Semi-Toned

Semi-Toned
Background information
Origin	University of Exeter
Genres	A cappella
Years active	2010–present
Website	www.semitoned.com
Members	Eddie Henley Michael Luya Jamie Blencowe Adam Carpenter Ashley Waters Rob Cross Tommy Hamer Sylvan Rackham Ted Bartram Satchit Srikanth Duncan Payne Tom Broadbent Henry Edwards Sam Harper Charlie Rockall

Semi-Toned is a British all-male A cappella group from the University of Exeter, in the United Kingdom who sing a variety of modern and classic songs. They were formed in October 2010 originally as a barbershop quintet, before establishing themselves as a twelve-man contemporary group with a wide range of repertoire.

History

2010-2013: The Early Years

Semi-Toned's first performance in The Old Firehouse, 2010

The university's first all-male a cappella group was formed when Eddie Henley, Simon Eaton, and Jon Minter met after a Chapel Choir rehearsal. Initially the group sang a collection of old barbershop classics in a much more formal style. After expanding to ten members the following year, Semi-Toned initiated the move away from barbershop into a modern collegiate A Cappella style. They competed for the first time in The Voice Festival UK in 2012, the UK Collegiate A Cappella competition winning both "Outstanding Arrangement" and "Outstanding Vocal Percussion". In 2013 the group won the South West regional where they were awarded "Outstanding Stagecraft and Choreography" and, once more, "Outstanding Vocal Percussion", before advancing to the London semi-final.^[1] Semi-Toned made their Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut in 2013 with their show, "The Exe-Men",^[2] which received a five-star review from Broadway Baby.^[3]

2014-2016: Voice Festival Success and International Breakthrough

Semi-Toned winning The Voice Festival UK 2015

In 2014, the group reached the final of The Voice Festival UK and won awards for "Outstanding Arrangement" for their mash-up of "Dear Darlin'" by Olly Murs and "The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?)" by Ylvis, "Outstanding Overall Performance" and "Outstanding Soloist" for Michael Luya in "Motion Picture Soundtrack" by Radiohead.^[1] They then continued their Edinburgh Festival Fringe success with 2014's "Toned Up!" which saw a second five-star review from Broadway Baby and a prestigious "Bobby" Award, the group becoming the first University ensemble and first A cappella group to achieve this.^[4] In September the group recorded its first self-titled 5 track EP with The Vocal Company, featuring covers of John Newman, Daft Punk, Paolo Nutini, Kanye West, Jay Z and Radiohead and was released in early 2015.

In January 2015 for the first time, Semi-Toned competed in the Semi-Finals of the ICCA's in London, finishing in second place overall, whilst winning "Outstanding Choreography".^[5] In April, Semi-Toned won The Voice Festival UK as well as "Outstanding Overall Performance".^[1] Soon after they embarked on their first tour of the East Coast of the United States, visiting and performing with groups from Colombia, NYU, Princeton, Yale and North Eastern Colleges. This August, Semi-Toned performed for the third year running at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with their show "Game of Tones".^[6] Just before this, they released their first professional music video, a mash-up arrangement of "If I Were A Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof and "Rich Girl" by Gwen Stefani which reached the front page of internet news site BuzzFeed. In 2016 the video was nominated in the Contemporary A cappella Recording Awards for Best Scholastic Video.^[7]

In 2016, Semi-Toned won the Quarter-Finals of the ICCA's held in Exeter, competing against Out of the Blue and six other UK A cappella groups. They came second at the Semi-Finals in London, coming just behind The Techtonics. The group at the end of March embarked upon their second tour of the United States, this time performing a 90 minute long show in large venues and travelling over three weeks along the east coast from Florida to Connecticut.

Discography

EP's

• Semi-Toned (2015)
• Sing Theory (2016)

References