DCI shows incorporate musical excellence, visual artistry, and competition, all packed in to a 12 minute, high octane performance.

So drum Corps is essentially competitive marching band.

DCI or Drum Corps International is headquartered right here in Indiana, but its members are from all over.

Corps are like sports teams.

And the group you see on screen now is called Carolina Crown.

They are one of 20 world class corps who compete at DCI and have consistently placed in the top 12 each year since 2002.

Avon High School's band director, Matt Harloff also acts as Carolina Crowns brass caption head.

He's responsible for the overall musical and technical development of the brass section, and he allowed us to sit in on a practice to discuss what it's like to participate in this unique sport.

DCI is an incredible activity.

we have here at Crown, we have people from all over the country.

In fact, we have some people from Europe and Japan as well.

So we have a lot of people from all over the place.

And we travel the country during the summer.

We compete with other incredible drum corps.

An experience like like no other We also got to talk with two of Crown's members, who seem to have a healthy rivalry with each other.

Yeah.

I'm mellophone hes trumpet.

He said he's better?

He's a liar.

I'd be better at his, than he'd be at mine.

You would sound so bad on a mellophone.

(Which one is the mellophone?)

It's the short, fat trumpet.

(Okay) The one that sounds better.

So back in 2008, I was introduced to drum corps.

I was introduced to Carolina Crown specifically.

They performed at the high school.

My dad was working at now, and ever since then, I've fallen in love with it.

It's, oh, it was always on TV.

I was always watching and listening to it in the car.

I remember in, I think 2015, my brother started high school marching band, and he got into it and he would show me videos I remember seeing that.

Like “Wow!” And then I was like, “Yupp, I got to do that.” The audition process is rigorous.

To make these corps, we'll have thousands of kids try out for only 165 spots total for each core.

there's a lot of people that audition, which is a great problem to have.

You have to send in two video, audition clips, and then they will invite you to a camp if they think you're.

You're good.

we had our our one on one, our OTM is the scariest thing in the world.

you learn all about the visual, packet and the technique Saturday night and is another, brass block.

And then Sunday, they'll tell you where you are, slotted So you're either, a no, for the season or you have a callback or you're contracted.

when they pulled us into the room and they said, “you're getting a contract” “for the season.” I walked out of the room and my dad was there volunteering I looked at him and I went, “I got a contract!” And we got into the car and I'm just sobbing like, “I can't believe I'm” “going to do this.” “It's my biggest dream” “coming true.” And I was so excited.

And yeah, it was awesome.

Life as a corps member is relentless.

It's not glamorous, but it's unforgettable.

It's a grind, but it's also a bond.

A family forged in sweat and sound.

Here we go.

Set.

Thing I love most about DCI is being able to work really, really hard with like minded people who are also working really, really hard.

So it's very unusual to get 150 people together.

Who have the same mindset and who have the same drive to be perfect.

That doesn't happen anywhere else like you wake up, eat breakfast, go to block, eat lunch, go to block, eat dinner, go to block, have a snack, go to sleep.

Repeat.

it's a loop and you just got to push through it.

you're doing basically 12 hour long days every single day, nonstop.

it's a lot, but it's really it builds you to what, like how strong you can be, before you even get on tour.

And then once you're on tour, you're just you're living on a bus, you're traveling every single day.

You're sleeping on gym floors, between all these different states and, still maintaining, 10 hours or 12 hours long rehearsal day.

what I love about it is that we learn how to suck it up.

It's like, this is what you have to deal with and you got to figure it out.

And we always do.

And you can take those lessons and apply it really to anything that you want to do in life.

Sometimes drum corps step outside of the stadium and onto the world stage.

For those that are familiar with the TV show Severance Season two finale scene included a marching band.

we've actually had 5 or 6 of our DCI alumni in that marching band then also recently, some of our corps members were able to team up with Travis Scott and, participate in a concert at Coachella.

I got a message from my horn sergeant and he said, “Hey, Matt, really wants us” “to, get a small group of people “together to fly out” “and do this thing.” And I said, “what?” “Is this, a joke?” “Are you serious?” “There's no way” “with Travis Scott!

?” you know when the lights were shining and you could see it was a sea of people, the most people I've ever seen in my entire life.

what was it like?

And it just incredible.

And how does it happen?

It's it's really technology.

It's YouTube.

It's it's the exposure.

It's social media.

Look at what this is and listen to this.

And, those are memories that will last a lifetime.

you reach your limit, and then you push past it, and then you reach another limit, and you push past it, and and it's basically just breaking down your walls as you go throughout the season.

It's taught me how to be a better person, how to be a better friend, a better leader.

I'm going to take the things that I learn here all the way through the rest of my life.

You want to be pushed, you want to be challenged, you want to be called out, you want to be held accountable, which is not the easiest thing.

And then the lights come on, the crowd rises and everything makes sense.

Please welcome to the field, from Fort Mill, South Carolina Carolina Crown!

Drum majors Mark Troy and Carter Block, is your corps ready?

being able to be out on the field and putting my whole heart into something and everything that I've worked for, working as hard as I've worked, putting it all out there and getting to share my love for music and my love for performing with other people, and then watching people, like, get on their feet and cheer for us and lose their minds the same way that, Crown in the past has inspired me.

I like to think that I'm doing that for other people, and that's what makes me love it so much Cause I feel like I'm inspiring the next generation of drum corps students, and I think that's really special Yeah, it's a feeling unlike anything else.

What I've noticed is just the passion that folks have for this activity.

Everyone from folks here in the office to the directors of the corps, to the performers themselves and the fans, you can just see their passion.

You can feel it.

It's contagious.

And it's something that you want to be around.

At the direction of Joe Roach from Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Carolina Crown!

While each corps gave everything they had.

In the end.

The Boston Crusaders made history, winning the title of World Class Champion for the first time ever.

Congratulations from Indiana, Boston!

But whether or not these performers left the stadium with a trophy in their hands, not a single one left with regret in their hearts.

Oh, my gosh, it's exhilarating.

I've never felt any emotion like it.

It's just pure adrenaline and exhilaration and just the most magical thing that I think can possibly happen.

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