Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
2006
By Matt MacPhail, Ann Lyles MacPhail and Lisa Townsend
Edited by Ann Lyles MacPhail
While some East Coast schools had more than ten a cappella groups in
1995, singing anything from barbershop to vocal jazz, a cappella music
was not as widely known or as popular on the West Coast. Here at USC,
there had not been a singing group dedicated to college a cappella
music in recent memory. That all changed in November 1995 when
SoCal VoCals group founder and former musical director Brock Harris
posted a simple flyer around the USC campus looking for singers to
start a new mixed a cappella group at USC. Expecting only a handful of
responses, Brock was somewhat overwhelmed when his phone rang
continuously for several days with over 80 phone calls from people
interested in joining USC's new a cappella group.
The group rehearsed for the first time on February 11, 1996 in a
classroom at VKC. Rehearsals were held on Sunday and Wednesday
nights, and they soon moved to the living room of Marks Hall. Over the
first few weeks, Brock Harris explained his vision to the new members.
They were not going to be just like other a cappella groups…they
would be a rock a cappella group. The fact that many members had
no a cappella experience was going to be an asset because there were
fewer preconceived notions about what an a cappella group was
supposed to be. While its size finally settled at 14 members (6 men, 8
women) for the duration of the semester, the group still had no name.
Indeed, some of the group's earliest arrangements bear witness to this
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fact: the sheet music for Blondie's "The Tide Is High," the VoCals' first
commissioned arrangement by Gabe Rutman, simply notes that it was
written for "The USC ________," with a blank where the name was
supposed to be.
The founding SoCal VoCals were: Brock Harris, Audra Levi, Stacy
Burcham, Katie Bush, Trudy Davies, Nne Ebong, Jamie Fougerousse,
Matt Green, Julianne Hanson, Vince Johnson, Ann Lyles, Matt MacPhail,
Kelda Nelson, and Wayne “Gib” Wallis. A few others attended the first
rehearsal, but decided not to continue.
About the same time as their first performance, the VoCals decided
they needed a logo. After several weeks of discussions between Brock
Harris, Matt Green and Matt MacPhail, and over 20 different
renderings, the group's current logo was finally agreed upon. The logo
has grown to become the group's "corporate identity."
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typical choir. Who knew that phrase would stick around long enough
to wind up on an album and tour jackets?
By April, the VoCals were ready to hit the street, making their first non-
USC performance at Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade. The thrill
of performing for small audiences in the bustling environment of Santa
Monica's shopping district has made Third Street a favorite VoCals gig,
and the group continued to perform there periodically over the next
few years.
The VoCals made their final USC appearance of the 1996 school year
with a performance at USC's Ground Zero Coffeehouse on April 28th.
The following weekend, the VoCals traveled to Pomona College for the
first time to sing with The Claremont Shades, the VoCals' mixed a
cappella counterparts from the five Claremont colleges. Gabe Rutman
sat in with the VoCals that night, providing inspiring percussion for the
whole set. In what was widely agreed to be the VoCals greatest
performance to date, the group closed out its first semester together
by becoming part of the greatest tradition of college a cappella:
performing at other schools. Over the next few years, the Shades and
the VoCals became good friends, singing with each other on a number
of occasions.
August 1996 marked the beginning of the SoCal VoCals' first full school
year together as a group. The eight remaining members from the
group's inaugural year held auditions for new members in early
September. Over 80 people auditioned and the VoCals agonized over
the abundance of amazing singers (especially women) who couldn’t
possibly fit into one a cappella group. They decided that maybe
someday, a women’s a cappella group should form at USC.
After rehearsing several weeks with the group, but never performing in
a concert, bass Chris Williams decided he didn’t have time to continue
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singing with the VoCals, but remained a friend and honorary alumus of
the group. This left the VoCals with 19 members, and one fewer bass
than they would have liked.
Officers for the 1996-1997 academic year were Brock Harris (president
and musical director), Geoff Leung (Business Manager), Audra Levi
(Secretary), David Higgins (Treasurer), and in retrospect, Matt MacPhail
(who didn’t have an official title but referred to himself as the “Minister
Without Portfolio”).
With a majority of new members, the 1996-97 SoCal VoCals were faced
with a challenge: how to build upon the SoCal VoCals' prior musical
growth without having to "start over from scratch." But this concern
went unrealized, as the new group quickly picked up where the old
group had left off, learning (or re-learning) almost all of the group's
existing repertoire in a matter of weeks. This allowed the VoCals to
begin working on all-new music by early October.
During the first semester of the 1996-97 school year, the VoCals made
some 27 concert appearances, including the inaugural 1996 Southern
California A Cappella Music Festival (SCAMFest) at Pomona in
November. The first SCAMFest ended with a special performance by
Gabe Rutman and other members of "This Side Up," a professional a
cappella group. Other fall shows for the Vocals included bi-weekly
lunchtime appearances at Commons, the Weekender rally in San
Francisco, Faculty Dinners at EVK, several shows on Santa Monica's
Third Street Promenade, a number of holiday appearances at the USC
Bookstore and Faculty Center, the USC end-of-season football banquet,
plus appearances before University President Steven Sample and his
guests before the Homecoming game against Washington, and holiday
parties. But the VoCals' Christmas repertoire was limited to traditional
four-part hymns -- the easiest arrangements to find. As the USC
Trustees arrived for a holiday party at the President's Mansion,
President Sample's assistant asked the VoCals if they could please sing
Christmas songs that were “a little less churchy”. Finally, at their end-
of semester concert at Ground Zero Coffeehouse, the SoCal VoCals
closed out the year by hosting their cross-town mixed a cappella
counterparts, UCLA's Awaken. While the two schools may be rivals in
sports, the two a cappella groups found themselves to be strong allies
in the battle to bring college a cappella more fully into the Los Angeles
area.
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group finally got uniforms--distinctive grey and black baseball jerseys
embroidered with the group's logo. The group premiered them at a
performance at USC's Faculty Center on November 20th, 1996, and
wore them for most performances through the Spring of 2000.
During that same month of November, 1996, the SoCal VoCals met at
Shadow Studios--more commonly known as Apartment 217, John
Heaton's apartment, to record their first demo tape, called “Preview”.
These recordings were the precursor to a full-fledged album to be
recorded later in the year.
With the loss of one bass, and Brock covering most of the vocal
percussion, The VoCals made a spontaneous move between
semesters: they held auditions for men only, in the hopes of finding
another bass. Despite a competitive audition with callbacks, the group
decided they just couldn’t find the right fit, and agreed not to take
anyone.
They kicked off the new semester in early January by hosting two
groups from Stanford, the all-male Mendicants and all-female
Counterpoint at Ground Zero Coffeehouse. Two weeks later, they
traveled to Stanford to appear in the Western Regional quarterfinal of
the 1997 National Championship of College A Cappella. The SoCal
VoCals were by far the newest group to appear at the 1997 Western
Regional. While they did not place in the competition, the VoCals
earned high praise for their performance from the CASA president and
founder, Deke Sharon, who was amazed at the group's musicality
given its relative youth.
By the way, this was the year the SoCal VoCals debuted "Hooked On A
Feeling" which included the line, "Lips as sweet as candy, its taste is on
my mind". Some of the most popular television commercials of the
time were for Mentos candy, known for their silly story lines where
sassy but innovative heroes escaped from difficult situations while
popping Mentos into their mouths. Of course, Matt MacPhail couldn't
resist putting a piece of the Mentos jingle into his arrangement, so the
VoCals began every performance with hidden packs of Mentos ready to
pull out at the appropriate moment in "Hooked On A Feeling".
February 1997 was a busy month for the VoCals. To raise some cash,
they offered “Singing Valentines” to anyone who wanted to pay for a
musical serenade over the phone. The SoCal VoCals also celebrated
their first anniversary in February, 1997.
