One of the best choices I made in university was joining UBC Okanagan’s a cappella club, The Beats. In 2023, I became part of The Beats’ non-competitive team, The Clef Hangers, and am currently on one of the competitive teams, The Trebled Acaholics. This club is the perfect combination of creativity, friendship, and music. We are Pitch Perfect in real life, but actually better.
Last year, The Phoenix’s former Arts & Culture writer, Abdul Amrani, wrote an article introducing The Beats. It lays out what a cappella is, how the club functions, and the structure and characteristics of our three teams. To recap, we are a close-knit ensemble of singers who perform without instrumental accompaniment, creating every aspect of a song on our own, from musical arrangement to singing and beatboxing.
In this article, I have gathered thoughts from our teams, The Trill Seekers, The Trebled Acaholics, and The Clef Hangers, to give you an insider scoop on The Beats.
My first question for our members was, “How did you join The Beats?” Some found our booth at the annual club expo. For others, it was as if they were destined to join. Here is how one of my teammates from The Trebled Acaholics got in:
“I was exploring the UNC and accidentally walked into the audition room, one of the executives said ‘Come on in!’”
Also invited to audition was Angela Dela Santa, who sang at a karaoke event for first-year orientation. An alumni told her about the club and she decided to sign up. Flash-forward to three years later, she is now the indispensable co-musical director of the competitive team, The Trill Seekers!
All this talk about auditions might sound nerve-wracking. What about singing just for fun? Yes, some of our members joined the club simply to make friends through a shared love of music. You do not have to audition to become part of The Clef Hangers, our non-competitive team, and you get just as much, if not more, of the friendship — The Clef Hangers is the biggest team among the three.
In The Beats, not only does each team gather for practice several times a week, but the whole club also gets together to prepare big-group performances for our Christmas and year-end shows. We spend so much time singing together, it is quite impossible not to form close bonds:
A member who has been in the club for three years described The Beats as “my family away from my actual family.”
Personally, I believe that The Beats is also a place to gain experience as a singer. This year, transitioning from The Clef Hangers to The Trebled Acaholics meant a more rigorous practice schedule and higher stakes. We competed in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA). During practices, I learned how to blend with other voice parts and to project my originally soft voice. My teammate, Ishaan Kareer, also feels that The Beats has helped him improve vocally:
“I thought I had to have a big musical and vocal history to be part of The Beats. Instead, the club took me as an absolute beginner and taught me everything I know. I did not realize the club would be so accepting and open to teaching.”
Current member of The Trebled Acaholics and former club president, Sydney Annelise, expresses how diverse musical experience and community go hand in hand:
“The Beats gives me a place where I can nerd out about music with people who share my interests regardless of their level of musical experience or training. In fact, the wide range of musical experiences amplifies the sense of community because we work together as a group to improve our sound.”
Each performance would not be possible without us working together, and that goes beyond supporting each other’s vocals. As fate would have it, I got a cold just two days before competing, but my teammates took amazing care of me, handing me cough medicine and cup after cup of herbal tea. The abundant love and care I felt from them is the reason I was still able to perform energetically at the competition.
Finally, what does a cappella mean to us? For many, it is simultaneously a hobby, stress reliever, and creative outlet, without which university life would probably be quite dull. It is eating pancakes for breakfast with nearly 30 other music-lovers in the same house, on the morning of the ICCA. It is “how I met some of my closest friends,” said a member of The Clef Hangers.
On March 30, as my teammate Jessika and I headed home from our final big-group rehearsal, she said, “Oh no, this might be the last time I drive you home!” It is all bittersweet. Every year, the lineup of competitive team members may differ depending on what sound the musical directors are looking for, and what new talents come in for auditions. It is not guaranteed that I will be spending the same amount of time with the same group of people next year, but I believe our friendships will last outside of the practice room.
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