Once known as “the Singing College of New England,” Wesleyan has long been recognized by a cappella enthusiasts as a haven for music, boasting eight different groups. Recently, two new a capella groups have formed on the outskirts of the a cappella scene, hoping to contribute new styles and ideas to the traditional multi-part harmonies endorsed by groups like The Spirits and The Cardinal Sinners.

Queercappella was started last spring by Ray Edwards ’10 and Elissa Martel ’10 who were looking for a place where the music scene and the queer scene on campus could overlap.

“Part of a larger goal is to create a uniquely queer space on campus through different queer bands and setting up venues for queer music,” Edwards said. “There are a lot of queer spaces and music spaces on campus, but not a lot of overlap between the two. That was a problem for us. We did a bunch of projects to mitigate that, basically creating a queer music scene on campus.”

Members of Queercappella said that their group focuses on being inclusive and keeping things fun.

“A cappella at this school is this big, serious commitment and our group makes it silly—which it should be,” said Zak Kirwood ’12, a member of Queercappella.

Formal singing experience is not necessary to join the group—many of their members have never sung in a group setting before.

“People come from a wide range of vocal experience,” said Jesse Ross-Silverman ’13, a member of the group. “I’ve never sung in a formal setting like this, but a lot of other people have been singing their whole lives and are in other a cappella groups. We are pretty low-key, but I want to perform more this year and get more people to see us.”

Another new a cappella group is forming in the depths of West College (WestCo) based on a genre of music—electronic dance with intense bass and beats—few would ever consider worthy of a cappella. The group calls itself Tea, Crumpets and Dubstep, and has started auditioning people to join a solid bass section to carry out the insane bass lines and drops that the style is known for.

“It’s not your typical a cappella group,” said Tennessee Mowrey ’14, the creator of the group. “Imagine 15 people on stage with ten on bass, and you are waiting for the beat to drop and then all of the sudden, BAM! There’s going to be a bunch of people stepping and going ‘wub-wub-wub.’ It’s going to be great to practice, great to perform.”

On the WestCo listserv several weeks ago, Mowrey sent out an email asking if anyone would be interested in joining an all dubstep a cappella group.

“I watched the a cappella concert at Usdan, and I realized it was really cool,” Mowrey said. “A cappella music sounds really good, and I also really like dubstep. The idea of dubstep a cappella is really fun. I want it to be real in the sense that I don’t want it to sound bad, but we’re singing dubstep so you can’t be too serious about it.”

Although the electronic style has been around since 1999, dubstep has recently become more mainstream due in part to Chrispy’s dubstep remixes of popular songs like Rihanna’s “Rude Boy” and the Inspector Gadget theme. Two weeks ago in the WestCo café, the “Craziest Party You Have Ever Been To” devoted an hour and a half block to dubstep.

“I like dubstep because it allows the artist to give his or her own unique take on techno music and it’s just awesome to dance to,” said Matt Leibowitz ’14.

Queercappella also hopes to challenge traditional notions of a cappella. The group not only hopes to provide a safe space on campus for queer music-lovers, but also hopes to “queer” the idea of a cappella by experimenting with different forms of music.

“We are hoping that Queercapella, an a cappella for queer people, can also become a way to queer people’s notions of a cappella by introducing weird instrumentation and all types of voices and skill levels,” Edwards said.

Members of Queercappella testified to their uniqueness on campus, claiming to be the only group that is queer-based.

“We are all queer-identified people, we have queer-themed songs, we do queer things with our bodies,” Kirwood said. “During one of the songs last year, one of the girls was humping me from behind. We were changing up gender roles.”

The unique name of Tea, Crumpets, and Dubstep is meant to convey the group’s lighthearted nature. So far they have only six members and are actively recruiting new singers. Some of the songs Mowrey plans to perform include a HyGrade remix of the Gorillaz Melancholy Hill and Sunlight by Modestep.

“I was in my friend’s room and we were talking about what would be funny and one of us said, ‘Imagine a bunch of English people sitting around with tea and crumpets and singing a cappella,’” Mowrey said. “It’s better than ‘the dubstep a cappella group.’ It’s not serious.”

Last year, Queercapella prepared four songs and performed informally at a senior house. The songs they performed—“She Wolf” by Shakira, “Sippin 40s” by Gravy Train!!!!, Youtube sensation “Smell Yo Dick,” and “Oops” by Hudson Mohawk—are emblematic of queer a capella.

“We are challenging the ideas people have of what a cappella is,” Ross-Silverman said. “ People associate college a cappella with a sort of song, and we are thinking about ways we can change the way a cappella is actually done. A lot of the songs we sing you wouldn’t perform for a parent or in a formal setting. It isn’t like the Spirits performing in Memorial Chapel.