Playing a medley of ‘80s music including ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ and ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ for 65,857 screaming football fans on a weekly basis is not something an average student at the University of Tampa gets to do. But five UT band enthusiasts have daringly ventured off-campus to do just this.
Freddy Escamilla, Jonathan Guiot, Joey Hagger, Monroe Lewis and Audrey Robertson are members of the University of South Florida Herd of Thunder (HOT) marching band.
Guiot knew he wanted to be a member of HOT before he was even accepted to college. He and his father have been working at Raymond James stadium since 2006. He caught one sight of HOT and was hooked.
“On my first night at the stadium, I saw the HOT band,” Guiot said. “Watching them was completely jaw-dropping. I went home that night knowing I was going to join them.”
Although he had not yet graduated high school when he got his first taste of HOT, his interest stayed warm for the next two years.
“I graduated [high school] in 2008. The day after, I emailed the director at the time and he put me in touch at once with my section leader and the rest from there is history,” Guiot said.
Junior Freddy Escamilla, a friend of Guiot’s, followed his friend to a rehearsal early on, also before he had graduated high school. While there he got a great impression of the band as well.
“During [Guiot’s] first year in HOT, I went to USF to watch a HOT rehearsal,” Escamilla said. “I spoke to the director at the time and a few other friends who were in HOT and decided to join it once I graduated high school. “
Escamilla decided that even though he wanted to play for HOT, UT would be a better fit for him academically.
“ I had come to UT for a few days to be in the Quad County Honor Band back in 2007, and I really enjoyed my experience,” Escamilla said. “After a while I decided that UT was where I wanted to be.”
It wasn’t such an easy decision for Guiot. He was accepted into USF’s school of music, but academically, they didn’t like his test scores. He finally decided to attend UT because he had enjoyed the Quad County Honor Band Camp.
“I emailed the director [of HOT] and told [him] the situation and he said I could march with HOT as long as I was enrolled in a Florida college,” Guiot said. “And to this day, I regret nothing. I’m very happy at UT, I love this school and its location. The music department and education department are fantastic.
Dr. Matthew McCutchen is the current director of The Herd of Thunder marching band and says that he encourages UT students to participate in his band.
“I love having UT students participate in the Herd Of Thunder and would welcome more in the future,” McCutchen said. “As long as they bring a love of marching band and are fans of USF Football they will fit in very well. The UT students that have marched over the past three years have been talented, energetic, and easy to work with and have fit in extremely well.”
Being a member of HOT involves strong commitment, as they have marching rehearsals two nights a week when there isn’t a game, and three nights plus all day Saturday when there is a game. The UT participants agree, however, that they are able to juggle marching and schoolwork.
“[The practices] were scheduled at that time so people would have plenty of time after their classes to work on homework and other things,” Escamilla said. “HOT is a non-competitive band, so we have very few rehearsals. Many other college bands meet nearly every day for rehearsals.”
Audrey Robertson participated in marching band in high school, and after hearing from Guiot that UT students could march with USF, she was eager to get back on the field and play. Robertson, along with Escamilla and Guiot, participates in both Spartan Band and HOT, and agrees that they are easy to manage.
“I am in Spartan band. I actually do not find it hard to juggle both,” she said. “Luckily, they do not really overlap but when they do, both directors are very understanding and are willing to help us work out a solution.”
All three agree that the best part of marching with HOT, aside from the screaming fans and “attractive” uniforms (the hat with the feather is called a Shako), is the new people they have met that share the same passion for music and marching.
“I’ve met so many great people in HOT, and every year, everyone gains a sense of family throughout the band,” Escamilla said. “Both of these things always keep rehearsals exciting and worthwhile.”
With so much time and effort dedicated to HOT and the USF football team, one might think that the red and black Spartan school spirit of the participants would be tainted Bull green, but Guiot says that this isn’t the case.
“I get asked this a lot by USF and some UT students,” he said. “The answer is no because UT doesn’t have a football team to be loyal to. So when I’m not cheering on the USF football team, I’m always in my Spartan colors cheering on UT.”
Mia Glater can be reached at dfyinggravity92@aol.com.