Seamlessly blending familiar tunes with global influences, Spectrum’s affinity for diversity brings a pop of cultural flair to Vanderbilt University’s crowded A Cappella landscape. From on-campus concerts to competitive A Cappella circuits, Spectrum seeks to promote and popularize international musical traditions to create a culture of inclusivity and respect. Most recently, Spectrum secured a first-place finish in the quarterfinals of the Varsity Vocals International Championship of College A Capella — a competition of such proportions that it was the focal point of a certain hit film franchise that brought the competitive A Cappella landscape to the mainstream. The Amp recently sat down with Spectrum president Tulasi Iyengar and Spectrum vice president Lara Russell-Lasalandra to discuss authenticity, diversity, and their approach to music-making. Spectrum’s music can be found on Spotify and Youtube.
This interview was edited for length and clarity
Spectrum is a pretty very colorful name for a music ensemble. What’s the story behind it and what does it say about its overall vision?
Lara Russell-Lasalandra (LRL): We thought of Spectrum because we are a spectrum of everything. Culture, sexuality, sexuality, gender identity, musical background, and even academic interests. We have people from everywhere in our group, and it’s not just people from one place. We have people who are Latino, we have people who are white, and Middle Eastern, we have people who are brown and Middle Eastern. We have people who are brown in South Asia. We have people who are East Asian — some even have backgrounds from two different countries within East Asia. Spectrum is a spectrum.
You mentioned that Spectrum represents all of these different styles, but you all are a fusion group. How do you manage to integrate these styles into one cohesive product?
Tulasi Iyengar (TI): This is something that I carry from my classical Indian dance training. Every single performance has to tell a story. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t have words or movement. It doesn’t matter when there’s something that people find integral to storytelling. If that is missing. You can still tell a story with a performance. Because we have a story and emotion-driven approach, it’s not hard to mix the songs together. Because if you’re thinking about loneliness — everyone in the world is felt loneliness in every language. If you’re thinking about love — everyone has felt some sort of love with or without language. We try to really lean into the emotion of the song first, and if it is something that all of us can feel that it’s something all of us can say.
LRL: We try our best, but it’s not easy and there’s always room to improve. But I think first and foremost, our group has a very, very, very strict, no-tolerance policy for any sort of bigotry or discriminatory thoughts toward any group.
TI: We’re all of the very strong belief that you can’t create if you don’t feel some sort of safety. Creating in uncertainty is one thing, but creating in danger is another. I think both of us can agree with the statement that if we know something is wrong, it’s our responsibility to make sure someone else doesn’t have to go through it. I think it’s a huge reason why we’re able to pull a fusion so successfully because when people are expressing their culture, they feel respected. Respect is a foundation for being able to like venture into everything from creative interpretations of Indian classical music to “Fireflies” by Owl City. You can’t do that if people disrespect one of the songs or disrespect an art form. And so, since we don’t have that problem — or when we do have that problem, we deal with it immediately — it becomes a whole lot easier.
We’ve seen you seamlessly meld South Asian musical styles with western pop music, all while keeping the integrity of both sources. What other cultures do you plan to highlight in future performances?
LRL: We make it a point to not perform from cultures that we don’t have a member that belongs to that culture because in order to maintain integrity, we need to have a cultural background in it. And so we’re really happy to say that this year, we will be taking some time and like really exploring Latin American musical influences because we have members with this cultural background. One of our members, her dad’s from South Africa, so she’s always kind of wanted to do something in Africa. And so we’re looking at that. Really, it’s just whatever members want to do.
Fusion usually has a negative reputation in general– I’ve had to defend American Chinese food in the past because many people view it as inauthentic. For Spectrum, are authenticity and fusion two opposing forces, or are they one and the same?
TI: I mean, first of all, I have very strong opinions about this. I had this exact conversation earlier. American Chinese food is authentic. Yeah, it might not be what you would eat in mainland China, and that’s okay. Because you know what? It still is created by a predominantly minority community. And additionally, incorporating elements from a different location is how cultures emerge.
LRL: Also, there’s an element to preserving the integrity of the music, which we do follow. A lot of groups like to mash up an English song with a non-English song, and while that can be successful, we avoid it, because we just want to keep the integrity of both things. But a lot of times people make songs that have nothing to do with each other and have entirely opposing stylistic elements, and it sounds like garbage.
TI: I think it’s incredibly reductionist to be like, “Oh, fusion can’t be authentic” because fusion is authentic and the struggle is authentic. Fusion is typically born out of people trying to preserve cultural elements they no longer have access to. If you don’t have other resources like you’re just trying your best, that should be okay.
Featured graphic by Sadie Karr
