Hi, I wanna join USC silks next year but I’m finding no info online. how is band camp for them? How is the group in general ( like team attitude)? any if anyone can talk about their experience on the team
I was a Silk! Band camp starts on Friday for them, so two days before the rest of the band, but otherwise it’s pretty much the same as for the rest of the band. They learn marching and drill commands with the band, and then break out for spinning sessions in the evenings. During football season, they have to attend all band practices, plus an extra sectional 7-10pm on Tuesdays.
In terms of the group, it changes every year based on leadership/that season’s members. Unlike the rest of the band, Silks is overwhelmingly female (though I believe there have been a few male silks recently), which can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. I will say that the rest of the band has historically looked down on the Silks (if someone messes up, they say “go be a Silk”) and many people see them as wannabe Song Girls (which is not the case), which can create a little bit of a hostile environment. However, I do believe that it’s gotten a lot better in recent years!
Another thing to note is that just like the rest of the band, Silks accepts people with no experience. However, while the rest of the band can march while pretending to play (which is often the case with freshmen in the beginning of the season), you can’t do that in Silks. If you’re not good enough, they won’t put you in the show. ALL Silks have to audition to be in the pre-game show every week. The half-time show usually has more spots, so if you’re good enough, you’ll probably get a spot. The main reason for that is if you mess up (especially in pregame, where the Silks lead the band), it’s REALLY noticeable. Personally, I was only in one pregame show my first season, and only did a couple of half-time shows that year, but was consistently given spots my second and third years.
If you do already have experience, there’s a much better chance that you’ll be in all the shows. You might even find that Silks isn’t even challenging, since they want to make sure that everyone can do the moves, even the beginners. There’s no spinning while marching, and after a while, the routines do get repetitive. (Honestly, after a year or two in the band, there isn’t that much opportunity for growth.)
That said, I really enjoyed my experience in Silks, and it was a huge part of my time at USC! We got to travel for free, perform at games (and the Silks uniforms are so cute!), and had a lot of bonding events. I’m still friends with people I met in Silks, even though I’ve graduated!
Hope this helps and let me know if you have other questions!