Q: How did you become one of the lead drummers in the Whitney drum line?
A: I just put in a bunch of work. I spammed all my warm ups for like an hour straight. And I somehow made it!
Q: What do you like most about being in the drum line?
A: The community itself is great. That’s one of my favorite things. We all work together pretty well. We have to. If we don’t, our cadences just sound really bad if we’re not a team. We’re a good team, though.
Q: How has it been being a very involved member of the Whitney High School band? Is it challenging to be in the jazz band, marching band, and the wind ensemble?
A: Not really. I play different instruments for each of those, so it’s easy to keep them separated. But the only problem is I don’t have enough time to practice all three instruments.
Q: When did you realize you wanted to continue band through high school and possibly after?
A: Freshman year. Funny story, my name means the sound of music, so it was like my mother predicted everything.
Q: What about freshman year made you realize maybe you wanted to continue doing band?
A: I just found it fun. Especially in the drum line. I did my first winter season that year and it was really fun going to a bunch of competitions and seeing other schools perform.
Q: Is playing in the band right now any different than when you started in freshman year?
A: Yeah, we actually have had a new teacher for the past three years. My freshman year was more tech-based because the tech actually came, and he helped a lot more. But for the past three years, it’s been more student-led.
Q: Did you do percussion in middle school before then?
A: Yes, I did. I was a concert percussionist, and then I also played guitar.
Q: Walk me through what a gig looks like for you.
A: It starts at lunch, where we all pack up our drums and take them home. And then we take our drums to said gig, and we just set up. We do our warm up for about 15 to 20 minutes, and then we start practicing before it’s time to go on. Then we play, and then we come back and pack up the drums to go home.
Q: How was the fall carnival at Sunset Ranch?
A: It was pretty good. We played a bunch of Whitney and Rocklin cadences, and then we played some Rocklin specific ones. It was fun.
Q: Are there any challenges you faced when managing new members of the drum line?
A: Yeah, our tech recently couldn’t make it into a bunch of football games just ’cause he had a work trip in Miami, so I had to be a mini tech and teach everyone how to play their drums better. It was actually pretty useful to teach all of them, because they now know how to play their drums, and now that he’s back, he can go into the nitty gritty.
Q: Since you are a very involved member of the women’s tennis varsity team, is it easy for you to manage that along with all your responsibilities in band?
A: No, recently there was the Starlight Soiree for Jazz Band, and an away match at Davis High School on the same day, so I had to go all the way to Davis, play my match, finish that in an hour, and then come all the way back to Jazz Band and immediately start playing. Sometimes it gets a little hectic, but it’s worth it.
Q: Do you prefer participating in tennis or participating in the drum line?
A: In the drum line, because I’m captain.
Q: You do ROTC too. How is it managing that? Band, tennis, and everything else included?
A: I just keep them all compartmentalized. I focus on what I need to do for each of them, and I don’t worry about everything else, unless they overlap.
by TARINI CHINTHAKINDI & ELLIOTTE EMERY
