Come audition for Stuck in the Middle (SIM) on Wednesday, February 10th, in Axinn 229! Sorry ladies, but this is only for the guys. The sign-up sheet can be found in McCullough…
Please bring a verse and a chorus of a song that shows off your vocal abilities. Also, be sure to come with a deep thought to share with SIM! That’s the most important part…
Callbacks will be on Thursday.
We look forward to seeing you at auditions!
Our final day in Boston came as a relief after an intense few days of singing. We split up to see friends and explore Boston. But we all found our way together for a final SIM dinner in Cambridge at Fire and Ice. We took note that the place is an “improvisational restaurant.” We approve, deeply approve. As some may know, SIM had developed a unique form of “a cappella improvisation” — we take words from the audience and make up a song on the spot. On Friday, RJ did his latest improvisation on the “Zombie Madonna.”
Our evening split two ways. Many of us headed out to a folk/contra dance while others went to see the International Championship of College A Cappella or ICCAs at Boston University. Admittedly, it was a bit of a scouting trip and educational experience for the younger members of our group. SIM has not competed in an a cappella competition since our very early days when we sang Signed, Sealed, Delivered at every concert. Still, the few of us there were awed primarily by Pitch Slapped, the one and only a cappella group at the Berkelee School of Music.
We’ve had an amazing time in Boston. Thank you to all who supported us by buying CDs, making donations, laughing with us, and singing along. Tell us how and where we can come back and sing for you. But for now, the SIMobile is headed back north to Midd, classes Monday. Take care.
We leave you with Stu and Clam’s final masterpiece of karaoke heaven:
Hello our adoring fans (says Noah)!
This is another report on the delicious events of our sojourn into the Greater Boston area. On this day, we woke up the latest of morns to a cacophony of bagels and fixins alike. Lox is scrumptious, I might add. I advise all who have yet to partake in such joyousness to do so, immediately. Our journey next took us to the Park School, at which we boarded the slanted wooden stage of our venue, freshly minted for their upcoming production of the Odyssey. Unfortunately without the very excellent company of Captain Awesome himself (Ian Sanders-Fleming), we warmed up and prepped for the middle-schoolers. Our short set included a few crowd favorites including Tarzan Boy and the ever-classic Beautiful Thing. Our very own rising Business Director Andrew Ostroff hugged many a teacher and greeted the crowd as an ‘03 grad of the Park School. He reflected fondly about his days on the stage and gave a warm speech about re-finding passions that slip away.
We made our way to the Salter household after a brief snack stop at a local supermarket. RJ waxed prophetic on how tomatoes travel thousands of miles from farm to supermarket — a plug for local foods. The Salters kindly offered their home for the second “friends and family” gig of our tour. The bustling household was filled with excitement as we greeted uncles, parents, and Boston-area friends. We sang two sets ranging from our recently revised Lullaby, which seems only to get better with each performance, to a performance of Ragged Wood (by the Fleet Foxes), a performance Alec dedicated to his mother.
Our somewhat short day ended back at Natty’s household in Bedford. A warm fire, a movie (Princess Bride), and some friendly conversation wound down the evening.
Love,
SIM (Alec, Noah, John, and Ryan)
P.S. Here is the latest hit single from Clam and Stu Fram:
Late last night, Stu and Clam locked themselves away first in a bathroom, and then in the Berman’s library, to record SIM’s next big hit (and it’s not even a cappella). They are set to release their new duet album, featuring such Disney classics as “A Whole New World,” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.” Check the link below for a sneak peak of their beautiful harmonies (joke!) and incredible vocal and metaphysical chemistry.
Day two began with a return trip to Brimmer and May School to lead a workshop with the Upper School Chorus. Before they arrived, however, we were treated to a song from the sixth graders that included some epic Tarzan Boy-esque choreography. As we said goodbye to the kids, the Upper School students arrived. John led everybody in a series of warm-up exercises, and segued into teaching “Hold my Hand” by Hootie and the Blowfish. All we can say is that Brimmer and May gotz talent — that’s right, with a Z. Dot treated us, once again, to another wonderful lunch, this time with the Upper School. We relished in student gossip, hardships, and tales of the tribulations of boys in puberty trying to sing.
