IamA high school student who performed with Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the Super Bowl XLVIII half time show AMA!

What was it like being on the field longer than Peyton Manning was?

Well we were on the field for about 10 minutes and it was awesome!

Was Anthony Keidis' mustache as terrifying in real life?

I wasn't very close to him but it scared me how old he was. I forgot how long the Red Hot Chili Peppers have been around.

Since long before you were alive. Did you have any access to any of the stars like RHCP or Bruno Mars? Or were you just carted out to perform?

I ran into Bruno's band on the way to the wardrobe on Friday and got some high five's and hand shakes. Queen Latifa drove by in a golf cart while we were waiting to go out yesterday. Got to do a little group interaction with Bruno Mars' brother (i think...) he was doing the drum solo just for camera angles because I don't think Bruno was there yet. The coolest was Wednesday Bruno did "Just the Way You Are" with us on the sideline and we all cheered and he waved to us and wanted to say something to us but his mic was turned off.

Before the performance we stayed at a nearby AMC for about 5 hours, then got a police escort to the stadium at the start of the game. We waited in the tunnel, ran on to the field and then basically left right away. So no, we didn't unfortunately.

Yes he was there with me!

That's a great story! I do have one question. When RHCP started playing, it almost looked like the band members from Bruno Mars' band were playing air guitar to RHCP. How did it look from on the field?

Most of the show except for the vocals and some of the RHCP Drums were prerecorded so everyone was kinda faking it.

What about when Bruno played the drums? It seemed like he nailed every note.

That was prerecorded. It was an easy solo.

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I am positive that it was prerecorded because we all stood near the drum set while someone played it and it is muted. I don't think the set was miced either

Was Bruno Mars singing live or was that also pre-recorded?

He was singing live

The music was all recorded prior to the show. We used it to rehearse and it played in radios we had in. So it's likely that the only live part was Bruno and Anthony Keidis singing, and probably Bruno's drum solo. The other instrumentals could have been from the pre-recording.

Bruno's Drum solo was prerecorded.

No way. Really?

Ya we were able to get up close with the drum kit on Friday and Bruno's brother/cousin was just messing around on it a d the entire set is detuned and muted.

Is Bruno Mars as tiny as he seems? I always want to put him in my pocket. You guys did a great job btw!!

Thanks a lot! Yes he was the shortest on stage but the camera angles and his short band members made look like he was an average height. If you noticed Anthony Keidis was kinda bent over when he was singing with Bruno because he was taller than him and they both needed to fit in the shot.

I can honestly say, I've never been so jealous of three members of a high school marching band in my life. My wife and I agreed that the best thing at the Super Bowl this year was the halftime show. Ads sucked and the game sucked. The three of you helped save one of the most popular American sporting events from utter failure. Great job, you should all be very proud.

Thanks that really means a lot to us!

What did you guys do after the halftime show?

We got on the bus and went home which kinda stinks because because I wanted to see the game.

Wow, that seems awesome. What an experience, huge stadium, huge event, fireworks were there?

My questions: 1. How big is the Superbowl in America? 2. Were you allowed to interact with players? 3. Were you nervous?

1. The Super Bowl is the most watched event in America.
2. Unfortunately we we didn't get to interact with a single football player.
3. No one was nervous because the show was very easy and we were all very excited. It was honestly the great experience in my entire life.

Most watched?

Would it even be bigger than say a presidential debate? In the years of elections obviously...

People care more about football than politics here in America believe it or not.

How hard was it to keep it all a secret? Did you ever tell someone or even come close?

It was really hard haha. Can you imagine you are going to perform in the super bowl half time show wuth Bruno and RHCP and you can't tell anyone. I told my best friend because we are in a band together and we are trying to get this new song out asap and these rehearsals got in the way of that. The one person I should have told was my boss because he almost fired me for taking 2 weeks off and not working super bowl sunday.

What did your boss say when you finally told him?

I called him up after the NY post article was published and he greeted me with "Hello Mr. Famous!" He was happy for me and gave me extra days off because he said I needed to focus on this once in a lifetime opportunity. My job was saved.

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Its a small pizzeria in my town. He usually relies on me for big days like that so he was a little mad when he saw i took all of those days off.