That same month, the group began recording (in a real studio on
campus) their first album, This Ain't No Choir, Babe. The name wasn’t
hard to choose, and most agreed that This, Too, Shall Rock sounded
like a better second album title. The album features twelve favorites
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from the VoCals' 1996-97 repertoire, including such crowd-pleasers as
Tusk, Total Eclipse of the Heart, and Come On Eileen. Working with
Recording Arts majors Steve Kaplan and Dustin Jones as their
engineers, the group assembled at 11 PM on four consecutive
Wednesday nights in Feburary and March to record the background
parts for the album, with sessions going as late as 8:00 AM the next
morning. Recording that late at night presented a real challenge to
keep the material energetic and fresh, but the group was generally up
to the task. Gabe Rutman dropped into a few recording sessions to
lend his production expertise and provide encouragement.
Once the background parts were "in the can," work began on recording
the percussion and solo parts. These sessions took somewhat longer
than expected, so it is perhaps fitting that Brock Harris, the group's
graduating music director and "principal percussionist," wrapped up
the final recording session for the album at 7:15 AM on May 9th, less
than an hour before he was scheduled to arrive for USC's graduation
ceremony.
Over Spring Break 1997, the VoCals were hired to sing for the USC
Board of Trustees Retreat in Palm Dessert. The compensation was a
generous $800, but many members would be gone. At the last minute,
the dwindling numbers left the group in an embarrassing position, and
several friends and relatives were called in to wear jerseys, and quickly
learn parts so the VoCals could meet their obligation. Fill-ins included
Audra's boyfriend (and future husband) Jason Priluck, Ann’s sister
Jennifer Lyles, and two of Eleni’s younger cousins. The trustees
provided transportation to the retreat, so the “scrubs” learned the
words and music on the bus between L.A. and Palm Desert. While the
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performance got off to a shaky start, the trustees loved it and
President Sample treated the group to a free dinner (and two bottles of
Grgich Hills Napa Valley Chardonnay) in the hotel restaurant. On the
way home, during a game of “I Never,” most of the VoCals learned that
Ann and Matt had been secretly dating for ten months. They were
stunned, except for Kelda, who had been suspecting it since SCAMFest.
Accomplished trumpet player Stacy Burcham asked, “If you guys ever
get married, can I play at your wedding?” And so she did.
On April 11, 1997, after less than a year and a half together as a
group, the VoCals achieved another milestone when they won the
1997 USC Songfest competition. The VoCals' entry, "Great Moments In
USC History," combined a mix of humor, great singing and musicality,
a stomp routine and other exciting choreography, and some serious
drumstick rhythms. Performing in front of the largest crowd the VoCals
had seen to date--more than 1,000 people in USC's Bovard
Auditorium--the SoCal VoCals brought home the trophy--and put the
group on the USC map in a very big way. The VoCal win was a
stunning upset since the competition had been dominated by
fraternities and sororities for years. By the following year, the entry
requirements for Songfest had mysteriously changed: the minimum
number of participants for each group had been raised from 15 to 25,
leaving the VoCals ineligible for the competition. Was this change
intended to keep the VoCals out? Hmmm. What do you think?
With recording sessions complete, Steve, Dustin and Brock spent the
summer mixing in preparation for the album release on CD and
cassette in November. Matt MacPhail used his summer break getting a
perfect cover photograph of the SoCal VoCals embroidered logo,
obtaining mechanical rights clearances and designing the album
layout.
Returning from the summer break without their founder for the first
time, the VoCals decided Brock’s shoes were too big to fill. His position
would be filled by two separate people: a president and a musical
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director. Officers for 1997-1998 were Jamie Fougerousse (president),
Ann Lyles (musical director), Geoff Leung (business manager), and
David Higgins (treasurer). Matt MacPhail continued his still unnamed
job of maintaining the group’s brand identity, keeping the website and
history up to date, ordering logo items (including jerseys for new
members, sweatshirts, tour jackets, t-shirts, etc.), assisting with tour
planning, doing arrangements, buying Mentos, paying royalties for
album sales, and anything else that needed to be done.
The VoCals began the 1997-1998 year with auditions in VKC 108 over
the weekend of Sept. 6 and 7. Having lost only five members from the
previous year's ensemble, the group returned ready to rock with a
strong "core" from the previous year still intact. The decision about
whom to invite into the group wasn't easy: the VoCals auditioned over
70 people in the course of two days, with the caliber of singers even
higher than the year before. After rehearsal on Sunday, deliberations
began. It was a late night! The group took on five new members--2
women, 3 men--to bring its number back to nineteen. In order of
audition, the new members included: Mike Landau, Jonathan Redford,
Breanne Martin, Ryan Bolger and Sophia Harang.
While the idea of a retreat was proposed to welcome and bond with
new members, prior commitments prevented most of the group from
finding a free weekend. New VoCals had to prepare quickly to
entertain at The Weekender rally less than 3 weeks later on Sept. 27.
After the rally, the VoCals headed to Pier 39 where they ate at the new
Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. The next afternoon, USC beat Cal, but the
traffic and awkward parking situation made the VoCals less
enthusiastic about attending the Weekender game in the future. After
all, singing at the rally was the fun part. Zachary's Pizza made the trip
to Berkeley worthwhile, and a few VoCals discovered that they could
pull off "Ironic" with only 5 people…as long as Michael Villegas sang
the solo.
By this time, the SoCal VoCals had obtained their own domain and the
website had been switched from a student organization page to
www.scvocals.com. This gave the group complete control over content
and free of the limitations on university pages. A password protected
"Backstage Area" was developed for members only. John Heaton and
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Ryan Bolger built a server for the VoCals and painted it with a festive
red to black gradient.
On Saturday, March 7, the SoCal VoCals were asked to sing for Audra's
dad's 50th birthday party on the set of Friends. Having a gig in Los
Angeles the day before NCCA's at Stanford meant they'd have a very
long day of driving on Sunday. But would you pass up a chance to sing
for a group of Hollywood and record industry executives while standing
in Monica and Rachel's living room? Didn't think so.
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At NCCA's the next day, the tired VoCals did not advance to the final
round, alas, but winning the regional represented the culmination of a
year-long goal on the part of the group to advance past the VoCals'
"rookie" first round performance at the NCCAs in January 1997.
Over Spring Break 1998, the SoCal VoCals took their show on the road
with HIT THE ROAD '98. The tour began somewhat unceremoniously,
with the VoCals snowbound in a hotel in Kansas City, unable to fly to
Chicago in time to make it to Urbana-Champaign, IL to sing with the
University of Illinois X-Chords. The group found ways to amuse
themselves for the night, though, and the rest of the tour went more
smoothly. Over the next five days the VoCals sang with Indiana
University's Straight, No Chaser and the Boston University Dear Abbeys
at Bloomington, Indiana; Loyolacappella at Loyola University Chicago;
and 58 Greene at the University of Michigan. Fond memories of the
trip include great hospitality provided by parents of Mike Laundau and
Matt MacPhail, a trip to Hell (a town in Michigan), re-enacting a scene
from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off at the top of the Sears Tower, doing a kick
line and singing “Come On Eileen” while sitting on a long bench at
Union Station, and staging a fake mugging downtown to tease anyone
who thought Chicago was more dangerous than Los Angeles.
May 1998 graduates included Matt MacPhail (still without a real title),
Ann Lyles (Musical Director), Jamie Fougerousse (President), Geoff
Leung (Business Manager), Michael Villegas and founding member
Kelda Nelson. This meant the VoCals lost every officer except
Treasurer (David Higgins) all at once.
Geoff Leung had been such an enthusiastic business manager that the
VoCals had requests for appearances over the summer of 1998. So,
the members and alumni who were still in town gathered to rehearse
and perform at a few gigs. They enjoyed seeing each other over the
summer, and decided that maybe in the future, there would be enough
alumni around to form a “Summer VoCals” group. After all, the fun
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didn’t have to stop at the end of the school year, and neither did the
income.
