The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The Sweet 16/Elite 8 are taking place in 4 cities around the country and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage from Las Vegas with UCLA drum major Nellie Kamenitsa-Hale.
You are from Oak Park, IL: what made you choose UCLA? I knew that I wanted to go to school far away from home: not because I do not love home but because I wanted to experience something completely different and new. I also wanted to go to a serious, academically-challenging university, but did not really want to go to a private school. On top of that, I wanted big-time sports and a marching band! That list really made UCLA the perfect storm for me because it checked every single box, combined with the beautiful weather of course. No winter after growing up in Chicago: yes please!
You are majoring in Public Affairs: why did you choose that subject? I like to describe my major as a sort of applied sociology, which drew me in since I have always been more interested in social sciences than science or math. My professors/classes really explore the way our society works, how specific ethnic or socioeconomic groups face radically different challenges within our society, and what tools we can use to improve those challenges for specific groups. I do not really want to go into policy/politics but I do love my major and the way it has forced me to look beyond the surface of our societal issues.
You have played clarinet since the 4th grade: how did you 1st get into it, and what is the best part? In my school district every kid had the chance to start learning an instrument in 4th grade. My older brother and I grew up playing piano so we already knew how to read music, and we both knew that we would start an instrument in 4th grade. He started playing the tenor saxophone so I was partial to the woodwinds already when it was time to make my choice. I loved clarinet right away and was so competitive that I was always trying to be the best and audition for higher-level bands and ensembles in school. I started private lessons in 5th grade and had the same teacher through my senior year of high school. Having her as well as so many incredible music teachers throughout school really helped nurture my love for music/band: I have always loved how beautiful it is to have the power to create music. Clarinet gets a bad rap sometimes because it is not the most in-your-face sound, but my favorite part is definitely just how beautiful the sound can be. The feeling of being the one responsible for creating that music is absolutely what keeps me coming back for more.
How difficult was it to spend part of your band years at UCLA on Zoom? During my first year, we had a full football season and almost a full basketball season of band, so I did get the gist of what the UCLA Band is and how it works…but that second year on Zoom definitely sucked! I missed band, but for me it was more the general state of COVID and everything being online that felt so awful all of the time. Band was just one of many experiences that we were losing at the time. Once I realized that band, sports, and so many of the things I loved to do would be so different, I managed to suck it up/wait it out. We just tried to make the most of the time we had, even if it was virtual, so staying connected online during that time was important, even though it was not as fun as being on the field together.
What does being a drum major entail? Just about anything/everything you can think of! Drum majors look different at lots of schools: many colleges use drum majors as visual performers who participate in their shows, typically twirling a baton and actually out on the field with the band. Here at UCLA, our four drum majors function much more as student leadership connecting the band with the directors. Our official job during performances is to conduct the band so we are the ones on the sidelines waving our arms during football games. When the band is stationary during “gigs” (e.g., in the stands at football games, all basketball games, any other performances outside of football games), the drum majors are the ones deciding what songs the band plays, and we are responsible for communicating that information to the band and actually starting the music. Behind the scenes, we also play a big role that even the other members of our band do not get to see. During rehearsals and gigs, I am constantly observing the band for any problems or complaints, making sure that problems of any/every sort get addressed in a timely manner, answering endless questions, communicating important problems back to the directors, and communicating the directors’ instructions back to the band. Being the middle person between our one director and the 250-person band is truly insane sometimes, especially in an activity like marching band where everyone needs to be on the same page at the same time in order for performances to work out smoothly.
