The Aragon Pep Band, made of students from Wind Ensemble, Symphonic and Concert Band, has begun their second year performing at football games. Last year, the administration proposed a pep band to Aragon’s band teacher, Kevin Gallagher.
“Usually [school bands] play popular music on the sound system and when I got here, I learned that [Aragon] does not have any music at all during football games,” Gallagher said. “That was very strange to me, because usually that pumps up the crowd [and] the football players.”
Aragon Pep Band’s main purpose is to excite the crowd and support the football team.
“I think [Pep Band] brings a lot of energy to the game,” said senior Selia Gomez. “Since Pep Band is so loud, the players might hear certain songs or the crowd singing along [and get] more hyped up and motivated to play better.”
Football players also agree that the pep band helps with their playing.
“[Pep Band] inspires us to play better because there’s a lot more people watching,” said sophomore varsity football player Josh Koe. “I think it’s good for them to come out and support the football team [and] it adds something else to the game for the people watching.”
Since there were only a few volunteers from each music class last year, Gallagher made participation mandatory for all band members.
“We have 220 people [in Pep Band] all playing at the same time,” said junior Ryan McNamara. “It’s really loud [and] kind of chaotic but that adds to the [audience’s] energy. I think getting a bunch of sweaty teenagers together to play some music that everyone generally likes is a good time.”
Despite low participation in pep band last year, students enjoyed playing at games over the past few weeks.
“[Pep Band is] really fun [since] you get to hang out with your friends and play music together [to] get the crowd hyped,” said sophomore Ainsley Cornwall. “We play a bunch of well-known tunes during the game such as the Aragon Fight Song after [football players] do touchdowns.”
While taking part in the pep band is mandatory for all of Aragon’s bands, Gallagher feels that this will help unify the band students.
“The Pep Band is really the only time that all the bands will combine to perform and play together,” Gallagher said. “By doing so, it builds a bigger, stronger community within my classes and within the band program.”
The song choice is also an important factor in getting the crowd excited. Other than the Aragon Fight Song, they play songs like “Don’t Stop Believing,” “Sweet Caroline” and “The Final Countdown.”
“[We generally play] pop songs from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s,” McNamara said. “I don’t think we have a single song past 2000. I think the music choice is pretty good because it’s [music] that everybody knows and it’s not overplayed too much. Something about the pop songs from these eras have this danceability [aspect to it and] that comes out really well.”
Overall, Aragon’s Pep Band appeals to the students, football team and musicians, creating a new tradition at Aragon.
