You’ve heard them before. They’re at every home basketball game here at Grand Valley State University, playing a song or screaming at the top of the lungs as an opposing player shoots a free throw.

They are the Laker Basketball Pep Band, and this collection of students — some music majors, some not — has occasionally provided as much entertainment as the game the fans come to see.

“It’s a great atmosphere and they really do a great job,” said John T. Martin, the director of athletic bands at GVSU. “This is by far, this year, one of the best pep bands I’ve ever been associated with … it’s just great to be around and see all of the excitement.”

It’s a tradition that has been around prior to Martin’s arrival in 2009, and has set the pep band apart from the student section in recent years. Despite an inconsistent amount of enthusiasm from the student fans, the band has made it a priority to get everyone at the games involved.

“It’s really hard to get the fans going for some reason,” said senior Kyan Kiogima, a six-year veteran of the band. “At first, it’s really hard to get them to actually stand and it’s hard because when we’re playing, there are cheers that go with our tunes, but they don’t know them. Sometimes I don’t play and I just yell so they’ll catch on.”

Chances are you’ve heard Kiogima at the game, as she’s the main cog in the oft-heard “you, you, you” chant. Following the shower of “you,” she is the person yelling “are not good” before the crowd finishes with “at all.”

The pep band’s love for antagonizing the other team has slowly spread to the crowd, including the Laker Nation student section, which is slowly gaining members.

Along with their chanting, the band does play music too. From modern songs like DJ Khaled’s “All I Do is Win” to the school’s fight song, the team has a plethora of tunes up their sleeves.

To join the pep band, one must audition by playing a piece in front of the two directors, and if a decision is made in that student’s favor, they are then placed in a chair.

“We’re just here for the team, and we have a really good time doing it,” said sophomore Micah Stoddard. “All the playing we do is great too, especially for some music majors getting some more experience- it’s really fun.”

There is that screaming part though, and that screamer is Stoddard, a music education major. While his main job is playing, his most notable job is screaming during the opponent’s free throw, a position he basically fell into.

“I just got really into it a couple times and so I started screaming like that,” he said. “Eventually people started noticing, ‘Oh hey, I hear this guy over everyone else. Last year we had someone else do the solo screamer, but they graduated and I kind of just took over the tradition.”

Since taking over, Stoddard’s high-pitched, voice-cracking screams have become a part of the eclectic band. Whether they’re playing or taunting, they have proven to be a part of the Grand Valley State sporting experience and truly enjoy what they do.

“We know that game time is time to work, so we have a lot of fun,” Kiogima said. “The fun part of this is that a lot of us aren’t music majors, so it’s like people from all walks of life coming together and we have this one thing we all love to do. It’s really not work.”

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