2015-16 Soprano Section Leader: Elaine G

This interview was originally published on February 9, 2016.

As a soloist for our Spring Sing audition and many past performances, as one of the primary composers for the piece itself, known for her “Thirsty Firsties” duets with Jeff Borreta,[3] as the Soprano Section Leader, as a Linguistics and Computer Science major, and this only being her second year at UCLA, Elaine deserves accolades for her (musical) abilities.  Her talents, however, encompass more than simply singing, including both visual and performing arts.

"It happens in stages: I'll get really into one thing, then move on.  I painted recently, and I was like 'Wow, I haven't done this in a really long time.'  And when I was doing theater, I would get really into theater.  Now, obviously I'm a lot more into singing.  I need an artistic outlet… and usually one takes up more time than the others.”

Dreams of becoming an actress, while in middle school, summarily decided Elaine’s future in Los Angeles despite San Jose being the only home she’d ever known.  Unlike her usual, stated indecisiveness, she held fast to the idea.  “The only school I knew was UCLA, so I just said 'I'll go to UCLA,' and I never thought about it.  Going into high school I was like 'Oh, that school's actually hard to get into, but I'll try anyway,' and here I am."

Back to the basics.  Elaine shares a close relationship with her parents, who call her “Lainie,” and has a brother in high school.  She worries about the precedent set as the older sibling attending a renowned college, about the higher expectations for acceptance at any college.  She enjoys spy and similar procedural shows, such as Major Crimes.  She dislikes raw fish, primarily sushi, due to its texture.

Despite her passion for theater, and acting in particular, Elaine also dislikes doing improv (“[It’s] in the vein of not being able to make decisions.  ‘Tell me director! Please tell me what to do’”).  Unfortunately, her Theater 20: Acting Fundamentals class employs the technique quite often, forcing students to create their own activities (“I’m just going to walk around aimlessly”).  Nevertheless, she appreciates acting for the chance to become different characters, the role of Puck in Midsummer/Jersey [4] having been her favorite so far.

Music, to Elaine, is simply fun.  “It’s different from theater, art, [or] instruments.  You don't need anything for it. You just need yourself… If you're somewhere and you don't have supplies, a script, or something, it’s nice to get your mind off of things.”  Her musical tastes tend towards indie/pop, ranging from the obscure to the famous, though mostly being the former.  Yet she enjoys sharing music, creating playlists for others on Spotify,[5] and simply singing with people—without plans, without forethought.  Accordingly, she would choose a High School Musical song for karaoke to ensure that most everyone could sing along. Her current favorite song is Lena Fayre's "Everybody's In."

    Other than Tinig, her musical experience includes singing in the shower for as long as she can remember, piano for about three years in elementary school, musicals throughout middle school and late high school, and the ability to play two chords on a recently acquired guitar.

Elaine joined Tinig last year, after an unsuccessful audition for another acappella group.  "I had another scheduled a week after that, [so] in-between, I went through all my flyers,[6] looked at websites and everything.  I decided, 'I'll go to this Tinig thing, they don't do auditions, so... if I like it, I'll cancel.'  Low key thought people wouldn't be good, but I was really impressed.  I went to the social afterward too, and it was really nice.  I ended up cancelling my audition and that was that."

Experiences, Elaine claimed, define her.  “[There are] times where I can tell that I've changed.  I know that I've changed.  People will tell me—my parents told me, ‘Once you got to college... You're a lot more outgoing’ and stuff.  I feel like I've become more extroverted, and I know why, I guess.  I wanted to start over here, had to learn how to make my own friends… Having to go through that made me figure out things myself.”  In middle school, Elaine only gained companions through previously established ties.  “Oh, well, your friends are my friends,” she said in imitation of herself, “So that makes us automatically buddies.

“I feel like the friends that I made here are more genuine, [they] like me for me.”

Tinig became the first group in which Elaine grew close to people, her first friends in college.  “Everyone was welcoming, really tight from what I saw… I used to prefer to be by myself a lot.  Hanging out with Tinig members...[I'd] gotten used to spending time with people, and I like it.  It's weird...but I need it now.  I feel like it's really hard to go to rehearsal and stay to yourself.  Someone's going to talk to you.

“If I hadn’t been in Tinig, I wouldn’t be involved in anything... like right now in SPCN.[7]  I’m not Filipino.”  She laughed.  “It’s amazing how getting close to one group just opens a whole other world.”    

