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!

Unsurprisingly, a late night of playing ninja = sleep all morning.  Eventually, SIM got up, tidied Jacob’s apartment, and moved some furniture.  After a very late breakfast, we loaded our numerous bags and merchandise into our 15-passenger party van, which was a challenge remarkably similar to Tetris (led by our very own Logic experts, Mori and Stu).  Squeezed in very uncomfortably, SIM rolled out and tried to navigate the maze of streets that is New York City.  Fortunately, RJ’s driving skills were quite adept and we managed to get to his house in Greenwich, CT with no problems, at an early time of 3pm.  Once at RJ’s, SIM set up for our concert that evening and rehearsed a bit.  Middlebury alumni and friends and family of the Adlers started turning up at around 6pm, and we enjoyed talking about future careers and how Midd has changed over the years.  SIM opened the evening with a set of five songs to a packed room.  As has seemingly become tradition now, Freshmen make up their majors and we had a couple of gems this time.  Noah’s studying Metaphysical Systems Interactions (whatever that is), with a minor in Spanish.  Alec is focusing on Bathymetry and Macro-Gravitational Fluidics, while Stu is unashamedly studying Defense Against the Dark Arts.  As you can tell, the academic caliber of the incoming Freshmen class gets higher and higher each year at Middlebury!  Dinner was served following the first set and after eating copious amounts of food, we jumped into our second set – ending with ‘Prayer of the Children’ and ‘Joy to the World’.  SIM hung out and chatted with alumni for a while after the show, while enjoying some delicious desserts.  As we were exhausted from the days activities, we ended the night catching up on homework and relaxing.

Tuesday, our last day of the tour, was a very early start relative to the past few days…9:30am! (although Ian and Jack had to get up at 8am for their daily run/workout).  SIM had a great breakfast of eggs and sausages cooked by Mrs Adler, before we tidied up the house and packed the van again.  Thank you Mr and Mrs Adler for your great hospitality this weekend – all the food was amazing!  We left RJ’s house fairly promptly and made our way over to Greenwich Country Day School for our two performances of the day.  We were led to GCDS’s auditorium where we warmed up and tested out the space.  Our first performance was to the younger students (Grades 4-6) and we started with ‘Steal My Kisses’, with each part coming out from backstage when they entered the song.  RJ rocked a “Cheese” and “Monkey” improv and we got the chance to answer some questions after the show.  Half an hour later, we performed for the upperclassmen (Grades 7-9), where ‘Apologize’ was a hit!  This time Mori did an improv to “Walls”, “Cat”, and “Dinosaur”, and we ended with ‘Tarzan Boy’.  We got the chance to sit and chat after the show, and introduce ourselves properly.  Apparently, Nial is majoring in Optometry and Chocolatier-ology so when he grows up he can be “eye candy”…  Following the show, we got lunch in the GCDS dining hall where we filled up on meatball subs and cream puffs (Clam even had to pester a neighboring table for one, as we got through ours so quickly!).  After lunch, we loaded into the van once more and started off on the long ride back to Middlebury.  The ride went quickly thanks to lots of riddles and SIM’s new obsession with Brooklyn accents (thanks Jojo, Jacob, Alec, Mori, Ian…umm everyone…).  We even saw the best rainbow ever!

That’s it!  Fall Tour 2009 over!  Thanks to everyone who came to our shows and special thanks to the Udells and Adlers!  Now our focus switches to recording, which is the weekend of October 23rd-25th (less than two weeks away!).  Wish us luck!  We’ll keep you informed on how that goes.

Love,

SIM

After a rushed Friday morning of classes/exams/packing, SIM headed off right after lunch on our Fall Tour 2009.  Squeezing into a 15-passenger van (also known as the ‘SIM Party Bus’), SIM made the long drive down to the Taft School in Watertown, CT.  Once at Taft, SIM performed a great set to a packed audience – ‘Apologize’ was a great hit with the enthusiastic students.  We even entertained the Musical Director of Taft’s all-male a cappella group the Oriocos, Bryan, to our rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ to celebrate his special day!  Thanks to Sam Routhier for arranging this event, and we look forward to coming back to perform at Taft in the future!  We spent that night at RJ’s house in Greenwich, CT.  After arriving in the pouring rain, we decided to treat RJ’s sleeping Dad to a musical wake-up (‘Come Go’ style).  We got to earn our lodging some how!

