That’s me back in 2009, my college days as an eagle.
Music for Mascots
As mentioned somewhere in the description of this blog, I am a professional mascot performer. In other words, I’m that guy in the giant, sweaty, stinky animal costume at sporting events. This has been my main job for the last ten years, and as my body is finally coming apart after those ten years of abuse, I’m left trying to make sure the old suits are sent back to their proper teams. The healing process will take a long, long time.
Of course, over those ten years, I’ve danced my various fake tails off to a plethora of tunes. Yes, often there was no escape at times from corny sports related tunes like “Who Let the Dogs Out?” and “Get Ready for This” but whenever I had the opportunity, I created mix CDs of music from my personal collection to give myself some variety while dancing atop dugouts or on basketball courts.
So here’s a list of tracks I’ve pulled out from time to time to entertain as well to give myself a treat musically after hours of sweating profusely.
Yoko Kanno “Tank!” (originally from the Cowboy Bebop OST)
Prodigy “Everybody in the Place”
Prodigy “Out of Space (Remix)”
Prodigy “Breathe”
Moby “Body Rock”
Moby “James Bond Theme”
Les Rythmes Digitales “Hey You, What’s That Sound?”
Daft Punk “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”
Zero Tolerance/Beta2 “Bizzy Time”
The Chemical Brothers “In Dust We Trust”
Soundgarden “Spoonman”
The Breeders “Cannon Ball”
Nirvana “Turn Around”
Cassius “La Mouche (DJ Falcon Live Remix)”
Cassius “1999”
DJ Shadow “Number Song”
DJ Shadow “Organ Donor”
Kraftwerk “The Robots”
Obviously, there were tons of others, but many of my mix CDs were never returned or have since gone missing. I have maybe two left and the rest of the list aforementioned is based on memory.
Of course, at times, I would have to dance to live polka, jazz, Latin/salsa, Scottish/Irish, Indian, and bluegrass music at some of the events I would be invited to attend in costume. It certainly paid to learn improvisational skills and basic dance moves. It’s safe to say that a mascot dances to just about every form of music at some point.
Now that I’m slowly making my way out of the chaotic, busy and stressful life of mascoting, it’s going to be tough trying to keep myself busy. At one time, I worked for seven teams and five other non-sports related organizations, so my year was one long work-a-thon. It’ll be nice to slow down and relax a little and not have my tail tugged.
The Far Out Fox 