In the Fall of 1998, the only original VoCal still in the group was
Stacy Burcham. Amy Throckmorton was elected to take over as
Musical Director, and the group chose David Higgins to be President.
Ryan Bolger took over the position of Treasurer and Hylon John
Heaton agreed to step in as the person who maintained the website,
generated graphics for flyers, and performed other miscellaneous
tasks. Heaton decided that this important position deserved a
name, but it was too hard to summarize everything included in the
job description. So, Heaton called himself “The MacPhail”.
The year began with a “Campus Blitz” which included singing all
over campus to publicize auditions. Michael Landau and Breanne
Martin decided not to continue singing with the group, leaving 8
continuing members going into auditions (Amy Throckmorton, David
Higgins, John Heaton, Ryan Bolger, Adrian Staton, April Jones, Stacy
Burcham and Jonathan Redford).
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Alumni welcomed the “newbies” at a party hosted by Ann Lyles at
the rec room of Skyline Condominiums, downtown. It was the first
Alumni/Member mixer. The goal was to keep strong family ties
between old and new members, and to have good jam sessions.
The group had pizza, sang, and sat in the hot tub.
The VoCals had to rush to learn music for their Oct. 9 concert with
the UC Berkeley Men's Octet, UC Golden Overtones, and the USC
Sirens. The new members were up to the challenge! Despite
Ground Zero's mistake in double-booking the VoCals with the Black
Student Union, forcing the show to be held in SGM 123, it went
really well. With the help of alumni and some rented equipment
from Hollywood Sound, the group even made a digital recording of
the show.
The first annual SoCal VoCals Retreat was a Fall 1998 weekend at a
cabin in Big Bear. The weekend included bonding events and a
mad dash to cram new and old music into new members' heads. It
was a great chance to try out VoCal cooking, see stars (can’t do that
much in L.A.), climb a huge waterfall, and stop at Ontario Mills Mall
for lunch and a quick street performance on the way home.
Again, the VoCals were hired for the Nov. 6 Weekender gig in San
Francisco, and they enjoyed a late dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp
Co. on Pier 39. There, they sang “Happy Birthday” to anyone in the
restaurant celebrating the occasion, and engaged in a cheering
competition with Alpha Chi Omega sorority members. The VoCals
and their alumni sang in the rain on Pier 39 until a security guard
asked them to leave at 1:00 am. Other good memories of the
Weekender include staying at Bryce Ryness’ house, winning the
game against Stanford, making clam chowder bowls, having hot
chocolate and s’mores and watching The Princess Bride.
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The VoCals debuted the Corrs’ version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”
and BNL’s “One Week,” as well as Natalie Umbruglia’s “Torn”. The
crowd was enthusiastic, but not as electric as previous years,
possibly because the concert was held mid-day instead of at night.
The VoCals attended a post-concert party and jammed with Cal
Tech’s Ecphonema.
The second annual TroJam featured the SoCal VoCals, Cal Tech’s
Ecphonema, and the UCSD TriTones, as well as USC’s Sirens,
Hangovers, and a new men’s group called “Allright” which included
VoCals Ryan Bolger and Jonathan Redford, and VoCal alumnus Mike
Landau.
For the third year in a row, the VoCals sold cappella Valentine grams
as a fund raiser, so new members had plenty of chances to learn
their music.
The NCCA went on hiatus for a year, leaving the VoCals more time
to focus on recording. During most of Spring 1999, the VoCals
disappeared underground to record their second album, “This 2
Shall Rock” or, “T2SR” for short. This album was the first VoCal
recording completely engineered and produced by Gabe Rutman at
Asylum Studios. One of the most prestigious accomplishments of
the 1998-1999 SoCal VoCals was getting a track on BOCA 2000 with
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“Torn”. This was the first of many consecutive appearances on
BOCA releases. In addition, “This 2 Shall Rock” won a second place
CARA (Contemporary A cappella Recording Awards) for Best
Collegiate Album of the Year. Within four years of forming, the
VoCals had truly risen to the level of the college a cappella elite.
The Summer of 1999 marked the first official Summer VoCals with
regular rehearsal times and many gigs. Returning alumni had a
blast learning new arrangements, getting to know new members,
and re-living very fond memories of singing with the group.
One goal for the year was starting another album, but doing it in
pieces instead of trying to record the whole thing in one brutal
semester. Those recordings would later become part of V3:
Previously Unreleased. The VoCals also decided they wanted to do
better at NCCA’s, get a track on the next BOCA album, and take a
Spring Break tour on a cruise ship.
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beautiful house at Big Bear. New and returning VoCals bonded,
crammed music into their heads, took candlelit baths, and some
even slept under the stars. Two days later, the new members were
thrown into the fire as they performed their first concert, held in
SGM 124.
While the Midwest Spring Break Tour of 2000 didn’t take place on a
cruise ship as they had hoped, it was still a blast. The first stop was
Carmel, Indiana, where the VoCals enjoyed all the comforts of
home: a private gym, sauna, pool table, foosball, huge wide-screen
TV, Jacuzzi, and cardinal and gold M&M’s (all compliments of Jade
Williams' parents). They were also treated to box seats at an
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Indiana Pacers game and dinner at Benihana. They did a show in
Wisconsin, then headed to Ann Arbor, MI for a gig with Amazin’
Blue. The tour ended with shows at the Chicago Music Mart and the
University of Chicago.
In Fall 2000, the group held auditions, although there were not very
many spots to fill, if any. Nervous, fresh-faced freshmen, and future
VoCal “rockstars,” Amy Thomas and Lisa Townsend were in the final
callback group, but the VoCals decided not to take any new members,
for the second time in VoCal history. Sources say that taking no
members made somewhat of a negative impact on the group, as there
was no one to teach, no one to keep the current members on their
toes, no one to impress.
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In the Fall of 2000, the VoCals sang at the Weekender Rally in San
Francisco, returned to SCAMFest, did their part to "Save Tommy", and
proudly presented their first WC Concert entitled "Urinal Harmony".
The year went on and by December, it was obvious that, for the first
time, the group would need to audition for new members before
entering ICCA's. The VoCals held auditions looking for a tenor and a
mezzo on January 11, 2001. This would only give the new members
about a month to learn the group dynamic, the songs and the routine,
but the chosen newbies, James Snyder, Meredith Anderson and Amy
Thomas (the first girl to be brought into the group as a tenor) were up
to the challenge.
On March 24, the VoCals and their alumni celebrated the group's 5th
anniversary (which was actually on Feb. 11) with a party in their
traditional rehearsal space, the living room at Marks Hall. The party
included a special performance by the VoCals, lots of food, and a trip
to Asylum Studios to record the USC Alma Mater and Tusk just for fun.
Spring 2001 kept the VoCals busy with recording sessions, Valentine
Grams, an SGM hallway concert with Brandeis University's VoiceMale
and the USC Sirens, another SGM hallway concert with Cal DeCadence,
the Fourth Annual "Love Sucks at Caltech" a cappella jam, a
performance at Alhambra High School, singing the national anthem for
two USC men's baseball games, entertaining prospective Trojans at
Preview, and a year-end concert to bid farewell to die-hard VoCals Jade
Williams and John Heaton. Oh, and by the way, they also opened for
Rockapella at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. Yes, THAT
Rockapella!
On June 16, 2001, Ann Lyles and Matt MacPhail became the first two
VoCals to get married. As of 2006, this distinction is still shared by
only one other couple: Bryce Ryness and Meredith Anderson.
