Tyro Times has spoken with senior Andres Bautista who has a love for the marching band, tennis, and music. He was inspired when he was younger by his teachers to share his talent with the world.
Camila Jacome: How many clubs are you in?
Andres Bautista: I’d say I’m in two clubs. I’m in the marching band, and I’m a part of the boys’ varsity tennis team. But outside of that, I’m a part of the district’s indoor percussion.
CJ: Do you have any hobbies you love?
AB: Something I really like is definitely guitar. I play lots of guitar. Before I became drum captain, I was teaching kids how to play guitar. Along with that, I bake. I like baking a lot of cookies. I like s‘mores, like s’mores cookies, brookies, and just outside hobbies that are not like music. It’s mostly food-related.
CJ: So you also play the drums. How long have you been playing?
AB: I’d say about 4 years now. I first started out on the marching bass drum, moved on from the bass drum to the snare drum, a little bit of cymbals, and now I am currently 100% staying on tenor drums, and hopefully I get to march those in the SBCUSD percussion.
CJ: Oh wow, so what made you want to start playing the drums?
AB: What made me want to start playing the drums was seeing the drumline play for the first time. You know, it was such a powerful sound that I’ve never heard before. Something that doesn’t come out of speakers, and it was just felt in the chest a lot more than anything else. Specifically, what inspired me the most was my best friend Anthony Espinoza. He was one of the best drummers I knew, and is the best drummer I know, and is currently marching professionally. And I would like to do that too one day.
CJ: Okay, so which do you like playing better, the drums or the guitar, and why?
AB: Personally, I like to play the drums right now a lot more because I feel like it’s more of a group setting rather than guitar, where it’s just like one or two people playing. But drums is more of a group activity. It’s something you get to do with many other people that have the exact same interest as you. So it’s not just generalized to music, it’s generalized to the skills that the drum needs.
CJ: Thank you. And what was your most memorable marching band event for you?
AB: My most memorable marching band event was probably one of my parades during my freshmen year, specifically more because I was less experienced, had less worries, less responsibility. So it was just more to have fun and play, and it was nice to see all the people or think back on how it used to be with all the people that I used to march with, and knowing how I’ll never go back to that experience with those people makes me feel like that was probably my greatest experience and greatest memory all in the marching band.
CJ: What motivates you or pushes you to keep up with these clubs and sports?
AB: What motivates me is working towards my future. A lot of the programs I do and a lot of the clubs I do are going to what I want to be in the future, which is maybe a music teacher, maybe a percussion instructor, or something similar. It’s something that not only have I recently wanted to do, but also maybe when I was a little kid, you know, I always look back at teachers who have taught me music in general in the past, but now it’s more about the drumming specifically.
CJ: And what comes next for you after high school? What are you planning to do?
AB: After high school? I hope to march in either a DCI or WGI group. From there, I can maybe continue to march. Maybe get a job in percussion instructing. You know, it may be a small high school, maybe a middle school. As long as I get to share my talent and skills of playing the drums and show other people that they can achieve that too. This is definitely what I think I’d want to do after high school.
CJ: What do you hope your friends and teachers remember you for?
AB: I hope they know to remember me by how motivated I was to do the stuff that I love, especially in music. I may have not been the greatest student, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t motivated to do what I wanted. I did what I had to, and I hope they can remember me as somebody who is always motivated to do what they want.
CJ: You mentioned how you’d hope your friends and teachers remember you for how motivated you were to do what you wanted. How dedicated were you to pursuing your dreams to the point where you want your friends and teachers to remember you for that?
AB: I feel as if I was dedicated enough to where I wanted to be remembered for that. Whenever I realized how much time and dedication I put into my musicianship by the time I reached the end of my sophomore year, seeing the people I looked up to reach their music dreams and be where they wanted to be when I first met them, inspired me to be greater in the thing that truly makes me feel alive and happy. If I had thought of them all this time while I pursued my dreams, I hope people see how dedicated I was and hopefully be inspired to do the same in their craft and dreams.
CJ: You mentioned how your most memorable marching band event was one during your freshman year. Do you think you will ever recreate that feeling in another event or setting, etc? Why?
AB: I don’t think I’ll ever be able to recapture that feeling again in whatever I happen to be in the future. Not to say it’s my greatest memory, but that feeling of nostalgia of being who I used to be and the people there. I think I prefer to keep it in the part of my head where I am grateful for being with the people I was around and the simpler time it was.
