First, can you let me know how the Steeline got started?
The Steeline started in 2012 – I encountered drumlines in grad school at Missouri and met people who were involved with the drumlines with the Chiefs and Rams. I thought it was a really cool thing. I was originally from Pittsburgh and had planned to come back to Pittsburgh after I graduated. So I thought it would be awesome to start one up in Pittsburgh.
I moved back and got together with a few friends of mine in college who were also drummers – we developed the idea. The music, uniforms, persona, logos….We then approached the Steelers to see if we could work with them. We had some contacts in the community – the team brought in high school bands for games and we knew some of those guys – so we were able to get in touch with the team.
In 2012 we were invited to play for a preseason game. It went well, and they asked us to come back at the end of the year for the last game to do a drumline battle at halftime. We had to recruit another drumline and we went up against them.
Did you win?
I’d like to think we were the better drumline – I think we were at a different level. We were mostly adults and they had a lot of college kids. Also, we were used to the venue. So I’d like to think we won!
How did that all end up with you becoming the team’s official drumline?
After the season the team called us to the stadium for a meeting – we met with the marketing folks mostly – John Wodarek and Rick Giugliano. They asked if we wanted to be the official drumline for the team then and we discussed what our role would be, where and when we’d perform – those things.
2013 was our first official season. We argue whether it was 2012 or 2013 since we did our first drumline with the team in 2012 – but I’d say we officially began in 2013. They’ve been very supportive of what we do and let us do what we do to help enhance what goes on on gamedays for fans. We see football as an entertainment product and feel like fans should be entertained from the time they arrive until they leave. I think we’ve become a vital part of that gameday experience now.
What is your role during games – how did they decide where and when you’d perform?
We play a few times during the game – we have a few pre-slated spots – primarily when the team is on defense. We have a producer on our team who wears a headset and communicates with the staff who runs the in-game system – we’re looped into that. They’ll tell us when to play. We’ll have a program before the National Anthem then we usually play during timeouts and quarter breaks. It just depends a lot on the pace of the game.
How many people do you have on the team?
We bring 27 drummers to gameday and have 30 on the team total. We have an equipment manager and a producer for the gameday stuff – the one that wears the headset. We also have a hype-man who uses a megaphone and works to keep the crowd engaged. He’s really the face of it. We realized we’re all drummers and needed a hype-man to be the face of the drumline – to be the conduit between the crowd and band.
We also have two-to-three social media people that work during games and do our FaceBook Live videos. That has been a special part of the group and people really look forward to those on gamedays. And we also have a half-dozen alternates. Those are people who are not yet fully ready or can’t make the full commitment every week to play, but can sub-in on gamedays when we need them.
Any fun interactions with the team and players that come to mind?
During games the players are focused on what they are there to do, but I do remember Ben Roethlisberger coming up and giving us all high fives one game.
Dick LeBeau’s last game – we stood in the tunnel – we don’t do that now – now they have fans who do that – but then we formed that tunnel as players come out. When Dick came through the tunnel he shook the hands of every one of us. That was one of the strongest, most heartfelt memories.
At an away game versus the Colts Pat McAfee when he was still playing came up to us and said he loved us – that we were the best drumline in the NFL. That was neat too.
Any other fun memories with the players?
We played at Ben’s son’s birthday in 2015. His kid was into drumming then – it was very cool. We met up with his friends and families – I won’t say where it was at. But it was surprise to Ben and his son – his family set it up with the team. We even gave Ben Jr. a signed drum head.
In training camp, Ryan Clark came up and grabbed some cymbals and started playing with us. We also did a fan hype commercial with Lawrence Timmons and LaMarr Woodley which was fun.
Franco too – he was a huge supporter of what we were doing. He was a huge music fan – he loved jazz especially and tried to save the Crawford Grill – a big jazz club in the area. We were filming a show with KDKA once outside the stadium and Franco just happened to drive by and saw us – he came out and started dancing and high-fiving all of us. Rocky Bleier is a big supporter too.
Do you strictly perform for Steelers-related events or do you get booked for others as well?
We’re available for booking anywhere in the city – we’ve done weddings, parades, community events… We do a lot of stuff at the stadium too – when they have meetings and corporate partners there.
We also do a lot of community stuff – Ligonier Days in Latrobe and the St. Patricks Day Parade. That’s a big part of what we do too. We are ambassadors of the team. On gamedays that’s where we are – at the stadium. But we love those side events.
Lastly – anything new fans should be aware of?
We’ve added LED lights to our drums now – that’s been a cool element for night time games. It’s a really cool display while we drum. We’re also writing some great new music with some world famous drumline people. We’ll have one more piece to bring out in December I think people will enjoy. We just want to keep growing and supporting the team.