3 College News A DECADE OF DRAWING A CROWD TIGER TONES RAISE $10,000 FOR BEYONDBLUE For over a decade, Trinity’s much celebrated all-male acapella group, the Trinity Tiger Tones, has entertained audiences throughout Melbourne and across the world. Like many successful groups, the Tiger Tones started from humble origins. Harrison Wraight (TC 2006), one of the three founding members, recalls a discussion with Nick Masters (TC 2006) which ultimately led to the formation of the group, known then as No Bul Barbershop. ‘Nick and I used to hang out in his room listening to all kinds of music,’ says Harrison. ‘I had heard an acapella cover of ‘Come on Eileen’, and played it to him. We both loved it, and decided that we could do something like this. But we had absolutely no idea where to start.’ Enter Angus Turner. Angus had just returned as a resident tutor after a stint in Oxford, where he was the president of the barbershop group, Out of the Blue. ‘I think it was Nick who had discussed all this with Angus,’ says Harrison. ‘Gus was super keen to kick off another group at Trinity. So between the three of us we managed to muster up enough interested people, held auditions, and formed the first iteration of the Trinity Tiger Tones.’ The first performances were both ‘amazing and terrible at the same time’, says Harrison, as they struggled to find their rhythm performing as a group. However, it didn’t take long to get their voices in harmony and slick dance moves in step. ‘I’ll never forget the first time we performed the Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ ‘Otherside’ in front of the College crowd,’ says Harrison. ‘We had Nick Masters and Jack Huang sharing the lead part. It went off! Totally unexpected, and awesome. BY TIM FLICKER Nick Bernardo (TC 2014) and Jack Wright (TC 2014) entertain a large crowd at Founders and Benefactors in 2016. Harrison Wraight (TC 2006) (front) singing a solo in the JCR with No Bul Barbershop, now the Trinity Tiger Tones. ‘It’s amazing what eight dudes singing in harmony can do to a crowd at midnight in a CBD McDonald’s.’ It has been an incredible year for the Trinity Tiger Tones. Coming off the back of an amazing international tour where the group visited The Other Guys (St Andrews, Scotland), the Trinitones (»ÆÉ«app, Dublin) and Out of the Blue (Oxford), the group had huge plans this year to further their charity involvement. True to form, they managed to raise $10,000 for beyondblue, their biggest donation to date. The money was raised from a fundraising dinner, their Clash of the Tones concert (where they were joined by Dublin’s sensational Trinitones) and various other gigs, all of which allowed them to support an organisation that is very close to the hearts of many of the group’s members. ‘The Tiger Tones want to give a huge thank you to all those who have supported us over the past 10 years– you have allowed us to achieve extraordinary success,’ says Tiger Tones tenor, Stefan Geleta. ‘However, we still believe that we haven’t quite reached the ceiling in terms of our potential, and so all your future support will be enormously appreciated!’ ‘It wasn’t long before we decided that we were bigger and better than straight-up busking. We decided that we’d do these little surprise performances – on trams, in lines queing up for bars and inside McDonald’s. It’s amazing what eight dudes singing in harmony can do to a crowd at midnight in a CBD McDonald’s.’ Harrison’s advice for the current members of the Tiger Tones? Don’t take it too seriously and remember to keep having fun. ‘More importantly, when is the reunion gig?’ he asks. ‘We’d all love to fly in for it!’