The sound of chugging workout equipment fills a silent room, soon to be covered up by a layer of harmonious voices.
While workout equipment and a cappella do not usually go hand-in-hand, the Hedrick Recreation Room became home to SouLA, UCLA’s Chinese a cappella ensemble. The group was rehearsing for their 2014 debut on Sunday, Feb. 2 at Royce Hall, for the Chinese Students and Scholars Association’s Chinese Culture Night. Their next performance will be on this upcoming Saturday evening, closing for the Caltech Chinese Association’s 2014 Spring Festival Gala.
In the recreation room that was converted into a practice space, SouLA bickered, gossiped and laughed, like any family. SouLA is still a new entity as far as UCLA a cappella groups go. The ensemble was formed by founder and president Shavvon Lin, a second–year communication studies student.
“I started it because I saw how people are really enthusiastic about singing, especially the Chinese community,” Lin said.
Last year, Lin organized a meeting in Ackerman Union with three fellow students: Marvin Zhu, creative director, and the two musical directors Jiacheng Mo and Jiaoyang Zhang. Now, the a cappella group numbers 19 members in total, 18 of whom perform, and Mo, who said that he solely arranges music.
Among the group is one permanent member from USC, Brian Xu, who commutes weekly to UCLA for rehearsals.
As far as musical selection goes, Lin said SouLA does not want to cover mainstream music, and instead it performs more Chinese mainland rock music and independent music. The song the a cappella group performed at Royce Hall and will take the stage again with at Caltech, is a Chinese hit called “The Brightest Star in the Night Sky” by Escape Plan. However, the group has done arrangements of both American and Chinese songs, such as a mashup of Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” and a Chinese pop song “One Night in Beijing.”
“A challenge is rearranging the music for a cappella. The songs we choose are popular, and we have to add something new,” Zhu, a second–year music history student, said.
SouLA works toward its goal this year, Zhu said, by adding the performance element of choreography to “The Brightest Star in the Night Sky.”
Mo, a third–year materials science student, acts as music director for the ensemble with Zhang. Mo said his favorite part of SouLA is coming together for the rehearsals and making progress because he said even he can occasionally get bored with purely arranging the music.
However, for their upcoming performance, Mo said he is most excited to hear not just the music, but rather see the choreography come to life.
For their performance, SouLA changes formations, highlighting soloists with body direction angling and arm movements that draw the audience’s attention and add intricacies to their routine.
Last year, choreography was very much an idea that had yet to occur, as SouLA was still focusing on gaining their footing as a new ensemble.
During winter quarter of 2013, Lin judged a Chinese singing competition held on campus that was hosted by the CSSA, and was amazed at the amount of interest and quality of the contestants. Lin realized UCLA’s TAU A Cappella, a Taiwanese group on campus, sung mainly Chinese songs and that a Chinese a cappella group, with a combination of Chinese and American influences, might garner a lot of interest.
Moving forward with SouLA, the original four set up auditions during spring quarter and had a turnout of more than 50 people, even attracting a few USC students because of a lack of local Chinese a cappella groups.
Most of the members have no technical vocal experience to speak of. However, Zhu said since SouLA formed, members have begun to join the university choirs and discover an interest in singing in ensembles. Few students have ever seemed so eager to go to a workout recreation room.
“Seeing people being passionate about it, that’s why I formed it,” Lin said, “as a platform for people who like to sing together.”
As their performances drew closer, SouLA’s rehearsal time increased to six hours per week instead of three, but some members said they actually enjoy the more frequent practice schedule. Lead soprano and a third-year electrical engineering student Alyssa Luo said the time is spent with people who love the same thing: singing.
“We’re like a family; we hang out outside of SouLA rehearsals, but sometimes it is hard to get people to agree on one thing because there are so many people in the group,” Lin said. “Sometimes we have conflicts and different opinions and we just have to make it work.”
On their break in Hedrick, the group teased each other, especially the three current couples that have formed thanks to SouLA relationships. A few group members even tried to hint towards a new relationship they were hopeful about to bring their total up to four.
Lin said at their first concert in 2013, they did not yet know how to put all the great individual soloist voices SouLA possesses together. Since then, Lin said they have grown together immensely.
“It’s here we can sing without any other concerns,” Luo said, spreading her arms wide to encompass the small room.
As the group’s break ends and they take their places, the treadmills become rhythmic support for an a cappella group that has begun to find their voice as one.
Internal manager Iris Zhang, a third-year economics student, said it all comes down to the feeling you get, the harmony when everyone joins in singing.