off already, so I'm guessing.
We have a kid here, 30, are we?
Maybe?
All right, I'm starting to get in.
Good.
You're starting to get?
Yeah.
Yeah, that makes me worried.
Does, like, your show is 30 and not 15?
No, it's definitely 30.
Okay.
All right.
It could be just a very natural conversation.
I'm sorry, Corey, but now I'm not going to settle away.
That's fine.
I'm not working.
Here.
If we get our marker.
There.
That's better.
I put all the pillow closer.
All right, we're good.
Yeah.
How's it?
You bring out a little like talking about some of the traditions
that take place with the music here at the University of Wisconsin.
How do you balance the tradition and also balance the style of creating the style of the music,
whether you have a certain song or some of the parsity and things like that.
And I remember being a kid and performing basketball games and just, you know,
seeing, you know, the drum kits and things like that.
It's not that you're able to even, you know, see that in your, you know,
I think you just do the best that you can, which I know is not a good answer.
But, you know, as long as the traditions are on, there is space to introduce new things.
And so it's much more difficult if you just throw all the tradition out and come in with all the new stuff.
That doesn't work.
And so, you know, as long as everything is being honored,
then there is a latitude to be able to do some new things.
I think that's the best way I can describe it, really.
Yeah.
I don't know if that's something that's brought us a lot from Chrome.
He came on board a lot of things he said he would be used to create a solid type of show or series
in terms of how you create the music.
Any thoughts on what you're creating and what you're looking for to be able to make?
You know, interestingly enough, I don't think a whole lot about legacy.
I certainly hope that when my time is done here, that people will be proud of the work that has taken place.
That they will recognize the UW band as being the UW band.
In other words, yes, there's a different director now.
But the band that they know and love is still playing music at a high level is marching at a high level.
And so, those are the kinds of things that I think about.
I know there are things that I would like to do.
For example, I mentioned, yes, I would like to see our students get some kind of scholarship for everything that they do.
But I don't consider that as part of a legacy that I'd like to consider.
That's just something I would like the students to be able to have.
It's something that I think the students deserve.
Now, unfortunately, I'm not a millionaire there, because if I was, I'd just make it happen.
But, you know, I hold out hope that at some point in the future, something like that will happen.
And so, you know, I'll leave the legacy to other people, but my hope is that we don't get work that people can be proud of.
I'm pretty sure that if you were to pull that off while you're here, that teachers should not be able to be like,
they're like, who are they? I'm just a little scotch.
What are they going to make?
Well, I'd love to be able to do that if we can.
Now, I think you've got to have that next spring project.
Yes.
What's the significance of the spring project?
The spring concert is a very, very big deal.
For one thing, we've been doing it for nearly 50 years.
And this is an event that has just grown over time.
And I don't know of any other major band program that does an event quite like the lady.
Now, there are a lot of band programs that have indoor concerts.
But the way we do the indoor concerts, that is unique to us.
And that's what makes it special because, you know, when we're at a football game, you know, our goal is to entertain the crowd.
But on some level, well, I'll take that back.
We're there in service of the football team and the athletic program.
You know, we're in the stands.
We'll be in support of no matter what the story is.
Our job is to bring the energy, keep the energy.
Now, when we go to halftime and different things like that,
our goal is to perform for the people and show them a big time.
But at the end of the day, they're there for football.
We're at the spring concert.
All of those people are there because they love the band and they're there to support the band.
And so everything that we are doing for that particular event is only in service of the music.
And it gives people an opportunity to hear the band in a different way because when we're out on the field,
we're in terms of the acoustic.
We're outs outdoors.
And it's very difficult to fill up the stadium the way that we want to.
There's not much so many.
You know, we can't play very soft.
People don't want to won't be able to hear us.
But when we get indoors, you know, that gives our power increases.
And there are things that we're able to do musically that as much as I wish,
we could do the matter of football games.
As much as I insist that we do do the matter of football games,
there's a practicality to it, if that makes sense what I'm saying.
And so in that event, in that particular environment,
you have a chance to hear the music in a different way.
And we also have the opportunity to bring in these other production elements to enhance what we are doing musically.
And so to me, that's what's really special.
That people are spending their hard-earned dollars to come to this show
that we're putting on in the call center.
Their comment to see is, and that really means a lot.
What happens to all these musicians once they're down here in the University of Wisconsin?
Can anybody get to go and become a rock star?
Or be the music?
What happens to their musical career tech?
Well, it depends on what they like to do.
You know, most of the students in the band are not music majors.
In fact, very few of the students are music majors.
So most of them are not going to go into careers.