An intense game of Apples to Apples awaited SIM, then resting in preparation for the Friends and Family Concert. We flexed our muscles, moved some furniture, and made a salad. Clam demonstrated his domestic skills arranging a tray of cookies, for which Nial couldn’t help but try to take credit. Before we knew it, the guests arrived — actually, we were standing around forever…waiting…in the chilling silence that only happens when the preparations for a party end before the festivities themselves actually begin.
SIM treated friends and family to an eclectic set of songs. Laughs were had, tears were shed, and SIM enjoyed a dining room table laden with “a heap/Of candied apple, quince, and plum, and gourd/With jellies soother than the creamy curd/And lucent syrops, tinct with cinnamon/Manna and dates, in argosy transferr’d/From Fez; and spiced dainties, every one/From silken Samarcand to cedar’d Lebanon.” (John Keats, “Eve of St. Agnes”) At least that’s what it seemed like to a ravenous horde of starving college students.
Evening turned to night, and night turned to now: 11:30 pm. Stu and Clam are practicing their next big smash hit, while others partake in Ninja, and Ryan blogs. Tomorrow brings two more concerts, and of course, another summary of the day’s events.
Love,
SIM
SIM arrived in Newton, MA by van and car, and settled in immediately. Certain members helped themselves to Super Smash Bros. and Mario Party 2, even before the arrival of our hosts. The battle was fierce, the players ruthless, and the discourse blog entry title inspiring. Mini games, gold stars, and JoJo’s ego were all on the line as SIM buckled down to focus on what really matters: winning. For the record, Jack, as Princess Peach, emerged victorious with six stars and eighty-four coins.
Following a delicious dinner provided by our gracious hosts, the Bermans, SIM rehearsed in preparation for our first performance. Our focus was lacking thanks, in part, to three hours of LOST waiting to be watched on the DVR by some diehard fans, who successfully recruited several new members to their cult. Those who resisted took part in Scrabble, knitting (Stu…), and Spades. Said differently, they might as well be retired.
Wednesday morning began with a 9:00 wake-up call, a plethora of cereals, and stories of former employers (i.e. fruit packers – ask JoJo). Soon after, SIM loaded into multiple vehicles for what was meant to be a 15-minute drive to Brimmer and May School. The journey proved arduous as SIM struggled to find parking, but we were ultimately saved by handicap spaces and an expert van driver (props to RJ, what a man!). Soon after, we learned that Brimmer suffered from a cappella fever, and it was up to SIM to provide the students with sweet, sweet relief. The set was a hit with all ages, grades six through twelve, and Mori performed one of his best improvs yet (Pop Tarts, Green Day, Hot Dogs, and Hannah Montana – Party in the USA, anyone?). We sang some songs, melted some hearts (Ian…), and snapped some great photos (see below).
SIM. The Men. The Legends.
Mori in all his glory
Following the concert, Brimmer’s dining staff kindly invited SIM to join the Middle School for lunch. Thanks to Dottie and crew for the delicious meal! We enjoyed spending time with the students, learning about their interests, and signing some autographs along the way. We are so excited to return tomorrow to work with the Upper School Chorus.
SIM spent the afternoon and early evening in Boston, with visits to Quincy Market, the Holocaust Memorial, and Fenway Park (GO SOX). The evening’s entertainment, however, revolved around Lucky Strike Bowling at Jillian’s. We learned that if the singing thing doesn’t work out, Stu, Eric, Nial and Mori all have a fallback career in semi-professional ten-pin bowling. Noah, however, does not.
Uh, Noah...? The pins are that way...
SIM ended the evening bitterly divided between Chipotle (jealous, Sackler?) and Panera Bread, but soon made up over sparkling conversation and glorious retellings of the day’s exploits.
That brings us to now. We wish we knew what Clam was saying in the background, but nobody else in SIM speaks Chinese (at least in the kitchen right now, cause actually, Ryan and Nial are pretty beastly).
Love,
SIM (aka Andrew and Eric)
Our February Tour schedule is now posted online. Check the updated calendar to see if SIM is coming to your town!
