The Back Page

By Jayne yutig

ASSISTANT MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

The Marching Aztecs have returned to the field, just in time for the 85th anniversary of the San Diego State “Fight Song.”

The classic song has been hyping up fans and athletes since it debuted at Freshman Prom in 1936. The Marching Aztecs spirits are high and their triumphant return after the pandemic proves that Mighty Montezuma will win again. Even if it’s in Carson, California.

According to SDSU Athletic Bands Director Coach Bryan Ransom, in 1936, SDSU President Walter Hepner asked a junior music student to write a new “Fight Song.” Frank Losey, served as volunteer director of bands and wrote the fight song at his parent’s dinner table.

“It means a great deal,” Ransom said. “The song just means so much. Everytime you hear it, it brings back good memories from the past and memories for the future.”

Over the course of eight decades, the “Fight Song” arrangement has only been changed twice.

Ransom said the most recent adjustment to the arrangement was in the early 2000’s.

The lyrics to the fight song were changed in 1975. But the lyrics were changed again in 2011 after Associate Athletics Director Jenny Bramer asked Ransom to make the lyrics more inclusive.

The lyrics, “Fight on and on ye Aztec men, Sons of Montezuma,” were changed to “Fight on and on ye Aztecs, then Mighty Montezuma,” according to Ransom. After the change, SDSU Women’s Athletics joined the men in the tradition of singing the Fight Song after wins.

The only constant for SDSU in the span of 85 years is tradition. One of Ransom’s favorite memories from his 30-year career with the band was created by SDSU Football Head Coach Brady Hoke.

“When Coach Hoke was here the first time, he was the one who started bringing the team over to the band to sing the ‘Fight Song’ after a win,” Ransom said. “When he brought the team over for the first time, I thought ‘man, that’s such a great tradition.’”

Ransom has been coaching the Marching Aztecs since 1988 and he said this year everything is different. The band was sidelined for a year when sports were halted and phased back due to the pandemic.

“It was a rough year. For everybody. Seeing football happening and basketball happening without us being there was tough,” Ransom said.

Now that Aztec Football is back with fans in attendance, the band has to navigate COVID protocols and a twohour bus ride to Carson.

“There’s so much more to do and think about. It’s changed the way I approach rehearsals and game day, to some degree. It’s going to continue on after this pandemic is over, in a good way,” Ransom said.

This season, the Marching Aztecs has an approximately 200-person team that includes the SDSU band, feature twirler, color guard, dance team and staff. The planning and funding, which includes transportation and food for the journey to Carson, has a big price tag.

“It’s expensive to send us all up there and (SDSU) Athletics didn’t bat an eye. They said ‘we want you there. What’s it gonna take?’” Ransom said.

Aztec Football has celebrated victory after victory, achieving a 6-0 record for the second time in 40 years. With Aztec Stadium under construction, the team’s historic home wins have been celebrated over 100 miles away at their home away from home in Carson. Each victory ending with the football team joining the Marching Aztecs in singing the “Fight Song.”

“We’re having to go through a lot of challenges, a lot of hoops to jump through in order to be here but we’re happy to do it. The kids are so passionate about it, I wanna be there, it’s good to be back,” Ransom said.

Between the two-hour bus ride each way, loading busses and performing, gameday for the team ends up totaling 14 hours.

“It’s definitely brought all of us together,” Ransom said.“We know that better times are ahead when the stadium gets finished. But we’re happy to be up there to support the team this year.”

Photo by Jayne Yutig

SDSU Marching Band performing at halftime during the Aztecs’ Oct. 9 game against New Mexico.

Kolorhouse unites campus creatives

By Kennedy HumpHrey

CONTRIBUTOR

Courtesy of Kolorhouse SDSU Kolorhouse SDSU hosted their first Social Photoshoot on Friday, Oct. 15 in Hepner Hall.

If you’re a creative at San Diego State looking for a platform to express yourself, Kolorhouse could be the place for you.

