The Spartan Marching Band is one of the most recognizable collegiate bands in the country thanks to unforgettable performances filled with musical prowess and marching precision, but as the season comes to a close, SMB members don’t reminisce over their kickstep form or difficult music, we think about the people got to experience the season with.
As I prepare for my last game day in Spartan Stadium, I wanted to write a more personal article for the band fans and feature stories from myself and others about the thing that makes the Spartan Marching Band so special: the connections.
Alison Nichols is a first year member in the band and has already found someone she considers to be her best friend after just this season, “I’m a first year trumpet player and my bestie is also a first year trumpet player, Anna Young. We met on a roommate finding app and we decided to room together because we’d both be in the marching band and we both play trumpet. I love that I have someone that can relate to the unique experience that is being in the SMB. My favorite memory with her is coming back from the first game and seeing a huge cockroach in our room. We captured it and had a good laugh about it.”
Katie and Caleb are second year members in the trombone section who messaged me about each other when I asked for band members to tell me about their SMB besties. The pair described that they met during the preseason of their freshman year, but didn’t become close friends until later on, “as we got to know each other more, we realized we had a lot in common and started hanging out more frequently. Our friendship has grown so much over the past year, especially when we came back for our 2nd season as vets.” Caleb says that his favorite part about being in the band with Katie is “having someone I know I can rely on if I ever need anything. It’s also just nice to hang out a little bit every day!” Katie describes her connection with Caleb and all her friends in the SMB as “more meaningful than I could have prepared myself for as a freshman coming into my first day of preseason.” She explains that “being in the SMB allows you a certain amount of proximity to people that you don't experience with other clubs or classes: we are out on the field almost every day of the week, working together and growing as a team. I love band because it allows me to meet my best friends, like Caleb, and form new connections with people constantly. I get to do something I absolutely love with people who I know are also passionate about it. We all have immense trust in each other in and outside of band, which I think is a very special thing.”
Sami Dhouib, a second year in the big ten section, has had a unique experience with the band as he initially found himself as a part of the tuba section for a few days during preseason, but decided to take a step back from the SMB during his freshman year. However, Sami returned to the SMB his sophomore year, ready to be a part of the big ten flags with some help from Nike, a tuba player he became friends with the previous year. Through Nike Sami met his other best friend, Anna, a cymbal player and the three have become inseparable ever since. Sami says his favorite memories come from “sharing every single game day and practice experience with them. Band makes it so we all have such busy schedules and knowing my best friends will be there makes it so much more enjoyable!”
Ashe Burr, a third year member of the color guard says that they feel like all of the other third year members of the guard are their best friends. When asked to describe a favorite memory they simply said, “This is like asking a parent who their favorite child is. There are simply too many to choose from.” It’s no secret that the SMB spends a lot of time practicing from daily meetings to twelve hour game days, but Ashe says that they never seem to mind too much because “I get to hang out with my favorite people every day.”
SMB friendships aren’t limited to current members. They often last after graduation as current members Violet and Elizabeth, showcase in their stories:
Violent Hunt, a second year in the trombone section described her friendship with Braden Gregory, a recent grad from the SMB, with enthusiasm: “He was a 5th year in the band, but only a second year in the trombones. We first met at the mini camp before preseason! We met another time at an optional summer sectional and at bones picnic, and then became much closer throughout preseason and the rest of the season. We instantly clicked and became inseparable. One of my favorite things about that year is that we were locker neighbors, his locker was above mine in the instrument room. He was one of the first band members I started having interactions with. All season long we always started and ended every rehearsal, performance and gig together there. I loved having a common passion for band and for trombone. It was awesome to be together every day in the environment of something we loved. We had the same goals and spoke the same language of music and marching band. Especially as a first year, I admired him so much for his talent, passion, dedication, and years of experience. I felt fortunate to have an older member looking out for me and a bestie to have each other's backs . Even when things were busy, we knew we would always have time together in the band. We always had band last year and from now on we will always have the memories. We made the most of that one year together.”
Elizabeth Vaccaro, a fourth year in the color guard, describes her friendship with another recently graduated member with equal amounts of compassion: “Paige Higley! She graduated in 2024, and was a member of the color guard. We met during preseason in 2021. We both were feeling overwhelmed at the amount of people in our section and started talking a little bit. We didn't become close friends until we did winter guard together! I remember we both said that Hercules was our favorite Disney movie when we were doing an ice breaker and we started hanging out more frequently after that. My favorite memories were in the stands. We would always sit by each other and do the guard's silly stand tune dances together. Our favorite is the pirate stand tune! Even when it was super cold, I didn't mind because Paige and I laughing and talking made the fourth quarter go by so much quicker.
I loved that I never felt alone going to band. We have been roommates for two years, and we would get ready with each other in the mornings for game days. I would help her with her game day hair and we would make toast and coffee to have while we walked to Dem together at 6:00 AM. It made early wake up times and the late night trek back to our apartment fun instead of inconvenient.”
I received an almost overwhelming amount of responses from the SMB when I asked for stories about friends and this article could go on for ten more pages if I included them all. From Sydney Kramer (a third year in the trombone section) describing meeting her bestie as a “fateful day,” to Wrigley and Blitzen (second years in the tuba section) sending me messages that were only a few sentences long but somehow both contained the phrase “it’s nice having someone I can talk to,” it’s clear that friendships forged in the SMB are unlike any other.
My own experience with the SMB has been one defined by the people I have met. I entered my freshman year and immediately felt overwhelmed during preseason. For those who recall the very first article this season, I was one of those lucky freshmen who experienced a preseason filled with heat advisories and mosquito swarms. I remember walking back to Case Hall every night at 11:30 PM, crawling up my lofted bed, and crying. After I muffed my audition and got last chair (ranked worst in my section), I began to wonder what I had gotten myself into. There was a moment where I seriously considered quitting, but looking back now I will forever be grateful for my squad leader Pep convincing me to stay in the silliest way possible. The day after chair placements came out, Pep walked up to me and told me he had a joke, “what’s the difference between a tuba and a tuba? Nothing.” He told me after that it didn’t matter what chair I was, I was a part of the band and no one saw me any differently.
The rest of that year I struggled with adjusting to college and I felt very alone at moments, but Pep was always there offering to host a game night or watch a movie with my squad. I was only in the band with him for one year, but the people in our squad are now some of my best friends. Even though Pep graduated that year, I still keep in touch with him and the impact that staying in the SMB has had on my life cannot be understated. After my freshman year, I never felt alone. No matter how bad of a day I had I knew I could count on the tubas to make me smile.
Now that it is my time to graduate, I will miss the feeling of playing the first note of state fanfare and the excitement of getting new halftime music, but most of all I will miss getting to see my best friends in the world, my second family, every day at rehearsal. The SMB website may describe us as one of “the most recognizable collegiate bands in the country” that “offers unparalleled performance experiences,” but the most important thing that the Spartan Marching Band offers its members comes in the very last line of the description: “importantly it says that the Spartan Marching Band experience comes with “a sense of family that continues beyond the on-campus experience.”
With love to every member of the Spartan Marching Band family and Spartan Fans,