The Lounge Lizards are a top notch mixed group out of UC Davis. Co-President Alyssa Parsons took the time to answer questions from The A Cappella Blog.
The A Cappella Blog (ACB): Describe a typical Lounge Lizards rehearsal. How often do you guys practice and what do you do to achieve such success by the time you hit the stage? Do rehearsals change before a big show? Before you guys go into competition?
Alyssa Parsons (AP): Usually, we practice twice a week, for two and a half hours; we also have special choreography-oriented rehearsals, so we have plenty of time to sing. Basically, our rehearsal process before a competition or show is a lot like theater; we use the earlier practices to learn new pieces or work out the kinks on others, and right before the competition or show, we rehearse our whole set list in order, with choreography, as if we were performing. Sometimes we’ll bring in our friends who know a lot about music and will easily be able to point out our good points and bad points from the standpoint of an audience member.
ACB: Are there any unique traditions or pieces of history attached to your group?
AP: One of our more embarrassing traditions actually comes from an all-male group that we met at an ICCA competition before I was in the group. We heard one of their warm-ups, and now we do it on a regular basis; we sing “I bite the heads off puppies, and their warm blood drips all over my new shoes.” Unfortunately, it’s got a very good variety of consonants, and it’s a pretty good warm-up. We tend to horrify any other groups that are around us when we’re getting ready…