The next day we spent a lazy morning in Greenwich before heading off to the big city of New York!  Once there, we met up with the Barnard Bacchantae at Barnard College.  We relaxed and warmed up with plenty of time before the show – even Ben Broad joined us for it!  Fortunately, Jack arrived from Boston just in time for the concert, 30 minutes before showtime!  The Barnard Bacchantae opened the show with two songs to a packed audience.  SIM performed next with a very powerful set (You Know My Name, Apologize, Cry Me A River, Sweetest Girl, Tarzan Boy), which went down a storm.  The Bacchantae finished off the show with another three songs, closing with their rendition of the SNL classic ‘I’m On a Boat’!  That night the Bacchantae showed us the New York nightlife, before heading back to crash at Jacob’s apartment in the Upper West End.

Understandably, Sunday morning was also a slow start as SIM lay about Jacob’s house and had a late breakfast prepared by Mr and Mrs Udell.  Ian, Jack, Clam, Natty, John, and Jacob went out for a midday run around Central Park while the rest of the group headed out sight-seeing around the park and Time Square.  After the run, Jack and Clam met up with the rest of the group in Chinatown, but not after taking a few wrong turns and wasting a lot of time getting lost (typical foreigners in NYC…).  In Chinatown, SIM had an afternoon snack at a Chinese Bakery where we ate delicious pastries and drank Bubble Tea.  Later that afternoon, we went back to Jacob’s apartment and rehearsed for the evening concert (but not after having a long and stressful meeting about recording in two weeks!).  That evening, SIM got the chance to meet friends and family of the Udell’s during the pre-show schmoozing although Tina Fey didn’t show up (she lives in the apartment just upstairs!).  The concert went well and we had the chance to chat some more after the show.  Thanks to the Udell’s for hosting us these past couple of days and putting up with our raucous games (Ninja, anyone?).  Tomorrow we head back to RJ’s and Connecticut for the last few days of our Fall Tour 2009!

Till then!

SIM

SIM fans,

Tomorrow we kick off our Fall Tour 2009! Here are our gigs:

Friday October 9th: The Taft School, 110 Woodbury Rd, Watertown, CT
Performance Time: 7:00 PM

Saturday October 10th: Gig with the Barnard Bacchantae, Barnard College, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY

Sunday October 11th: Alumni gig at Udell House, 300 West End Ave, Between 74^th and 75^th, Manhattan, NY
Performance Time: 8:30 PM

Monday October 12th: Alumni gig at Adler House, 938 Lake Ave, Greenwich, CT
Performance: 7:30 PM

Tuesday October 13th: Greenwich Country Day School, 401 Old Church Rd, Greenwich, CT
Performance Time: 11:30AM

We look forward to seeing you at our performances!  Check back for updates on our tour progress!

Love,

SIM

The semester has been racing by and SIM has already been very busy. Auditions went smoothly and we managed to snatch some amazing Freshmen talent. We’re pleased to announce SIM’s newest four members:

Noah Berman ‘13
Stu Fram ‘13
Alec Nelson ‘13
Eric Wilson ‘13

Fortunately, they’re quick learners as over the past few weeks we’ve gotten them up to speed with a large portion of our repertoire (and choreography!).

This past Saturday evening, SIM had the privilege to perform at the Alumni Leadership Conference at Breadloaf. We had a great time meeting alumni and were treated to a delicious dinner. Our newbies were especially excited as this was their first concert with SIM! We performed a varied set of some of our favorite tunes – ‘Prayer of the Children’ and ‘Joy to the World’, to name just a few! Thanks to Dennis Manalo for coordinating this event – we had a blast!

What a way to kick off the semester! Just over a week is our Fall Tour (October 9th – 13th), where we’ll be heading down to Connecticut and New York City. Stay tuned for locations of our performances!

So finally, the summer is over!  After three months of working jobs with long hours and traveling around the globe, SIM is back at Middlebury and ready to hit off the semester big.  This past Sunday, SIM sang at the A Cappella Jam (hosted by our very own man-for-all-seasons Ryan Kellett) and was a huge success!  We now have a big week ahead of us – one that many of us look forward to all summer.  Auditions!  Yay!  We can’t wait to see what talent the Freshmen class has to offer as well as untapped talent from upperclassmen.  So, try out for SIM this week!  Here are the details:

Location: Axinn 229
Date: Wednesday 9th September
Time: 4-10pm

Bring a prepared solo and a deep thought (we really do want a deep thought!).  Sign-ups are on the noticeboard by the north-west entrance in McCullough, but walk-ins are welcome too!  We can’t wait to see you and hear you!  And remember…stay hydrated!

