Released in 2012, “Pitch Perfect” was an unexpected hit that had us all snatching glasses out of cupboards to mimic Anna Kendrick as she casually belted the song “Cups (When I’m Gone).” The rivalry between the film’s collegiate acapella groups, The Barden Bellas and The Treblemakers, provided catchy mash-ups and Riff-Off rivalries that popularized acapella as a form of music-making in mainstream media.
The Bellas can thank the University of Oregon’s very own Divisi, the only all female-identifying acapella ensemble on campus, as they were the inspiration for the group. Before the creation of the movie, journalist Mickey Rapkin wrote the book “Pitch Perfect,” which follows Divisi and two other collegiate acapella groups during competition season in the mid 2000s.
Now, over 10 years after the movie’s initial release and the creation of the novel, student-led acapella is still thriving on the University of Oregon campus. Three acapella ensembles with intricate histories on campus are rebounding after the pandemic with projects like live performances and album releases in the works.
Divisi: Continuing to break ground for all female-identifying ensembles
At their last Friday show of winter term at the Erb Memorial Union, Divisi delivered energy and confidence. Every week, the three acapella groups on campus gather and perform a set of songs they’ve been working on. During the rotation of Divisi’s set, each soloist stood in the center, flanked by the other members. Their standout performance was a rendition of the R&B tune “Hollow” by Kiah Victoria, featuring senior Gemma Williams as the soloist.
Divisi originated in 2000 and back in the day was called “Eight Women and a Beau Tie,” as they had a male-identifying beatboxer, according to an informational PDF Divisi created. After the group attended a competition where they were impressed by a female beatboxer, the group was collectively inspired to become an all-female ensemble and made it happen.
“This was my first time since freshman year of high school that I’ve worked with an all-female identifying ensemble,” sophomore Grace Trimble, who runs merch management and social media for the group, said. “It’s really cool to be surrounded by a lot of other, empowered women, empowering women. I feel like I’ve made a group of friends that are really supportive of me.”
Divisi stands out for the group’s dedication to create a space for female identifying individuals to collaborate and share their love of music, which is more important than ever especially during the chaos of college life and a world slowly recovering from a pandemic. Junior Emma Kuhn, one of the music co-directors of Divisi, explained how the group will take a moment to slow down if needed and re-center with one another through music-making.
“Sometimes in rehearsals we’ll just turn off the lights, lay on the floor and sing one of our sad songs like ‘Hide and Seek’ by Imogen Heap,” Kuhn said. “It’s honestly a really healing experience, because sometimes it’s a hard day for everyone and no one wants to sit and workshop rhythms or a certain section of a really happy song. Sometimes what we need is to just have music be our therapy for a little bit.”
In 2005, Divisi defied traditional expectations for female-identifying performers in the collegiate scene with their rendition of Usher’s hip-hop hit, “Yeah.” At the time, it was not common for female-identifying ensembles to challenge gender stereotypes with their song choice, outfit and choreography. Kuhn recounted how the members at the time slicked their hair back, donned their own ties and asserted their confidence while competing, which paid off.
Divisi flew to New York City to compete in the 2005 International Championship of Collegiate Acapella Finals — the same competition featured in Pitch Perfect.
Divisi finished in second place at the championship, shocking everyone, as they were expected to win, Kuhn said. One of the three judges ranked them last, which is one of the reasons the ICCAs now have five judges and the highest and lowest scores are dropped.
However, the alumni’s legacy has continued with the new generation of members. They continue to challenge the gender binary as their performance wear has remained androgynous throughout the years.
“Whenever we perform, our uniforms are a huge part of the group,” Kuhn said. “We wear a pair of black dress pants, boot heels, a white button up and a red tie, which is a pretty androgynous kind of uniform, especially for an all women’s acapella group.”
Though the group isn’t competing in the ICCA’s this year due to the pandemic, they have an upcoming project in the works — a 14 track studio album, set to release June 2022. The album features well known hits including Euphoria’s “All For Us” and Lord Huron’s “The Night We Met.”
Kuhn is the Recording Manager for the album and will be editing the entire project, from pitch correcting to deleting breath noises between takes. She said the rates for editing are too high for Divisi’s budget, but with her current major in music technology, this project aligns “very well” with her skill set and professional interests.
On The Rocks: Prepping for performances this spring
On The Rocks was established in 1999 by UO students Leo DaSilva and Peter Hollens. In 2010, the group went viral for their on-campus performance of “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga. Their intricate Gaga inspired choreography and fiery facial expressions brought the original video 11 million views.
The same year the video went viral, On The Rocks competed on season two of the NBC television show “The Sing Off,” where acapella groups nationwide sang in the hopes of winning a cash prize and a recording contract. This opportunity boosted On The Rocks’ growing popularity.
Raul Patel, third year computer science major and the group’s music director, said he was initially interested in auditioning after watching some videos of On The Rocks online.
“I saw them making jokes while they were performing, and they had little [comedic] bits,” Patel said. “I think I connected with the way they interacted with one another, and it seemed obvious that the love of music was there. That’s what got me to audition.’”
Nowadays, the group rehearses three times a week in the garage of a duplex where some of the members live in Eugene. Neal Bryan, UO junior and third year member, explained that the house has been “passed down” by members of the acapella community in Eugene for upwards of ten years, making it the group’s go-to spot.
