The UCLA Scattertones
Founded in the Fall of 2002, the UCLA ScatterTones are a top notch co-ed a cappella group. The ensemble recently released a full-length CD, ToasterScent. In addition, this past Saturday, January 20, the group competed at and won first place in an International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) quarterfinal. The group now moves on to compete in the ICCA West Semifinals in San Rafael, CA on March 10.
ScatterTones President Keith Legro took the time to answer questions from A Cappella Blog co-founder Mike Chin.
A Cappella Blog (ACB): What can listeners expect from The ScatterTones' CD, ToasterScent?
Keith Legro (KL): A lot of variety and a lot of entertaining music. Of course we work hard to make sure that all of our songs are technically sound, but we really pride ourselves on putting together sets, and in this case a CD, that will really keep the audience on the edge of their seats. With ToasterScent being our first CD it's a real eclectic mix of the early ScatterTones music, all the way through the modern day group.
ACB: As a co-ed group, what advantages do the ScatterTones enjoy? What challenges does the nature of the group present?
KL: Obviously being a co-ed group gives us the advantage of being able to do almost any song we can think of. Because we have men and women we are able to have a little more variety not only in our song choice, but in our sound. Our listeners get a chance to hear the best of both worlds. The one disadvantage I have come across with being co-ed group is our blending. It is a lot easier to have a full single voice sound when you have either all men or all women. It becomes very difficult, when you have both, to get all of the parts to really lock in together. But, just because it is more difficult doesn't mean its impossible, and that's what we always strive to do.
ACB: What sort of relationship do The ScatterTones have with the other a cappella groups at UCLA? Do you collaborate much? Is there any rivalry between the groups?
KL: I personally think we have a great relationship with the other groups on campus, but we are always trying to improve it. Without any of the other groups, such as Random Voices and Awaken, our a cappella community would become that much weaker. We all know each other, and talk about gigs and different things like that all the time. We usually try to collaborate at least once a year on an event or concert to try and draw the entire UCLA fan base, then later in the year we will split up and go our separate ways with our performances. We always try to communicate so we can make sure that auditions and concerts don't conflict. Sometimes we butt heads a little bit, but we are always able to smooth things out and help keep the community strong.
ACB: Describe a typical ScatterTones rehearsal. How often do you guys practice and what do you do to achieve such success by the time you hit the stage? Do rehearsals change before a big show? Before you go into competition?
KL: A typical ScatterTones rehearsal lasts 2-3 hours. For the first 20 minutes or so we talk business, whether its gigs, concerts, CDs, whatever. Then we do a few quick warm-ups and we are ready to sing. If we are learning a new song we split into parts to go over it. If not, we go straight to our trouble spots that we may have discussed earlier and talk about what to fix , and the we keep singing and changing things around until we get it just how we want it.
We rehearse 2-3 times a week normally. As we get closer to performance, we rehearse stage presence and choreography. We want to make sure we look good, as well as sound good. Stage presence will only make the performance that much better so we make sure to have that as perfect as we do our music.We always want make sure we know where we are going with a song before we perform it, we try and imagine what we want it to sound like and what purpose we want it to serve, and then we work our way towards doing exactly that.
ACB: What can we expect to see from The ScatterTones in the future? Any new songs in the works? Any upcoming gigs of note?
KL: Our repertoire and our sound is constantly changing, and we are much better for it. You can expect the same fun loving ScatterTones attitude and performances, but musically we are just continuing to get better and better. Our goal is always that, as an individual, you want to be the worst singer in the group by the time you graduate, that way you know the group is getting stronger. We had our fall concert in early December and then we still have to decide on a few gigs for the rest of the year. But there might even be an east coast tour thrown into the mix pretty soon.
ACB: How does your group go about deciding which songs to add to its repertoire?
KL: Adding songs is a pretty simple process. Someone hears what they like and then they present it to group. The group will listen to the song, and the person who wants to arrange it will tell us what it is they want to do with the song by giving us examples of parts, rhythms, etc. Then we vote as a group, and if the song passes it begins being arranged.
ACB: What drew you, personally, to collegiate a cappella in the first place?
KL: I honestly had no idea about college a cappella coming out of high school. I had sang all four years and came into college thinking that my singing career was done because I didn't want to be in the UCLA chorale. Then, at one of the welcome week fairs I heard the ScatterTones performing, and was really impressed by how amazing the individual voices were and how great the group sounded as a whole. They looked like they were having so much fun that I decided to talk to one of the members afterwards. They convinced me to audition and that was that.
If you would like to learn more about The ScatterTones, you can visit the group online at http://www.scattertones.com.