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Indiana Alumni Magazine

The SNC Story

The founder and first director of Straight No Chaser tells how the men's a cappella group became a campus favorite and achieved national success.

by Dan Ponce

I arrived at Indiana University in the fall of 1995 with a piece of paper in my wallet. It was titled "College To Do List." My father advised me to write a short list of everything I wanted to accomplish during my four years at IU. He told me to be specific, and he told me to think big. So the night before my parents and I left for Bloomington, I sat at the kitchen table and made a list of 10 things I wanted to do at college.

I kept this list all four years, and every so often, I would pull it out and check my progress. Among my favorites on the list are "win the Little 500," "graduate with a 4.0 GPA," and "meet my wife." I tried out for my fraternity's bike team, but I never mounted a Roadmaster. My grades were good, but nowhere near a 4.0. I'm not married yet, but I'm still dating my girlfriend from our sophomore year. Maybe there's still hope.

As my college years continued, I realized that some of the experiences on my list weren't going to happen. There were only so many hours in the day, and I had to focus my time wisely.

A goal of almost all undergraduates is knowing what profession they want to pursue when they graduate. I was no different: The first item on my to do list reads, "Figure out what I'm going to do with my professional life."

As a music major, I knew I wanted to be a performer. I wanted to sing, play piano, compose, direct singing groups, and conduct orchestras. What better place to be than the IU School of Music? It wasn't the classroom experience, however, that focused my professional music aspirations. Instead, it was a self-created experience that launched the beginning of my professional career.

Actually, this was the second item on my list. It reads, "Create a nationally renowned a cappella group." In September of 1996, the beginning of my sophomore year, I formed a men's a cappella ensemble called Straight No Chaser. I didn't realize it at the time, but Straight No Chaser would change my life, the lives of all who were in it, and the lives of the members to come.

A cappella singing had been a passion of mine all through high school. There is something magical about singing without instruments, isolating voices in rich harmony. I started a men's a cappella group in high school called New Trier A Cappella. We performed at school concerts, private parties, and receptions. The success of this group gave me the confidence I needed as a writer and director to start a group in college.

During my freshman year at IU, I was a member of the Singing Hoosiers, the renowned show choir. It was with this wonderful choir that I got my feet wet with the IU music scene. I met other singers, performed often, and the director, Michael Schwartzkopf, BME'69, MM'76, gave me several opportunities to write and direct.

After the first year, I was ready to begin fulfilling my dream of founding and directing a men's a cappella group. In September, I selected some of the best guys from the Singing Hoosiers based on strength of voice, voice part, and personality. We needed to be a group that would blend in terms of both sound and character.

All the guys were very enthusiastic, and they loved the idea of starting a new ensemble. Once I was confident I had chosen a powerhouse group, we began rehearsing. The first song we learned was "The Longest Time," by Billy Joel. By the end of September, we had six songs ready for our first public appearance at the annual Dance Marathon.

I remember this performance vividly. We flubbed entrances, rushed tempos, and kept going out of tune. At one point, I remember looking over at Jerome Collins, BA'99, one of our tenors, and seeing a confused yet horrified expression on his face. That's because we were experiencing a very dissonant and painful introduction to a song ironically called "Naturally." In our eyes, it wasn't a good performance.

The audience, however, seemed to love it. When we started singing, everyone in the HPER Fieldhouse stopped what they were doing and listened to us. After each song ended, they screamed and cheered for us. It was an incredible feeling. We walked off stage feeling like The Beatles after their Ed Sullivan show debut.

After the show, we had a quick meeting outside of the HPER. I told the guys how excited and proud I was of our performance. But I quickly reminded them that our show was far from perfect. We all knew we had a lot more work to do. Our journey was just beginning.

The day after the Straight No Chaser campus debut, I decided that another list was in order. I called it the "SNC To Do List." It consisted of 10 goals I had for our newly formed a cappella group. The goals were very specific and very big. I was so determined to accomplish each one that I put a little box next to each item on the list so that I could check it off as it happened. I folded it up and placed it in my wallet with my "College To Do List."