Patel joked that the garage is “questionably big enough” to hold all 14 members, 12 of which attend UO, while the other two are members of the community. However, they are able to squeeze in a piano to use for practices.
This upcoming April, On the Rocks will perform for upwards of 1,500 audience members at the 18th annual West Coast HellaCappella Showcase at UC Davis. For all its members, this is their first time attending. They are taking three songs, which they have been rehearsing for months.
“We’re blessed to have some really talented guys in the group. One of our members, Nate Rasmussen, arranged a version of ‘Get By’ by Still Woozy,” Bryan said. “We were all excited about it, so we’ve decided to bring that as our final song.”
Aside from live performances, the group has a well-established presence on music streaming platforms. In 2020, On the Rocks released an 11 track album titled “Evergreen,” which both Patel and Davis were involved in. The album contains feel-good classics like “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra and “Easy” by the Commodores.
“The entire idea behind the album was conveying the idea of songs that never die, or songs that we feel have made enough of an impact that we think its legacy will last past its time,” Patel said.
The recording process of the album was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as only three songs were recorded when quarantine began. Patel recounted how the group flew into Eugene during the summer of 2020 to quarantine together, practice music all day and brought in their recording technician to capture their voices on tape.
However, the process of practicing alone to learn the music is much different than singing in the group.
“You have to focus on not only, ‘How am I sounding,’ but ‘How is my sound colliding with the sound of the person sitting next to me?’” Patel said. “At the same time, you get to feed off everyone else’s energy, so it’s really fun.”
Mind The Gap: Experimenting with musical arrangements
Established in 2007, Mind the Gap is a mixed voice, gender-inclusive ensemble that competes around the country and even internationally. Though involvement in competitions has been delayed due to the pandemic, the group is still active in Eugene.
At the last acapella performance of the term at the EMU, Mind The Gap established a groove and gave the audience what they never knew they needed — an acapella arrangement of “Toxic” by Britney Spears.
Rami Holmes, already assistant music director, is a fresh recruit after just joining the group in fall 2021. Holmes began his involvement in acapella in high school and was initially drawn to it because it contrasts from other types of music-making.
“You’re not only allowed to, but encouraged to interact with each other while you perform,” Holmes said. “You’re all using the same instruments; you all know what each other is doing and how it’s happening. There’s a level of understanding and trust that we all have for each other, especially when we are a smaller group.”
Katie Leonard, a senior and the group’s president and business manager, said Mind The Gap enjoys experimenting with existing pieces that they perform, showcasing how acapella allows room for creativity.
“We have a couple staples in our repertoire that we just can’t seem to get rid of, and we do like to play with them a little bit,” she said. “One song that we’ve been singing forever is called ‘Higher Love.’ For Halloween, we do ‘Minor Love’ and we sing the beginning in a minor key, which is always fun.”
Sometimes Mind The Gap does mashups, similar to the style of Pitch Perfect and the many pop medleys throughout the movie series. Holmes said mashups can make for “a nice little spicy arrangement” that can catch the audience off guard in a way that keeps them engaged.
However, Leonard and Holmes remind us that collegiate acapella is a commitment, and it takes effort to be able to whip out mashups from their back pockets to wow the audience. They don’t typically just burst into song, either.
“The one thing that always strikes me with any show that plays off of singing, is that they’re able to just pick up a song like that, and it just always makes me laugh. They never get a pitch,” Leonard said. “But I think if they do get one thing, right, it’s that, you know, music really does bring people together.”
Retuning in 2022
Both Divisi and Mind The Gap were initially set on competing in the ICCA’s this year, but members of both groups explained that they ultimately withdrew to take more time to strengthen their skill sets for competition.
Martina Hemstreet, sophomore and co-director of the group, relayed how at the end of last year seven members departed from Divisi, leaving only two members remaining with pre-COVID experience in collegiate acapella competitions. She explained how integrating new recruits into the ensemble is a process that can’t afford to be rushed, especially for competition season.
“Once you find new people, it’s such a small group that you have to form those new connections and learn how to sing with each other. That’s what we’ve really been doing this year,” Hemstreet said. “We’re going into next year with almost the same amount of people we had this year, so it should be a lot more stable.”
Mind The Gap usually only holds auditions during fall and spring, but Holmes said this year they added an extra round of auditions to boost up their roster after they were left with only eight members after fall term. Leonard said the group rehearses around 8 hours a week, which doesn’t always mesh with college students’ schedules.
“We did hold auditions this winter as a special scenario, just because it’s been really tricky to get membership up through COVID-19, because it is a big commitment,” Leonard said.
Usually there are more experienced members who act as mentors for the newer recruits and lead the way. However, the pandemic has completely shaken up this routine, posing a challenge when it comes to competition.
“Right now we have two people in the group who have competed before, and they’re both graduating. So next year, we’re going to be starting from scratch when it comes to collegiate level competition,” Holmes said. “That’s going to be a unique challenge for us, but I’m looking forward to it. I think it’s gonna be a fun journey to go on together.”
Neal Bryan explained that after On The Rocks’ fall auditions, the group was the largest it had ever been, at 17 members. Now at a solid 14, he’s looking forward to what the group will accomplish this spring.
“The turnaround is honestly pretty exciting, pretty entertaining to see just how fast and how ready these new guys are to learn the music,” Bryan said. “I’m really happy to see that the group is getting back on its feet and ready to go back out in the world.”
