We are thrilled to introduce you to Mason Daffinee!
Here is his bio https://www.crossmen.org/program-staff/mason-daffinee
Welcome to the Crossmen family, Mason!
Thank you, this is very exciting. The Crossmen was an organization that I admired and looked up to so much when I marched drum corps. So, it really is an honor to be a part of that legacy.
What is your role as the Visual Designer for the 2026 production?
On design teams now, there is an amalgamation of terms like “visual designer,” “visual coordinator,” and things like that. My role is to listen to everybody and to understand the concept that’s being articulated between Mike Hardiek [the Design Coordinator] and, in particular, Wes Pendergrass [the Visual Coordinator]. Wes is really the artistic voice who blends what’s happening with the music and the visual identity. Then it’s my job to take that and interpret it in a way that allows the brass to be positioned exactly where they need to be to sound their best and then to complement that visually using set pieces on the field, or the visual ensemble with the color guard, or by featuring the percussion.
Is the visual design team involved in the show design process from the beginning?
Oh, yeah. John Meehan [Music Coordinator, Composer & Brass Arranger] is so experienced that it’s been great. He’s basically come to us and said: We’re going to put this together to fit what you envision—and, again, that’s really coming back to Wes, as a visual architect. What do you see? And I will make sure that our soundtrack matches it. I think it’s a healthy and exciting way to approach creating a drum corps show.
Are there members of the design team with whom you have worked before?
I’ve known Wes since we marched together [in Phantom Regiment], so we have a relationship that goes back 20 years. I’ve collaborated with John on a couple of projects, too. I’ve known Mike Heustis [Percussion Composer] and his work for a long time. So, even though all these designers have not all worked on the same team before, we are all very familiar with each other’s work. Anytime that happens, you get exciting new ingredients in the kitchen!
Can you speak about the collaborative design process?
Sometimes I’m working on a problem or have a creative opportunity but am not sure how to get through it yet. Someone I’ve never worked with before might have a unique take that I’d never even considered. What do they think about this? This sparks creative energy that’s really fun to be a part of.
How did you get involved in drill design?
I started out as band director and did that for a long period of time, and I also was a long-time brass staff member. Then, starting about 10 years ago, I got into drill design and really liked it. While teaching at a school in San Antonio, I transitioned into the role of drill designer. But I was an educator first. I remembered what it was like when I was a marching member, and I wanted to know that the designers were thinking about making the coolest product possible for me. Now, every time I write a show, I’m thinking about how I would feel if I were performing it.
What was your very first exposure to drum corps? What hooked you?
I was in a high school marching band in Upstate New York for 4 years. At my first band competition, I saw a group that had a truck, and they were showing DCI videos. I didn’t know what it was, but it seemed really cool! They were a small Division III drum corps called Spectrum, and I ended up marching with them for four years. I got hooked by this group of like-minded people who seemed to care a lot about something, and that something was performance excellence. But it was about relationships, too. I can say without reservation that if it wasn’t for those years in Spectrum, my trajectory as a music educator and as a designer would be completely different. I’m passionate about making sure that member experience is something in the forefront of my mind as a designer.
Do you remember the first time you saw the Crossmen?
I do. The first World Class DCI show that I ever went to was at the end of the 1995 season in Upstate New York. After Spectrum had finished the Division 2-3 prelims, the Crossmen performed. It was just spectacular! This was my first time seeing them, and it was just great—I loved it.
Are there lessons that you learned from these years, or in the four years that followed when you marched contra with Phantom Regiment, that you carry with you today?
Work ethic and a commitment to excellence, of course. I like pushing myself, so the combination of musicianship and physicality was something that really spoke to me. I remember some really trying rehearsals when I marched with Regiment, like a 5-hour block in Texas on AstroTurf that just felt like it was never going to end. I remember it vividly to this day. Now, anytime something is difficult for me, or I feel tired, or I want to give up, I think to myself … Is this harder than that rehearsal block?
You also performed with the touring Broadway production of Blast! Did you learn any unique lessons with that organization?
Blast! was the epitome of professionalism, and I was surrounded by people in the next tier of ability. I remember showing up for the first time in St. Louis, and on night two I was out on the stage doing these really cool things. It felt like I could do all of that because I’d already learned the necessary skills in drum corps.
Are there drill instructors or visual designers who have been strong influences on you or whose work you especially admire?
First off is Dan Morrison, who is a Design Consultant for the Crossmen. He was the band director at Ronald Reagan High School, where I developed my drill writing. Dan helps you be better than you knew you could be. It’s one of his superpowers. Any time I wasn’t sure how to do something, I’d ask him, and he always had an idea that made it better. That collaboration is something that supercharged my ability to write drill. Kevin Nix, a visual designer also at Reagan HS, was another valuable mentor.
In the drum corps world, I don’t think anyone can be a drill designer and not be impacted by the works of Michael Gaines, Jeff Sacktig [Crossmen visual design 1997–98], Leon May [Crossmen drill writer 1999], Steve Brubaker and others. Darryl Pemberton [Crossmen visual design 2002–04, 2007–09]—may he rest in peace—was a very, very good visual designer and someone who I looked to for a lot of stuff.
Do you have inspirations outside of the marching arts that influence you as a visual designer?
I love contemporary art and go to all the museums that I can, especially while living in Europe. I have a collection of thousands and thousands of pictures that I’ve taken of sculptures and paintings. There are certain artists that I’m drawn to. The German painter Tomma Abts, architect Zaha Hadid, and the set designer Es Devlin are fantastic.
If you could travel back in time and march any show in DCI history, from a drill perspective, which would you choose?
Oh, that would be my dream! Of course… the end of 1991 Star of Indiana, the Roman show with the cross-to-cross drill. When I first saw that move years later, it inspired me to be a drill writer. That sequence is just spectacular.
Do you have thoughts on how drill design has been changing in drum corps?
Visual design has evolved in recent years to become so much more integrated and involved, and the palette of what the performer is responsible for has broadened a lot. It’s the combination of drill and choreography and large-scale pageantry and emotive experiences that members are looking for. Some of us who marched in the past may get disgruntled about the direction of drum corps, but we should remember that it really is about today’s members, just as it was in our era.
The member experience and what the members want to do determines our direction. I’m super excited to be a part of this with the Crossmen, so I would say to any prospective member: You have a team that’s fully on board and fully committed to making this a really spectacular experience.
Hit your dot or dress the form?
As a member, I hated having to dress the form when I knew it wasn’t on my dot. Dot first.
Wawa or Buc-ee’s?
Uh oh … [asks his Texan wife, Jennifer]. Buc-ee’s.
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Mason Daffinee was interviewed by Scott Cummings on November 6, 2025. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity