The O-town Scene

Music People A cappella group m-pact The internationally renowned a cap- pella group m-pact has been hailed as “one of the best pop-jazz vocal groups in the world” by the San Francisco Chronicle, and will be performing at the Martin W. Kappel Theatre in Nor- wich on Saturday, Feb. 5. The group includes Fletcher Sheri- dan, Marco Cassone, Morten Kier, Jarrett Johnson, Jeff Smith and Trist Curless. OTOWN SCENE: You’re talking to me from Kansas right now, and it seems like m-pact follows an incredibly busy touring schedule. How often are you on the road? TRIST CURLESS: We’ve been doing this for 15 years, and the level of traveling has varied pretty widely. There have been years where we’ve had 15 touring gigs, and years where we’ve had 250. I’d say that in the average year we have somewhere between 50 and 100 tour dates. OS: The group recently gained a new member, Morten Kier, as a result of the departure of David Loucks. What effects do these transitions have on the group as a whole, as well as the dynamics of your live performances? TC: It’s a situation that’s not much differ- ent than that of most organizations of any kind. People come in, they spend time here working to achieve something both individu- ally and as a member of a team, and at some point they move on. Our goal is generally to keep as many of the same guys together as possible, because even though it might seem that changing one member wouldn’t have a big impact of the sound of the group, it’s something that’s clearly felt in the way the rest of us have to adapt to the tunes we sing. But, that being said, it also serves to create variety in what we do over time, because no two perform- ers bring the same kind of experience to the table. OS: How have you and the other members of m-pact adapted to life in a constantly tour- ing act, and how does that lifestyle fit in with the experiences you have had as performers? TC: We used to live and work out of Seattle, and it was nice to have the steady hometown because it allowed us to socialize and relax between shorter tours. But, since we needed jobs on the side to supplement our personal incomes, it became really difficult to balance the schedules of work at home and work on the road. We moved to LA because it gave us the ability to work on-call in music-related settings, as arrangers, studio and session singers, etc. The more flexible schedule that comes with jobs like those has been so much easier to work with, and it allows us to focus more on performances all over the world. OS: In your online bio, m-pact is portrayed as “a cutting edge trailblazer in the realm of music, emerging from an age of auto-tune and overproduction.” What do you feel you’re bringing to your live audiences that they just haven’t been getting as result of the digital age? TC: There’s a “flavor of the week” atmo- sphere that pervades the world of popular music right now, and it has a lot to do with past uses of auto-tune, reverb and other effects to give singers an image of musical perfection on recordings. That technology has had a very real effect on pop singers today. It’s become the sound that defines popular music, and, as a result, what listeners have become used to. The downside of that appeal is that not all of those singers can recreate that element of per- formance in a live setting. We don’t use tech- nology to achieve our sound; we’ve worked to make it happen naturally. So people who hear our recordings are often blown away when they see us perform because of the fact that all of the energy and all of the intricacies are hap- pening right in front of them. That’s what we bring to every show, and it’s the experience we can give back to today’s audiences. OS: Along with performances of your own material, m-pact also offers educational master classes, clinics and workshops that Contributed Internationally renowned a cappella group m-pact will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Martin W. Kappel Theatre at 27 W. Main St. in Norwich. focus on both vocal performance proficiency and seemingly unrelated skills like self-con- fidence, career development and “finding one’s voice.” How did you get involved in these workshops, and what relationships do you think exist between music and more general life skills? TC: We honestly didn’t set out from the beginning to include the master classes and workshops in what m-pact offers. It’s just something that came about as a result of positive feedback from crowds at schools and community theaters who were interested hav- ing us work with them. For me, using music to share and teach has always been a driving force ever since I became a music education major in college. I was never really interested in the “look at me” element that often comes with performing as a professional singer; it always seemed more important to use my abilities to help others to grow along with me. I think there are certain universal qualities that are necessary in any career, be it in, for example, the music, sports or corporate world. Performing in a group helps build both the self-esteem and interpersonal skills that will help anyone grow and take new steps forward. When we’re leading a workshop, we’re working with music, but we don’t tell students to use those lessons to become great singers. We tell them to take what music has to offer, and to use that to follow their pas- sions. OS: In the midst of the “flavor of the week” atmosphere you described, is it ever difficult to get through to younger audiences (or anyone else) who may not have been ex- posed to professional-level a cappella? TC: While it is true that younger audiences are sometimes accustomed to the popular music that dominates radio and television, I don’t think that presents so much of a bound- ary between them and us. We don’t present ourselves as artists who are trying to convert them to some musical ideology, we’re just us, and we don’t really have to point them to the ideas we’re sharing. Upon seeing us perform, younger people often think, “This isn’t like anything I’ve ever heard!” And it’s in that moment that they be- come open to the realness of what we do, the elements that make us different than a band on the radio. In the end, it all ties in with the messages we try to share about being passionate about your goals, being in love with what you do and being open to personal growth. Even if you’ve been exposed to something all of your life, we can express it to you in a new way, and understanding that is what really counts. _ Sam Spokony For more information on the band, visit m-pact.com. For ticket informatino, visit chenangoarts. org. Feb. 3, 2011 O-Town Scene 5

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