If I had read my list of goals to the members of SNC after our Dance Marathon performance, I guarantee they would have labeled me a starry-eyed utopian. I had these crazy ideas of taking Straight No Chaser all the way to Carnegie Hall for the National Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. I wanted to record an album that would sweep the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards. I wanted to sell out campus concerts and maybe even do a concert at the Musical Arts Center, even though we weren't part of the Music School. I wanted to sell thousands of albums all over the country and put Indiana University on the national a cappella map. Most important, I wanted to create a tradition that would last as long as Indiana University.

I remember looking at my "SNC To Do List" and thinking to myself, "It will take a miracle for these things to happen while I'm in college."

It took us the better part of the '96-'97 school year to create a buzz around campus about SNC. We seized every opportunity to get in front of an audience. We sang at the residence halls, we sang in the Union, and most of the time we sang for free. At the time, I was the social chairman for my fraternity, and it occurred to me that the sororities might enjoy listening to SNC. I called up the social chairs of the sororities and arranged for us to sing at their formal dinners. It was perfect for us. Where else could we get the attention of hundreds of women on campus? Before we knew it, we were performing at Moms' weekends, Dads' weekends, and formal dinners. The women of the IU sororities got Straight No Chaser on its way.

Toward the end of the year, Randy Stine, our promotions manager, came up with a great idea for SNC. He suggested we stay together in Chicago over the summer, performing, writing, and rehearsing. We loved the idea and ditched our other summer plans to pursue Straight No Chaser full time.

This was a pivotal period for our young group. We performed at least five times a week and practiced almost every day. When not rehearsing, the assistant director, Walter Shilanskas, and I wrote and arranged more than 20 songs. We sang the national anthem for the White Sox, did full concerts at Navy Pier, and made an appearance on NBC television. That summer we defined the SNC sound. In the fall of '97, we arrived back in Bloomington ready to take both the campus and country by storm.

In the '97-'98 school year I switched my major. I decided I was going to major in Straight No Chaser and minor in schoolwork! This was the year I started checking off the items on my "SNC To Do List." We spent hundreds of hours in the studio, recording our first album. We performed three sold-out concerts in Alumni Hall, including our first CD release concert. We started performing at other schools, and we did small tours on the weekends and spring break.

I will never forget the feeling of performing our first headlining concert at IU. It was Nov. 3, 1997, in Alumni Hall. We premiered all of our new music, and the crowd went wild the entire show. We ended the first half by singing "Dry Campus," a song I wrote that satirizes IU's no-alcohol policy. When we finished, the crowd erupted. We bounced off stage and celebrated together as if the basketball team had just won its sixth national championship.

The highlight of the year, however, came when we entered the National Championship of Collegiate A Cappella for the first time. This was the true test. We were finally going to see how we stacked up against other groups like ours. Almost every university or college has at least one a cappella group. Yale University has 15! We knew the competition would be fierce. The first round took place at the University of Illinois. We couldn't believe how good the other groups were, and I wasn't sure if we were going to make it to the next round.

But to our surprise, we won the competition and advanced to the Midwest regional finals in St. Louis. There we encountered the other first-round winners for a showdown to determine who would go to the national finals in New York City. The competition was twice as good as in the previous round. Many of the other groups had been around for more than 30 years. We nervously awaited the announcement of the awards: third place, second place, and the winner — Straight No Chaser! We flew out of our seats and ran to the stage to take a bow. I remember screaming so loud when they announced our name that I had no voice for our encore.

In May of 1998, Straight No Chaser headed to Carnegie Hall. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine ourselves in the final round of the NCCA on the world's most famous stage. But there we were, performing for a sold-out audience that included a big IU cheering section. When people ask what we remember about the performance, I'm not sure any of us could go into detail. It was an out-of-body experience, without question the most exciting, magical, and fastest 14 minutes of our lives.

We left New York City with the second-place trophy, as well as the "Best Song" award for our theme song, "Straight No Chaser." I remember walking on stage and hoisting the trophy right up to my family. My dad (Phil, BA'71) and I made eye contact while he gave me the thumbs up.

First semester senior year was the busiest time for SNC. When we weren't in class, we were recording, rehearsing, performing, or possibly sleeping. We performed our Christmas concert in the MAC and recorded our second CD, "Last Call," which won the CARA award for "Best Collegiate Album" in the nation. Things got so busy that Walter, Dave Roberts, and Randy had to sign on to the five-year college plan. (Randy may be on the six- or seven-year plan by now.)

