Solon High School’s Music in Motion is on a seven-time Grand Champ winning streak, and they are hoping to keep it alive. MIM consists of 55 singers/dancers, 23 instrumentalists and 21 crew members. Read the interview below with Elliot Neifach, a member of the band.
Q: What is MIM and what is MIMband?
A:MIM stands for Music motion and that’s our school’s show choir. It’s made up of a band, singer-dancers–who are the ones you see on stage. And then crew they do all the technical work, all the moving, they handle all the costumes, hair and makeup. MIM band has all kinds of instruments. We support all the singer dancers and play all the music heard in the background.
Q: What instruments are in MIMband?
A: In MIMband, there’s the rhythm section and the horn section. We have saxophones, trombones, trumpets, sometimes we bring in special instruments. We have a flute in the show and violins. Then the rhythm section contains keyboards, two guitars, bass-guitar and [a] drum set.
Q: Why did you join MIMBand and decide to play bass guitar?
A: I joined the Mim band my junior year because I had a bunch of friends that did it. I never knew if it was for me or not, but I heard about it. I think it was the show Storm I heard about, which was the show when I was a sophomore– I wasn’t in it yet. They had some really cool shows. They had some really good songs, and it was like the kind of music I like to listen to, so I was like: “why wouldn’t I give it a chance to play?” And, even after that, it just became so much more than that. And I have not regretted joining.
Q: Do you like the music you guys are playing this season?
A: Yeah. This year, we have a bunch of really cool songs. And what’s nice about it is there’s songs from all different genres for this year. There’s a lot of rock songs. Last year we did “Free Bird,” which was really cool. But they just took a bunch of different songs from all different kinds of genres. We’re doing remixes that you wouldn’t really hear otherwise. Like, we do different funk remixes, which is kind of cool. This year we have a slow ballad, we have a funk song, [and] we have a couple rock songs. We have a pop song, so it’s just all different kinds. And there’s a really good chance you’ll hear a song that you like if you’re listening to a MIM show.
Q: What are you looking forward to this season?
A:Well, we won our first competition— that was actually probably the competition I was looking forward to the most because we went to Beavercreek…and when I went last year, that was my first competition. I just really liked the atmosphere they have there. That would probably have been my number one, but besides that, just all the competitions. It’s really fun traveling, getting to spend time, meeting new people from your choir and from all different other choirs. And then, our invitational, which is on March 7, I’m really looking forward to. It’s always a good time for people to come out, show up, show support and see what the choir’s all about.
Q: What does Mr. Mauldin do to help you guys?
A: Mr. Mauldin, he’s just kind there to support. He’s really good. He writes all the music in some way or another himself, whether it’s arranging pre-existing songs or completely changing them. But in some form, he adds something to the music that you just wouldn’t think of otherwise. So you’ll hear a different version of a song you already know, but he just takes it to the next level, and it makes it something really special for us and for the audience as well. And he’s also really good about if a section needs a little bit of extra help. He’s really good at making sure they get that extra help and everything’s always consistent and runs smoothly in the band.
Q: How is the MIM band different from the regular band and if so, what is different?
A: Absolutely, yeah, but there are just a bunch of different kinds of bands. If I had to say it was closest to one over another, I would say it’s closest to a jazz band probably. Of course, we don’t play a ton of jazz— it’s more different styles of music, but just in the way it’s set up because it’s not like a marching band or concert band where there’s like hundreds of people, and it’s not like a little rock band where there are like four or five of us. I think there are 20 or 30 of us there. But it’s a really unique experience because there’s not many other chances you’re gonna get to sit with a bunch of horn players in a rhythm section, but not just playing jazz. You get to play whatever they want us to play in all different kinds of styles, which is really cool.
Q: Why should people join MIMband?
A: People should join the MIM band if they have any kind of interest in music or playing an instrument of any kind. If you play an instrument, there’s a good chance they’ll be able to find a way for you to fit in. And if you just want a new kind of community, it’s a great way to meet new people. It’s a great way to pursue your passion of playing your instrument at night. I think it just makes you a better player because of all the different opportunities you get to play. It gives you a chance to perform, where you’re not in front of people you don’t get a ton of stage freight, you’re still in the back. So, you don’t have to worry about performing by yourself in front of a whole audience, but you still get to be heard. You still get to hear the crowds cheering for you, which is really cool, and it just gives you a sense of what it means to be great, kind of like a good musician in front of other people and around your peers.
Q: What do you do to get ready for MIMcompetitions?
A: Every Monday, starting in August, we have practices where we start to rehearse the music, and then starting about a couple weeks before competition season, which is from January to March, we do practices Monday and Friday–Friday right after school. On Monday night practices, we do every week and just we add to the show, we change what we need to in order to be ready for the competition that weekend. And then Friday we have practice right after school till about 5 or 6 o’clock. And that is really just making sure everything is locked in for the weekend and make any last-minute changes. They usually try to give us some kind of pep talk before then. And then they make sure we get out early so we have enough rest for the weekend.
Q: What is a day in the life of somebody that is in MIMband on a competition day?
A: It really starts Friday night. We pack everything up after practice and we, along with the crew, help load the truck. And then we get home, sometimes we’ll do a little Target run or something like that to grab some snacks or games before the bus, and then depending on where we’re going, it can be a really early morning. But, it can vary. …so, you can make sure you get a lot of sleep the night before, we wake up early the next morning, get to the school, sign in, then we board the buses. We go wherever we’re going, and sometimes there’ll be a break in the middle. When we get there, we immediately go to our classroom at the school we’re going to. We get there, we put down all of [the] duffel bags and all that. Then we go to the truck, unload the box truck of all the instruments, all the sets, everything like that. Then we have a lot of downtime. We get to go to the cafeteria, support their school because it’s a big fundraiser. We support them by buying different food and stuff in their cafeteria, it’s not just school food. Then we go to the gym, and we can watch other choirs if we want to. Then about an hour before we perform, you change into your competition clothes when you’re ready to perform, you go to the practice room, and you do a quick run through the show–just to get everything down and get ready. It kind of gets everything locked in right before you go on stage. The shows are always a blast hearing the audience because no matter what, people are there cheering for you, they want to see you. They want to see you succeed, so you get to hear the crowd roaring no matter what. After you perform, it’s 20 minutes, and you get off stage, load out, put everything back in the practice room. Then you go to awards, and they announce the best subcategories. Like, best band, best crew.
Music in Motion will perform in their show “Break Free” in the Performing Arts Assembly today in the auditorium.