Coincidentally, both Bryce and Meredith were present when the VoCals
entertained guests at Ann & Matt’s wedding reception at Town &
Gown. Founders Brock Harris and Audra Levi were in the wedding
party, along with Ryan Bolger. As promised more than four years
earlier, Stacy Burcham played the trumpet processional for the
ceremony at the USC Catholic Center. Stacy caught Ann’s bouquet,
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and VoCal alumnus Michael Villegas caught the garter.
Fall auditions were successful for the group in that it took two men and
one woman and one of those men was a deep bass. Now the bass
section would consist of Aaron Tesfai and Ryan Bolger, both standing
over 6’4”, and the new Ryan “Alvy” Alvarez, standing at 5’6”. From
that point on, Alvy would always be blessed, and cursed, by extremely
tall bass partners.
The others welcomed into the group were Ross Golan, who would be
graduating in 6 months but would achieve a solo at ICCAs and two
recorded solos on the upcoming album before officially leaving, and
Lisa Townsend, who had come back for her third audition and the
group didn’t have the heart to turn her down. She was extremely
happy to make it, as becoming a SoCal VoCal was the perfect excuse
to finally quit the girls club softball team.
And so, the group ventured up to Big Bear for a very comfortable and
rather expensive Fall Retreat. But as President Adam Blain would say,
“but we had a kick-ass time, didn’t we?” And the group did. They
rented a lovely cabin with a loft that could sleep 14 people and just
enough private rooms with double beds to officially open the doors to
new VoCal relationships, VoCal secret “relationships” and random
hook-ups – a mentality that would thrive from that point forward and,
as most would imagine, be taken to a whole new level with the opening
of the VoCal house four years later.
And, once again, the group traveled up North, only to come home
empty handed. Even with the girls looking hot, thanks to one special
hair straightener brought on the trip, there was something about those
puke-colored corduroys that must have kept the group from taking first
place over the new fun boy-group from Oregon.
Moving on from the tough loss, the group fulfilled a long-time goal and
organized a Spring break tour aboard a cruise ship to Catalina and
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Ensenada – singing at every stop along the way. The VoCals gathered
an impressive crowd for an impromptu concert at Catalina, sang in the
piano bar after dinner and entered the talent competition. By the end
of the trip they had performed an encore performance in front of half
the cruise ship and Adam Blain and Ross Golan were signing
autographs and taking pictures with high school girls.
Back from the trip, it was time to search for some new male blood, in
anticipation of filling spots of graduating seniors. Working their way
through button-filled blazers and blood-gushing neck scabs, the VoCals
held an impressive callback on Aaron Tesfai's 21st birthday. Some
would allow final callbacks to ruin their 21st birthday, but not Aaron
Tesfai: he showed up an hour late, completely hammered and a
complete riot. Nevertheless, the group was able to finish the process,
welcoming a record five new hot men to the VoCals: Jeremy Silver, Eric
Peterson, Barry O’Neil, David Weidoff – who came to one practice,
never performed with the group and took a “sabbatical” almost
immediately – and Michael Hoy, then a Junior, now still an active
member of the group.
Even with five new members, the VoCals held auditions for any new all-
stars. Enduring the groups first “mime” audition was well worth
listening to “David Duchovny, why don’t you love me,” because it
meant finding freshman Rebekah “Becky” Melocik and sophomore,
Maggie Criswell.
At the Fall Retreat that year, once again at our favorite Big Bear cabin,
the group installed a new tradition called, “Before They Were VoCals.”
Each member of the group brought a home video of themselves
venturing into the entertainment business at an early age. With Adam
Blain singing Boys 2 Men, Jeremy Silver in a leotard, Eric Peterson
singing sexy a cappella, Maggie Criswell as the all-American little girl
and Becky Melocik as the lead in Hello Dolly, this group took an
interesting look back at their journey’s to USC’s premier a cappella
group.
In the 2002 – 2003 year, Adam Blain took it upon himself to arrange a
Ben Folds Five song, “Underground,” which the group would utilize as
the opener to their ICCA's set and the album that had been in the
works since 2001. With “Underground,” James Snyder’s award-winning
rendition of “A Fire in Your Hand” and old faithful, “Total Eclipse of the
Heart,” the VoCals earned their third straight ICCA quarterfinal victory,
held once again at USC. The group would relearn Matt Quan’s favorite
arrangement of the “Footloose Medley” as their new closer for the
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ICCA semifinals. Once again, the group was sent home empty handed.
Fall 2003 rocked from the very beginning, literally. The VoCals opened
for The 88 at the Roxy and the SoCal VoCals were finally featured on a
marquee on the Sunset Strip.
This year gave the group some new challenges as the newbies
practically outnumbered the “oldies” and keeping tradition was a
serious concern. But with so many talented and creative members,
the group turned into a hybrid of VoCal tradition and a fresh new look
and sound. Katie Coleman, with her always evolving style, took hold of
the group’s style, choreography and overall look…thankfully.
Without the luxury of a big budget, Lisa Townsend and Ryan Alvarez
spearheaded the CD completion process to have the album ready for
the Spring Tour – planned by Amy Thomas and John Vermeer.
While in the studio that December, the group made a big decision to
move officer changeover into the Winter, as opposed to the end of the
Spring semester. Officers would lead for calendar years in hopes of
making the transition smoother between academic years. Jeremy
Silver and Rebecca Melocik took the reigns and led the group into a
different kind of Spring semester. The VoCals did not compete in
ICCA's that year but hosted the competition instead. They officially
completed the CD that had taken 3 years to make and the group
visited seven members' houses on the 2004 Midwest tour. Hosted by
the Townsends and Slutskys in Detroit, the Silvers, Hoys and Rahns in
Chicago and the Vermeers and Petersons in Minnesota, the VoCals
took over the Midwest high school scene and sold a remarkable
number of self-titled CD’s.
2004-2005 was another good year for the VoCals. With a full group
returning, they held auditions in hopes of finding one more bass to fill
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out the lower register. They weren't looking for anything else, but
decided to audition all parts just in case they came across someone so
amazing they couldn't say no. The first pleasant surprise was new
super-bass, Brian "Hatch" Malony. They would have been more than
satisfied with him, but they also met a bubble of energy better known
as Janel Healy. She left such a positive impression that the VoCals just
had to welcome her into the group.
Now armed to the gills with talent, the VoCals steamed ahead into the
New Year. They started with another kick-ass VoCal Retreat, this time
in a brand new gorgeous Big Bear cabin. Concerts and gigs came fast
and often. They hit up SCAMfest once again, performed monthly
campus concerts highlighted by the "VoCals Request Live" show where
the audience chose the set list, traveled to Arizona to perform as the
special guest group at the International Championship of High School A
Cappella, and sang the National Anthem at the Race For The Cure and
a Los Angeles Lakers game. They also began work on their fifth studio
album.
Fall 2005
The Fall auditions for 2005 resulted in exactly one new member for the
VoCals: Lucy Jackson. During the retreat at Big Bear, the VoCals
discovered that she couldn’t sing bass, bari and tenor while holding
down her mezzo and soprano parts, so they held a second set of
auditions. Donald Webber, Jr. had auditioned in the first round, but
wasn’t able to make callbacks, so he was given a “free” callback
21
during the second round. The group accepted Donald along with Matt
Pollard and Scott Johnson.
Then, the VoCals decided to push their limits. It was time to step back
on to the competitive stage after a 3-year hiatus from the ICCA's.
Along with ambitions to finally get the VoCals to New York for Finals,
the group began to put their blood and sweat into an amazing new
album: Get In. Rock. Get Out.
That semester, the VoCal House sheltered eight VoCals as tenants and
when you put that many VoCals in an enclosed space, some very
interesting things happen. The 2005-2006 VoCals were thrilled to be
the first generation to live in this dream!
Spring 2006
SoCal VoCals;
a Retrospective
By Daniel Aaron Payson-Lewis
Before they even fully recovered from their New Years hangovers, the
diaspora of VoCals on Christmas break boarded planes, hitched rides
down from the Bay, or maybe, just rolled out of bed at the VoCal house
in preparation for another radtacular semester at 1146 W. 27th Street.
