Earlier this month, student band Alto performed an original song in front of more than 7,000 students and alumni at Spring Sing 2012, one of UCLA’s oldest musical traditions.
Its members were not prepared for the attention their performance would unleash: three awards, a standing ovation from the audience and a personal shoutout by UCLA alumna Sara Bareilles, who expressed her adoration of the band’s performance via Twitter.
Alto is comprised of fourth-year ethnomusicology student Nicolette Yarbrough, third-year music and psychology student Veronica Rogers and fourth-year music performance and music education student Jessica Jones. The stringed trio, whose influences range from Punch Brothers to 1920s jazz music, is often accompanied by guitarist Joseph Lorge, a fourth-year ethnomusicology student.
On Thursday afternoon, all four will perform in Bruin Plaza.
Jones, the bassist and vocalist, said the band plans to play a versatile set of songs at the show, with more string melodies and instrumentation different from a typical setup.
“We’re … very influenced by the 1920s. We have songs like “˜Vocable’ that are more poppy, and then we have other songs like “˜Shush,’ which are very jazz-influenced. We just try to make sure our music is relatable and fun to listen to,” Jones said.
Jones also said the band is not limited to any stereotypical notions of a “lead” singer or songwriter and is very dedicated to equal collaboration. For Alto, an idea may start with an individual, but each member of the band does her part filling in the gaps.
Alto recently won three Spring Sing awards, including “Best Band Performance,” “Bruins’ Choice Award” and “Best Overall Performance” for its original song “Vocable,” which is currently available as a free download on the band’s Bandcamp website.
Yarbrough said that regardless of the band’s recent success, the members are still students first. They decided to finish school and then see where the band ends up a year or two down the line.
“Everyone has multiple things they’re thinking about at once, so it’s tough. I would love it if we were to continue the band after graduation; this is what I want to do with my life,” Yarbrough said.
Lorge, who also serves as the band’s producer, said Alto is anticipating the release of its long-awaited debut EP.
“We’ve been recording for a really long time. We worked hard before Spring Sing to finish “˜Vocable.’ We’re finally almost done and hoping to get done with the tracking before the quarter is over,” Lorge said.
Alto will use Kickstarter ““ a crowd-funding website artists use to raise money for creative projects ““ to raise enough funds to print copies of the album.
In Alto’s song “Vocable,” Jones sings, “Seasons come and seasons go, they don’t have to stay / So I say, Oh I just wanna get away from it all.” Jones said the line refers to the events one does not have control over in life, and the need to sometimes let go.
In a similar light, Alto may be on the verge of an exciting future all because of its Spring Sing performance, which has generated a great amount of attention and buzz from students on campus.
Rogers said the acknowledgement the band is currently receiving will hopefully open doors for more people to listen to Alto’s music .
“We just want the type of audience that will respond to our music and take interest in what we have to offer. We just don’t want to be changed by any of this recent recognition,” Rogers said.