By Grant Morrison | Sports Writer
For most fans of the green and gold, football season starts when hundreds of jersey-clad freshmen rush the field to fill “That Good Old Baylor Line.” For members of the Golden Wave Band, however, it starts in the sweltering August heat across from the Baylor Science Building a week before classes begin.
For band leadership, it starts even earlier than that.
“It starts right when the year ends. As soon as the last game ends, it’s ‘what’s next,'” said San Antonio senior recruiting chair Nicholaus Karavantos-Schnur. Karavantos-Schnur also serves as a piccolo squad leader and a senior representative for the largest graduating class in recent history.
Months of preparation go into a successful band season, including ordering equipment, developing schedules and participating in “call-athon,” a summer-long outreach program to get to know incoming members.
“It’s mostly about showing that we care, that we want to make connections even before school begins. It’s about finding family, having a group ready for them when they get here,” Karavantos-Schnur said.
The Golden Wave, more than 300 members strong, creates the essential soundtrack of Baylor Athletics. The swelling brass, pounding drums and blaring horns back up the Bears and deafen opponents, on the field as well as the court.
“Music is a necessity for the college football experience,” said Newcastle, Wash. junior saxophone squad leader and band videographer Katie Fuchs. “Sometimes it’s volleyball, or soccer, but we’ve been told countless times, ‘We perform better when we have that hype track.’”
Game day for the band is a full day affair. For football games, its members arrive around five hours before kickoff, and spend every second leading up to the game preparing for the big show.
“It’s kind of like the day before a test — you have fun during class, but now it’s a review class, it’s time to lock in and put your game face on,” Karavantos-Schnur said.
Each section has their traditions to embrace the game day atmosphere — chants, dances, war paint, exercises — before they march over to contribute their part to the home field advantage.
“You really see it courtside, with the basketball band right there,” Karavantos-Schnur said. “If Ja’Kobe Walter dunks on a guy, we’re gonna play in your face. It’s an entire momentum shift. If there’s a timeout on the field, we play a song for the student section and get them to vibe too.”
As college football and the NFL become increasingly similar, one of the biggest remaining differences is the presence of the full band. Some NFL teams may have a brass section backing them up, but nothing that compares in size to hundreds of students taking the field in support of their team.
“Musically, we do our best to get in the other team’s face… maybe it’s only five notes, but we hold it out to make sure the other quarterback can’t hear,” Karavantos-Schnur said. “We twist at the end, and everyone plays a different note. Musically, it creates dissonance, but confuses the other team even more.”
In the 2021 Big 12 Championship against Oklahoma State, the final drive culminated in seven consecutive goal-line stands. The Cowboys had driven the ball down the field, and after three stops by the Bears, drew a pass interference call that gave them a fresh set of downs. But for all seven downs, the Golden Wave played loud and proud to “Bear down” on their opponents until safety Jairon McVea made the final stop.
Away games present a different challenge for a band hoping to bring the home field advantage on the road.
“They always put us at the highest point of the stadium, and it’s difficult to feel like you’re contributing when the players can barely hear you,” Fuchs said. “Consistently, fans will throw water and beer at you on the field, but as a band we have to radiate God’s joy.”
Getting booed is a challenge for the band, but travel gives the band an opportunity to be the heart of the Baylor faithful.
“When we’re in the nosebleeds, the other Baylor fans and families are with us. Everyone centers around the band,” Karavantos-Schnur said.
It also gives an opportunity to connect with other bands around the country.
“We make friendship bracelets, trade pins and just try to be as hospitable as possible,” he said.
But perhaps the biggest benefit the band provides is to each other, strengthening relationships and community at Baylor. The saxophone section hosts a weekly movie night. The piccolo section has a nationwide group chat called “Picconation.”
Given the band’s size, there are representatives from countless majors and concentrations who gather and find community in their shared love for music, performance and the Baylor Bears.
“It’s a safety net,” Karavantos-Schnur said. “If you have a terrible day, you can go to rehearsal, and everyone’s there for you.”