This was going to be one of the most momentous semesters in the
group’s already legendary history.
The first order of business was the infamous and dreaded ICCA. Armed
with new basses (Scott and Matt) and a black dude (Donald) from late
semester auditions in 2005, the VoCals felt more ready than ever to
win despite it being their first attempt since 2003. The group put
together and organized a set that would be unlike anything the ICCA
had ever seen before. Choreographed by Brittany McDonald and
featuring music from Paula Abdul (Cold Hearted), Starland Vocal Band
a la Anchorman (Afternoon Delight), The Beatles a la En Vogue
(Yesterday) and Styx a la VoCals (Styx Medley), the VoCals'
quarterfinal performance on February 11 was truly a sight to see.
22
The VoCals strutted on stage with supreme confidence, ridiculously
hideous mismatching outfits and gobs of eyeliner. They sang, with
unparalleled conviction, a set of songs that left the audience asking
themselves, “what just happened?” They partied on stage. With
patented VoCal bravado, they knew they had won the night...until R.O.
swept the awards and first place.
But all was not lost. Perhaps confused by the VoCals' criminal good
looks (Matt Pollard), the judges named them the runners-up and gave
the group a shot at redemption -- a shot that was scheduled for March
18th in the Dinkelspiel Auditorium at Stanford.
With a little over a month and the judges' scathing reviews in hand, the
VoCals went back to the drawing board. They now understood that it
would take more than just having a black dude in tow to win this thing.
The group ditched the clown suits and streamlined the set. With
truncated versions of Cold Hearted and Styx Medley still on board, the
VoCals again dared to think outside the box and opened with a Power
Ballad by Heart (Alone). Under the visionary musical direction of Dan
Payson-Lewis, the group worked harder than ever. They even cut their
spring breaks short to go up to Los Altos for some extra rehearsal. This
was a big step for a group of raging alcoholics and potheads.
This time a more restrained version of the VoCals took stage and
delivered 12 minutes of music that any a cappella group in the country
would have been proud to call their own. Compared with their
quarterfinal performance in February, it was night and day. The group
had a coherent set of songs that focused on musicality and precise
movement. They looked sharp and coordinated in matching outfits.
They weren't even THAT cocky.
With their job on stage done just before intermission, the group left the
competition to get their drink on at a nearby Stanford watering hole.
After a few pitchers, they decided it might be a good idea to go back
for the end of the show and the awards. They returned just in time to
hear Vocal Point (BYU) absolutely destroy the rest of the competition in
the show's closing set. With Vocal Point taking all of the drama out of
the placement ceremony, the VoCals were only mildly pissed off to
hear that R.O. still somehow managed to beat them for the runners-up
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position. Some allege, to this day, that somewhere, somehow, sexual
favors were exchanged. The official story: since one of the judges was
not seated when R.O. began their set, the scoring was potentially
flawed, so the judges decided to send R.O. to finals along with Vocal
Point. Regardless, with the ICCA over, the group immediately reverted
to their troglodyte nature, and drank themselves into oblivion that
night.
At one point or another, the now somewhat humbled VoCals, were
revived from their alcohol-induced comas, and drove back down the 5
to beautiful South Central LA.
As the end of the semester approached, so too did the reality that the
group would be losing seven incredibly talented singers, 3 girls, 3 boys,
and Al Rahn. So the group did the only thing they knew how to do in
times like these: They held auditions for even better ones!
From March 27-29th the VoCals put the poor, meek, and pathetic
contingent of VoCal wannabes through the ringer. When all was said
and done, only four remained. These four were decidedly less poor,
less meek, and less pathetic than the rest. On March 30th, the group
decided to play a little prank on these 4 future VoCals. That night, Joe
Sofranko, Will Harris, Catherine Ricafort and Katie Lovejoy were all
invited back to the VoCal house for what they thought was going to be
a dreaded second call back. Just after being accused of being
“disappointing” in their callbacks, but a few moments before Joe peed
himself from nervousness, the VoCals dropped the ruse and exploded
in an unintelligible chorus of excitement as they rushed their now,
rightfully, terrified newbies on the couch (special shout-out to David
Patton for being particularly unintelligible). With new blood came new
24
traditions but the old one of getting absolutely hammered in
celebration stayed the same...and so they did.
Eventually, the newbie buzz wore off and the group had to deal with
the fact that they would soon say goodbye to seven graduating
seniors.
On May 1st, 2006, in a jam-packed Ground Zero, the VoCals took stage
one last time with their wonderful seniors: Katie Coleman, Mike Hoy,
Geoff Lind, Brittany McDonald, Rebekah Melocik, David Patton and Al
Rahn. It was a wonderful night, highlighted by epic solos from each of
the graduates. From Al's manic performance of “Underground” to
Geoff's powerhouse delivery of “To The Wire” each senior truly shined.
The group sent them all off with kind words, alcohol, and in one
case...an impromptu sing-a-long. To say that this concert was epic
would be an understatement. It was epic's big brother... “Fucking Bad-
Ass!”
Clearly the spring of 2006 was a banner semester for the VoCals. They
worked themselves to the bone, competed at a high level in the ICCA,
recorded an album, and brought on four awesome newbies. The best
part is that they had so much fun in the process that they didn't
remember most of it until many years later.
The Spring of 2007 started like most others for the VoCals: on-campus
promotional concerts followed by auditions. Ben Bram and David
Morgenthaler were accepted and thrown in to fend for themselves
without a retreat. There were a few typical events like Wednesday
lunchtime performances on campus, Ground Zero shows and Absolut A
Cappella, but this year’s Absolut was anything but typical.
Fresh off the heels of R.O. going to the ICCA finals, the VoCals had
tended to their bruised egos, held a big gut-check, and refocused.
25
Since it was a touring year and, therefore, an off-year for ICCA, Absolut
was the only chance to prove that the VoCals were still the best group
on their home turf. “We needed to get some of our swagger back,”
explains Joe Sofranko.
For the VoCals, Absolut A Cappella did just that, and as such, it was a
significant event and turning point for the group. They competed with
a fun, actually (somewhat) musically clean version of the “Footloose
Medley.” But the showstopper, the reason they won, was their version
of “Feeling Good”, featuring an incredible performance by David Rakita
supported by an all-star arrangement from Dan Payson-Lewis. “Feeling
Good” was the first time the group had really felt good about singing
and about making music together for quite some time. One other
important change occurred for Absolut, and that was the welcoming of
now-honorary VoCal, Lili Fuller, as choreographer. She wasn’t an
honorary VoCal yet, but basically just Joe Sofranko’s girlfriend who
happened to be very good at choreography, especially for non-dancers.
In the past, the choreographic style for the VoCals had been a bit more
like cheerleading with focus on formations and unison gestures.
Jumping in with less than a week to go before Absolut, Lili brought a
sense of story-telling combined with pedestrian movements. This
unique movement style as well as the re-focused musicality helped the
VoCals take home that bottle of Absolut that glorious night. More
importantly, it helped them regain confidence. It also began a
relationship between the VoCals and Lili Fuller that still prospers in
2011. And in some ways, this win at Absolut was the first small victory
on the road to winning the ICCAs just one year later.
Spring 2007 saw the rise of several new traditions: The SoCal VoCals
and Friends facebook page, the very first VoCalentine’s Day party,
VoCaliente (the Cinco de Mayo sendoff party got a new, catchy name),
the La Barca Challenge, and the A Cappella Olympics.
26
the other groups and have fun. But, as it turned out, the VoCals just
couldn’t help it.
