OUT OF THE BLUE: ERWIN MOOLENAAR

- Who are you?
I am Erwin, 21 years old and live in Haarlem. Ik work as a producer for Radio Decibel and for TrackFM. One of my other hobbies is climbing.

- What do you do at Beatrix’?
I play snare, and this is my first year with Beatrix’.

- How many hours per week do you practice?
How many hours? I have no idea. I do make an effort to practice every day. When play at home, I mainly work on my chops and endurance. Also, getting all the show music into my head was quite a challenge.

- How did you get to know Beatrix’?
Beatrix’ is quite a legend, you know. When I was a little kid and marched with a small band in my neighbourhood I always heard people talk about Beatrix’ and Jubal. At that time I didn’t have a clue what those corps did. It even took a lot of pushing from my sister to join a band in the first place. At one point, we went to participate in the OSDC competition in Assen. This is where I first saw ‘real’ drumcorps. I was immediately obsessed.

- Before you joined Beatrix’, did you march with other corps?
Before Beatrix’ I marched snare drum with the ‘Jong Damiate’ cadet corps from Haarlem. Once I had reached the right age I joined the senior corps, the ‘Damiate Band Haarlem’. I continued playing snare and also marched quads for one year. After that I was a member of the Ijmuider Harmonie on snare for two years.

- What makes Beatrix’ special?
The way in which people interact with each other. If a new person joins, he or she immediately feels welcome in the group. This makes for a positive atmosphere that helps build a team.

- Why did you decide to become a member of Beatrix’?
I wanted to take the next step. I’m always looking for opportunities to get better at the things I do.

- What do you believe to be Beatrix’ power?
Everyone has the same goal (okay, the same two goals): to be the best and to have a great time.

- You will undoubtedly get questions from friends and relatives what Beatrix’ (or drumcorps in general) is. How do you explain it?
I often compare it to soccer. You have the local soccer clubs and you have Ajax, PSV, etc. I often tell people that marching with Beatrix’ is like being in the UEFA Cup competition for marching bands (even though we’re a drumcorps, but people get the idea).

- During Easter Camp you were out rehearsing from 8:30 until 22:00. Besides that, you only had a couple of free hours to shower, have a drink, sleep and get ready for the next tough day. What makes this worthwhile?
It was tough but I had a great time! It’s definitely not easy to spend full days on the field, especially when you take into account the rare sleeping hours and the social activities at night. However, when the entire corps does this you manage to stimulate each other to go that extra mile. Our line was together for the entire camp, which really brought us together as a team.

- Did you ever doubt whether you were going to make it in the corps, and was that doubt necessary?
Yes I certainly did! Beatrix’ has a high reputation and you have to meet their expectations. Whether I will survive the rest of the season? The staff is very good and if I work hard I should be able to get there.

- What would you tell outsiders who are considering joining Beatrix’ and are afraid that they won’t make it?
Don’t hesitate and just join! Beatrix’ is a great group, and as long as you work hard, you won’t have to fear that you won’t make it.