HISTORY

97 Years of Band in Santa Barbara

The first iteration of the UCSB band was founded in 1929, known as the Santa Barbara State College  Band. An all-male band wearing olive and white uniforms, they became the SB State College El Gaucho Band in 1934. In 1942, they were disbanded due to lack of available members (thanks to WWII). They returned after the war as the UC Santa Barbara College Gaucho Marching Band, a co-ed band wearing the now-familiar blue and gold colors.

In 1954, the music department discontinued the marching band following the departure of the band director, and lack of interest from other faculty. It wasn't until the 1960s when Associated Students hired a new director, purchased equipment and reformed the band again under the name UCSB Gaucho Band, AS Band, or Blue Derby Pep Band at basketball games.

With the end of the D1 football program at UCSB in 1972, the AS Band was again disbanded, replaced by the UCSB Jazz Band at basketball games later that decade. During the D3 football era, another marching band was briefly formed between 1987 to 1992, wearing white bands and blue shirts with yellow "UCSB" script.

It was not until the Gaucho Pep Explosion in 1998 that the band was reformed by Sarah Barnes into our current organization known as the Gaucho Pep Band. Member in the early years of this band wore sombreros with blue and white ponchos.

The band underwent a memorable March Madness trip in 2002, when both the men's team and women's team made it to El Baile Grande. The band was sent to New Mexico with the men's team while the cheer team was sent to Texas with the women's team. Through an intense effort by band members, the band was able to take a charter bus to Texas following the men's game to support the women's team as well, who won and advanced to the second round. 

Throughout the 2010s, the band slowly moved away from their old image, swapping out the ponchos for pep band shirts and replacing the Conductor with a Co-President role.

When the university moved online in March 2020, Big West was canceled and the basketball season came to an abrupt end. The band went on full hiatus for over a year and was reduced to 8 members as students graduated and moved on. In late 2021, UCSB began a gradual return to normalcy, and the band began to hold practices and play music again as an ensemble. This unorthodox year was spent getting the group off the ground. In the 2021-2022 school year, the band began to support club teams like UCSB Ice Hockey, and was invited to the first Santa Barbara Half Marathon, which are now a regular part of our calendar! After two years of recruitment and a lot of hard work, the band made a full return to the Big West basketball championships in Henderson, Nevada in 2023! 

In 2024, for the first time in history, the Gaucho Pep Band returned to its marching roots and traveled to UC Davis Picnic Day 110, marching in the parade and competing in the Battle of the Bands alongside seven other college bands from across California. The role of Conductor was also brought back for this event! We also returned to playing at UCSB volleyball games, as well as beginning to perform at various other club sports games such as women's rugby and men's lacrosse!

The pep band began collaborating with the UCSB Music Department in the 2024-25 school year, debuting the Gaucho Pep Band Showcase in Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall in April 2025! 

We are so proud of how far the band has come and would like to give a huge thank you to all of the members who came before us and kept such an amazing community alive. If you visit us at a game, keep an ear out for your old favorites and some new tunes as well!