Fans of both hockey and music make for a great atmosphere on Friday nights at the ISU men’s hockey games.

Both the pep band and the team are unsponsored school clubs.

The band was started about 10 years ago when some students who liked both hockey and playing their instruments got together.

The origin is a little unclear, but that is the story Matt Billock, hockey pep band president, knows best.

The band doesn’t just play music to get the crowd excited, he says, they are part of the crowd — with both cheering and booing.

“The band most definitely makes a difference in the atmosphere,” says Billock, senior in computer science.

“It helps keep the crowd in check and in the game.”

The band usually plays for the first game of every series and Friday nights, Billock says.

Members of the ISU Cyclone Football “Varsity” Marching Band make up the majority of the hockey pep band.

There are between 10 and 40 members volunteering to be in the band at a game.

“It’s fantastic to have the pep band there,” says Rob Rose, a hockey player and senior in management information systems. “They don’t have to, but they do. It’s just great.”

The band plays a variety of short tunes, including the fight song, between whistles in the game, during the starting line-up and between periods.

“The band is awesome,” says Andrew Murdoch, hockey club president. “They get the crowd going, especially with the fight song.

“I like the end when they play ‘You Can Call Me Al’ by Paul Simon, because our coach’s name is Al,” he says.

Murdoch, senior in elementary education, says that if the band isn’t there, due to a football game or for other reasons, music is just played over the public address system.

“It’s just not the same,” he says. “The familiar pep band tunes get the crowd going.”

“When the hockey team isn’t smashing people, we play cool songs during an otherwise boring silence,” says trombone player Steve Wilson, junior in aerospace engineering.

Cheerleaders at games all season are happy to hear from the band as well, says Kati Ogren, head of the cheerleading squad and senior in elementary education.

“They bring us closer to Iowa State,” she said.

The cheer squad cheers and dances to songs played by the pep band. One of the old favorites, “Hey,” is popular for a reason — it is played after each goal the Cyclones score.

The band also tries to travel with the team to Illinois once a season. Rose says this “pisses off the Illinois fans.”

Wilson says the band might be fun, but it is there for the team in the end.

“We have fun and cheer for the team along with playing,” he says.