Most of them are not going into professional music careers as well, I'm saying.
And so most of our students will go on to lead productive lives.
They're going to be professionals and contributors to their community.
But for a lot of our students that lead, they still maintain this connection to the band.
A lot of our students still play recreational.
You know, we've got an alumni band.
They have events that they play for.
They come back every year to perform at football games.
There's a group.
There's a jazz group outside the Milwaukee area.
Most of those people were in the UW band.
They just get together, play because they enjoy playing and they perform publicly and different things like that.
We've got former members of the band that perform for the Green Bay Packers on a weekly basis.
So think a lot of them do a lot of things, but mostly not in music.
But one of the things that I do hear about from time to time from the students is how significant the experience of being in the band was and how those experiences transfer or applicable to what they are doing professionally.
And I'd be curious, you know, what can you say?
Oh, boy.
All of it can keep one up at night.
You know, I talked about the one week preparation.
And we've had our Friday rehearsal and you think to yourself.
I don't think we're as prepared as we'd like to be.
That can keep you at that time.
Or we're in town for the bowl game.
And we're staying on the beach.
I hope everybody gets back in one piece.
You know, we don't want to be the band that had someone, you know, go out to Tampa Bay.
The ward I'm talking about specifically have something happen.
Those are the kinds of things that keep me at midnight.
So sometimes they're related to the quality of the performance that we're getting ready to do.
And sometimes it's just one of them to be safe and make good decisions.
So it's there are a lot of things that you keep one up at night.
But I'm grateful we'll be able to say those situations are few and farther to me.
Oh, question.
Where do you take this band here?
Where do we take it from here?
Well, we always want to march well.
We always want to talk about it.
And I feel like we've been able to do that for the most part.
So where would I like to take the band?
We're doing well for ourselves.
The band is doing very, very well in the grand scheme of things.
There are some bands that have them down from near the third million dollars.
Which means they are in a position to not only do the things that they need to do.
Because they're in a position to do things that they want to do.
And then so.
Now, again, that's not the same.
We're not in a good position.
We are.
But wouldn't it be nice to have a third million dollar endowment so that, you know,
this might fall into the category of first world problems.
But, you know, if new uniforms, we want to get new uniforms.
Well, I can already tell you that new uniforms are going to cost near the half million dollars.
Well, if I've got a third million dollar endowment, I can just say we'll get new uniforms and that's it.
Well, if we want new uniforms, I've got to plan a little bit.
We can get them and I'll plan a little bit.
So I'd love to be able to see us get at that level.
And they're only two or three bands at that level.
But that's where I'd like to see this.
See us go.
So in terms of performing, yes, we'd love to keep the stop at the top.
But we'd love to do more pictures in different things like that.
And we're always trying to improve what we're able to do technically in terms of how we perform music.
Frank Sinatra, if people come to our spring show, they might be a little bit of the best as yet to come.
Thank you so much, Mervis.
All right, cool.
So I'm going to keep rolling.
So this thing where you guys are asking for a little rinse on me.
So just keep kind of breathing here for a second.
I just hope I didn't give you a little trouble with anything.
We will find out, won't we?
That is next month, 19th and 20th of April.
I'm not going to break this one up.
No, I'm not going to apologize.
Sure, let me do it.
It should be, it's tired.
Okay.
Even you're going to get a little stupid.
Oh, people would love that.
That would be so funny.
All right, we're going to get room to tell them.
Okay, so I just have to see if we can apply it for a second.
That's probably good.
And then, could I get you guys, you guys can take your mics off and just kind of stand
up and just leave the chairs where they are?
Because I'm going to try and get a shot of this empty chair so we can frame off these
cords.
Oh, yeah.
Perfect.
All right, cool.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's cool.
I mean, I got someone in your shoe.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Unless you guys want to, unless you want to just be like YouTube.
Yeah.
Awesome.
Yeah.
It is.
Yeah, it is, it is.
It does.
Yeah.
It does.
Yeah.
It does.
Yeah.
It does.
Yeah.
I have a quick question.
I had to.
I've told you that.
I think I have a quick question.
I can't think.
So I was able to, if I was playing with my baby, I was playing with my baby.
Okay, that's all that's going to happen.
Yeah, that would be enough to hurt.
All right, I'll have to just cut it down.
All right, cool.
All right, feel free to do that the little round that you guys need to.
All done?
Thank you, all right.
I appreciate you working.
Oh, yeah, it was wonderful.
That was really good.
Thank you.
All right.
Oh, yeah, this is going to be bad, I think it's going to be bad.
Yeah, you're absolutely right.
Thank you.