Because we had seven members graduating, everyone was wondering what was going to happen to SNC the following year. I was fearful that the group wouldn't be able to continue. We didn't have the faculty or financial support needed to sustain the group through a critical transition. In October of 1998, this all changed.

We were singing for a wedding in Indianapolis, and Jerry Tardy, BS'62, the executive director (now president/CEO) of the IU Alumni Association, happened to be there. After the show, he told us he'd been hearing great things about SNC and that he wanted us in his office at 10 a.m. on Monday. At this meeting, Mr. Tardy said that SNC was exactly what he was looking for. He wanted a small ensemble of singers to represent the IUAA at IU functions on campus and all over the nation. We, in turn, needed a home base for SNC. By the end of the meeting, we agreed that the IUAA would become SNC's official sponsor.

It was a match made in heaven. We immediately began performing for the IUAA and finally had the support needed to ensure that SNC would always have a home. Mr. Tardy, whom we now call "Dad," often introduced us by saying that signing SNC was the smartest thing he's done at the Alumni Association. I don't know about that, but it might be in his top 10.

In January 1999, it was time to start auditioning for the guys who would replace the graduates. At this point, it hit us hard that the 10 original members were actually going to be splitting up in May. After several days of auditions, a full day of callbacks, and many heated debates, we chose the new members based, once again, on strength of voice, voice part, and character.

They rehearsed with us all semester and joined us on stage for our final concert on April 28. There we passed the torch, and the seven seniors said our emotional goodbyes to the IU audience and Straight No Chaser.

Second semester, while my pledge brothers were taking jobs with Conseco, Arthur Andersen, or Eli Lilly, I was planning a much more secure and risk-free future in the extremely stable world of music. I still wanted to be a performer and composer. The question was, How?

Jerome and I had talked about staying together as a writing and performing duo. This was my first option until the two of us were approached by Mike Itkoff, BA'99, Charlie Mechling, BA'99, and Steve Morgan, BS'99, three other SNC graduating seniors. They wanted to make a five-man professional group that would focus on radio-friendly pop and R&B music. Jerome and I agreed, and just before graduation, based on the work we had done with SNC, the five of us were offered a recording contract with a prominent studio in Indianapolis. We are currently working on original music that will connect us with one of the major record labels. The new group is named Last Call, after our final CD with Straight No Chaser.

There was always a question in the back of my mind as to what would happen with SNC after seven of us graduated. The new guys were talented, but I didn't know if they had what it takes to maintain the reputation we worked so hard to earn. My worries came to an end this past December when the members of Last Call returned to Bloomington for SNC's Christmas concert.

For the first time, we sat in the audience and watched the new SNC give its own headlining performance. The sound was tight, they were relaxed on stage, and their new music was amazing. Also, each of their individual personalities shone. It was a true Straight No Chaser concert. Walter, the new director, ran the performance like a true professional. After the concert, I pulled out my list and checked off the last box, because I knew then that SNC would be an a cappella tradition that will never end. As long as there is Indiana University, the Alumni Association, and undergraduate men who can sing, there will be Straight No Chaser.

When reminiscing about SNC, I like to think back to the small details that made being in the group so sweet. I'll never forget singing "Dry Campus" right to the smiling face of IU President Myles Brand, who was sitting in the front row at our April concert. I remember watching Herman Wells tap his hand to the beat of "Stand By Me," and I think back to all the times we laughed and made fun of each other on stage. Memories to last a lifetime!

Both my college and SNC "to do" lists have since found their way into scrapbooks, but one list still remains in my wallet. It is titled "Music Career To Do List." I won't go into any detail, but I will say that it involves world tours, platinum records, and the Grammy awards. Who knows? Some items on my new list may end up as dreams, just like my goal of winning the Little 500. But for now, I believe that each of them will happen.

Daniel Ponce, BS'99, graduated with majors in music performance, voice, and journalism. He is pursuing a music career as a singer/composer with the group Last Call. To order CDs by SNC, see www.alumni.indiana.edu or call the IUAA at (800) 824-3044.

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