#voiceplay

After Layne had handily won their first cook-off, it was time for a rematch. And what better way to continue their foray into the food world than to pit two middle-aged suburban dads against each other across a grill? Personally I'd take Geoff’s toppings on Layne's thicker patty. What's your go-to order?

Details:

title: burger challenge

cooks: Geoff Castellucci & Layne Stein

dishes: double-decker smash burger vs. jalepeno cheddar pub burger

tasters: Eli Jacobson & Cesar De La Rosa

release date: 10 May 2024

My favorite bits:

"…to the death. 💀" 🔪

another set of silly blindfolds and beverage clinking for Eli and Cesar

Layne leaning into the spicy with his sauce again 🌶️

Geoff humble-bragging about his home-grown tomatoes 🍅

recreating the Gordon Ramsey "idiot sandwich" moment

the construction montage & taking pride in their work 🍔🍔

"We both lost." "We both won." 🤣 (Two sides of the same coin.)

Trivia:

Everyone had a very nice time hanging together outside the studio and enjoying some tasty treats. Full bellies lead to warm fuzzies, and solid friendships make for better art.

In keeping with their weekend dad silliness, Geoff and Layne acquired special aprons for the occasion that suit their respective personalities.

Among their numerous shenanigans, Eli and Geoff had turned Layne into a sandwich during the filming of their video for "Butter" three years earlier.

Geoff had a suggestion for the third installment of the series. (Unsurprisingly, they went with something different. Also, for the record, Eli can cook if he has to. He's just not nearly as enthusiastic about it as the others.)

Longtime fan and Patreon patron Huldra Draco had used a recent monthly Q&A perk to inquire about Geoff's burger making techniques, and he obliged her with his description.

Frequent collaborator Rachel Potter also asked a very important question regarding his on-camera wardrobe, which was met with very serious answers.

These guys have always bonded over food. During the high school / college era of 4:2:Five, they would have "meat fest" gatherings where they would grill a bunch of burgers and whatever else struck their fancies, and then gorge themselves silly.

In the early 2000s, Layne, Earl, and Pasquale Palazzolo (Kathy's brother) recorded themselves singing a parody version of James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)" while cooking steaks as a submission for a Food Network contest.

Who doesn't love a good power ballad once in a while? This 90s classic is a fantastic example of the genre, full of longing, hope, and a rocking beat. Once again VoicePlay have worked their magic to make a song their own in less than a minute.

Details:

title: Hole Hearted (feat. Anthony Gargiula)

original performers: Extreme

written by: Nuno Bettencourt & Gary Cherone

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci

release date: 3 May 2024

My favorite bits:

starting with the simplicity of Anthony's melody and Geoff's bass line

passing the lead around through the verse so Eli and Cesar get their moments to shine

Layne adding some bassy harmonies before joining the lyrics

their gorgeous unison on ♫ "If I'm not blind why can't I see?" ♫

Geoff's quick descending arpeggio leading into ♫ "a circle can't fit" ♫

kicking in the percussion with the chorus

Anthony's deft riffing, and the other guys pausing to appreciate it

the subtle canon leading to that satisfyingly lush final chord

silly Cesar starting what sounds like the Wicked riff when they're done and getting cut off

Trivia:

This rendition impressed Extreme themselves, who commented on the Instagram post.

Lake Howell High School in Winter Park, Florida has produced a lot of talented performers, and among the ranks of its former students are the founding members of professional a cappella group VoicePlay. As part of an alumni video profile series, principal Michael Howard sat down with singers Layne Stein and Geoff Castellucci (class of ’99), and the group's production manager Kathy Castellucci (née Palazzolo, class of ’95) to talk about their high school experiences and their paths since graduation.

From the school chorus to their barbershop quartet 4 The Love to contemporary a cappella group 4:2:Five and finally to their current incarnation as VoicePlay, the enduring foundation is a shared love of music and performance. Whether they're entertaining crowds in person or creating elaborate productions for online viewers, their top priority is always having fun, and that enjoyment is conveyed to the audience, even when they're just chatting about the work.

It's time to return to the comfy reading chair… and time for VoicePlay to interrupt someone with another silly song. Eli took a turn being ambushed by his goofball buddies, and let them know what he thought of their antics in true VP style.

Details:

title: Papa Oom Mow Mow (feat. Anthony Gargiula)

original performers: The Rivingtons

written by: Carl White, Al Frazier, Sonny Harris, & Turner Wilson Jr.