Rather than a stereotypical “band geek” you are a huge sports fan: did your parents really pull you out of middle school to watch an Indiana game in the 2013 NCAA tourney?! Yes! I am sure they were sensible about it. It had to have been like 2:30 pm on the day before Spring Break or something…but we had to watch IU play, even if it was just at home on the TV! They were a 1-seed that year with guys like Cody Zeller/Victor Oladipo: such a fun team. We were always watching the Hoosiers in the postseason so we could not miss that game. When the B1G Tournament was in Chicago we would be there, although I think my parents drew the line at actually traveling last-minute across the country for NCAA tourney games. March Madness has always been a big deal in our house and I love the first weekend especially: there is a different game on every channel and you more-or-less care about all of them because of your bracket! In high school I would pull up the games during school on Thursdays/Fridays so that I did not miss anything. Sometimes the teachers even gave up on getting their students’ attention during a close game and would just put it on for the room: we were often pretty insistent. It is just such an immersive fan experience; how can you not love it?! I have always been a sports fan since I was super-little. I used to have dreams about old Chicago Cubs players in elementary school because I would recite their names trying to fall asleep at night! As I got older, I would always do my homework at night with whatever sports game I could find to be my background noise. My sophomore year of high school, my parents and I went to a Cubs NLDS game at Wrigley Field in the evening, then my dad and I hopped onto the train to Soldier Field for the Bears’ home opener that same night! All of the boys were so jealous of me at school the next day. I am pretty sure that Bears’ game was Mitch Trubisky’s home opener (and first home loss) but I might be mistaken. All of my family are sports fans but my dad and I are the ones who have really bonded over sports. He inspired my love for sports through softball, and to this day if there is a game on while we are at home, you can bet that we will be parked on the couch watching it. We have a running joke complaining about crazy uniforms and sometimes weird courts or fields that we jokingly take personal offense to (e.g., Oregon’s ridiculous forest court!). We call it “uniwatch.” In our family group chat, someone will pop in with a “uniwatch” and tell everyone else to turn on whatever game they are watching to show off some terrible color or logo on a team’s uniform so that we can complain about it together.
Last June your band got to play at the opening of the 100th Season of the Hollywood Bowl: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? The Hollywood Bowl was so incredible! That was such a fun experience and was so cool for lots of the band members who never had a spring quarter before. After football and basketball season are both over, there are not as many band commitments or chances to perform, so it was just a great opportunity to bring the whole band together during that chunk of time. Combine that excitement with a superstar like Gwen Stefani and a famous stage like the Hollywood Bowl? Just wow: it was a totally awesome experience.
How does your school decide who gets to go to the NCAA tourney, and what will it mean to you to see your group doing its thing in front of a national TV audience? Anyone in the band can sign up for a trip but only a few get selected: our numbers are limited by the NCAA or Pac-12, depending on the trip. Our directors pick our trip rosters based on a number of things. A lot of it has to do with the number of “gigs” a person does (e.g., in the stands at football games, all basketball games, any other performances outside of football games), since almost all of these performances are optional, and I am sure that seniority matters a fair amount too. The directors get the final say so all that band members can really do is participate throughout the year and hope they get rewarded for it. It is so amazing to see/hear our band on national TV. It is always fun to get a bunch of texts/notifications from family and friends sending snippets of the band from TV broadcasts or on the edges of the camera during the game itself. Last week in Sacramento, people could see the band on TV during almost every possession on our side of the court! Lots of people reached out to say they saw us. The extra attention just makes me want to produce our best sound while we are playing and our best energy while we are cheering so that we can truly show the fans all of the amazing things that this ensemble represents.
Last weekend you beat UNC-Asheville/Northwestern in Sacramento: how was it, and how excited is everyone on campus now that you are in the Sweet 16? That trip was totally awesome. We stayed right by the arena in a nice central area of Sacramento with a lot of cool places to hang out and watch basketball. It was a great place to be for those first two rounds when there are just so many games to watch. Being at the actual games, too, was just incredible. It is totally insane to be so close to the team bench and hear the guys and Mick Cronin cheering or yelling their reactions to the game. The atmosphere in those March games are a little weird, since the arenas do not really buzz with the student energy that we normally have in Pauley Pavilion, but that just means the band has to be extra loud for the entire time! We are totally screaming ourselves hoarse trying to start cheers for every single trip up and down the court while also celebrating big plays. When the fans get quiet, it feels like we are the only noise in the whole arena, and we take that responsibility seriously. Even if the fans are not making noise, the band is there to support the team 100% of the time, no matter if we are in Pauley, Las Vegas, Portland, Philly, or Sacramento. It is hard to tell how excited everyone is since it is Finals Week here in Westwood. Everyone seems appropriately pumped up on social media, at least. Outside of school, I work at a nearby elementary school and a lot of those kids are Bruins fans. They were super-excited about the Bruins moving on and some of them even saw me on TV with the band!
Any predictions for the Bruins game vs. Gonzaga on Thursday in Las Vegas? I do not want to jinx anything! It seems like making a positive prediction is just asking the universe to prove me wrong. I think that if our guys play their best then they have a great shot of moving on and avenging our previous losses…but it is March and anything can happen, especially between two teams with as much history as UCLA/Gonzaga. I was actually at the Final Four in Indianapolis in 2021 and watched that Jalen Suggs’ 3-PT shot in real time (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx3LuhZOFn8): it was awful. I am sure that the guys who remember it are just itching for revenge, and the rest of us are ready for some vengeance too, so I hope we can get it done.