Love,
SIM

Well, after 10 full days in Tokyo, SIM is finally back in the US.  We got into Newark yesterday at around 4:30pm, after a 12 hour flight and having been up for about 24 hours, we went our separate ways.  We now have the challenge of fighting the ridiculous 13 hour time difference, before we can settle into our summer jobs.

Japan was an amazing experience!  John summed it up well – we saw so many crazy things in Tokyo and we were there for less than two weeks.  The tour went off without a hitch and thanks needs to be paid to Ben for setting this whole tour up and guiding us through a country where none of us were familiar with the language or culture savvy.  It is still hard for us to believe that this tour happened at all – I know that I wasn’t counting on it until I was actually on the plane to Narita!  Ben put in a substantial amount of work in establishing this tour, made harder by the fact that most people we mentioned it to said it couldn’t happen.  So, Ben, thanks a bunch for making this the most ambitious and successful tour in SIM’s history!

Thank you to everyone else who made this tour happen – those who so generously helped us raise enough money to bring our group to Japan, all the people at the International Schools and Universities for arranging our performances, and the people of Tokyo who so politely put up with our persistent singing and frequent cultural faux-pas!  And thank you for following our adventures on this blog – it’s rewarding for us to know that you take an active interest in our music!

So, now to the summer.  SIM will take a few months off, before we return to Middlebury for “boot camp”, the Orientation Jamboree, and auditions week.  Thanks again, and see you in September!

Love,

SIM

Our last full day in Tokyo, SIM was able to relax in the morning, while packing our bags for departure.  After a morning of last minute souvenir shopping, sorting out finances, and packing our bags, we cleared out of the Akihabara apartments.  We said goodbye to Clam, who we will see again next fall, and strolled down to Akihabara train station, with our bags trailing behind us.  After navigating across Tokyo for over an hour (made much more complicated by all the luggage), we arrived just outside of the city at Sobudai.  We were greeted by Jerry Ashby who brought us to Camp Zama military base.  We were presented with authorization cards and informed to keep our passports on our person at all times – otherwise we’d end up outside the base.  It was like stepping into America again, while still being very much in Japan.  We made our way to our accommodation for our last night in Japan.  For a military barracks, the accommodation was phenomenal – stylish, big hotel rooms for 2 people each (no more cramped living quarters!).  Japanese characters had been replaced with complete English, and Western food was more prevalent.  After dropping off our bags in our rooms, we met briefly to warm up for our 7pm show and run through a few songs.

Our concert that night, and the last of SIM’s Japan tour, was in celebration of Zama American High School’s 50th anniversary, and SIM performed to an audience made up of graduates over the past 50 years.  After the performance, SIM hung around for the rest of the ceremony, meeting Zama graduates, and selling CDs.  SIM left just as the dance was getting started and did not partake in the karaoke next door, which several of us were very tempted to do!  Thank you very much Jerry Ashby for organizing this performance and for accommodating us on our last night in Japan!

SIM was treated to dinner this evening, and ate at a quaint Indian restaurant in town.  Accompanied by Zama graduates Vinny and Emily, SIM indulged in curry, rice, and naan bread!  Nial seemed right at home, speaking Hindi to the waiter and chef.  SIM even did a ‘Ben Broad’ improv to celebrate the one and only Ben Broad and the success of the tour he created.  Not used to such spicy food, SIM was downing water excessively and had to head home shortly after dinner!  Before going to bed, SIM did a little photo shoot in the complimentary kimonos we were given in our rooms (see below)!

Tomorrow, SIM heads back to the US after 10 full days in Japan.  Check back in a day or so for the final Japan tour wrap-up, when we make it safely back stateside!