Kolorhouse is a brand which started in 2019 and branched into a chapter at SDSU with the intent to provide a creative outlet for members and students.

Charlie Seith, Kolorhouse president and senior entrepreneurship major, decided to turn his brand into a chapter at SDSU after transferring, and looking for a way to get involved on campus.

Creative State, a collective at SDSU that highlights the local art scene of San Diego, was also an inspiration for Seith to make the next step.

“I was just thinking, ‘wow, that would be so cool to just make that my own but turn it into Kolorhouse because I’ve been doing a lot of clothes making and I did like a podcast,’” Seith said. “I’ve done so much stuff for Kolorhouse but I never really made it a community thing and that was my first goal with it.”

Kolorhouse aims to focus on all forms of creative expression, and is not fixated on one category. Seith said he wanted to incorporate different segments of art, so that people could be themselves without limitations.

Though it is a new club, Kolorhouse is already planning events for this semester. One of their projects, “Creatives on Campus,” is centered around featuring different creatives at SDSU on their social media and website.

Journalism and public relations junior Bethany Andros, who is also vice president of marketing for the group, explained that the club has been reaching out to students regularly.

“It’s really rewarding being able to see Kolorhouse grow before our eyes and be able to showcase some amazing work from other students,” Andros said.

Kolorhouse is also planning in-person events this semester, where members, collaborators and students will be able to experience different artistic avenues. Seith said that they also plan to collaborate with other clubs.

Junior Anna Williams, vice president of events and international business major, said Kolorhouse will give creative students a chance to showcase their talents alongside their peers on campus and online.

“We really intend on featuring more creatives on our social media and website, and plan on having in-person creative showcases on/off-campus where people can show off their creative abilities,” Williams said.

They’re also focusing their energy towards keeping the clothing brand aspect of Kolorhouse relevant through the chapter.

“We’re developing this thing where it’s a community clothing shop where members can make their own graphic design T-shirt, and then it would just be Kolorhouse on it which is to just resemble the chapter, and who gave them the platform,” Seith said.

The board is also excited to continue growing on campus and expanding their reach.

“We really want Kolorhouse to become a staple on campus and continue to grow over the next few years,” Andros said.

Not only that, but Williams described Kolorhouse as a very warm and welcoming place.

“Being a member of Kolorhouse is like having the coolest people on campus as your family,” Williams said. “I feel like members are constantly doing such amazing things with their creative abilities, it’s hard to catch up sometimes! I never feel out of place, I can pitch any ideas/concepts I have and someone will be there to listen or even help execute my plans.”

If you’re interested in joining Kolorhouse, you can do so by reaching out to their Instagram @kolorhouse.sdsu, or heading to their website.

Bill Yeager Jazz Orchestra premieres

By marian Cuevas

CONTRIBUTOR

Bill Yeager Jazz Orchestra (BYJO) had a successful debut at San Diego State in Smith Recital Hall this past October 16. Yeager is a professor of Music and Director of Jazz Studies at SDSU. The program consisted of challenging charts taken from Louie Bellson’s personal library, which was inherited by Yeager upon Bellson’s passing.

Yeager has had a notorious trajectory in the world of jazz music, having shared the stage with big names such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn. He held the lead trombonist position in Louie Bellson’s band for 17 years. The Bill Yeager Jazz Orchestra is lucky to have some of the best jazz talent in Southern California, composed by colleagues and alumni of Yeager.

The event started with a fast-paced improvisation from Don Kuhli on the drums, immediately silencing the audience and captivating their attention. This concert was a double-debut, as BYJO premiered “Stars in a Lonely Sky,” the only programmed piece not from Bellson’s library. Yeager commented on this, saying the premiere was being recorded for the publisher as part of a deal with BYJO.

Yeager said conducting this debut was a “pretty exciting” experience. Pertaining the future plans for the BYGO, Yeager laid out a promising future.

“We are looking at touring… the first tour, maybe, to Japan [because] we are sharing this publisher with the Tokyo Jazz Orchestra… This is the maiden voyage of this band,” Yeager said.