You’ve heard the expression, ‘work hard, play hard.” The Sylvan Hills High School Marching Band takes that saying to heart.
“We have fun but we also work really hard,” Band Director Mark Bailey said. “They understand that you work hard and the result is you get to have a lot of fun. Songs aren't just something you can throw together in one or two rehearsals. You have to do it day after day, rehearsal after rehearsal.”
The band operates on a motto: “The more you give the more you get, but the more you get the more you have to give.”
Senior Drum Majors Bailey Garrett and Faith Stringfellow say the passion that the band members put into every rehearsal and performance is inspiring.
“You see how dedicated everyone can become for something. And you just end up falling in love with it,” Garrett said. "For us, we want to give back to the band to get them to be better, and once they're better we have to try to improve ourselves and eventually it just keeps growing to be the best that it can be."
"When you think of Friday night you think of football. And that's the natural thing to do. But the band is an element of that. We're part of a whole package,” Bailey said. “We work really hard and the public may see us perform for 8 minutes during halftime. We get that. So we want to do our best."
This year’s halftime show will surely get the crowd grooving. Its called “Beach Party” – featuring songs like “Wipeout” by The Surfaris and “Fun, Fun, Fun” by The Beach Boys.
Bailey said they’re fun songs the audience can recognize and connect with.
"Once you get to the end, all the accomplishments are satisfying. If we're not satisfied, we're not doing the best we can,” Stringfellow said.
"Of course our main goal is to become better musicians,” Bailey said. “We take what marching band offers and the fun that it is, and make music that much more fun."
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