The VoCals had the honor of singing at the Rose Bowl for the bright
and early Opening Ceremonies of Race for the Cure, followed by a gig
at a USC home baseball game. They were invited to sing at the brand
new Galen Center, sparkling home of USC’s basketball and volleyball
programs, and apparently, THE place to impress prospective students.
Back at home, The VoCals hosted the Stanford Harmonics and Oxford
Belles, sang for “Eggster” again, performed as non-competitors at
Songfest, appeared at the LGBT & Ally Commencement Ceremony, and
pitched a reality TV show with a shoot at the VoCal house. Yes, there
were lots of pitches that went nowhere.
As the semester wound to a close, the group was still in full swing with
money-making gigs and big plans for what would become the most
critically-acclaimed VoCal album to date. But they slowed down for an
evening at the intimate Village Gate Theater to send off Scott Johnson,
the only graduating senior, in style.
It’s a good thing the VoCals had a quiet summer because they were
about to work their tails off rehearsing like crazy while continuing to
earn money for recording. Fall dues were $150, but that was a drop in
the bucket.
Previous welcome back concerts had been held at the VKC arches with
poor acoustics, bad lighting and sound, no real seating and
unpredictable weather. This, thought the board, was a terrible way to
welcome freshmen and showcase USC’s a cappella groups. To
27
promote the groups well and to keep a cappella strong at USC, they
needed a grand venue like Bovard. And if the show were free, every
new student would want to attend. So, over the summer of 2007,
Business Manager Joe Sofranko and President Lucy Jackson worked like
mad to convince the USC USG Discretionary Board to allocate nearly
$3,000 to help the VoCals put on a huge concert featuring all 5 of
USC’s a cappella groups. It was tricky because the Discretionary Board
members were all out of Los Angeles, attending to their summer jobs
and travels. In the end, funding was secured and Dan Payson-Lewis
came up with a name. “All Hail A Cappella” was born. A few minutes
before curtain, the VoCals wondered aloud, “will anyone come to this
thing?” They were relieved to see a surge of people piling directly
from the Pardee/ Birnkrant/ New/ North area to Bovard Auditorium.
The freshmen looked like a train of ants traveling from their dorms to
Bovard. The plan had worked.
To this day, All Hail A Cappella is still the first concert of the year, still
features all campus a cappella groups, is still free, and most
importantly, is still filled to the brim with eager, curious freshmen.
While most groups go on tour in the Spring, the VoCals were willing to
go to Alaska in October…for the right price. Yes, seriously. Alaska.
They were hired to sing at the University of Alaska at Anchorage for
their 14th Annual A Cappella Festival. The rest of the trip was a kitsch-
filled drunken blast. Since Will and Joe were in The Crucible, and Scott
couldn’t go, David Patton was called back for the mini-tour to Alaska.
For their VKC Arches Halloween concert with the Sirens, the VoCals
donned “psych ward” costumes and two days later, hosted the
VoCalloween party at the VoCal House, which looked as though it were
28
built just for this event.
Fall brings SCAMfest, of course, and the VoCals performed by the USC
bookstore for Homecoming. Since the MacPhails were there, Matt sat
in for Hooked on a Feeling.
For the second time, the VoCals sang for announcer Pat Haden’s
Christmas party, establishing a tradition. Then, they headed directly to
Room 5 to celebrate the 30th birthday of founding member Stacy
Burcham. The musical guest for the evening was Gabriel Mann, and of
course, the VoCals swayed together and chimed in on their parts
during “Got To Go Up To Go Down” – a song that featured the VoCals
on Gabriel Mann’s album.
Spring 2008
Joe Sofranko
The best the VoCals had ever done at ICCAs was getting runner-up at
Semifinals. This year would be different. It had to be. Donald Webber,
Jr., had spent months locked in his room studying past ICCA-winning
performances on YouTube. Other group members were obsessing over
the details of Vocal Point’s stellar 2006 performance and Noteworthy’s
noteworthy 2007 performance, both of which took home the crown.
This year, it just had to be the VoCals. The group was ready. It’d be
nice to say, something just clicked! But no, the series of events in the
last few pages of this book are the reason it finally clicked. “The Gut
Check of Fall 2006” refocused the group and forced the VoCals back
into having discipline with their music. The win at Absolut A Cappella
in 2007 gave the group the confidence, and the choreographer. The
East Coast Tour of 2007 brought the group together in a way that only
spending every single night with one another can do. The group had
bonded in a new way since that Gut Check—both socially and
musically.
The only thing the group had yet to learn was this: winning isn’t
everything. But not so fast. In the Quarterfinals round at Bovard,
winning was everything. Pride was on the line. Two years of
heartache, stress, and work was on the line. If the VoCals didn’t win,
we would fail in the hearts of many of the seniors like Dan Payson-
29
Lewis, Matt Pollard, David Rakita, Lucy Jackson, Allie Feder, Janel
Healy, and Donald Webber, Jr.—an especially talented group of seniors
that knew that this was their last chance to win. “Feeling Good” was
on the set list. It was the best song Dan Payson-Lewis had arranged in
over a year, featuring the best singer that we had, David Rakita. No
brainer, it was our opener. The next two songs we struggled and
researched and argued over for days. “Movin’ On” was a solid hit at
the 2007 Halloween concert, and also featuring one of our best
soloists, Allie Feder. It wasn’t a breathtakingly challenging song, but it
was solid, and Allie sounded great. Thinking that only a girl could
possibly sing the notes of Freddie Mercury, “Somebody to Love” was
pitched last. Dan Payson-Lewis surprised everyone, possibly even
himself, when he nailed an audition for the solo just a week before the
Quarterfinals round.
Lili Fuller, the new choroeographer from Absolut 2007, gladly joined
forces with the VoCals, and taught choreography for the whole set that
flowed together yet still had varied tones. “Feeling Good” was smooth
and cool, “Movin’ On” was hip-hop funk, and “Somebody to Love” was
rocking out inside of a prison cell.
30
To the current group of USC's SoCal VoCals:
31
Too early to predict winning the whole thing? Maybe. When the VoCals
won Quarterfinals, the seniors, and everyone, felt relieved. They were
good enough to do this. But winning Semifinals would require a
different level of determination. After careful discussion, the group
decided it would be best to drop “Movin On’” from the set. Allie
sounded great, but it wasn’t doing for what they needed that middle
song to do. It needed to move people, to be something that was
inherently unique, and it needed to be more challenging and more
musically interesting. The song was almost never found, but David
Rakita finally pitched a version of “All the Things You Are.” When the
group agreed, Rakita worked quickly to transcribe the original and
tweak the ending so it created something more powerful for us. With
less than two weeks to go before the Semifinals in Marin, the group
learned one of the most challenging songs the VoCals have ever sung.
And Lili Fuller guided the group in some of the simplest, most beautiful
choreography the VoCals had ever performed. Everyone knew it: this
song was magical.
In Marin, nerves flared again upon seeing the likes of their biggest
rivals, an all-star lineup of groups--Vocal Point, Noteworthy, Divisi,
Scattertones, These Guys, Fermata Nowhere, and Golden Overtones.
Just performing among these talented groups was an honor. But then,
the VoCals who had previously been so obsessed with nothing but
winning did one simple thing—they released themselves of the
pressure of winning. It happened in some side room of the Marin
Center that they weren’t supposed to be in. They nabbed the room to
run the set once through with full singing and choreography. It was
hard to find a place, but this room seemed tucked away so that no one
would find it. And it was in this room that the energy of the VoCals
changed. They suddenly felt that they had earned their place and no
longer needed to prove to anyone else or any other group that they
deserved to be there or that maybe they deserved to win. No, they
realized…they loved singing…and they loved each other. And that was
about it. They decided in this room that Semifinals was no longer
about winning, but about giving music and story to the audience. If
they could move one person out there, they’d consider this a success.
