A group of students, equipped with a variety of instruments, play a familiar tune just as men’s ice hockey coach Rand Pecknold calls a timeout.
The music builds and then halts.
The students, donning their golden yellow shirts with pride, all shout at once, “Tequila!”
The Quinnipiac University Pep Band, formed in 2002, brings a palpable energy to the crowd at the school’s athletic events.
It could be said the pep band is comprised of the biggest supporters of Quinnipiac athletics as its members perform at nearly all of the home games, and have traveled as far as California to show their support.
Most of the members are musicians who have been playing their instruments for over a decade.
“It’s a great group of kids,” said Mike Stasik, a junior co-captain and trumpet player. “It’s nice to know that not everyone knows everything about hockey or everything about basketball, but they’re all there because we have that common interest in music.”
Over the past few years, interest in joining the band has grown immensely.
Miranda Davis, one of the band’s co-directors, a former Quinnipiac student and band member, has been pleased with the progression.
“This past year, our new member class was 22 new members, the largest ever seen in this group within the past five years,” Davis said.
And a larger number of students participate regularly than ever before, Stasik said.
“This year our numbers went up to 43,” he said. “Compared to last year, we had 28, maybe 17 or 18 of them showed up on a regular basis. Now we have 43 and I would say [more than 30] of them are there on a regular basis.”
The band has expanded both in size and ability as the difficulty of music has increased over the years.
“Currently 90 percent of our repertoire is at a collegiate level, whereas in previous years we were playing only high school music,” Davis said.
This year, the pep band had the opportunity to travel with the Quinnipiac women’s basketball team to Stanford, California for the NCAA Tournament.
“That’s kind of when we all do our bonding,” said Cathleen Dacey, a sophomore and piccolo player in the band. “We all say we’re really good friends, we hang out and stuff, but when you get to travel that’s when the group really becomes close.”
Whether it’s 20 minutes down Whitney Avenue at Ingalls Rink in New Haven, or 3,000 miles away at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, traveling gives the band an opportunity for new experiences.
“It’s very exciting because it kind of breaks up the routine of just going right to York Hill,” said junior clarinet player Allie Iannicelli. “It’s fun to be able to support our teams no matter where they go.”
Not only do the band members grow closer when they travel together, but they also grow closer to some of the athletes as they express their appreciation for the band showing support so far from home.
“At the beginning of this spring semester, we went to Pittsburgh with the women’s ice hockey team,” Stasik said. “After the game, they had won, they came up to the glass and they were waving to us, saying thank you. That was really cool to see.”
Over the course of these trips, the pep band has developed some relationships with other bands along the way. Some meetings have blossomed into friendships, like with Robert Morris University’s pep band.
“We met them when we were in Pittsburgh for the Frozen Four,” Iannicelli said. “They were our host band. We have a close relationship with them.”
But not all pep band relationships are friendly. There’s tension with rival schools such as Yale, which turns into a bit of a battle of the bands when one band makes the trip to an away arena, and sometimes, bands want nothing to do with each other.
“Other than that, we saw Brown, Yale, and we saw Ohio State when we were in California and Cornell, but [Cornell isn’t] welcome here anymore,” Iannicelli said.
Fans of Quinnipiac åthletics have also developed a greater appreciation for the band. Some members are even recognized for their unique performances and special appearances on the dance cam at the TD Bank Sports Center during home games for men’s ice hockey.
Take for example, freshman tenor saxophone player Anthony Della Badia who made a bit of a name for himself after putting on a theatrical (and un-choreographed) karaoke performance of “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey.
Della Badia says he was approached by one of the videographers who asked him to do karaoke during one of the intermissions.
“I’m always on the dance cam so one of the guys came up to me and personally asked me to do something for him so I did it,” Della Badia said.
In fact, Della Badia made such an impression one group of fans gave him a ride back to main campus after a game one evening. The family saw him waiting at the shuttle stop and recognized him right away.
“It was a Quinnipiac alumni and his wife and their two girls who were big hockey fans,” Della Badia said. “They made me sing ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ on the car ride home and it was just a magical experience.”
The growth and recognition of the pep band will only continue to increase from here. Davis said there are plans laid out to help develop the band’s abilities even further.
“In addition, next year we are adding in more efforts to provide educational opportunities for all musicians in the group,” Davis said. “Once a week, select students, my co-director and myself will be teaching various instruments to students to learn.”
Unlike other pep bands, Quinnipiac’s members don’t receive any kind of credit for their participation in the band. According to Davis, some schools even pay their band members for their participation.
“Our students do this on their free time as a club,” Davis said. “Many of our members are a part of other organizations, Greek Life, et cetera. and still make time for our organization.”
And with each passing year, more and more students are making time for the pep band.
“I think we’re kind of making a name for ourselves because we’re at all the games and people are seeing how we’re growing in size,” Iannicelli said. “I think we’ve attracted a lot of attention and I’m proud of how hard everyone’s been working.”
