Who are the performers? Suade.
Tell us about your show. What’s it about? Suade is a musical comedy act featuring four very versatile vocalists. We use beat-boxing, vocal percussion, live looping, vocal effects and smooth harmony to present a journey of popular songs from the last thirty years. Each song is carefully crafted and choreographed to engage and entertain audiences.
What Is VocalTronics? Over the years, Suade has explored the limitless potential of the human voice – from classical and barbershop beginnings, through to the contemporary, upbeat incarnations you hear on Pitch Perfect and the NBC’s The Sing-Off in the USA, Asia and Europe. We’ve also dabbled in looping pedals like Darren Percival, Mal Webb, Tom Thum and DubFX. VocalTronics is a culmination of Suade’s 15 years in a cappella – a fusion of great voices, beatboxing, smooth harmony and vocal effects.
Using some pretty funky hardware, and the amazing Ableton Live software, we’ve managed to create a system whereby all four microphones can loop at any stage during a song, with effects and production profiles on each ‘voice’ within the mix. By the end of a song, you may hear up to sixty voices singing at once – all mixed and produced to sound like a full band. And different to most looping artists we’ve designed a new way for all these things to happen without the need of clunky foot boxes on stage, or synching issues between voices. Sound complicated? Sure is…it has taken us well over twelve months to program the show, and over twelve years to develop it into the exciting stage show it is today.
What’s the deal with A Cappella? A Cappella has been around for as long as humans have. From the very first time two recently evolved apes grunted at each other in pleasing harmony, humans have used the human voice as an instrument to express themselves together. Since then it has always played a part in popular culture – from early music to classical choral works, from barbershop to doo-wop, from jazz to surf-rock and R&B, harmony singing continued to populate the charts throughout the world. Vocal singing went bananas in the US college scene in the ’50s and ’60s, and is a staple for all American universities since.
Lately we have seen a resurgence of a cappella singing with Pitch Perfect hitting the cinemas, reality TV continually promoting group singing. It won’t be long before this culture spreads to Australian shores, in its many diverse formats.
We love a cappella because it’s not a genre of music – just a style of delivery. We love the flexibility of the human voice, and enjoy pushing the sonic boundaries of the amazing sounds we can create with just voices. And as we are all instrumentalists with experience in bands, we love not having to carry drum sets and amps around.
Describe your show with five words. World’s most high tech vocal show
What makes cabaret special? Cabaret distances itself from many other live musical forms by its amazing ability to engage and communicate with its audience. Every song has a story, a deeper context and is part of a larger narrative. Unlike musical theatre it retains an honesty, sincerity and personal touch. I think that’s why audiences connect so well with it.
If you had to condense cabaret into a feeling or emotion, what would it be? Contemplation – there’s a nostalgic element to most cabaret that takes you back to other times, places, moments in your life and makes you reflect on the past.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen at a cabaret show? I was on stage at the time, while my brother Loz sang a song from the perspective of a lonely single testicle, missing his recently detached partner in crime due to cancer. He was dressed at the time in a testicle costume fashioned form a pink beanbag that had brown woollen pubic hair sewn on by my mother. A proud day for the whole family.
What’s your favourite thing about the Melbourne Cabaret Festival? The festival has really blossomed over the years. It now has an immense variety of different acts across many venues – David, Neville and the team have done a mighty job making the festival inclusive and far-reaching to Melburnians. I feel we’re very privileged to be presented with such an amazing array of talent. Favourite thing? Probably the communal vibe of the performers, and the after-show gatherings that inevitably take place.
How are people going to leave your show feeling? Sore-faced from smiling, swollen-ankled from toe-tapping, stingy-handed from clapping, sore-throated from singing along. But it’s not all about injuries, they’ll leave delighted by the whole experience.
What dates and times can I see your show? Saturday July 6. The show is on at 9pm, and we hope you’ll join us for a drink afterwards!
And at which venue? The Village, Ormond Hall at 557 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne.
And for what price? A poultry $39 ($36 for concession) plus booking fees.
Where can we go to read more about your show? Check out the cabaret festival website, or find out a bit more about Suade at www.suade.net, www.facebook.com/suade or Google us for our YouTube channel.
