The Wicked Pitches - article

Am singing with an A Capella group called The Wicked Pitches. There was an article out in the New Straits Times this morning:


COVER STORY: Something wicked to sing about
FARIDUL ANWAR FARINORDIN
SEPT 27:
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This is no conventional a capella group. Part of the charm of Wicked Pitches lies in its cabaret showmanship and rib-tickling choreography, writes FARIDUL ANWAR FARINORDIN
THE best way to describe a performance by local a capella group Wicked Pitches is this: A colourful cabaret show featuring mime artistes as four-part (sometimes more) harmony singers.
No, really. Although the group’s harmonising follows the old-school barbershop musical tradition, the members are known for their unconventional showmanship. For one thing, don’t expect them to appear on stage in black, which is what other vocal groups prefer.

For the members, dull and boring monotone costumes are a BIG no-no. They also don’t believe in a performance that only requires them to stand in a row and sing into the microphones with a few uninspiring hand gestures — oh please, that is so last century.

If you have been to their shows in the past, you’ll probably remember the wicked elements: colourful feather boas, batik props, cute dance moves and rib-tickling choreography. All these are part of the Wicked Pitches’ audience-friendly approach to make a capella music more accessible.

A lot of its charm has got to do with its motley crew of fun-loving members who came together in 2001 because of their passion for singing. Or maybe it’s because they don’t take themselves too seriously, except for music of course.

Comprising 14 members from various professions, the group’s founding members are Elizabeth Choong (project manager), Cheong Whye Mun (lawyer), Allan Yap (baker), J.P. Thong (hotelier), Yap Kheng Han (corporate financier), Mimi Liau (lecturer and the group’s music director), Nigel A. Skelchy (wedding planner), Sam Tseu (dentist), Renita Che Wan (student), and Serena Djatnika (retiree).

This year, unfortunately, Renita and Serena left to pursue other things and new voices were added — Adeline Ong (business manager), Alex Jong (investment analyst), Zalina Lee (musician), William Kow (marketing executive) and Cheryl Toa (banker).

"We have somewhat formalised the structure of the group and only 10 singers will perform at any one time. This flexibility allows other members and those with work commitments to take a break," says Nigel, who "moved up to tenor (singing) from bass" recently.

"We now have five tenors — can you believe that? People normally have problems getting tenors. Having said that, we can switch from (singing) top to bottom (lines) anytime!" he adds with a hearty laugh. Oh, did I tell you that the members also have a wicked sense of humour too?

On a more serious note, Allan says: "Most of us were from the Selangor Philharmonic Choir. We decided to form an a capella group out of our love for this singing tradition. It’s our passion and relentless drive to promote this tradition that sustains us till today."

The group’s performances in the past have been embraced by critics and audiences alike. Highly entertaining and wickedly fun, they are all about low-brow quality entertainment with a touch of glitz, glamour and a deft musical tradition.

Wicked Pitches’ concerts, Funkappella! — A Concert By The Wicked Pitches (2003) and Funkappella Strikes Back (2004) were both nominated in the 2nd and 3rd Boh Cameronian Arts Awards for two consecutive years (for Best Concert — Musical Theatre category).
With a wide repertoire of songs including old classics — Short People, Embraceable You, Java Jive and P. Ramlee’s Getaran Jiwa, as well as favourite local folk numbers like Rasa Sayang and Dayung Sampan, the members have also performed at corporate functions, weddings and numerous festive occasions.

Recently, another colourful and fluffy feather was added to its sequined and diamante-studded fancy hat when Wicked Pitches became the only local vocal outfit to perform at Singapore’s A Capella Fest 2005. It was their first overseas gig.

Organised by The A Capella Society of Singapore, it was held for one night at Kallang Theatre. Apart from the Pitches, the annual festival also saw participation from eight other a capella groups in Singapore.

Skelchy observed: "Teenagers form the bulk of interest in a capella music in Singapore and there are more than 30 active vocal groups there, while the audience comprised mainly of schoolchildren. It was an eye-opening experience for us to share the stage with them. Some of us thought our performance was too bright!"

Wicked Pitches was invited by The A Capella Society’s Angeline Choo to be part of the event.
"She became a very good supporter of Wicked Pitches after reading about our performance in Funkapella. Since then, we have been keeping in touch."

He continues: "There is a huge interest at school level in choir and a capella singing there. As such, we see a lot of teenage groups singing contemporary materials — from hip-hop and R&B to pop."

Most of the groups, he said, "call themselves vocal bands rather than a capella groups. Members mimic the sounds of music instruments — one does drums, the other fills in with guitar. The method is very old school as compared to most (a capella) groups in Malaysia."

Wicked Pitches sang five songs (to a sell-out hall) at the event, namely A Capella, Blue Moon, Teddy Bear’s Picnic, Joy to the World and the Rasa Sayang medley. "We were allotted the most number of songs. Other groups only got three!"

And get this: "For the Rasa Sayang medley, which included popular folk songs like Dayung Sampan and Lenggang Kangkong, we got the boys to do the lenggang (the exaggerated, hip-swaying walk normally associated with a traditional dance)!" he said with a giggle. "The audience loved it!"

The group is planning to expand its repertoire to include vocal percussion and beat-boxing.
"We started out with traditional a capella numbers, what music pundits call neo-classical a capella with close harmony, as well as classical stuff. Now, we are planning to experiment with more rhythmic stuff to allow us to perform pop songs like Miami Sound Machine’s Turn the Beat Around," said Skelchy.

That new musical style is also known as "contemporary pop a capella", Allan said, but added that "our strength lies in close harmony numbers. We just want to add more vocal richness to our repertoire by doing some of the new stuff".

So what keeps the group together?

"First and foremost is the passion for singing. The fact that we have become good friends plays a significant role. We love it when we’re together."

Liau, the group’s music director, added: "It is also important that we share the same goal which is to make our craft better. We get so much satisfaction from performing together that we are still doing this until today."

There is no room for prima donnas in Wicked Pitches. "We all chip in and no one person dominates the decision-making. Our mission is to entertain and, at the same time, achieve technical perfection in our vocal performance — that’s all," said Skelchy.

Despite the very successful Funkapella performances in the last two years, the group has decided to postpone its third installation this year.

"We want to take a break. It’s too much hard work. We did everything — including fund-raising, ticket-selling, performing to producing, licensing and marketing aspects," said Allan. "We plan to do a major concert next year."

Plans are also underway to have original music re-arrangements written "specifically for our voices, so that we have more fun material to present."