Broadway Baby talks to Exeter's sassiest all-female a cappella group!
As an all-female a cappella group, we try to avoid the stereotype of female a cappella. The art of a cappella itself is very unique, and we are trying to bring originality within this unique frame.
Tell us about your show
Exeter’s finest all female a cappella group is back! Sassy, sensational and just that little bit sweet - one of the best groups in collegiate a cappella! With a show promising tight harmonies, breathtaking soloists, innovative dance moves and the cutting edge of a cappella you won’t be disappointed. From Pendulum to Usher with some classics in between, our show is truly unmissable!
Why did you decide to take your show to Space UK this year?
Having worked with the Space UK last year to organize our debut show we were thrilled to be able to work with them again. We really love the Symposium Hall as a venue and think it is perfect for an a cappella show, making it a no brainer to choose the same venue again this year! The Space UK supported us through our debut run helping us to learn all of the tricks of the trade and we ended up with a successful show – we cannot wait to return this year with our brand new show, Unwrapped!
Can you tell us a bit about your company’s background?
Sweet Nothings was formed back in 2006 and since then the group has grown to become a far more diverse and recognised group, both in Exeter, and within the wider a cappella circuit. We have become more daring with our repertoire over the years, moving away from primarily female artists from the charts and towards genres slightly further afield, covering the likes of Chase & Status and Pendulum! This year has been our most eventful yet, taking part in the semi finals of both the ICCAs (UK Round) and the Voice Festival UK! We made our Fringe debut in August 2014 and are incredibly excited to be returning for a longer run this year!
How did you create your show?
As a University a cappella group, we are always performing and coming up with sets. We use a lot of songs that we have developed throughout the year for various performances and competitions, but the real art is trying to coordinate these into a show. This involves new arrangements from various members of the group where we try and adhere to a vague theme or story so that the audience can get the full experience of a show, instead of just a bundle of songs thrown together by some University students! It’s a lot of fun and very collaborative, you’ll get something from each of us!
What makes your show unique amongst the thousands of others at the festival?
As an all-female a cappella group, we try to avoid the stereotype of female a cappella. The art of a cappella itself is very unique, and we are trying to bring originality within this unique frame. We are constantly living on the edge, with our song choices, dance moves and overall performance. We bring infinite levels of sass whilst still being able to portray sophistication in our more subtle songs. Probably most impressively, our beatboxer Ali recently reached the Quarter Finals of the VFUK beatbox battle and was the last girl standing - so she’s definitely something that makes us unique. We also have an incredible range, from our lowest female ‘basses’ to our top sopranos and utilizing this in our songs allows us to create a full rich sound which ultimately is unique to us!
Why Edinburgh? What’s the attraction?
Edinburgh is a beautiful and vibrant city and is about as far from Exeter as we could go whilst still being in the UK! It’s also obviously the host to one of the most incredible arts festivals in the world. This brings a wealth of different companies (and a cappella groups) together! We are good friends with a number of other groups coming up to the Fringe this year, and it is great to see the diversity of the art of a cappella and to socialize with so many groups in one place… you can learn so much just from watching and getting to know people who are doing the same thing and that's pretty incredible! Each year we come to Edinburgh we feel like we are a part of a little bit of history, not only making a name for ourselves, but also contributing the vast, varied and vivacious history of the fringe festival itself!
Production Company: Sweet Nothings
Venue: theSpace @ Symposium Hall
Dates: 7th,8th & 10th-16th August
Times: 4:05pm
Twitter Handle: @SweetNothingsX
