Hello everybody! Welcome back to Spotlight Friday! This week the spotlight is on RedEastMovement, the director of Invictus, Kanpeki, and Der Reich; three very respectable groups here on FMA. RedEast has been on FMA for three years now, so he is no stranger to the game. When asked the reason he stuck with it, he said, "FMA is by far one of the easiest and most welcoming communities for fantasy drum corps, marching band, color guard, and drumline." It's awesome to see people be on here for so long, and still enjoy it. That shows the excitement for marching arts in the player and the quality in the game itself.

RedEast has seen a lot of successful seasons in the years he has been on here, and when asked what he thought was his most successful season has been, I got a pretty interesting answer. "Though Invictus, my drum corps, was actually created slightly later than my first group, Der Reich, Invictus has seen more success than any other group that I manage." He then said that it might have been because he used the lessons from managing Der Reich first to better manage Invictus, which is pretty much what happens to everyone when creating a group after having a group after a while. Then, he described where his drumline was standing in all of this, "Kanpeki, my drumline, should theoretically be better than Invictus, since I was using the lessons learned from managing both Invictus and Der Reich, right? Well, you'd be wrong. though I keep Kanpeki competitive, my relatively little knowledge on drumlines keep me from pouring the same passion I have for Invictus and Der Reich."

RedEast's drum corps, Invictus, has a very interesting show name this season. When I asked him, "Why 'Anthems,'" I got a pretty different answer from what I was expecting. "To be honest, 'Anthems' was a quick and hurriedly created show just in time-when the site reset for season 53. Had I more time, I would've created a more elaborate, connected, and fascination show. But 'Anthems' also makes sense in the same way and elaborate show does." Then he explained what happened with his groups in season 52. "All of my groups are coming back from season 52, in which I completely dropped the ball on rehearsals because of the whirlwinds of finals testing, prom night, and graduation," which is something that is always understood here on FMA- we all have lives outside of the site. "The whole challenge of putting together a competitive show based on the top played songs on my Spotify playlist was funny at first, but really grew on me as I tried to explore other ideas." He then went through elaborate details of what Invictuses' show was, piece by piece.
“All We Got” by Chance the Rapper – What can I say? I love the lone trumpet improvisations by Donnie Trumpet at the very beginning of the track that quickly segways into Chance’s opening verses, which at first only features his voice against Donnie Trumpet’s further music, but quickly adds a pounding bass line and percussion that culminates in an easily expectable but satisfying “drop.” To me, it’s a perfect intro for “Anthems.”
“Death of a Bachelor” by Panic! At The Disco – Now, the “cavaliers” that the show mentions here have NOTHING to do with DCI or the recently-crowned-NBA-champions. The definition for “cavalier” is an adjective describing someone showing a lack of proper concern. It’s a fitting theme for men whose “cavalier” lives as bachelors are about to end with their entrance into married life with their beloveds."
“No Problem” by Chance the Rapper – "The sheer balls that Chance takes with this track in threatening and also shaking off the idea that music labels control music artists really moved me. Hence, it is a fitting theme for rebels, in my opinion. And to use a stereotypical rebel theme (i.e. “Teenagers” by My Chemical Romance) didn't seem too strong with me. Rebels can be in any shape or form; as long as you defy the norm, you’re a damn rebel!"
“Young Girls” by Bruno Mars – "As I listened to the song more and more, I realize that the poor lover in the song that Bruno sings about simply wants a wholesome relationship with someone he can really call his beloved. Unfortunately, his fame and success make it easier for shallow women to tempt him while making it harder for him to really notice and to truly enjoy the company of women who have so much more to offer. It truly is a fitting theme for young lovers everywhere."
“The Show Goes On” by Lupe Fiasco – "It’s an old song, but a very uplifting one still nonetheless. A shame it was ridiculed for its supposed mediocrity by critics everywhere. While every rapper at the time this song was created was simply all about the “thug life,” this song instead focuses on simply getting past the trials of life for better pastures. This is an “atypical ending” because most endings are definite and truly wrap up a show in a tight package." These are all very amazing choices of music, in my opinion.
He said, "I wanted something that will leave the audience with the impression that, despite all the good or bad that might happen with Invictus this season, that we'll strive for better season ahead."

When asked if he had any future plans for FMA, he simply said that he planned on staying where he is at. "I plan on staying with ENCORE! (Der Reich), CLASS (Invictus), and DRUMS (Kanpeki). They are all leagues that have been nothing but good to me, support what I do, and listen to my crazy stuff sometimes. If you are a new member reading this, come and join these leagues. They are truly amazing."

Then I asked what he is going to do in season 53 that is different than other seasons, in order to be more successful. "I've got to be more consistent with my rehearsals! I've given thought to setting alarms on my phone to maximize the amount of rehearsal points I receive, haha!"
He didn't have anything else to add to the article, other than the fact that if you wanted to learn more about him, check out his profile description. Thank you so much RedEastMovement for being on Spotlight! A huge, "Well done" goes to you and your groups. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time on "Spotlight!"
-Theamazing1

This is really well written out! Is there any chance you could do one for me in the upcoming weeks?

Yeah of course - Theamazing1

Great job man, its really interesting seeing the opinions and perspectives of other people on the site when they set up their shows. Really well done.

Very nice

Thank you, theamazing1 for doing this. Sorry I got a little impatient in the days prior to this release.

I'd also like to add now that Invictus seems to be back in form with their famous emphasis on the Music Winds caption. Invictus leads all D2 drum corps in that caption, though the group is nevertheless wary of Nemesis and other top groups. Aside from this emphasis on the Music Winds caption, I hope that Invictus also finishes in the Top 12 of the D2 drum corps :)

I cannot wait to see how everything turns out in the end!

Spotlight! will be coming out on Monday for this week... I'm going camping :/ Sorry about that...