The Common Experiences of Hobson Band

Stella Sherman Contributor

Brayden Rak Contributor

Joining a band, not to be confused with “band”, is something I never imagined myself doing. Cello isn’t the most accessible instrument. However, since learning bass guitar, I joined Hobson band.

I am Stella the bass player. Brayden, our drummer, is helping me make this article funnier because I don’t know how. We also have Danny our guitar player and singer, Ryan our pianist, and Lola our saxophone player.

As a band, the most important thing you will ever do (besides practice) is agree on what music to play. These decisions often prompt long and sometimes infuriating discussions since we have to actually like the music we’re playing, and we have to sound good while playing it. To avoid conflict, we have a few banned songs from appearing on our setlist. That being Creep by Radiohead as well as any song made by the Beatles. Having all the correct instruments is also crucial, so we can’t play any 80’s songs because apparently the only instrument that existed at that time was the synth. There’s also the problem of playing music that’s too easy or boring for no one in particular, so that pretty much rules out any song with a slightly repetitive or mundane drum part. We get it Brayden, you’re going into music, that’s no excuse, you’ll have your entire life to play in bands.

The last thing you are ever going to hear from your NT music teachers is “Can you stop practicing for 5 minutes?” It is quite difficult try-

STUDENT LIFE ing not to snap at your members (Brayden and Ryan) playing Super Mario Theme Song when I am trying to ask someone (Danny) a question from across the room. When band members need to talk to each other there is always someone conveniently playing their instrument as loud as possible as if they’re trying to explode the ear drums of everyone in a 5 kilometer radius. I’m going to take this opportunity to shield my unbiased opinion that bass guitar is superior. I can play any riff for as long as I want and no one can even hear me play.

Hobson Band has already played for a few school events but there have been many times where last-minute changes were made to our performances. We were actually supposed to be a part of the talent show but because the lunch period was nearing its end, we just played outro music. For the TedX event, we were told that we would be playing at the assembly intermission. It wasn’t until the day of the event that we realized we would just be playing as people walked into/out of the auditorium. And we weren’t even supposed to be playing on red and grey day but someone told us that we were, so we “politely” declined.

Since all of our equipment resides in the band room, it often needs to be transported for our performances. Moving the drum kit is what we dread the most about this process. Multiple people are needed to move each piece of the kit and then set it up to be in perfect position for Brayden. It especially angers us when the Maytime Melodies program is written so that we have LESS THAN A MINUTE to move the entire (7 piece) drum set all the

What does the freshman class think?

dogs. Here are some of their highlights ranked from least to most.

Lily Homenuk Contributor

Throughout the school year, NT has many events. Considering that the Grade nines have the least power in the school, it is interesting to hear what they have to say as the proverbial under-

Spirit Week

Spirit Week was a full 5 days where students got to dress up for different themed days, like jersey day, pop culture day, twin day, and pajama day. The themed days helped students who wanted to participate, get creative, and show off their looks. Though the idea was good, it didn’t have a ton of participation from the younger grades because not everyone had the right accessories to take part in the themes. Some students thought there could have been a bit more added to the week like school-wide activities. For people who did partic- way from the hallway to the stage. Even without the drum kit, setting everything up is a demanding task. We would like to give a personal shout out to Charlie Carter for all his help with the audio tech stuff because we don’t know how to use any of that.

The Infamous Hobson Band Name ipate, the event was a smashing success.

We are all aware of Mr. Hobson’s departure from North Toronto to Wexford School of the Arts. Since then, the #1 question that we have been asked other than “Why are you guys so incredibly awesome and talented?” is “So ArE yOu GuYs sTiLL cALLeD hObSoN bAnD?”. Sometimes we like to mess with people and tell them that we’re just called The Band. Stop asking us this, Hobson Band is a fire name and we’re keeping it. Why are you so obsessed with our name anyway? Weirdos.

Grade Nine Welcome Day

Early in the school year, Grade Nine Welcome Day took place with the goal of building school spirit and friendships. The event occurred on the field, where stu- continued on the next page... dents got to participate in activities with their homerooms. The event helped students get to know each other, and eat treats like freezies. A bit more variety in the activities, fewer sport based ones, would have been welcomed. In all, the event was fun and certainly one to be remembered for the grade nine students.

Grade 9-athon

The school came up with Grade 9-athon when they wanted to have a special event for grade nines during Charity Week. Everyone who signed up for the event would get the afternoon off to play sports such as basketball and soccer, decorate cookies, and have a chance to win a scavenger hunt. The event took place inside where you were put into teams. From my knowledge, there may have been a bit of switching to get on the same team as your friends but that was just the start of all the fun. The activities were well-planned and not too competitive for the students. Some students wished the event had more of a theme in the activities because it seemed a bit disconnected and rushed.

Charity Week

Charity Week seemed to be one of the biggest and most anticipated events at NT. Charity

SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

Week is an awesome experience, being able to see all the booths with my friends was certainly the highlight. Students could go down at lunch and buy food, services, and play games for low wanted the event to take place after school to have more time to purchase from the booths. At the end of the week, there were happy students and good memories from the event. playing games like girl’s soccer, girl’s rugby, and boy’s basketball. Students get excused from their classes to watch and cheer on the teams. Everywhere you look you can see students decked out in red and grey. From shirts to pants and even a spider man suit, NT students really stepped up and showed their spirit. Red and Grey day has been a tradition at the school for many years and for all the Grade nines like myself, it was our first year being a part of it. It certainly lived up to the hype and I will be looking forward to it next year! prices. The cherry on top was all the money raised went to charity. Why not buy three cupcakes and support a charity? All of the attention that Charity Week received caused the hallways to be super crowded around the tightly packed booths. Some students liked it so much that they

Grade 9s have certainly enjoyed experiencing NT’s events for the first time. The events are so wonderful due in large part to the organisers and the volunteers who run them and also with the students’ school spirit. If you have ever assisted in running an event at NT, I thank you for bringing that event to the students.

Red and Grey Day

Red and Grey Day was the majority of students’ favourite event this school year. On Red and Grey Day classes get to decorate their homeroom doors for the spirit contest - the doors are outrageously fun! Throughout the day NT sports teams are