Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” echoed through the auditorium as audience members sang along and grooved in their seats.

It was a familiar tune for most in the NPAC, but Naperville North’s musicians knew how to keep the crowd’s toes tapping. Instead of electronic instruments, the musicians used marimbas and steelpan drums to recreate the popular song.

Last night’s Pineapple Project Percussion Concert featured the NNHS percussion ensemble and the NCUSD 203 Steelpan Band. Together, these groups performed a tune by Chris Crockarell, “Pulp Friction,” played solely by paper instruments and plastic bags, as well as a variety popular numbers such as “Somebody that I Used To Know” by Gotye.

Senior Patrick Naughton considered the night a success.

“Out of all the music ensembles I’m involved in at North, the Pineapple Project is definitely my favorite,” Naughton said. “In [symphonic] band, I play an occasional bang to accompany the winds. Here, percussion is the melody.”

According to director Ben Wahlund, the Pineapple Project started seven years ago out of student interest.

“There was one day that we were joking around during rehearsals, and the word ‘pineapple’ just kept coming up,” Wahlund said. “The name just stuck.”

Although he is the director of the ensemble, Wahlund said that the group is mainly student-led. He said that, on average, for every nine minutes the students lead, he directs for one minute.

“Because this is what we call chamber music, there’s really no need for someone to stand on a podium and wave their arms,” Wahlund said. “My job as a director is to give them instruction and then get out of the way.”

Wahlund will be ending his time with the Pineapple Project this year, leaving co-director William Cooley in charge next year.

“The students have been stepping up for years,” Wahlund said. “I’m really not worried about the group at all.”

The musicians have already started to take initiative for the concert. This year, Naughton composed his own arrangement of the song “Land of Confusion” by Genesis. The concert also featured a duet by Naughton and senior Paul Beckman playing “Flight of The Bumblebee” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

“This concert really gives the students an opportunity to do what they want,” Naughton said.

Freshman Ileana Campagna, who plays trumpet in symphonic band, joined the Pineapple Project to diversify her interests.

“I always admired them,” Campagna said. “This was a way for me to  [play] without actually taking lessons or playing percussion in band.”

Campagna loves not only the laid-back feel and positive energy of rehearsals, but also the ending concert.

“We have a sense of ‘we need to get this done’,” Campagna said. “It’s not just ‘oh we’re here, let’s play,’ but we actually have a product.”