, you know, reflect on these questions until you're asked them.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah. I think um for me, just thinking that like in the future of the program and like Janovia, he'll be able to like reflect and kind of remember me as he's new here. He can remember me as like one of the first. And I think that that part is cool.
SPEAKER_03:And and that's a great point because there's so much change and so many different things that the kids are being asked to do right now that I will like I will always remember this specific group of people that's in the band right now because they probably will experience the most change out of anyone, you know, going forward. And that's that's really hard to do. It's really hard to take on some new things and try some new stuff and trust somebody that like I haven't been around that long, you know. Like we are doing things a lot differently this year, and I only got here last year. So I don't have like the deep relationships that maybe a coach would have after it's like we're gonna run this scheme for these four years, and now, okay, cool, guys. Now we're gonna do this. We just don't have that relationship yet, you know. So I just give them so much credit for trying so many different things this year. And to that point, like I will remember them for that for sure.
SPEAKER_09:Because it's hard, it's really hard to do. And you guys took a leap of faith and you were willing to trust. What's been the reward?
SPEAKER_11:Being able to say, I got to do this. Like when I'm older, I'll be like, I got to be a part of the West Ottawa High School Band for their Ignite show. It's something cool to say, I feel like.
SPEAKER_10:Yeah, that's I'm the same way. I think it's real cool. Probably tell my kids about this or something, you know. I think this is really something worth just telling about because it's so interesting and cool, and just just all just everyone just loving it so much makes me love it more, and just being willing to tell people that, yeah, I'm in band, I'm one of the marches in it, you know, and then for them be like that, you guys did amazing, like, and just again, all these compliments. It's it's really awesome.
SPEAKER_06:And for music, I think just connections is a really important thing. And music, you you should always try new things, and like there's oh there's so much learning that you can learn through different people and people from different places.
SPEAKER_09:You three are a great example of buying in, a little reservation at first, maybe, right? Which is all very good and normal, and then you guys jump in. It's I mean, applauds all around for real. It's amazing.
SPEAKER_11:Yeah. I would say mentioned something about earlier about what it does for us is also building when we get into concert season more people coming to the new PIC and hearing us play. That's a different thing, it's a different style. It's I really like it too. It's a big ensemble player, percussion ensembles. If you haven't heard one, I would recommend you do. They're amazing. I've I've been a part of so many cool ones, trios, quartets, it's amazing. I would definitely recommend.
SPEAKER_03:It's getting more people to pay attention to what we've got going on just from a whole program standpoint, right? You know, like maybe you know, we advertise like, oh, this is when the band is doing their holiday concert. And it's like, maybe you get 10 more people at that concert that wouldn't have come normally, but they remember something cool that they heard or saw in the fall. And so they're like, Man, let's go see what they're up to now. You know, so that's a great point.
SPEAKER_09:Chris, you have you must have a lot of great young people. These three young men here. Fantastic. You guys are great young guys. I mean, you're very thoughtful. You think deeply about what you do, you're committed, you're locking in, you're doing all those things. Kudos to you guys for real. It's great.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, thanks so much, guys, for coming on with us today.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. I I appreciate the three of these guys and everybody that's in the marching band that's working really hard and big push to the end of the season. One more game and festival on the 14th. We're pumped. It's gonna be great. The best is yet to come. Ooh, heard it.
SPEAKER_09:All right. Well, get that 55, 100 up to six, maybe 61, 62. If we can get him in there, Kennedy. We'll get him in. All right. Well, thanks for coming on, everybody.
SPEAKER_11:And remember, we are West Ottawa.
SPEAKER_09:We are community. We are each other. Thanks, guys. Thanks for coming on. Really appreciate you guys. Thanks, thank you.
SPEAKER_11:Thank you. Thank you.
