Hello all! I am Tyler Brown, here with the first write up in a whole year! (To date). In attempt to get this site more active, I'm bringing back this article idea I used to do a lot of when FMA was active a while back. The difference is, they wont be on Fridays, or every week. That's just too much to promise, and it is something that I don't think I can keep up with. They'll come out frequently- just not too frequently. Anywho, enjoy! (Also today marks my 2 year anniversary on this site!!)

Hello everybody! Welcome to this edition of Spotlight! In this edition, our spotlight will be one somebody who has been on here since its founding days, very well known in the community. It is my honor to recognize gcurrier, director of the drum corps Nemisis, Knights Drumline, Knight Guard, and the Marching Knights! Fun fact, I counted up all of his D1 golds (something that is SUPER recognizable when visiting his user profile), and he currently hold 79 of those medals! Legend! Let's see what he has to say.
My first question I asked him was one that I ask everybody in these articles: How long have you been here and why have you stuck with it for so long (He's been around since BEFORE the founding of this version of FMA!) "I have been around since version 1 with mixed mild success but didn't really start a lot of success until version 2." It seems as though we can learn from a lot of the vets that V2 of FMA was a lot easier to manage and play. "Nemesis was also born with version 2 to separate itself from the other fantasy drum corps in other forums I have, The Knights. In tribute to the success the Knights have had, the Marching Band, guard and percussion kept their name." As you can tell, with fantasy games like these, if you have been around for long enough, your groups start to gain a sense of history. "I have left for a season or two here or there but always return I think its because I just love the activity so much, both the real and fantasy. If I could quit it all today for my dream, it would no doubt to direct a drum corps, so why not keep that dream at least alive! I have also made a lot of great REAL friends through fantasy drum corps, some still play and some don't but the chance to meet more drum corps nerds always a good thing! It spills over into real drum corps where we debate shows on facebook during the season or meet up at shows. Like real drum corps, its a family." Personal connections go a long way. It's really great to see how such a simple game like this can have such an impact on our everyday lives.
I think asked him what his inspirations were for the shows he makes. "Well we haven't talked about it much this season but for 2018 Nemesis is going all ballet. We've hired a ballet company to work with us and will continue to bring several amazing ballets to the field starting with The Dream which is a ballet based off A Midsummer Nights Dream and uses music of Mendelssohn. Expect a lot of visual wowness on the field as our guard continues to take amazing steps up. In general over the years we have gone for that passionate show to make audiences jump up out of their seats, that's what matters to us with shows, not whether it wins, which is great, but whether they go home thinking, what an AMAZING show. I could watch again and again." Seeing the passion in the shows he writes and directs is truly an inspiration for fellow and aspiring directors.
Then, when I asked him what he thought the best league on FMA was, he responded before I can even finish my question, "well this is totally biased answer but I truly mean it (LOL) CLASS." He has been the owner of CLASS since the dawn of time, which is something that can be VERY respected. It has been a very admirable league and a tough contender in the Drum corps circuit. I asked him what his take was on WHY he thought CLASS was the best "Lots of reasons, it is THE original, no one else can claim that. We were a league before leagues started and developed the idea to bring it to everyone else in the game. Leagues wouldn't exist without us. Beyond that, we stick around. Many come and go and we've had some GREAT leagues, but consistently we have the biggest presence both on and off the field. I am proud that we don't just win, we also push the activity and remain active beyond the scores. We also have a great group of directors that truly embody the name!"
A very controversial topic has been stirring around in the FMA forums, and I thought it would be a good idea to ask what his take on it was: What are some changes that can be made to FMA and the site itself? "This is a hard one and we've had lots of great discussions around it with lots of great ideas. We've even talked about starting our own, but don't really seem to have anyone that has the ability to make that happen. So for now I think we need to think BEYOND hard changes that we cant make happen and try to come up with soft changes we CAN control. Things like spotlight, get people interested. Show reviews which I hope to bring back for CLASS. We started the Masters for similar reasons. Lets focus (for now) on changes we have complete control over and can make happen to keep our little piece of the world relevant."
I then asked what he thought was his most successful group on FMA was -(even though all of his groups have been some of the most successful we have ever seen, in every circuit) "Well immediately most would point to Nemesis (692 total wins) and I think thats natural given their success and the fact that drum corps is the most exciting, active group. however Marching Knights have won 24 times!!! Knights Drumline 31, so if you look off pure wins, its them. 921 wins, way more than any other group."
With groups as successful as his, smaller groups who are looking for a boost in their success would ask the big question: "how'd you do it?" "for a long time now we have focused on GE early to boost that score up and then focus on performance later. when setting up the season we also choose the hardest shows available to really push ourselves and then practice, practice practice. Last few seasons haven't been perfect there and we pay the price after a really successful season, last season we led until prelims and then fell short largely due to various missed time throughout the season. some can be avoided some cant so you just do your best!"
I asked him if there was anything he would want to add, and he took a while before coming up with some of the best advice I have ever heard. "Like most things in life, you get out of something what you put into it. If we all work to put a little more into FMA, we can build it back up all on our own and bring some excitement back! So get those ideas rolling and see where we can take this!"
Thank you everyone for reading, and Gary for participating! You are a very respected member on this sight and it is an honor to compete with you. Till next time!

Thanks for the great write up and for bringing this back Tyler