Hometown: Silverton, Oregon
Year: Sophomore
Major: Human Physiology
Photo by: Jasmine Kim
Casey is a singer in the co-ed, a cappella group at the University of Oregon, Mind the Gap, and has been for two years. Mind the Gap performs every Friday at 3:45pm in the EMU Fishbowl or the amphitheater depending on weather conditions. They perform along with On The Rocks at 4:00pm and Divisi after that. Make sure to check them out this Friday!
HCO: How did you first hear about Mind the Gap?
Well, I went to Silverton High School and every year my choir director would hire On the Rocks, Divisi, and Mind the Gap to come and do a Spring Show. I went to that show a couple years during high school and I saw them perform. I got to the U of O and I saw posters for auditions and it was like, “Oh my gosh! I watched you guys perform all the time!”
HCO: Can you tell me about the auditions? Were you super nervous?
I was when I first started hearing about them. I saw the posters three days before auditions so I started freaking out and I went through like seven different songs and couldn’t decide on one. I finally chose one like an hour before my audition. I was like, “Okay, I’m doing this!” It was super nerve-wracking at first, but then they were really nice, and as soon as I went into the room, they were so friendly that all of my nerves went away. It was very relaxing; they were fun auditions for sure.
HCO: What song did you end up singing?
“Isn’t She Lovely” By Stevie Wonder. Keeping it classy.
HCO: Do you have a specific role in Mind the Gap?
Yeah, at the end of last year we went through this whole restructuring process and we developed all these different positions. I am the head of the publicity department. Whenever you see posters around campus, it’s usually from me. We’ve had articles in the Daily Emerald and I try to coordinate that.
HCO: There are different types of singers, what is your voice type?
I sing tenor.
HCO: And what does that mean?
On the spectrum, there’s the lady voices, that’s soprano and alto. Soprano’s the highest. Then, from highest to lowest in the boy section, it goes: tenor, baritone, and bass. So I’m the high guy, singing all the high notes.
HCO: Why is Mind the Gap so important to you?
Other than the people in it, who I love dearly, I just love performing so much and theater was a really big part of my life in high school. This is kind of my way of exploring that aspect of my life. It’s a lot of work. It’s a really rigorous schedule, but it’s so worth it in the end because you get to make cool music. We’re recording a CD now and that’s really exciting. We’re going to be on iTunes! There are lots of cool aspects like that that you don’t get from other groups.
HCO: What is your favorite memory from Mind the Gap? Try to pick just one, good luck.
Last year we went to Boston. We were there for five days and we were at this super cool competition. There were only six groups in the competition and we were selected to be in it and it was just such an amazing experience. All of these groups were phenomenal, some of the best a cappella groups I’ve ever seen. They were just college groups, like us. They were making this new kind of music that was different to normal a cappella. Just being in that city, it was just so alive, so amazing and we were all there together. It was just this huge thing to go across the country with these 13 other people that you love.
HCO: Okay, I have to ask, how accurate is the movie “Pitch Perfect”?
Well, I don’t know if you know, but that’s actually based off of Divisi and On the Rocks. I can’t remember how long ago it was, but Divisi used to be like the girl-group that sang these really safe songs, just like in “Pitch Perfect.” Then one year they just went crazy and had all these like loud song, like at the Finals in “Pitch Perfect.” Divisi ended up going to Finals in New York and getting second place. I mean obviously it’s Hollwood-ized, but it’s totally based off Divisi. I’m not sure if this is completely true, but somebody told me that they also made their set for Finals last minute. They were like, “We need to put something together to blow them away!” and they put together something really incredible. So yeah, it’s pretty accurate I would say. I didn’t see any blaring differences. Also, at the beginning of the movie when they’re all partying in the concrete area after auditions; totally based off the amphitheater here. It totally looks exactly the same.