All male a cappella group fuses South Asian and Western music
A group of young, male students on campus are blending South Asian and Western music in performances with, quite literally, nothing but vocals.
Nuttin’ but V.O.C.A.L.S. is an a cappella group at Rutgers comprised of South Asian male students who use popular music from South Asia and the West as elements for their performances.
The group is trying to make a presence on campus and get their name out there, said Rohit Chawla, president of the group and School of Engineering junior.
“Our group was founded in January 2011, so it was kind of inspired by other groups in other colleges that do the same thing. We look to those groups because we try to reach their potential, because there are some groups that are really good,” Chawla said. “We want to get on their level.”
The creative process involves forming pieces of good composition, which can get complicated at times, but that is also where the creativity lies, Chawla said.
“I feel like it’s very difficult because we are trying to combine two different styles of music, and it’s like trying to find that place where we can transition from one song to the other and then in the end bring those two songs overlapping where we sing them kind of at the same time, which we call the ‘super chorus,’” Chawla said.
The club is a competitive group of individuals, so they wanted to have something on par with groups at other universities, said Anirudh Vojjala, a School of Engineering junior and member of the organization.
“This year we’re meeting twice a week, before a show we meet up every single day, and before any of our competitions we meet up every single day because we want to be perfect,” Vojjala said.
Vojjala, who has been singing for about 15 years and received Indian classical music training for a long period of time, added how the club is a way for the members to express themselves and use it as a creative outlet.
Around three quarters of group members have had prior musical experience, and the skills range from those who can beat-box to one member who had briefly been on "American Idol," Chawla said.
“Obviously some of us who have had experience, it’s a little easier for us to pick up on stuff. So we have to work together to make sure everyone’s on point,” Chawla said. “Because when we first start off a specific mix or arrangement, it’s not going to be smooth, so we really have to work.”
The group is all-male, but there is not a particular reason for that, said Ram Sridhar, treasurer of the group and a School of Engineering sophomore.
“A lot of a cappella groups are all female or all guys, or they’re mixed, but we just didn’t mix because we think it’s special what we’re doing on campus – there’s no other south Asian all-male a cappella group,” Sridhar said. “With an all male a cappella group you have a large range of low and high voices, and it’s easy to blend with just guy voices.”
A cappella, which involves singing without instrumental accompaniment, can be difficult to perform with, Chawla said. But at the same time, a cappella allows the listener to hear unique chords.
“It’s a little difficult but also really cool and satisfying when you hear a good product come out,” Chawla said.
Part of the goal of the group is to teach people about South Asian culture, Sridhar said.
“And people get the chance to see the elements of both styles of music and how similar they are,” Sridhar said. “They also get to see what makes Indian music special.”
Last year, the group went to a competition in Texas, where members met other talented a cappella groups and got a sense of how big South Asian fusion music is getting.
As far as being a cultural group, Chawla said their uniqueness provides something different for the Rutgers community to experience.
“It’s something we feel that we can offer the Rutgers community because a lot of people don’t know that it exists,” Chawla said. “And some of us are pretty cultured, some people have been classically trained, so it’s cool for them to also be able to present their work and see how our culture is in a music sense.”
