Trojan Marching Band brings noise and spirit to the USC football experience
By Ben Malcolmson
USCRipsIt
PeteCarroll.com
Dr. Arthur Bartner, director of the Trojan Marching Band, was out to lunch in West L.A. with a few friends recently when someone walked up to his table to say hi.
It was Marcus Allen.
Yes, the Marcus Allen.
“Come on, what other band director in the country do you know that an icon walks over to and says hello?” Bartner said with a huge grin. “I get a kick out of that. That’s what the Trojan family’s all about.”
It’s also what the Trojan Marching Band is all about.
A classic symbol of USC, the 275-member band has become such an integral part of Saturdays in the fall that it would almost be incredulous to think of Trojan football without the Trojan Marching Band.
“There are a lot of things that make us unique, but the most important thing is our relationship with the football team,” Bartner said. “We feel a part of this thing. When they lose, we lose; when they win, we win. The kids really buy into this.”
What Bartner calls “a spirit-generating, in the trenches, in-your-face kind of band” doesn’t just show up to the Coliseum six times a year. It’s been to every home and away Trojan football game since 1987 and appears at most USC home sporting events, including basketball, baseball, water polo and soccer.
The Trojan Marching Band is everywhere, whether with the constant playing of “Conquest” at the Coliseum, at a wedding or at a women’s soccer game at McAlister Field. And it’s nearly impossible to classify the joy Bartner gets from that.
“One of my visions was that this marching band should be all things to all people at the University of Southern California,” Bartner said. “Now it becomes not only a football band, a basketball band, but all the sports. And now, not only that, it’s the hub of spirit and tradition at the University of Southern California.”
It’s a hub that’s humming 12 months a year, appearing at charity golf tournaments, building dedications, sporting events and everything in between. The appearance fees help fund the band and raise support for the scholarships the band offers to its members.
“This is the way I wanted it to be,” Bartner said. “Most schools, it’s an athletic band and it’s done. We’re the only place in the country that this happens.”
Because it’s so prominent, the Trojan Marching Band has become a sort of national celebrity. The band has a platinum record, has been in several movies, has appeared on the Grammy’s, was in Sports Illustrated’s “swimsuit edition” holding up some of the models, was all over television when “Jeopardy!” taped at USC and even had 10 of its members flown to Bristol, Conn., for the premier of ESPN’s “College Football Live” in August.
“All of a sudden you get rock-star status,” Bartner said. “This is a special program.”
The biggest celebrity of this Trojan Marching Band world might be Bartner, who might be the second most recognizable person at USC behind Coach Pete Carroll.
And that’s just the way Bartner likes it.
“I want to be more than just a band director,” Bartner said, “I want to be another Pete Carroll.”
Bartner’s quite the story himself. After growing up in New Jersey and graduating from Michigan, Bartner became USC’s band director in 1970 and has since pioneered the “drive it” style of marching that many other programs have copied. He’s directed at the 1984 Olympics, several Super Bowls, the 1988 World Series and the opening ceremony of the 1994 World Cup.
“When you have a career that you love, it’s just all passion,” he said. “It’s not like going to work and punching a time card. It just goes by like that.”
As much as Bartner impacts USC currently, his lasting heritage might be most impressive. He says that about 70 of his former students are now band leaders elsewhere.
“When it’s all said and done, my legacy is not the stars, the Olympics,” Bartner said. “It’s what you’ve done for those kids. That’s important to me, when a former student comes back and says the best part of his four years at USC was being in the band.”
The tirelessly energetic Bartner attributes a lot of his enthusiasm and impetus for success to Carroll. Bartner says the school’s spirit — and the band’s spirit — has hit a high note no one has seen or heard in decades.
“I think he drives everybody,” Bartner said of Carroll. “The guy is so involved and connects with everybody and makes it fun for everybody. It’s more about Pete’s attitude and philosophy that gets me going.”
The feeling’s mutual, Dr. Bartner.
“When you think of USC and its tradition, the band immediately comes to mind,” Carroll said. “One of my favorite times of the year is during fall camp when our team is practicing and we can hear the band playing. Dr. Bartner’s spirit and energy resemble what it means to be a Trojan.”
• Ben Malcolmson is the Director of Online Media for USCRipsIt/PeteCarroll.com. You can contact him at Ben@PeteCarroll.com.
