August 26, 2011 // Comments (1)

I Know What We Did Last Summer

brought to you by TVC HQ

Whew! In between heat waves, earthquakes, icemakers, and hurricanes, it’s been a hard-workin’ summer here at The Vocal Company. We’ve traveled here, there and everywhere (including an NYC hotel so sketchy, the roaches only gave it half a star) recording awesome groups like yours. We introduced Facebook polls to learn more about you (there are no subliminal questions, we swear). Oh, and in our spare time, we launched our new website. You know this. You’re on it. ‘Nuff said.

A few other hot news items:

A.  The bricks and mortar LOUD!room is almost complete! Designed by a world-renowned mastering expert and studio engineer Llama T. Llamastein (redacted on the advice of counsel, although they also told us stonewash jeans were back in style), the LOUD!room is a cutting-edge production space to rival those used by top recording artists like Lady GaGa, Josh Groban and that chick from the Pussycat Dolls (seriously, think about what it takes to make her sound good…). Other fun facts about the LOUD!room:

• It has new hardwood floors, five-degree canted walls, seven lighting zones, a one-way mirror, a hidden window, a portal to an alternate universe, more cotton than your boyfriend’s underwear drawer and a thoroughly bitchin’ décor that matches your shirt perfectly and makes your eyes look amazingly blue/brown/green/gray/ultraviolet.
• Jill showed up with her tools to kick the build up a few degrees – didja know she has a BA in Theater with a focus on technical production and carpentry? Neither did we. (There’s a studfinder joke in there somewhere. We’ll let you make it.) Nick’s father-in-law also punched up a boatload of drywall. Kali watched from the sidelines and worked on her awesome.
• The northeast wall includes a state-of-the-art, self-cleaning recessed spittoon for Llama. It’s in his rider.

Second, you might’ve heard of a little festival called SoJam? Our very own Mark Hines, SoJam Executive Producer, has been hard at work with Dave Sperandio to make SoJam 2011 the most epic gathering of aca-liciousness yet. We’ve got a few other SoJam tricks up our sleeve, too. Make sure you’ve thumbs-upped our Facebook page (and SoJam’s, of course) to get the latest deets.

(C) After flinging her cap in the air and yelling “I’m OUTTA here, bitches!” (a.k.a. graduation), Angela kissed NYC goodbye and headed north to that great outpost of a cappella, Boston “More Higher Education Per Square Foot than a Mensa vs. Nobel Winners Pick-Up Game” Massachusetts. And where better to shack up than The House That Plaid Built, bunking with our very own LoLo, who’s been planting flags, staking claims, and generally marking her territory there as CASA’s Boston Ambassador for the past year. For the math majors out there, that’s 40% of The Vocal Company human team now serving as our right arm (“aahm”?) in the Boston a cappella scene. Wicked awesome, huh? (They hate it when we say that.)

Other aca-nuggets, tidbits and pearls from the summer:

• Nick quit his “other job” in favor of The Vocal Company (good move), discovered Facebook, and inspired a Nike campaign, and confirmed that his boys can swim (congrats to the extended Lyons fam!).
• Peter Hollens released a stellar YouTube video or twelve.
• North Carolina CASA Ambassador Jenn Fiduccia earned Honorary Pimp™ status with The Vocal Company – she’s one of the most awesome peeps in a cappella, and we don’t use that term lightly (“peeps,” that is).
• The ever-chatty Mark talked shop (“remember when we had to build a bridge with popsicle sticks?”) with Jessica Freedman (if only to get Christopher Given Harrison’s phone number, taught Heather Newkirk how to Tweet, and Facebooked with Tom Keyes.
• Mark and Nick had dinner with Dio, and helped him break in his new coffee table
• Has anyone seen Pete Hollens?

On a more serious note (D-flat, perhaps):

If we listed the name of every individual and group that’s contributed to our success, this post would read like the liner notes of a 10-disc CARA “Best-Of” compilation, and Google would kick our asses for keyword stuffing. But you know who you are, and we hope you know this: we remember, appreciate and love you more than you’ll ever know.

Aaaaaaaaaaand, scene.

We know what we did this summer – after all, we’re us. Duh. But our psychic network is down for repairs, so pretty-please: tell us about your escapades, exploits, etc. here!