When the Blue Devils included Cody Fry’s “Caves” in their 2023 production, “The Cut-Outs,” little did they know that just a few years later, they’d be sharing the football field stage with the Grammy-nominated artist himself.
For Fry, who grew up attending a high school that boasted four jazz bands but no marching band, the world of marching music was entirely uncharted territory.
“This truly was something that I had no idea about — not even on the marching band level, let alone the drum corps level,” Fry said. “I didn’t even know what it was.”
That changed when his music blew up on social media in 2021 and 2022, bringing with it a flood of viral clips across his feeds. Scrolling through one day, a video caught his attention that completely stopped him in his tracks: a clip of the DCI World Champion Blue Devils’ performance of his song “Caves.”
“They did this unbelievable arrangement of it,” Fry recalled. “I thought to myself: I’ve got to figure out, number one, what is this (drum corps) thing? And number two, who arranged this? Because they’re crushing it.”
That search led Fry to Blue Devils brass arranger John Meehan. What began as an artist reaching out to compliment an arrangement quickly turned into a simple question: If I ever have a tune that would work for drum corps, do you think that would be something that anybody would be into?
Meehan’s answer was an immediate yes, setting off a chain reaction that would bring one of orchestral pop’s most creative minds directly onto the field alongside the Concord, California corps.
Making “Magic” happen
The track chosen for this year’s collaboration was Fry’s “Magic in You,” an upbeat song Fry originally wrote as his own personal audition for a cinematic action franchise.
“I was just tired of waiting for someone to ask me to score a James Bond film, so I thought I’d go ahead and write the title track,” Fry joked. “The main single version is a full orchestral, cinematic singer-songwriter thing that I do. But just by the nature of the tune — there’s some really intense kind of brass shouting that goes on in the track — I thought maybe we could translate this into the (drum corps) space. “
While Fry handles all of his own orchestral arranging, he knew that stepping into the world of drum corps required a specialist who would know all the ins and outs of the ensemble. He handed his original score over to Meehan and the Blue Devils creative team including percussion arrangers Brian Dinkel and Scott Johnson.
When Meehan sent the adapted score back to Fry, he was floored.
“I was reading it over and thought, ‘There’s no way they’re going to be able to play this. This is so difficult. It’s more difficult than anything I would ever write for a professional orchestra,”” Fry said. “I was so glad I didn’t arrange it myself because I would have simplified it too much. Instead, John and the team were able to fully capitalize on the incredible talent in the ensemble.”
Any lingering doubts vanished the moment Fry arrived at the Blue Devils’ spring training rehearsal facility in Wyoming. “I showed up on site and they just absolutely smashed it every time,” he recalled. “I could not believe the level of precision with these performers.”
Behind the scenes in Wyoming
Bringing a music video and live recording to life on a football field presented its own set of technical hurdles. Known for pushing the boundaries of live production — one of his recent projects involved recording a full symphony inside a giant water tank — Fry set up a mobile studio right on location.
The morning was spent going over visual blocking for the ensemble. After a lunch break, the afternoon was spent capturing live audio: roughly 45 minutes to record the battery percussion, followed by 90 minutes with the brass line. Once night fell, the team transitioned to filming the visual elements under the stadium lights in unseasonably cool temperatures.
“Everybody was so cold, but they had the best attitudes and incredible energy,” Fry said. “It really comes through on screen.”
Equally impressive to Fry was the corps’ discipline and adaptability during the three-hour shoot. Filming seven stylized shots required rapid repositioning which Fry says is often a task that typically bogs down standard music video productions.
“In regular video shoots, coordinating large groups is the biggest time suck,” Fry said. “With the Blue Devils, I’d ask if we could space people a little closer, someone would bark out a shorthand command, and instantly they’d reform into a perfect grid. Their discipline and communication enabled us to move the video shoot really quickly in a way that wouldn’t have been possible without it.”
Inspiring the next generation
Beyond the thrill of standing in front of a world-class drum corps, Fry’s motivation for taking on such complex projects runs deeper than just creating a viral moment. At his core, he is driven by a personal and professional passion to improve himself while also encouraging the next generation.
“The rewarding part for me is always how much I learn. I am a perennial music learner, and this was something that I had never done before,” Fry said. “There’s just no way you can read that in a book. You can’t read about the sound of 80 brass players and really know what it’s like until you stand right there in front of them, and it’s just so powerful.”
“On a larger macro level for me, I love to inspire young musicians,” Fry added. “I want to make music that they — and I — actually want to listen to. I want the flute player who’s in fifth grade, who’s thinking about whether or not to keep playing… to have music that that person might love, and hopefully inspire them to keep music going in their life.”
By combining commercial singer-songwriter pop with a DCI ensemble, Fry hopes to show young players the incredible avenues available to them in the marching arts and music in general.
“I think if I was a young musician, I would watch this video and go, ‘Oh, I’m gonna do that,'” Fry said. “To me, that’s the sweet spot.”
Next marching steps
In what Fry referred to as a somewhat atypical roll-out strategy, the official live-performance video premiered on August 13, offering an immediate visual splash and more than 100,000 views to date on YouTube.
WATCH: Magic in You – Cody Fry feat. The Blue Devils
The audio track for “Magic in You” will arrive across all major streaming platforms on August 28. The track features Fry and traveling drummer Steve Goold, along with the Blue Devils. The collaboration will also serve as a featured track on Fry’s upcoming studio album.
As for whether this marks a one-time project or the beginning of a long-term relationship with the drum corps community, Fry leaves no doubt about his intentions.
“It was too much fun not to do more of it. As long as they’re not annoyed with me, I’ll keep bothering them to do more things.”
