MA students find ways to raise their horn
by Cristina Anfang
Talon staff writerBy the end of the NFL football season Minnehaha’s normal purple and gold jerseys sported around school, had changed to a sea of green and gold. Two Minnehaha students wanted to change that trend at school, but unexpectedly ended up influencing more than our student body.
Seniors Danny Chamberlain and Sarah Winter along with their YouTube parody “Raise Your Horn”, rally Vikings fans to stay true to their team.
Chamberlain and Winter, dedicated Vikings fans, felt that football fans of Minnehaha had lost their spirit.
“We really needed something to drive us, something to keep us alive, because it seemed like we really didn’t have much hope,” said Chamberlain.
A thought came to Chamberlain to write the parody to Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”. He asked for help from Winter to sing and junior Ryan Chun to help film.
In Chamberlain’s basement, with everything sprawled out on the ice hockey table, the recording began. “Recording the song was so much fun, the song just worked so well,” Winter said.
“I usually take a really long time with songs, but [Winter] was able to come in and record without a problem,” added Chamberlain.
Filming had its bumps along the way.
“We filmed during the intermission at the Guthrie, lip syncing while people stared at us, but we had fun with it,” said Winter.
It was Chamberlain’s sister, freshman Katie Chamberlain, who helped as well.
“She walked backwards with a camera while my dad was holding a boom box,” Chamberlain said.
As soon as filming finished, it was a rush for Chamberlain to finish the video.
“I wanted to get it out as soon as possible because I knew ‘Born This Way’ was big, and we just had to get it out there so we could get the most views possible,” added Chamberlain.
Reaction to the video was nothing to be expected. “Raise Your Horn” was picked up by local news stations Fox, WCCO and KSTP as well as numerous online news sources, and is even available on iTunes now.
“The week was an absolute dream,” said Chamberlain, who was in Chicago for a college visit when he got a call asking him if he could come back to be interviewed because the video was going to be on the news.
When he received the call, he was in shock.
“It [went] all over my head, I couldn’t even handle it.”
“Being interviewed was kind of intimidating,” added Sarah. “The TV crew came to my house, and the man interviewing me would ask me questions normally, then all of the sudden would turn on his ‘news voice.'”
The video also became an instant hit on YouTube, now with over 59,000 views. Most viewers showed their support for the video, expressing how great it was to see Viking spirit again.
After such a success from their first video, Chamberlain and Winter have plans to make more videos together soon.
And hopefully, next season, there will again, be more purple and gold sported than the dreaded green and gold.