Love,

SIM

*cue giggle*

So! SIM fans from across the world, mostly concentrated on the east coast. You have read our blog, followed our nonsense live and through writing. And now our journey is coming to a close. We’ve had a blasty blast, seen much, heard much, learned much. Looking back, what really made Tokyo…Tokyo for us? Well, for myself (John, Jojo, jinglebells), a couple things were up there. Running with SIM members, mostly Ian, through the streets of Ginza and Akihabara, watching Japanese businessmen stare at us googley-eyed. Impressed, no doubt. Waking up drunk, semi-passed out Japanese men on the last train of the night with varying degrees of success. Meeting Bobby Valentine and performing next to him with tons of fans watching him watch us watch the audience. And as he walked away, our crowd immediately dispersed to our dismay. Feeling my voice seconds away from snapping in Tarzan Boy (fortunately has not happened, one performance left!). Blanching every time I hear the answer to “Yea, what is this?” at a restaurant (OCTOPUS BALLS, REALLY?). Having my hand cramp up from signing autographs for twenty minutes, and watching ten year olds whip out 10000 yen bills. Having a traditional tea ceremony, with the air of formality mingling with a definite stifled giddiness.  Dancing and contorting ourselves at Tama in some twisted cross-cultural exchange…oh, there will be videos. Watching the language barrier dissipate in mindless giggling over and over again, or yells of “Picture! Picture!”. Getting to know the quirks of SIM members…the good, the bad, the ugly. Praying for the train to start running so it’ll drown out Nial’s snoring. Playing the blues insult game, rhyming game and word finishing game for over three hours, totally missing the sights and sounds of wherever we were that day…some place with a ferris wheel and foreigners with an affinity for Disney Land. Singing at the slightest whiff of a song on someone’s lips. The happy music of the train stations (Japano-cuban salsas?). Being the only ones talking on a train for forty five minutes…singing on a train. Intense conversations of SIM’s past, revisiting of old videos and concerts for hours on end, the tears, blood, and retribution. Making new friends, bringing the party, bringing the happy, and generally having the best time possible. My lordy, what a trip. I’ll even miss Akihabara and all its bizarre stores and neverending Pachinko buildings, the sketchy clubs of Rappongi, the towering buildings and observational tower of Shinjuku with Ian and Jon, the overwhelming crosswalk of Shibuya, the New York City style streets of Ginza, the endless marketplaces of pretty much every section of Tokyo, Shibuya being the best. Tokyoooo! It’s been real!

Some quoteworthy notes:

We finally figured out what the rapping salesman was saying: “Aki Taki Tica Taca Toe. I really really like Toky-o-ky-o.”

From our fans at Takushoku University: “I want to touch muscle” and “Today I have become your fun.”

From a 7 year old girl at Tokyo International School: “You guys were awesome. Seriously, you are like a rockstar.”

To Jacob: “Can I call you Pedro?”

To Ian: “AHHH! My cousin’s friend is named Ian!”

From Other Fans: “Are you famous?” and “Are you guys pro or just semi-pro?”and “Why do you guys want to sing so much?”

From Bobby Valentine: “You guys are great!”

From Police Officer: “Ah! Tarazan Boyu!”

Mori, to Jojo and Ian: “Guys, wash your hands.” (Proceeds to demonstrate with the scalding tea water.)

Woman, smitten by Ian: “eeeeeeahiahdihaf!!!”

A sign in Harajuku: “No smorking.”

Man on Train: “Be quite. Shhhhhh!”

Excited fan to Jojo: “You look like you’re 15!”

Jon: ‘Ooh, what is that? An octopus covered in moss roasted in a broth of seagull and porcupine? Sure I’ll try it!”

Jack: “Ooh, what is that? A slice of white bread with some white rice and a coke? Sure I’ll try it!”

RJ: “Whenever…!” and “Scoobidopabeepawowowowshabadidababyidyabayababupbup… Scoobidapwow, shamandopbow!”

Ben Broad: “Yeah, yeah, I’ll meet up with you guys in like 4-12 hours.”

Nial: “I wasn’t snoring, it was Jojo! Or the train!”

Mori: “No! Did you see the way that guy looked at me? I’m going back there.”

Clam: “… Xiaoying! You did NOT just fire at my spacecraft!”

Jason: “Well, I started this group to get a girlfriend….”

Jacob: “Shanku Minko!”

Ian: “Come on guys, who is coming running?” Everyone else: “Ian, it’s 3 in the morning.”

Jojo: “Listen, the train just gave us the starting notes for Come Go!”

PEACE AND LOVE,

SIM