Midway through Block 2, North by Northwestern caught up with this year’s DM emcees, Ashley Thompson and Ned Baker, who dished on Lord of the Rings, Space Jam and their favorite energy drinks.
How’d you prepare for DM? Were there any pregame rituals you guys took part in?
Ned Baker: I didn’t set an alarm clock this morning. I tried to let my body do whatever it could do.
Ashley Thompson: I slept in, didn’t have any caffeine all week, I think.
NB: I listened to Pandora Radio based on “Party Rock Anthem,” basically was a good preview for the type of music we’d get used to.
AT: I think I just slept a lot. I was in bed by nine almost every night this week.
NB: Wow, good for you.
How’s DM going so far? Can you compare it to other years?
NB: Awesome. For each of us this is only our second full year. I was a dancer my freshman year, three years ago, for the Hillel team.
AT: I was on DR last year.
NB: When I was a freshman, my pledge father Ben Singer was one of the emcees, and I always said, “That looks awesome, I could do that!” That’s another thing I did to prepare, I had lunch with Ben Singer yesterday, and I said, “Pass me your knowledge, give me any advice and warnings I need.”
The dancers are still pretty enthusiastic. What are you going to do when they start to get tired?
NB: We’re a little worried about breakfast. Breakfast is a really hard time. They sit down for like half an hour and they have to get back up into things. I’m planning to bust out some Lord of the Rings quoteage – Aragorn before the Black Gate.
AT: Applying it to DM and hopefully there’s enough nerds out there to encourage the rest of us. I always use the monkey metaphor, but they aren’t monkeys! But, “Dancer see, dancer do.” Basically we’ll keep our energy up.
The dancers might have trouble staying motivated – as the head motivators how do you keep your motivation up?
NB: I think we have the easiest job because we get to pull from all of them.
AT: There’s so much energy out there that we pull from. I was honestly worried when we got to Block 1, because it went by so quickly. They’re out there and they’re excited and everyone wants to be here.
NB: We get to dance from a position where we can feel the entire room. Not to downplay it, but it's pretty easy to find the energy when you’ve got all those people giving it back to you. Also, my housemate got me 16 bottles of Gatorade before the thing started, so…
AT: And I discovered Neurobliss! Oh my god. I don’t even know. I’m pretty sure it’s a placebo effect, but the side of the bottle says that it boosts enthusiasm and all that stuff. Basically it pumps B vitamins into your body.
NB: I’ll probably make this joke later tonight with the dancers, but you know in Space Jam, when Bugs pulls out Michael’s secret stuff? It’s a water bottle and he says, “It’s gonna pump us up, we can beat the monsters!” That’s what we need, Michael’s secret stuff.
When do you think you really start to see the dancers bond as a group? What hour is the turning point for DM?
NB: It’s started now, but I love Block 8. As a freshman Block 8 was my favorite thing, because we have the Battle of the Bands winner and that’s huge. This year a band we like a lot, Jet Jaguar, is playing. Once it’s Block 8 it all looks like it’s going to be fun from there.
AT: While they say the hardest blocks are somewhere around Blocks 6 and 7, I always enjoy that because everyone is still there, together, even though it’s painful and you’re a little loopy by that time. You’re just so loopy that the walls are gone, and everyone is just like, “I love you and you love me and we’re in this together.” It’s a real hippie movement, really.
Any particular songs you’re looking forward to?
NB: It occurred to me today that I haven’t heard “All the Small Things” by Blink-182 in a while. I would love that. I love “Shout,” by The Isley Brothers.
AT: I think I really want to hear [Robyn's] “Call Your Girlfriend” at some point.
So, the Keg is closed, do you guys have any Block 11 plans?
NB: Could I be real? Playwriting homework and some rehearsals.
AT: And I have poetry homework and some rehearsal. So I’m going to sleep…
NB: If I could get some sort of breakfast that has hot sauce on it, then I’ll be happy.
AT: Productions goes to Walker Brothers every year.
NB: Oh man, they have this pico de gallo hash brown thing – holy god. It’s amazing. So maybe we’ll make it there.