Our schedule as of right now:
You don’t want to miss our concert this Saturday, January 23rd, in the Abernathy Room. We will be debuting our new album, clap.stomp. Come join SIM past and present for what will be a great show! Copies or our new CD will be on sale… 
We will also be saying goodbye to Ryan Kellett and Ian Sanders-Flemming, our graduating Febs. You don’t want to miss it!
We’re thrilled that our new album, clap.stomp., has gone to press and will be ready for order January 23rd, 2010! After doing our second round of recording in October, we spent the last two months listening to numerous mixes and edits of our music, nailing down beat boxing intricacies and fine tuning harmony balances with Liquid 5th.
Our very own Natty Smith ‘10.5 got to work in December on our album art (pictured left) using silhouetted photos of our very own group (see if you can identify who’s who). Jack Terrett ‘11 juggled the various parts and made sure we stayed on deadline.
SIM is also pleased to announce that our very first music video, Disarm (from our second album Melophonophobia), will also be included on the CD! It was a last-minute addition that we hope will add a special touch to an already fun and exciting album.
Stay tuned for ordering details. We’ll have a web link (credit card ready) soon. For those on the Middlebury campus, find your favorite SIM member and find out how to get in on a pre-order deal!
Our end of the semester finished up last week with our final on-campus show entitled “SIMdog Millionaire,” our take on the popular movie “Slumdog Millionaire” and the game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”. We invited our good friend Donny Dickson to host the show as our lone contestant, Nial Rele ‘12, navigated the questions with relative ease. It took place at The Bunker, Middlebury’s favorite dance club. No, that place didn’t exist back when SIM was founded.
We introduced a few of our lesser-known songs like Stop the World (Modern English), You Know My Name (Chris Cornell), and Collide (Howie Day). We also did a few of our classic hits: Thriller (Jackson), Sweetest Girl (Wyclef) which ended in an acappella dance party, Apologize (Timbaland), and Tarzan Boy (someone from the 80s). But we also premiered Ragged Wood (Fleet Foxes) and our long-awaited version of Jai Ho!, from the movie Slumdog Millionaire. This sensational song is sung by our very own Music Director John Montroy and it featured our first ever SIM Dance Break. So ridiculous you’ll just have to watch yourself:
Thanks for everyone who came out for the show. It was a blast.
And as if we couldn’t get enough, we sang Jai Ho again (this time with Frisbee team choreography) for nearly half the school during exam week at Midnight Breakfast, a dining hall delight in the middle of the night.
P.S. Jai Ho means “victory” in Hindi.
RECORDING! Last week, SIM had the joy of recording the second half of the studio album we started recording last Spring. For the few weeks between Fall tour and this past weekend, we’ve been furiously getting ready for recording with practices almost everyday! We kicked off the weekend with the arrival of Carl Taylor, our recording expert from Liquid 5th, who arrived late Thursday night. Recording officially started Friday afternoon with ‘Stop The World’ – we were so productive, we managed to get a good start on ‘Collide’ too. Saturday started out bright and early at 9am, finishing up ‘Collide’ and then we promptly made our way through ‘Tarzan Boy’. Again, thanks to Carl’s magic touch and our shocking efficiency, we managed to get a good chunk of ‘You Know My Name’ done Saturday night. That left most of Sunday to record ‘Jai Ho’. We were even able to take an extended lunch break on Sunday to check out the phenomenon of the Quidditch World Cup, which was taking place on Battell Beach all this weekend. At the end of the day, SIM took a few team photos and yelled a few cheers to celebrate our accomplishment of finally completing our third album as a group! Thanks Carl for your help – we can’t wait to hear the final product!
Here are the songs on our third album, officially named “clap.stomp”, in no particular order:
Everyday Love, Thriller, Apologize, Arco Arena, Lullaby, Sweetest Girl, Stop the World, Collide, Tarzan Boy, You Know My Name, Jai Ho
If everything goes to plan, the album should be out at the end of January. We’ll be having a big CD release concert/goodbye to our beloved Febs, Ryan and Ian, so stay tuned!
