Aggiepella takes the stage for the first time

Who would’ve thought a school project could create a new a cappella club at Utah State University?

“I needed an idea for a capstone project,” said Lauren Knowles, a senior at USU. “I had an a cappella class that was so fun, and one day a lightbulb went off when I realized I should start an a cappella club for my project. I sent out emails and texts to everyone I thought would be interested, and here we are.”

The club is called Aggiepella, named by one of the students in the group.

There are 13 students in the club, many with different majors such as engineering, communications, math and different variations of music majors. These students came together to make a cappella arrangements of music — written entirely by USU students.

Taking a group of students with different talents, they’ve been able to put their skills together to compose their own music for their upcoming concert.

“Composition is something that people think you have to be overqualified for,” said Logan Kelley, who composed most of the songs the club will be performing. “But you don’t. I just started doing it one day and called myself a composer. It just comes with a lot of practice.”

The songs are all a cappella arrangements of popular songs — a cappella meaning singing without any instrumental accompaniment.

“For most of our arrangements, I’ll start by listening to the original song, and try to get some kind of artistic vision of how we can make this our own,” Kelley said. “Then you have to start wondering how you can make those instruments into voices.”

One of the ways to turn instruments into voices is through a vocal percussionist. Many a cappella group has somebody to imitate the beats of the drums using their mouth, this person is called a vocal percussionist or a beatboxer.

“As someone who did percussion in band, you hear a lot that if you can’t sing your part then you sure can’t play it,” said Ari Gammon, the vocal percussionist for Aggiepella. “I learned how to sing my part, started goofing off and then took an a cappella class. I decided I wanted to give it a shot. I put in a lot of practice, watching other vocal percussionists, and I was able to start doing something that I didn’t know I’d be good at.”

After the songs were composed, the club met two times a week to practice their songs and come up with ideas for other songs.

“Rehearsals are a really good mix of working hard, sight-reading, learning music and just having a good time,” Kelley said. “They’re very productive. We have to learn a lot of music very quickly. It’s so fun to have that collaborative environment where everyone’s so excited and happy about everything we’re doing.”

With all the practices, these students have been able to expand their friend group and enjoy similar interests with others.

“This is a place I feel comfortable,” Gammon said, “a place where I can come and make music with other people who also love to make music.”

The group’s upcoming concert is themed “Remember This,” based on the recent single by the Jonas Brothers.

“For us, it’s a collection of songs that represent this chapter in our own lives,” Kelley said. “There were many times while rehearsing that someone said they wanted a specific song, so we’d put it together. It really is the songs that we feel represent who we are.”

“It’s us remembering the great songs that we know, the times that we’ve spent making this music together and having good laughs during rehearsals.” Gammon said. “Remembering the moments we’re in now and sharing that with other people.”

Their first concert will be on Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. in the Manon Caine Russell Kathryn Caine Wanlass Performance Hall on campus and it’s completely free. Come share this experience with your fellow students, and get to know the new club on campus.