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ROb Gatewood

Rob was introduced to the world of percussion when his future middle school band came and played a concert in fifth grade. From there, he was inundated with it. He began in sixth grade like all students in his district, and was able to join the Ft. Zumwalt North High School Winter Drumline in 8th grade, starting his winter experience a year earlier than most students. He spent the next four years with the Ft. Zumwalt North High School Panther Pride Marching Band, which had one of the top drumlines in the state all four years. His senior year, he joined Gateway Indoor, which was entering their first full year of competition in world class. The group was able to win the WGI Indianapolis Regional, as well as make finals at World Championships that year.
Deciding to focus on education after high school, Rob eventually graduated from the University of Missouri – St. Louis with a Bachelor in Science and Accounting. In August 2011, Rob received the opportunity to jump back into the world of percussion and became the percussion instructor of the Wright City High School Wildcat Marching Band. Winning a number of percussion captions throughout the next two years, Rob also started their winter drumline program, which took gold in their first year of competition on the Mid-Continent Color Guard Association (MCCGA), and bronze in their second year. During his second year, he also became a consultant for Modulation Z, and after the season, became the assistant director of Modulation Z, as well as the assistant percussion director/front ensemble coordinator for the FZN High School Panther Pride Marching Band.
This will be his 4th full season on staff with Modulation Z, serving as the assistant director and the front ensemble coordinator. Rob is from Lake St. Louis, MO and currently lives in St. Charles, MO where he works in Sponsored Research for the School of Neurology at Washington University in St. Louis.

Nick Brakeman

Nick Brakeman is entering his second year on staff with Modulation Z. His independent marching career began in the Winter of 2008 and concluded with his age out in 2013. During that time he not only competed every season with Gateway, but was also a member of Capital Sound Drum and Bugle Corps, Colts Drum and Bugle Corps, and Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps. He has two Individual and Ensemble gold medals with the 2011 Colts RedBass and the 2012 Spirit of Atlanta Cymbal Line.
Nick has received a broad education in the marching arts from many top designers and technicians including Lauren Sakowski, Jack Borland, Nick Ryan, Michael McIntosh, and Chris Hestin. He has worked with the Colts Youth Organization and just finished another drum corps tour with Spirit of Atlanta’s Cymbal Line. As a clinician, consultant and visual designer, Nick works with many ensembles around the country including University of Kansas, University of Kentucky, and Rockwood Summit High School. Nick currently lives in Saint Louis, MO.

EZEKIEL LANSER

BM, Percussion Performance, University of North Texas
Ezekiel currently works with a number of ensembles in the Southern California percussion scene as an educator, composer, arranger, and consultant. Currently, he is on staff with the Santa Clara Vanguard, Pulse Percussion, Los Alamitos High School, and Pacifica High School. Formerly, he served as Ensemble Coordinator for POW Percussion, has been on staff with the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps, and also with the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. Ezekiel is also a sought after marching band and indoor drumline show designer, arranger, and composer and has been fortunate enough to see his shows and compositions take the floor in WGI World Finals in both scholastic and independent divisions.
Key highlights from his marching career include winning the Fred Sanford drum title in 2006 with the Phantom Regiment, winning first place at the 2008 PASIC World Championships with the University of North Texas A-line, and being awarded the bronze medal at the 2011 WGI World Championships with Pulse Percussion. He graduated Cum Laude earning his Percussion Performance degree from the University of North Texas.

STEVEN ESTUDILLO

Steven Estudillo was born and raised in Southern California and studied at California State University, Fullerton. Surrounded by a combination of cultural exposures and artistic visions, his upbringing was one that promoted his passion for the marching arts.
Steven started as a student at La Mirada High School in La Mirada, Ca where his musical involvement included performing in several ensembles such as marching band, jazz band, wind ensemble, and indoor percussion. This opened the door to his first experience as a performer with Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps as a high school student, and finishing his last few years as a performer with The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps.
Shortly after high school, and still within his drum corps eligibility, Steven began designing drill at El Modena High School in Orange, Ca and quickly spread into designing indoor percussion and winter guard shows for various groups in the Southern California area. His visual creativity and originality lead him to evolve rapidly as a well sought after drill designer and educator. His designs have been well represented by several ensembles within the Bands of America, Western Bands Association and Winter Guard International circuits. Steven currently works as the visual caption head and designer at Chino Hills High School in Chino Hills, Ca.
In 2009, Steven began teaching within the drum corps activity as a visual instructor at The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps and Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps. In 2010, he became the Visual Designer for Pacific Crest, where he remained until 2012. After a short break, he returned to the design team at Pacific Crest in 2015where his is now the Creative Director. Simultaneously, he was an integral part of the visual team at The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle corps, where he served as a visual instructor from 2009 – 2010, and later served as the Visual Caption head from 2011 – 2015.
In 2012, Steven began teaching at award winning Pulse Percussion, where he currently serves as the Visual Caption head. He currently designs and teaches at several top indoor percussion ensembles in the U.S. including POW Percussion, Chino Hills High School, and Pulse Percussion where he is the Visual Caption Head.
In addition to his work in the U.S., Steven has had the opportunity to branch out internationally and work with performing ensembles in South America, providing consultations and clinics to further spread the marching arts in different regions.
Steven currently resides in Brea, Ca with his loving wife Lexie.

