The marching band at Rocky is a community so strong it influences every aspect of Rocky Mountain High School’s student life. They’re the ones at all the home football games, gassing up the student section and winning competition after competition. So, it’s time the band finally got the recognition it deserves, and not shown as just another club, but as a massive part of Rocky’s culture.

So, to get a better idea of the family aspect of the band and what actually happens in it, Rocky’s drumline teacher, Jaden Grogan, was interviewed.

Jaden, a twenty-year-old previous Rocky student, teaches drumline and visuals because of his passion for music and personal connection he feels with the band.

“I got into marching band because I’ve been into music my entire life, so it just kind of made sense from the beginning for me to eventually try marching band. And then once I tried it, I just kept going with it because I really liked it,” Jaden said when asked about why marching band interests him.

However, although marching band in its entirety is something he is very passionate about, Jaden specifically specializes in drumline. He expresses his opinion that students are drawn to drumming because of its diversity in making “beats”, and its variety of instruments.

“I think there’s a lot more variety in drumming and percussion open to the students that want to learn it. I think it tends to be, when it comes to marching band, a more physical instrument for kids, so it’s much more demanding in that aspect of it, too…” Jaden said.

Jaden is not the only one to think that marching band can be a physically and emotionally demanding but rewarding activity.

Maxton Burton, a freshman at Rocky high school and a member of the Grizzly marching band, was interviewed for this feature. When asked what his thoughts about being in marching band were, he had much to say.

“I think it’s really fun once you get the hang of it, but it’s also a lot of really hard work and labor to really put in to get the final outcome, and you have to be really patient, and you have to have a good mindset, because it’s extremely tiring,” Max said.

However, marching band is also very rewarding, and they recently just went on a trip to Utah that was for the Vigilant Invitational. The event was pretty much a huge competition between a lot of bands from around neighboring states. The whole marching band supported each other and had fun on the trip.

“It’s kind of like family,” Max said.

If anyone is thinking of joining the Rocky Mountain marching band family, Jaden Grogan, the drumline teacher, shared some advice for incoming students.

“I would say you should watch more videos and more drumline and more marching band culture related stuff instead of scrolling through TikTok and wasting your day,” he said.

Band is described by many people as a supportive and friendly community, challenging, but rewarding. The Rocky Marching Band isn’t just a club, but an almost family-like environment, similar to many sports and clubs here at Rocky. However, Rocky Mountain High School wouldn’t be the same without marching band’s major influence.