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci

release date: 26 April 2024

My favorite bits:

Eli's increasingly baffled reactions to the other guys intruding on his quiet reading time 😒

the way Geoff refuses to look anywhere but at the camera until everyone's joined in so he doesn't crack up

snapping hands that precede the rest of Layne entering the frame

Anthony and Cesar hopping in and out to deliver their staccato backing vocals

Geoff's smooth rising glissando that leads the transition into the middle section

the skillful wail Eli puts on the high notes of ♫ "Is he serious or is he PLAYin'? Ah-OOM mow mow is all he's sayin'." ♫

Layne's rapid ascending drum riff leading into the final chorus

all the adorable head bopping starting with Cesar and Anthony

"What… is happening… here? 🤨" 🤣

::freeze frame:: … ::gasp:: "Okay." "Alright, we got it."

Trivia:

Everyone had a good time creating this bit of fun, and the vibes were infectious once it was public. They even got the seal of approval from Anthony's mom.

Eli is holding The Animal Song Book (1962) by Ed Fisher. He has it open to the pages for a song called "The Lion". That choice feels appropriate, since his zodiac sign is Leo, and this short falls halfway between their videos for "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and "Be Prepared" from The Lion King.

The titular lyrics have been used in many other doo-wop and surf rock songs over the decades since its initial release, including "Summer Nights" from Grease! (1978). An inverted "Oom papa mow mow" is included as a refrain in "Elvira" by The Oak Ridge Boys, which was a staple of VoicePlay's live shows for many years.

Anthony had a song request for a future collaboration. (They haven't gotten to it yet, but hope springs eternal.)

Some songs sink their claws into a generation and never let go. This is absolutely one of those enduring hits for Gen X and elder Milennials, including the founding members of VoicePlay. Covering such an iconic song could be a big risk, but these guys were more than up to the task. With a sci-fi twist and a returning guest, they created something both respectful of the original and uniquely their own.

Details:

title: Black Hole Sun (feat. Anthony Gargiula)

original performers: Soundgarden

written by: Chris Cornell

arranged by: Eli Jacobson & Layne Stein

release date: 19 April 2024

My favorite bits:

opening with dreamy, floaty layers of vocalizations to set the mood

the audible inhale before Cesar begins the melody

Anthony sitting into his chest voice for the lead on the second verse

Geoff taking ♫ "the rain" ♫ down into a subterranean cavern

the slight grit in Eli's timbre in the third verse, bringing just the right amount of that Chris Cornell flavor

the reverb and panning on Layne's drumroll to make it sound like a passing rattlesnake 🐍

their deliciously crunchy harmonies for ♫ "pray to keep" ♫

Eli's incredible wail of ♫ "No one sings like you anyMOOORE." ♫ (Yeah they do, man. You just did.)

the center trio's moment of polyphony near the end of the second chorus

Cesar and Geoff's harmonized guitar riffs 🎸🎸

the contrast between the lush depths Geoff's melody and the others' high, delicate bell tones

the camera shake when the beat drops again

Layne's massive syncopated descending tom line 🥁

the cascading build to ♫ "wash away the raaain" ♫

the very human heartbeat percussion punctuated by those fun rising and plummeting ingressives that almost sound electronic

the riffing tag-team between Anthony and Eli that ends by soaring into the stratosphere

the warmth in their final hummed chord resolution

Trivia:

The guys' futuristic cyber-implant prosthetics were created by Blue Whale Studios. They were applied by their usual artists Rick Underwood and Renette Feren.

Some of the guys' costume pieces were originally intended for their "Sleeping in the Cold Below" video earlier in the year, but didn't arrive in time, so they used them for this instead.

The physical set pieces were built by Eli, his wife Ashley, and her sister Alecia. They're credited in the YouTube description as "Ol' Sawdust Jacobson and his happy helpers".

Eli also created the animated cityscape projected behind them. It contains fictional ads for "KiRA Records", "Ethereal Biotech", and "Füd Cups". He was manning the VoicePlay account in chat during the YouTube premiere, and called special attention to the shark and fish lights near the base of the Füd Cups billboard.

This video was filmed at Vū Studios in Orlando, the same place where they'd recorded "Valhalla Calling" a year before. Layne had also used it for two PattyCake projects inspired by the live-action Little Mermaid movie.

Before they started filming, Layne, Geoff, and Kathy were interviewed by their high school's current principal as part of the school's "Legends of Lake Howell" alumni profile series.

Cesar's colleagues at Throga Vocal Gym reacted to this video as part of their weekly livestream a month later, and then posted the isolated clip a week after that.

The title is a phrase that songwriter / lead singer Chris Cornell misheard from a local news broadcast, and thought would make for a cool song. The rest of the lyrics are him "playing with words for words' sake" to evoke a surreal dreamscape.