What If We Jammed Along With a Football Game?

One of the things I’ve been thinking about with The Plug-In is finding new reasons for musicians to get together and make music. Not necessarily to perform songs or rehearse, but to experiment and see what happens when people collaborate around a shared idea.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about football.

The funny thing is, I don’t find sports particularly interesting. But I’ve always loved the dramatic music of classic NFL Films, especially those enormous brass fanfares, pounding rhythms, and heroic melodies that make ordinary football plays seem monumental.

My wife was also in marching band, and she’s described the excitement of being part of a group of musicians creating energy for an entire stadium. I’ve never experienced that myself, but the idea has always appealed to me.

What if we tried capturing some of that excitement with a few synthesizers, a looper, and a football game on television?

I’m imagining something simple. I’d bring my RC-505 looper and perhaps a drum machine, joined by one or two synthesizer players.

We’d use the football game as inspiration for an improvised soundtrack.

A team lining up might inspire an ominous synthesizer drone. A drive down the field could become a gradually building musical arrangement. A touchdown might trigger an absurdly triumphant fanfare. A turnover could send the music in an entirely different direction.

The game would essentially become our conductor.

We wouldn’t need to understand football particularly well. We’d just respond to the action, tension, and excitement while listening to each other and building something together.

I think this fits the spirit of The Plug-In particularly well. It’s not about putting on another conventional show. It’s about creating opportunities for musicians to collaborate in unusual ways.

In a sense, we’d be an experimental electronic pep band, using synthesizers, loopers, and drum machines instead of traditional marching band instruments.

I’d love to try this at Artemis DC, starting with a short session during a game. We’d keep the volume reasonable and be considerate of people who actually came to watch football.

If it works, perhaps other musicians could join in. If it doesn’t, we’ve still spent some time making music and trying something different.

What appeals to me most isn’t the football itself. It’s the idea of musicians working together to create excitement around something bigger than their own performance.