And in their final run-thru in that room, there was not a dry eye, as the
group suddenly felt the passion all coming to a head, the hard working
paying off, and the pure, joyous release in making music with your
best friends. Winning didn’t matter after this run-through, because
they knew they had something special.
Needless to say, the VoCals brought the energy to the stage. “Feeling
Good” was as dreamy as ever. “All the Things You Are” was followed
by audible incredulous gasps from the audience. “Somebody to Love”
brought down the house. Lili texted the group “you just won.” The
32
audience agreed, there was no doubt. The VoCals walked away from
Semifinals that night with the highest score in ICCA history. Dan
Payson-Lewis won Best Soloist for “Somebody to Love”, Lili won Best
Choreography, and for the first time, the VoCals were going to New
York to compete in the Finals at Lincoln Center.
The group made it to New York, stayed at the Blakeley Hotel, rented a
rehearsal space in midtown, and ultimately performed on that glorious
Lincoln Center stage in Avery Fischer Hall. The pressure on the group
felt low, surprisingly, considering it was the Finals. You’d think this
would be the climax of the story, but rather it was more of a
denouement. They did some interviews and some videos for podcasts.
They went onstage, they did well, and then they won. Not as thrilling
as Marin emotionally, but it certainly was a landmark in the SoCal
VoCals’ history. For the first time, the group had won the ICCAs,
something that had seemed impossible for years. It was surreal, not
only for the group members, but for the alumni all over the country
and those who had flown in for the occasion. As an encore, the group
sang “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” featuring Janel Healy, and then at the
“official” Varsity Vocals after-party the group sang “Dirt Road,”
featuring newbie Mike Coverley.
But there was an even better party that happened after the “official”
party. It occupied Abbocato, a restaurant filling the entire bottom floor
of the Blakeley, which was rented out by Ann and Matt MacPhail for the
sole purpose of throwing a huge celebration for the VoCals, no matter
what the outcome. Good thing the VoCals won, because it made the
party that much sweeter. Tons of alumni came out that night, many
songs were sung, and many interesting drunken things happened. The
group was proud.
The next morning (which felt more like the middle of the night) began
around 6 am when the VoCals forced themselves out of their drunken
slumbers and taxied on over to Rockefeller Center to tape a segment
on “The Today Show.” The group was struggling, but you couldn’t tell,
33
as they managed to rock “Somebody to Love” with adapted,
condensed choreography for TV. Dan “cords of steel” Payson-Lewis
impressively pulled out some of Freddie’s notes early in the morning
despite the night’s heavy drinking. David Rakita didn’t make it out of
the dressing room. But at least he had fun the night before. Or maybe
it was the calamari. We’ll never know.
The group took its first ever Spring Retreat to Ben Bram’s parents’
house in Brentwood. It proved to be a nice physical escape from USC’s
bounds as well as a way to bond and prepare musically for ICCAs. Oh,
and it was a big party. Duh.
Lisa Barkett and the Trojan League of San Diego began a strong
history of supporting the VoCals. The group took a trip down to San
34
Diego, did a full-length concert, and received donations from many,
many, supportive USC alumni in the area.
March 2008 saw the group’s first ever VoCommedus Show. This was
the brain child of Joe Sofranko who thought that it would be cool to
team up with Commedus Interruptus, USC’s premiere improv troupe,
and collaborate on a show together that combined improvisation and a
cappella. Games for the show included: VoCals singing a song without
a soloist and a Commedus member made up a solo based on a
suggestion from the audience; VoCals providing soundtrack for a
longer-form improv scenes that fed off of the music; freeze tag improv
where two Commedus members would do a scene and then get tapped
out by two VoCals who would go on and sing a portion of the scene;
sound effects, and more… The show was a success, and the tradition
still carries on.
May 2008 saw the group’s first Senior Send-Off Concert in the Bing
Theatre. Previous Send-Offs had been at Ground Zero and the Village
Gate Theatre. The seniors agreed that the Bing was a classier, more
intimate choice than Bovard. For this sendoff, all of the seniors had
solos arranged especially for them. The YouTube video of Allie singing
Katie Perry’s song, “Thinking of You” earned her high praise from
Perry, herself. The group said farewell to a large group of incredible
talent: Matt Pollard, Dan Payson-Lewis, Lucy Jackson, Allie Feder, Janel
Healy, Donald Webber, Jr., and David Rakita, who was the subject of
the longest sendoff speech to date. It was fitting: Rakita had spent five
full years in the group.
The VoCals and friends retreated to the house to savor a few more
moments together. As if it were planned, Gabriel Mann sat at the
piano and performed a few songs while all reflected on the talent in the
35
room, the incredible year, and these friends that were leaving -- but
not just yet.
Because the rest of the semester was so jam-packed, during the week
after Senior Send-Off, the group (including the just-graduated seniors)
settled down to record a number of tracks that would eventually find
their way onto “Unanimous” months later.
Fall 2008
Joe Sofranko
All Hail A Cappella went into its second go-around, this time almost
entirely produced by Business Manager Emily Goglia. It was a success
again—everything was paid for, and Bovard was packed.
One of the challenges of this semester was recouping after losing such
a large group of talented singers. In particular, the VoCals had lost
three tenors at once—Donald Webber, Jr., David Rakita, and Dan
Payson-Lewis. The VoCals flyered hard-core (with a little bit of help
from Dan himself!), facebook ad campaigned, and did everything to
spread the word about auditions. Luckily, two fantastic tenors showed
up who both made the group at Fall Auditions: Jeff Sontag and
Thomas Henry.
The Fall 2008 Retreat was in Big Bear and it was bomb.
36
thing in the VoCals, and it began with Donald Webber, Jr. and Will
Harris when the show first premiered in Fall 2006.
The group wowed at SCAMFest and proved that they could still sing
well after losing the big bunch of seniors. Catherine Ricafort rocked a
new version of “Misery Business”, which was so popular that current
members and alumni agreed it needed to be on “Unanimous.” Joe and
Will once again performed their usual antics in a memorable
improvisational sound effect / narration introduction to the Claremont
Shades.
The pieces were set into motion for a Spring Tour 2009 to the
Midwest, which was led and thoroughly organized by Rachel Saltzman.
Elections occurred for what would become the Board of 2009. Results
were as follows: Adam Hutchison, President; Emily Goglia, Business
Manager; Kenton Chen, Music Director; Rachel Saltzman, Treasurer;
Thomas Henry, MacPhail.
Spring 2009
Ann Lyles MacPhail
In 2009, Adam Hutchison took the reins as President with Kenton Chen
as Musical Director. The group started off with the usual Involvement
Fair to promote auditions, and sang with Gabriel Mann’s new band,
“The Rescues” at the Hotel Café.
Again, they held auditions in THH, had callbacks and attended another
Spring Retreat at the Bram’s place. The group was very excited to
take five amazing newbies: Mandy Mamlet, Katie Sims, Megan Lollar,
Sean Flanagan and Olivia Peet.
37
This year, they only watched the ICCA Quarterfinals in Bovard, but
didn’t compete. Alumna and member of the ICCA-winning group, Lucy
Jackson was now the West-Coast Producer of the ICCA’s.
March 2009 also saw the very first Alumni Retreat. A group of alumni
rented a house in Las Vegas, played Kings and a lot of beer pong, used
the home theater to watch James Snyder in “She’s The Man”, made
Scott Johnson’s ice cream pie, went down to The Strip, and, well, from
there on, the “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” rule applies.
Let’s just say they were lucky that DP’s car didn’t roll into someone’s
living room, no one threw up in the limo, and the police only showed
up once.
The VoCals celebrated Cinco de Mayo with VoCaliente (again with the
traditions) and prepared for their Senior Sendoff at Bing. This time,
there were three graduating seniors: Joe Sofranko, Catherine Ricafort
and Will Ajax Harris.
