Your search for fresh new music is finally over thanks to Penn State’s very own a cappella group, Shades of Blue! The group released their first ever Extended Play, “Cobalt,” this September, which features three covers of popular songs with an exciting twist. Shades of Blue successfully recreated the music without the use of instruments – everything that you hear comes straight from the group’s mouths, using their wide range of voices and beatboxers to present fun, upbeat music.
After the release of the EP, VALLEY sat down with Shades of Blue president, Julia Traub, a junior majoring in landscape architecture, to chat about the process of this exciting accomplishment.
VALLEY: This first debut for the group is obviously so important for you guys, how did Shades of Blue decide on what songs would be covered in this EP?
Julia Traub: We determined as a group which songs the audience enjoyed most at our performances, as well as which songs we sounded our best in. From there we had a poll for group members to pick their top three arrangements, and obviously the three songs that won became our EP!
V: After determining the songs that would be a part of the EP, how long did you all work on putting everything together?
JT: Because all of the songs on our EP were songs that we already knew, we just had to work to refine them so that they sounded their best. From the time of when we chose the songs to when we finally recorded them was about three months. We recorded them in March and progressively received rough cuts throughout the summer for feedback. In August, we received the final cuts of the music.
V: A lot of work was put into this EP. What was the hardest part for you guys throughout this process?
JT: Because a cappella is a style that is almost always performed live, it was difficult to adapt to recording the music and only singing a few seconds at a time, rather than singing the entire song through. Such small discrepancies were picked up by the microphones, so we had to work on perfecting our vowels, our volume and our articulation, as well as many other factors.
V: What sets Shades of Blue’s EP apart from the music of other a cappella groups?
JT: Shades of Blue is always applauded for our energy and our pure passion for what we do. What I think comes through the most in our music is the fun that we had in the production of this and the same energy that we provide at our concerts.
V: Getting the EP on such popular outlets like Spotify and Apple Music must have been a tricky process. How did you guys pull that off?
JT: We had to choose a distribution company because some of them cover different music platforms. From there, they handled the acquiring of licenses for our music, the distribution and the tracking of our monthly interactions. It was such a big help!
V: This was your first EP. Do you guys plan on releasing another one any time soon?
JT: We definitely want to start releasing music on a more regular basis after our first professionally recorded and produced album, starting with a single in the next year! But our next album will not be for a while because we are taking on some other projects for right now.
You can check out “Cobalt” on Spotify and Apple Music now!
