If you’re like me, you know Erik Kosman from his unfiltered Facebook posts about pageantry, Chicago sports, & longest marching band names (words & syllables). But Erik is also a highly sought-after designer, consultant, and educator in the marching arts. He has worked with many of the top ensembles in DCI, WGI, and BOA, including The Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps, The Woodlands High School Marching Band, and the Avon High School Indoor Drumline.

Erik is currently the head of audio for the Boston Crusader and previously, he was the Electronics Caption Head at the Bluecoats where he played an integral role in propelling their electronics program to the top of the activity. For the past three years, Erik has served as a consultant and audio engineer for FloMarching.

In addition to the marching arts, Erik has designed and installed audio, video, and lighting systems for many school auditoriums, churches, and restaurants throughout the Southeast. He most recently worked as the Technical Coordinator for the Bailey Performance Center at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA.

Originally from Park Ridge, IL, A Wonderful Place, Erik currently resides in Leander, TX just outside of Austin with his wife Erin and their two huskies, Sabre and Dakota.

Part 4: 1st-4th Place 

Welcome to another segment of Sketchbook called Matchbook where Jen Barton and I set the band world on fire with our hot takes! You may remember Jen Barton and me from the highest-rated drum corps & fashion related show on FloMarching, Taking the Field. Or the wonderfully entertaining 5th episode of Sketchbook found here on Anchor & wherever you listen to your podcasts. Today we are talking about the 2019 Bands of America Grand National Championship!

You are listening to the first episode of Matchbook. Where Jen Barton and I set the band world on fire with our hot takes! You may remember Jen Barton and me from the highest-rated drum corps & fashion-related show on FloMarching, Taking the Field. Or the wonderfully entertaining 5th episode of Sketchbook found here on Anchor & wherever you listen to your podcasts. This morning we are talking about band... marching band... marching Bands of America: the San Antonio Slaughter Regional! 

EDIT: It was incorrectly stated that Prosper HS has not advanced to a BOA Finals. Prosper HS did advance to finals at the 2018 Bedford Regional but they didn't get to perform due to weather. So Prosper HS has performed in GN Finals but still, has never performed in any Regional nor Super Regional finals.

What do you want to hear? (11.2.19)

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The year was 1979. Jimmy Carter was president, Sony released the Walkman, and Margaret Thatcher is the first woman elected Prime Minister in the UK. And on May 1st, Jeremy Wayne Spicer was born in San Antonio, TX, “Military City, USA!”

Jeremy Spicer graduated from Texas State University and is the owner of SASI – The Leadership People, LLC., a student leadership consulting firm focusing on the empowerment of young leaders. Jeremy or “J-Spice” as he is known all over the known universe is the former Director of Bands at Vandegrift High School. The marching band was named the 2013 University Interscholastic League (UIL) 4A State Marching Band Champion. Prior to his appointment at Vandegrift, Spicey spent eight years as a member of the staff at Cedar Park High School. The marching band is the 2006 recipient of the Sudler Shield, an international award for marching excellence awarded by the John Philip Sousa Foundation.

Jeremy began his drum corps career playing mellophone in the Santa Clara Vanguard. Since his age-out year, Mr. Spicer has been on the brass staff of the Carolina Crown, Southwind, Boston Crusaders, Santa Clara Vanguard, and is a Program Consultant for the Crossmen Drum & Bugle Corps from San Antonio, TX. Jeremy Wayne is active in the United States as a clinician and adjudicator for Bands of America, and his professional affiliations include Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He currently lives in Leander, TX with his beautiful wife Elizabeth, precious daughter, Coral Amber, and their handsome son, Aiden Joseph.

Advice for the Aspiring Composer/Arranger, via Christopher McQuarrie (10.25.19)

Christopher McQuarrie is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He received the BAFTA Award, Independent Spirit Award, and Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the neo-noir mystery film, The Usual Suspects (1995).

Earlier this week, McQuarrie posted a lengthy Twitter thread full of advice to aspiring filmmakers. Spread out over 25 tweets, McQuarrie outlined his theory of how to find success in the world of film. He compared writing and blindly submitting scripts to playing the lottery, and noted that while he’s found success as a director in the world of action in recent years, helming Jack Reacher and the last two Mission: Impossibles, playing the lottery of script submission has still, even to this day, “given [him] nothing.”

Instead, he suggested aspiring artists take their destiny in their own hands by making movies themselves, even if they don‘t want to be a director, or they doubt they’re qualified to shoot their own stories.

Personally, I have received many emails, messages, and texts asking for advice as it pertains to composition, arranging, and design. It’s a rather long-winded answer and till I read what McQuarrie had to say, I wasn’t sure how to put it in exact words. Now I do.