The stadium lights beam down onto the field, but there are no football games; instead, music plays as lines perfectly sync together. The lights shine down on a massive band.
Over the summer, senior Kemper Frederick, a member of the Susquehannock High School band, participated in Drum Corps Internationals (DCI), marching music’s major league.
This year, Frederick marched alongside the “Spartans,” a Corp with a consecutive champion title in DCI Open Class with a three-time winning streak, and marched in the show titled “Mistica.” Mistica was a show over 10 minutes that was packed with marching design and music, which, towards the end of the season, helped them win in their DCI Championship for Open Class. The Spartans have since switched to World class to continue the 25-26 Marching Season.
Frederick was one of the many tuba players on the Spartans. Frederick is very familiar in the brass instrument family, playing the tuba, trombone, french horn and mellophone.
Kemper loved playing the tuba, however, If Frederick had to have switched instruments during the Spartan season, it would “possibly be the mellophone since they have one if not the hardest parts in shows.” Frederick said. “Tuba was fairly easy as the music wasn’t very challenging, but there is always something that can be improved.”
Fredrick and The Spartans began practicing in July and lasted till August.
“It was very painful, but a great learning experience for many,” Frederick said.
Traveling throughout the nation sounds like a dream come true for many, but behind the scenes, there is a large amount of work that goes into making the band perform across the United States.
“A daily routine for me was waking up at 7:00 a.m. in the morning, eating breakfast, get to visual rehearsal by 8:30 a.m. rehearse for four hours, eat lunch, then go do music rehearsal for four slash five hours some days, eat dinner, then attend visual and music combined rehearsal for five hours, then snack, shower and lights out for two weeks straight,” Fredrick said. “It lasted for a while, I got back just five days before school started.”
The behind the scenes to how these shows are displayed and coordinated really show that DCI is not a regular marching band, but a variety of very professional and strict bands. Some can be so serious that they begin to impact the marchers.
“Some negatives of DCI were the physical impacts,” Fredrick said. “I’m a fairly fit person, but after the season, my shin splints were so bad that I couldn’t run, I could barely even walk, and it’s a common problem with people that do multiple years of DCI that they are almost certain to have knee problems in the future, a lot of people have to get knee implants because it’s just so impactful on their bodies.”
In order to balance out the physical challenges within DCI, there are times when the band takes a break from performance work.
“Some of the funniest moments are when we ended practice a bit early, and the school had an electric scoreboard and we had control over it, so we played a rotating fish and everyone started screaming ‘FISH,’ and another time was leaving Mississippi early,” Fredrick said. “We got a bunch of weather alerts, so the instructors announced that we were leaving early, and everyone threw their hands up in celebration.”
Frederick also recently participated in the Macy’s Day Parade in New York City on November 27. This is one of New York’s largest events, featuring a plethora of Thanksgiving-themed events happening from 8:30 a.m. to around noon. Kemper marched alongside 11 other bands.
With his previous experience in DCI, Frederick wants to try to go for another core. This time, he is trying out for a core called “Phantom Regiment,” a well known Drumcorp, which in 1986 and 2008 was known as the Drumcorps International World Champions.
“I’ve already auditioned for some drumcorps like “Phantom Regiment,” Fredrick said. “And I’ve gotten a call back, same with Cooper.”
Senior Cooper Friend is also going for “Phantom Regiment,” with his previous experience being a snare drummer in our Susquehannock Marching Band and Indoor Drumline.
Frederick loved marching with the Spartans, but he also had some other favorite corps.
Frederick likes Corp “Blue Coats” as they’re music and Design choices are “very cool.”
He shared some advice about people wanting to join DCI.
“Don’t always believe something is good enough; there is always something to be improved, and if you don’t make it to your favorite corp, try for something less,” Fredrick said. “The more experience you have, the better chance you have of making it in.”