Also in May, the VoCals opened for Ben Folds at The Paladium. It was
an audience-judged competition to promote a new compilation of a
cappella covers of Ben Folds’ songs. Several alumni were pulled in for
this high-profile gig, and they all had fun rubbing elbows with Sara
Bareilles and Josh Groban in the VIP balcony. William Shatner was
spotted at the show as well.
Once again, the VoCals were welcomed by The Trojan League of San
Diego at Lisa Barkett’s home in La Jolla. They met USC VIP’s, consumed
a fabulous dinner and collected a helpful check.
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Over the summer of 2009, the VoCals performed at Disney Hall for the
graduating foster kids of United Friends of the Children, and they
welcomed new students at freshman orientations.
Fall 2009
Ann Lyles MacPhail
But alumni weren’t the only ones paying attention to the VoCals. NBC
was working on a new reality TV show called The Sing-Off, featuring a
cappella groups that would compete for a recording contract. They
wanted The VoCals to be on the show, badly. Specifically, they wanted
the 2008 ICCA-winning group to be on the show. But by this point, half
of the National Championship VoCals had graduated, and the
remaining members were enrolled as full-time students. They couldn’t
just take ten or six or even three weeks off to tape a television show in
the middle of a semester. The University refused to let the students
make up finals later, and no one was very comfortable with NBC calling
a group of mostly alumni “The SoCal VoCals”. NBC didn’t want a large
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group, anyway, so someone would be asked to sit out. The hours
would be brutal, and the producers’ scheduling accommodations didn’t
go far enough. It just didn’t make sense for the current students
unless they were all willing to drop courses.
Those available from the Spring 2008 group pulled in a few other
alumni and one brave member of the current group, Kelley Jakle. They
dubbed themselves “The SoCals”. The name was particulary amusing
after years of hearing it mistakenly applied to the VoCals, but the
SoCals had a lot going for them. The judges loved them and
recognized their vocal talent, energy and stage presence. The SoCals
made a respectable showing on The Sing-Off and proved that
collegiate a cappella experience transfers quite nicely to the
professional stage.
The semester ended with another handful of gigs (Asanti, Pat Haden,
University Club in Pasadena) and the beloved SoCal Vo-HO-HO-Cal
Concert at UUC church, though there are some discrepancies in reports
of the exact name over time (HO-HO-HO-Cal vs VO-HO-HO-Cal. The
crowd at UUC was standing room only, as usual, and many alumni
returned for the show and reception.
Spring 2010
Thomas Henry
The spring semester of 2010 saw the VoCals gearing up for a much
anticipated competition semester. The previous fall, they had decided
they would again go for the ICCA title and re-crown themselves ICCA
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Champions. It was a long road, full of hard work and lots of rehearsing.
Much was to be done: costume decisions, solo auditions,
choreography, and lots of cleaning. But before all of that could begin,
the VoCals had to choose their set. After a long, arduous decision
process, they came out with what would prove to be the perfect, ICCA-
winning set. Their first song would be an old jazz standard “God Bless
the Child,” as performed by Billie Holiday, their second song would be
an acoustic rendition of “Crazy Ever After” by the Rescues, and their
closer was a show-stopping cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Living for the
City. Somewhere in the midst of the whirlwind that was ICCA
preparation, the VoCals held spring auditions and picked up four
incredible newbies! Will Goldman, Alex Hamm, Lexie Lowell, and Tory
Stolper did not perform with the VoCals in quarterfinals, but they
jumped right into the group’s set afterwards and Lili Fuller worked
them in seamlessly into the choreography. These newbies gave the
VoCals a full wall of sound that would eventually help carry them
through to the ICCA Championship.
Once the VoCals were through to Semifinals, the real work started.
After taking time to tweak the arrangements and choreography, as
well as work in the newbies, the VoCals produced a fantastic product
that they took to Semifinals. Also on the Bovard stage, the VoCals
again took first place and this time took home the awards for Best
Arrangement (Dan Payson-Lewis and Stacy Burcham for “Crazy Ever
After”) and Outstanding Soloist (Emily Goglia for “God Bless the
Child”). Elated and excited to be going on to represent the entire West
Coast in the ICCA Finals in New York City and to get back on the
Lincoln Center Stage, the VoCals partied. Hard.
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the VoCals secured their legacy as one of the most celebrated,
decorated, and kick-ass groups in the history of collegiate a cappella.
Though the ICCA journey dominated the semester, Spring 2010 also
had other items on the docket! Retreat in spring 2010 had to be a little
bit later due to preparations for Quarterfinals, but it proved to be on
the wilder side of notorious VoCal Retreats. The VoCals also had gigs at
Ground Zero, Explore USC, Songfest, a beautiful gala in Glendale, and
a bitterweet goodbye to Emily, Ben, Adam, Kenton, and David at the
2010 Senior Sendoff concert, where they performed the 2010 ICCA
Championship set for the last time. They also threw wild and successful
VoCalentine’s (February) and VoCaliente (May) parties, and wrapped
up the semester with a photo shoot of the ICCA-winning group and
recording for the new EP, which took the VoCals into summer. Just like
that, the VoCals were ready to gear up for a new semester.
Fall 2010
By Rachel Saltzman and Ann Lyles MacPhail
Fall 2010 auditions brought two of the most talented individuals that
the VoCals have seen to date: Scott Hoying and Segun Oluwadele. Not
only were they both Popular Music Majors, but they were both from
Texas AND roommates! As per tradition, the VoCals took the trek to
Big Bear to pop their VoCal cherries Retreat-style.
Also in October, the VoCals released their first music video covering DJ
Earworm’s “Like OMG Baby” Summer Mashup.
A week after the Halloween madness ended, the VoCals made their
annual drive to Pamona for SCAMfest! Most noteable, Coverley rocked
the house with "Kings and Queens." And of course, they couldn't leave
the Pomona campus without making their usual trek to The Coop- the
cafe on campus with the most unbelievable curly fries. It's become
tradition with RO to go there after ”RoCaling” in the lobby of Bridges
Auditorium.
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The following weekend, the VoCals drove down to San Diego to
perform for the Trojan League of San Diego once again. Because of
their incredible generosity toward the Spring 2010 trip to New York for
ICCAs, the VoCals promised a full-length performance in return, and
that's just what they got! The Trojan League of San Diego is an
incredible organization that plans events just around VoCal visits down
there, and this one was no different. Some of the group’s biggest
supporters were in the audience, including Bill and Lisa Barkett- who so
graciously took the VoCals to an amazing Mexican feast after the gig!
And finally- the semester ended with the a Christmas Concert in the
UUC. Donning their now-traditional holiday purple, they graced the
audience with VoCal holiday favorites. They waved goodbye to 2010
and parted ways for winter break, excited for what Spring 2011 would
bring!
Spring 2011
By Rachel Saltzman
Spring 2011 started off with an awesome round of auditions where the
VoCals found two amazing new members: Lauren Scott and Peter
Mitchell. In that same week, they also had the incredible opportunity to
sing the National Anthem before the Los Angeles Kings Game at
Staples Center. In the same vein, on Valentine's Day, they were a
surprise guest at the request of Athletic Director and long-time
supporter and friend, Pat Haden. In the crowd was none other than
USC Football head coach, Lane Kiffin. He tweeted about the VoCals
after the performance- no big deal. :) Pat also asked the VoCals to
perform the National Anthem at a few upcoming USC Basketball games
at the Galen Center.
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In February, the SoCal VoCals and alumni celebrated their 15th
anniversary with a fiesta dinner at the new El Cholo downtown and a
late-night after-party at the VoCal house.
There are many exciting things still to come this semester: Absolut A
Cappella, the long-awaited 15th Anniversary, and an East Coast Spring
Break Tour. In addition, they’re working on finishing up a 2010 ICCA
Set EP and will begin working on their seventh studio album after the
tour. Spring 2011 promises to be a semester to remember!
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