Talk about being delusional! Only in her later years did Audrey discover she is not an alto, but a soprano – and a mighty good one at that. Apart from being awarded Best Soloist at the 2005 National A Cappella Championships and having a flair for scaling the heavenly registers, Audrey has a knack for Bollywood yodelling (although she’s 100% Chinese) and for swimming like a fish (despite being 100% human). One thing that she is dismal at? Spelling. We suspect that Audrey is a closet geek. After all, she dons Harry-Potter specs and dreams of uncovering some mind-shattering physics theory with the NASA team.
You may find her familiar. Perhaps you saw her being serenaded on stage by David Tao at his 2008 Singapore concert. Or maybe you detect the semblance she shares with the actress Gong-Li. She is Shu Ying, VoCollision’s mellow mezzo. A prolific music arranger, Shu Ying co-wrote and produced the VoCollision theme which was showcased at the Noise Singapore Festival 2005. This well-groomed lass owns an outrageous variety of lipbalms (she can rival the stash at Sephora) and uses about a gazillion tonnes of water to keep her hands clean. Ok … maybe not gazillion, but enough to give water conservations a cardiac arrest.
Being the resident alto, Ginny sometimes delves into the ‘almost-a-guy’ range. Amazingly, her scream (which has sparked horrified stares from fellow roller-coaster passengers) is deafeningly high-pitched. When singing, Ginny tries not to slip into her country-style twang and morph every song into a cowboy ditty. When speaking, she attempts to keep her blonde moments in check. However, when it comes to eating, well … let’s just say there’s no stopping her. Singing aside, this girl used to tickle the ivories and tug on violin strings. At last check, a disturbingly thick film of dust was found on two very-out-of-tune instruments.
As the slave driver musical director, Simon is essential in moulding VoCollision’s sound, often imbuing arrangements with jazzy intricacies and vocal acrobats to torture challenge his group mates. To call Simon a music genius is an understatement (Hello, how many six-year-olds can play TV theme songs by ear?). This multi-instrumentalist who plays the piano, oboe and saxophone also has a wealth of experience and a NIE Diploma in Band Directing. Truly, Simon’s soul food is music – although curry comes as a close second. Just like his favourite TV character Homer Simpson, Simon has a strong inclination to indulge in beer-guzzling. Thankfully, that is the only similarity they share.
Don’t underestimate VoCollision’s lean-framed bass. Defined by his deep, dark and distinct voice, Wei Jin is akin to a walking Bang & Olufsen subwoofer. Since his days as one of the founding members of a cappella group, Skritch, he has had his share of fans. Guys desire to sound like him. And girls? They envy his flawless skin (Spill the beans! Is it SK-II?). Wei Jin’s inherent sense of musicality is apparent. While you can count on him to pep songs up with snazzy improvisations and trust his GPS-sense-of-direction, think twice about appointing him as safe-guarder of a box of nougats – it will be the last you see of it!
vocollision.wordpress.com 