Mind dropping a link to your music? Always on the lookout for young talent :) thanks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY5QJT0M0BQ This is our best thing so far. We got another coming out this month. :)

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We hyped this one for a little while. It was in the news paper and we got business cards but then we shifted our focus to our next song. We have been working on it for a year to get it perfect and we are getting it as close as possible.

Just listened to the whole thing and that was way better then I expected. I subscribed and I will be waiting for more. Nice job!

Thanks a lot man I really like you music too!

...you lost me. My music?

Sorry i thought you were someone else! Thank you anyway!

You said you're 17, right? What about your parents? Did they know?

Both of my parents knew but my sister didn't

How many people are in the marching band and do you know how you were chosen?

I think there are 95 kids in our marching band and 90 of us were chosen to march the other 5 were sent to be in front of the stage. There were 420 total kids marching on the field.

So did they just pick the 5 closest high school marching bands to the stadium?

They picked the best marching bands in the area. Roxbury went undefeated locally this year.

How about BRHS?

Bridgewater-Raritan? They have always been a good marching band in my opinion! They did very well at Towson, Maryland this year. Beat us by a few points.

Oh I was wondering if you knew which other high school marching bands performed

5 bands performed at the Super Bowl XLVIII Half Time show: Roxbury High School, Morris Knolls High School, Nutley High School, South Brunswick High School, and Bergenfield High School.

And Sparta High School

Sparta might have been cast as fans in front of the stage. They were not members of the LED cast.

Did you get to meet Bruno?

No but I really wanted to

What instrument do you play outside of this show?

I was the section leader of the pit so I actually never marched before this and thank god my friends helped me every step of the way. This was my last year of marching band so I am thankful for such a great payoff in the end!

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County College of Morris. I originally wanted to go to a big school because I could but none of them had Audio Engineering major and I looked at the facts about the graduating class this year so its the right place for me.

Are you planning on attending another school after CCM? Also do you go to the Rockaway mall over Ledgewood?

Ya but I don't know know where I'm going yet. Haha rockaway mall!

Keep whatever they let you take home. It'll be a good memory one day.

I was in the 2000 half time show in Atlanta and sounds like a similar experience to you guys.

I was able to keep the drum I used and still have great memories with friends from the rehearsals and show. I wish I kept better track of the letter they sent me afterward.

Do you have any friends who didn't want to be in the halftime show, but regret it now?

No but i have a few friends that were in Marching band last year and didn't want to do it this year. They immediately regretted that decision.

I graduated from Roxbury in'06 abd played trombone in the marching band. Did Mr. Nichols break the news to you guys? Where you disappointed not to get more screen time? I played a festival at grants stadium and it was such a thrill to play nj front of those empty seats, I can imagine the thrill with all the people.

Mr. Nichols broke the news to us. I wasn't really disappointed that we didn't get a lot of TV time because people who payed to see the super bowl saw us and a lot of important people saw us. I have never been so energized in my entire life, it was the greatest feeling in the world! This was a marching band competition that we win no matter what that's why we weren't nervous. This was the payoff after a great season and I am so thankful!

What parts of the show where pre-recorded and what wasn't?

Everything but Bruno Mar's vocals and RHCP vocals and I think the drums. We had little radios that broadcasted the prerecorded track so we could keep time.

Who do your prefer Bruno Mars or RHCP?

Even though I don't listen to modern music I prefer Bruno Mars. I used to be a RHCP fan but they never stuck with me.

Is your band director Mr. Nichols?

Yes

Did you get paid?

No but it didn't cost me a cent to do this

Why wasn't flea's bass plugged into anything

Everything but vocals were prerecorded

What was the atmosphere like as a 17 year old? Were there different amenities as a performer, or was it on a volunteer basis? Either way, way to go. Will you continue wanting to play in front of that many people as a performer?

As a 17 year old this is was an absolutely amazing and almost surreal experience. As already being a performer this was a dream come true! I want to perform in front of many people for the rest of my life in the rock band setting! I am in a band now and we are kicking into high gear soon with the release of our new song and I hope to go big with them. After this experience I learned that anything is possible!

were the peppers really plugged in and playing live?

No read* the comments

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Volunteer

Can you share a picture of your costume?

It's in the album above