DNN over the 3 seasons of its airing has had numerous segments on it, with varying quality and hosts. Recently, with this new season a segment has come out of the works, Now U Jammin. The segment is hosted by senior and aspiring banjoist Ethan Ingle.

Ingle has one of the longest tenures on DNN and due to this he has become the face of DNN. He has been the co-anchor of DNN for the last 2 seasons and continues that now and then. He has also served as creative director, assisting others with bringing their segments to life, but Ingle wanted to do a segment about something he was passionate about.

Ingle took a look around the musical landscape here at Defiance High School and he was appalled with all the spotlight on one specific group. “I just don’t like the fact how they get a lot of attention. There are a lot more talented musicians out there in the school,” Ingle voiced his feelings.

From this Ingle developed an idea. He wanted to give these quieter, lesser known musicians here at DHS, a platform for them. Ingle is a bassist and he recognized the bass as a very versatile instrument. So he brought an idea to the DNN crew.

“‘ll play bass. I’ll get musicians on the show” to interview, Ingle explained the moment. From there he was directed to make a pilot episode for proof of concept. So he took it to his bedroom, Ingle walked me through the pilot, “I filmed it, it was me and my sister and I showed her guitar and stuff.” With that he presented the rough pilot and received the illusive green light.

He went and filmed the first episode bringing on sophomore Nikita Fernandez, sister of fellow DNN cast member Lydia Fernandez, who played the keyboard. For the first episode, Ingle didn’t have as much time as he would have wanted. So, he quickly made the first episode but he expressed some of his regrets with it.

“I don’t think I asked the right questions. I think the guest was uninformed. And I think there was pressure because we had a lot of people in the studio. And sometimes these are just shy musicians.” Ingle learned from this first episode and improved on the format for the second episode.

The second episode featured junior Jonah Martinez playing the guitar. This time there was a noticeable change in quality, as Ingle put more of his flair into it, editing wise. Not only that, but before the final recording the two of them practiced playing together several more times than Ingle did with Fernandez.

“It just sounded better. I think we got it and we took many takes with Jonah because he you know, he’s an artist”, Ingle said about the final product. In the end, Now U Jammin has proven to be a segment that Ingle is proud of having created.

Ingle expressed himself about his favorite aspects of this segment,  “I love seeing the finished product. I like feeling like I did something and I’m kind of helping them find their voice.” Certainly, others have felt this way, including one of the musicians featured in this segment.

Martinez spoke about his thoughts on the segment, “He’s trying to reach out to the musicians of defiance. It’s cool. I think it’s a good DNN segment and I look forward to seeing more from it.” That’s certainly a sentiment most could agree with.

Ingle’s endgame with this segment is that, “middle schoolers pick up an instrument. I hope the elementary kids put down the stupid recorders and pick up an instrument. I really hope that it just affects people in a good way in the future and encourages them to participate and go for their dreams.”