Curious about the planning process for rehearsals and retreats, Elaine started sitting in on staff meetings for Tinig last year.[8]  She’d been interested in her current position due to admiration for the previous Soprano Section Leader, Jenine Sahagun, and a general fascination for teaching and learning music. 

Despite the amount of work, being a staff member feels rewarding to her.  “To see people get into it, like especially with how many first years we have this year—that was me last year!…It's really cool to see people have a good time, and find family.  I can contribute more to the experience of general members, and it's still fun.

"When I first started, I was like 'Oh gawd, I don't know how to teach people things.'  It's a collaborative effort.  Sometimes I had to learn as they did.  But it's satisfying to look at your section and be like, 'Wow.'"

Elaine appreciates the Tinig Shadow Program (TSP), which parallels her own process of becoming a staff member.  (“It’s nice to see someone in my spot last year.”)  Her Shadow Katerina Dawis, more commonly called KC, is learning the particulars of being a section leader, attending staff meetings, and assisting Elaine wherever possible.

Perhaps the most collaborative effort will be put into Elaine’s personal project: a Tinig music video.[9] The chosen song is our Spring Sing piece, “The Weight of Living, part 1” by Bastille, due to the amount of work and choreography that many members have already achieved.  Currently, KC is writing the script, and will later direct many of the scenes.  If you are interested in participating, whether you were part of our audition or not, please contact Elaine for more information!

Anything else you’d like to say?  Any shout-outs?

“Shout-out to Ria for writing and being cool—yes, you have to put that in."  Aww, thanks.

“Shout-out to Jeff for always playing instruments for me when we have jam sessions, for that first Talent Show where the theme was ‘duets,’ and we sang High School Musical.  That's how we got to know each other.”  That’s how they became the "Thirsty Firsties," singing together and posting videos, searching for rhymes and alliterations for their dynamic duo name.  That’s how they became the "Sexy Seconds" this year, well, according to one half of the duo anyway. 

“I’m like, ‘Okay, Jeff.  That’s your idea.’  I had nothing to do with that.”   

This time, however, Elaine sings solo: a mash-up of  Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man” and Maroon 5’s “Sunday Morning,” chosen from a rather long list of paired songs with similar sound. (The video also features brief, panicked cameos from our Director Francis Villaruz, Assistant Director Claire Garcia, and Bass Section Leader Jeffrey Jacob.) We hope you enjoy it!

1. Winter Retreat was last weekend (Jan. 29 - 31), but if you missed it, you can still bond with us during Spring Retreat next quarter! Typically, we learn more about music, Tinig history, and each other away from the stress of school! Alumni are free—quite literally—to join us.

2. Our Spring Sing audition was last Tuesday (Feb. 2), the culmination of hours of hard work. Three hour rehearsals can be rather tiring, but at least it was more time spent with friends.  Although we were not chosen to perform this year, everyone seems to have had fun in the process! Here's the original song.

3. Explanation for the dynamic duo and their name(s) is in the latter part of the article, but here’s one of their duets.

4. Midsummer/Jersey, according to Elaine, is Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream in the setting of the tv show Jersey Shore.  Interested in more? Click here.

5.   a. Spotify is an online music-streaming service, widely used by college students and other groups to share music.  Elaine has made playlists for her shadow KC and the Historian/Webmaster Shadow, Francis Anton Canda, so far.  Recently, our Public Relations chair, Koichi Agapito, requested a playlist too.  Whether he’ll receive one is up in the air; they share a playfully antagonistic friendship at times.

b. Here's a link to "Everybody's In."

6. The Enormous Activities Fair (EAF) is when student organizations assemble at numerous, tiny tables across campus and try to recruit new members.  Students wander from table to table, receiving flyers and other free items.

7. SPCN stands for Samahang Pilipino Cultural Night. Learn more here!

8. Staff meetings this quarter are on Mondays from 7-9 P.M. in Royce Hall, Rm 166.  Feel free to join us!

9. Staff members each have their own personal projects, which they ideally work on throughout the school year; these are usually meant to be carried on by future generations of staff.  Examples of previous projects that became tradition include Tinig Kins and Talent Show.  Fun fact: these Tinig Featured Member interviews are my personal project.