Teal Sound Corps Director Michael Butler went to the 1998 DCI Championships thinking about the corps he wanted to create. After watching the corps, he felt that not much had changed musically since he marched in the mid-'80s.
"I saw a lot of repetition from corps to corps and it was really self-serving," Butler said. "I decided I wanted to start a corps that played contemporary music and would be on the cutting edge."
That corps turned out to be Teal Sound of Atlantic Beach, FL. Many fans have complained that drum corps aren't selecting music that appeals to fans or the participants. But last year Butler chose to base the show one of the most famous rock bands of the 1990s -- Metallica. Metallica created a new genre, heavy metal, and has brought the style into the mainstream by selling millions of records.
"The kids love it," Butler said. "It was a breath of fresh air from the band music they were playing." While it was a bit of a surprising selection to some traditional drum corps fans last summer, the pick had made perfect sense to Butler for years.
"(Metallica) is very similar to drum corps -- faster, louder, higher," he said. "It has metallic sounds and, if done right, it has a lot of energy."
This year, the corps is playing the music of the Dave Matthews Band, the rock group that has made more money on tour than almost every other band over the last five years. They are especially huge among the 15-25 age demographic, but also cross into the old hippies who still love great instrumental rock. Clearly, the musicians that back up Dave Matthews (the lead singer) are some of the best in the business. The music relies heavily on rhythmic interplay to make the music work, and that offers a multitude of opportunities for a drum corps.
The 2002 Teal Sound repertoire includes Trippin' Billies, which opens with a drum feature that showcases the corps' seven snares, four tenors, five basses and 11 pit performers. Next is a medley of Matthews smash hits -- the ballads 41, Satellite and Space Between. The closer is the 6/8 romp, Drive In, Drive Out.
"The parents love it," Butler said. "I still get calls for last year's CD."
And the judges? "As long as it's done well, they will respect anything," Butler said. Indeed. His heavy-metal corps was a division III finalist last summer, powered by the third-place drum line.
"You don't have to play Shostakovich or Bernstein or Copeland," he said. "It's played over and over and over."
