Grand Canyon University Athletics
Travis Larson (in front at right), the “oldest freshman ever,” has been a rock for the Thundering Heard pep band in its first year.
Photo by: Darryl Webb
First-Year Pep Band Brought the Spirit All Season
2/28/2013 10:07:00 AM | General
First-Year Pep Band Brought the Spirit All Season
With the home schedule concluded for the GCU men’s and women’s basketball teams, there’s a clear winner for the season’s Most Valuable Player: the Thundering Heard pep band, possibly one of the most successful startups since Google.
Night after night over the course of four months, the 60-member ensemble brought unrestrained passion to the south end of GCU Arena, filling the place with a unique blend of music and madness and helping the Antelope teams go a combined 28-2 on their home court.
Early on, this much became apparent to all who heard the first-year Heard: They’re good.
“We were actually a part of this (season),” says Drew Murphy, a French-horn player who transferred from Mesa Community College and also studies classical guitar at GCU. “We were a force to be reckoned with.”
The closer the game, the harder the band seemed to play. With the men’s team involved in nine home contests that were decided by margins of 10 points or fewer, blowouts of a different sort became the province of the Heard, which ripped into horn-friendly crowd favorites such as “Vehicle” and “Soul Man” and cheered mightily for the ’Lopes when it wasn’t playing music.
At the center of the action was trombone player Travis Larson, 38, the self-described “oldest freshman ever,” who quickly became a go-to guy for the band’s energetic director, Paul Koch.
Larson, who abandoned a 12-year career in sales to return to school, is majoring in music education at GCU while working full time at an evening office job in Tempe. He says his employer, Delicious Deliveries, has been flexible with his hours and credits his wife, Ann, the mother of their two small children, with extraordinary support.
He’s good-natured about being the Heard’s elder statesman.
“I do the best I can to fit in with the younger ones,” says Larson, who has played trombone since he was 9 and commutes to campus from San Tan Valley. “I don’t want to be just ‘the old guy.’”
Koch says he has leaned on Larson from the start. The band’s trip to Anaheim, Calif., for the Disney Tip-Off Classic in early November required some extra help, and Larson says he was happy to step up.
“Anaheim brought us a lot closer together,” Larson says. “That trip was a marathon. We learned what the expectation (for a game) was: 40 minutes of pure engagement. When we got home, we crashed. I was at death’s door, basically.”
One of his favorite memories from the season is a Dec. 17 comeback by the men’s team against Fresno Pacific, when GCU was down 14 points in the second half and pulled out a 75-73 victory.
“The atmosphere in the band was crazy,” he says. “There were a lot of timeouts, and we were pumping out the energy.”
Murphy and Larson praise Koch (pronounced “Cook”) for his ability to insist on excellence without being overly demanding.
“He knows what he wants,” says Murphy, who grew up as the son of a Mesa band director. “When he finds what’s holding us back, we work on it until we get it right.”
Larson says Koch is especially good with those who aren’t music majors — and that’s about 75 percent of the band. Practices are held twice a week and will continue even after the basketball season ends.
“He makes it fun,” Larson says of Koch, who came to GCU from Perry High School in the Chandler school district and had in-game entertainment experience with the Phoenix Suns.
“He makes those who may have been struggling a bit want to practice. He’s down-to-earth and doesn’t talk to us as if he’s the boss.”
A smaller version of the band, about two dozen members, will travel to suburban Los Angeles next week for the Pacific West Conference tournament, in which the men’s and women’s teams will play. Plans for next season include an additional 20 members, bringing the total to 80, and a doubling of the band’s song list to about 50 tunes.
“I think we’re about halfway there,” Koch says in assessing the first year. “But at the same time, we’ve set the bar high. I don’t want us to become old hat.”
Larson says he’s looking forward to the Antelopes’ jump to NCAA Division I in 2013-14. He expects the Heard to raise its game, too.
“That will be huge,” he says of next season. “We’ve got to take it up a level.”
Email Doug Carroll at doug.carroll@gcu.edu.
With the home schedule concluded for the GCU men’s and women’s basketball teams, there’s a clear winner for the season’s Most Valuable Player: the Thundering Heard pep band, possibly one of the most successful startups since Google.
Night after night over the course of four months, the 60-member ensemble brought unrestrained passion to the south end of GCU Arena, filling the place with a unique blend of music and madness and helping the Antelope teams go a combined 28-2 on their home court.
Early on, this much became apparent to all who heard the first-year Heard: They’re good.
“We were actually a part of this (season),” says Drew Murphy, a French-horn player who transferred from Mesa Community College and also studies classical guitar at GCU. “We were a force to be reckoned with.”
The closer the game, the harder the band seemed to play. With the men’s team involved in nine home contests that were decided by margins of 10 points or fewer, blowouts of a different sort became the province of the Heard, which ripped into horn-friendly crowd favorites such as “Vehicle” and “Soul Man” and cheered mightily for the ’Lopes when it wasn’t playing music.
At the center of the action was trombone player Travis Larson, 38, the self-described “oldest freshman ever,” who quickly became a go-to guy for the band’s energetic director, Paul Koch.
Larson, who abandoned a 12-year career in sales to return to school, is majoring in music education at GCU while working full time at an evening office job in Tempe. He says his employer, Delicious Deliveries, has been flexible with his hours and credits his wife, Ann, the mother of their two small children, with extraordinary support.
He’s good-natured about being the Heard’s elder statesman.
“I do the best I can to fit in with the younger ones,” says Larson, who has played trombone since he was 9 and commutes to campus from San Tan Valley. “I don’t want to be just ‘the old guy.’”
Koch says he has leaned on Larson from the start. The band’s trip to Anaheim, Calif., for the Disney Tip-Off Classic in early November required some extra help, and Larson says he was happy to step up.
“Anaheim brought us a lot closer together,” Larson says. “That trip was a marathon. We learned what the expectation (for a game) was: 40 minutes of pure engagement. When we got home, we crashed. I was at death’s door, basically.”
One of his favorite memories from the season is a Dec. 17 comeback by the men’s team against Fresno Pacific, when GCU was down 14 points in the second half and pulled out a 75-73 victory.
“The atmosphere in the band was crazy,” he says. “There were a lot of timeouts, and we were pumping out the energy.”
Murphy and Larson praise Koch (pronounced “Cook”) for his ability to insist on excellence without being overly demanding.
“He knows what he wants,” says Murphy, who grew up as the son of a Mesa band director. “When he finds what’s holding us back, we work on it until we get it right.”
Larson says Koch is especially good with those who aren’t music majors — and that’s about 75 percent of the band. Practices are held twice a week and will continue even after the basketball season ends.
“He makes it fun,” Larson says of Koch, who came to GCU from Perry High School in the Chandler school district and had in-game entertainment experience with the Phoenix Suns.
“He makes those who may have been struggling a bit want to practice. He’s down-to-earth and doesn’t talk to us as if he’s the boss.”
A smaller version of the band, about two dozen members, will travel to suburban Los Angeles next week for the Pacific West Conference tournament, in which the men’s and women’s teams will play. Plans for next season include an additional 20 members, bringing the total to 80, and a doubling of the band’s song list to about 50 tunes.
“I think we’re about halfway there,” Koch says in assessing the first year. “But at the same time, we’ve set the bar high. I don’t want us to become old hat.”
Larson says he’s looking forward to the Antelopes’ jump to NCAA Division I in 2013-14. He expects the Heard to raise its game, too.
“That will be huge,” he says of next season. “We’ve got to take it up a level.”
Email Doug Carroll at doug.carroll@gcu.edu.
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