Mike Chipp first set foot in the a cappella universe after stumbling across Varsity Vocals’ Best of College A Cappella 2006 album on iTunes and made the historic declaration that it was “pretty neat.” Upon his timely arrival at Stony Brook University the following year, his first priority was nabbing a spot in the resident men’s a cappella group, the High C’s. Fortunately, all of the then-current members were graduating and demand for newbies was high. Unfortunately, that meant Mike and the other newcomers would either have to rebuild the High C’s from the ground up or let the ensemble fall to the wayside and be forgotten. They chose the former after carefully weighing their options (for, like, three minutes at the most), arranging an entirely new repertoire, booking more campus and community gigs than the group had ever seen, winning 3rd place at their first-ever showing at the ICCA Quarterfinals and installing the High C’s as a campus institution.

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Serving as the group’s president and secretary, Mike stayed with the High C’s for his entire college career. The fact that he was often the only available bass admittedly had a non-zero amount to do with it, but you know how these things go. Mike decided that vocal music wasn’t just for those hip young people anymore so, with two High C’s alumni and another close friend, formed the professional vocal band The Executive Board. Inspired by vocal bands like ARORA, Postyr Project, Club for Five and the like, The Executive Board’s mission was to create original vocal music amplified with electronic effects, creating something unique to the world of vocal music. They currently have a CARA-nominated EP on iTunes and have taught Original Songwriting classes at the Boston Sings a cappella festival.

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Looking to get back in the game after moving to D.C. for work, Mike gave his bass talents to Vox Pop in autumn of 2015. When not moonlighting as an a cappella nerd, he spends his time being a regular nerd. Talk to him about comics like Saga and East of West and any video game you can possibly think of.