CHAD SCHAEDLER

Chad begins his first year with Modulation Z bringing many years of expertise to the table. Spending the last decade with Gatway Indoor and many other highly regarded percussion programs. During his tenure with Gateway he served as the Battery Caption Head, Battery Arranger, Program Coordinator and Education Director. Chad has instructed a number of percussion ensembles including The Cavaliers (2012), The Crossmen (2010 Percussion Co-Caption Head), The Bluecoats (2006-2008), The Colts (2005), Missouri State University (2003-2004, 2008-2013), and various high school programs across the country. Chad is an Innovative Percussion and EVANS drumhead artist. He is currently a member of the WGI Percussion Advisory Board.
Chad graduated from Missouri State University in 2000 with a B.S. in General Business. He currently resides in O'Fallon, Missouri with his wife Kim and their four children—Cameron, Dalen, Ella, and Gannon.

Derek Kelly

During his DCI/WGI marching career Derek was a marching member of Gateway Indoor (2012-2014) and The Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps (2013). He had the opportunity to learn the marching arts from Ralph Hardimon, Mike McIntosh, Sean Knuth, Brian Graham and many others. Derek was a member of the Missouri State drumline and also was a part of the percussion staff at MSU for 2 years. While studying at college Derek was a staff member for multiple award winning high schools in the Springfield, MO. and St. Louis area. He graduated in the Fall of 2014 with a degree in Construction Management.

After spending a few years traveling around the globe Derek has returned home to St. Louis, MO. He is the battery coordinator for Gateway Percussion (PIW) and on the percussion staff for the Francis Howell School District and Rockwood Summit High School. He is also an Innovative Percussion Artist.

JOSHUA LINK

Joshua Link is a composer, educator, designer and percussionist from the St. Louis area. He is proud to begin his first year on the Modulation Z front ensemble staff.

A native of the St. Louis, MO area, Joshua studied Music Composition at the University of Missouri - Kansas City under Jim Mobberley, Paul Rudy, Chen Yi, Zhou Long and many other fantastic educators. Since moving back to the St. Louis area, Joshua has established himself as a composer for video games, film and other kinetic media. He has written marching music for schools across the U.S., and is an experienced front ensemble and battery arranger as well as full marching band composer.

Joshua played in the frontline for the Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps in 2009, 2010, and 2012, serving as subsection leader the last two years. He also played in Gateway Indoor Percussion's front ensemble from 2010 to 2013, serving as center marimba and section leader the last two years. During this time he learned and synthesized percussive styles from such nationally-renowned educators as Roger Carter, Thom Hannum, James Sparling, Michael McIntosh, as well as countless other brilliant educators.

These styles from across the U.S. combine to form the adaptive, open-minded but focused approach that he has taught across Missouri at some of the state's most competitve high school programs such as Blue Springs HS, Grain Valley HS, and Rockwood Summit HS. Most recently, he has joined the percussion staff of the Zumwalt district's own Fort Zumwalt South HS.

Besides teaching and composing, Joshua also serves on the operations staff of Gateway Indoor Percussion as Multimedia Designer, using graphic design and composition skills to provide design assets and promotional music for the ensemble's media and website.

Clif Walker

Clif Walker is a freelance percussion composer, arranger, consultant, clinician and adjudicator. He holds a BSE from Missouri Western State University and an MME from the University of Central Florida. This will be his second year on staff at Modulation Z. A former front ensemble arranger and design team member for 9 time WGI PIW Gateway Indoor (2014-2016) , Clif helped the ensemble earn it’s highest finals placement to date, 5th in 2014. During his five years at Blue Springs High School as Director of Percussion (2011-2015), the percussion program performed for the Missouri Music Educator's Association State Convention as winners of the percussion ensemble "Call for Tapes" (2015), and earned first place in the World Division at the 25th Annual Mozingo Music Percussion Competition (2014), earning the awards for Best Front Ensemble and Best Tenorline. In 2015, Blue Springs became the first Missouri band to make the Bands of America Grand National Finals. While Director of Percussion at Timber Creek High School in Orlando, Florida (2001-2008), Clif lead an ensemble that performed at the 2003 and 2008 FMEA State Music Conventions, the 2004 SDMENC/FMEA Music Convention, and the 2005 Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) as the winners of the high school percussion ensemble "Call for Tapes." In 2008, Timber Creek Independent was launched with Clif as Director/Arranger and made WGI History with two class promotions in one season. They achieved several other successes as well, including first place finishes at WGI Orlando (A Class), the WGI Nashville Power Regional (Open Class), and FFCC State Championships (World Class). They also were WGI PIW Finalist at World Championships in Dayton, Ohio their very first year. Clif worked with the Southwind Drum and Bugle Corps (Percussion Caption Head/Arranger 1999-2002) and is a former member and instructor of the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps (1992, 1994, and 1998). He also served as the Vice President of the Florida Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society (2008-2009). As a composer, original works have been performed at PASIC, The Midwest Band Orchestra Clinic, and the Sydney Opera House. His works for percussion ensemble are all published by Innovative Percussion and have been performed by the University of North Texas, Texas Christian University, and Florida State University to name a few. Clif is proud to endorse Yamaha Musical Instruments, Remo Drumheads, Sabian Cymbals, and Innovative Percussion Sticks and Mallets.