Fitz and The Tantrums wasn’t the only band performing at Lafayette College this past weekend.
“Music is a really, really big part of our lives,” said Kelsie Bouyer ‘26, the lead singer of SoundZer0. “Having a home in music is what matters to us.”
SoundZer0 was assembled in the spring semester of 2024 and consists of Bouyer, bassist Mel Campos ‘27, drummer Jadelyn Camey ‘27, keyboardist Tyler Salmon ‘27 and guitarist Diogo Delcarmen ‘27.
“It’s home away from home away from home,” Campos said of the group. “It’s just a vibe.”
The R&B cover band has put on a number of performances, including a show at the McKelvy House and last year’s Easton Winter Village, and kicked off this fall semester with songs at the Lafayette Activities Forum-hosted show, Leopards at Nite, and The Lafayette’s newsroom concert series, Paper Jams.
Delcarmen said he was inspired by student bands Plus One and Sold Out Six and approached Salmon in their freshman year about starting a band, before eventually adding Campos and Camey, and finally, Bouyer, who was on the band’s “free-agent list.”
SoundZer0 practiced for several months before its first performance.
“Practice was terrible,” Campos said. “Kelsie honestly grounds us. Whenever we have to play a song and we’re confused, we immediately start yelling, ‘Kelsie.’”
The band wouldn’t have its first gig until the Lafayette Interdisciplinary Music Society threw the band into the deep end, scheduling them for a performance only two weeks away, according to Delcarmen.
“They were like, ‘Yeah, by the way, you’re playing the show,’” Camey said of their fall 2024 McKelvy show.
Their opening show setlist included “That’s what I like” by Bruno Mars, “Pls Cheat On Me” by Precious Pepala, “L’AMOUR DE MA VIE” by Billie Eilish and “Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse, with the latter two still on the band’s setlist.
Salmon noted that “Back to Black” was his personal favorite.
“When y’all first brought ‘Back to Black’ out, I was like, I really have to lock in for this because I’m such a big part in it,” he said. “I practiced the song so much to the point now where I’m like, I think I could do it with my eyes closed, behind my back.”
Campos asked if they could set a time to test Salmon’s theory.
“I got this thing,” Salmon said.
“Oh yeah, we got a thing,” Delcarmen added.
The group’s most recent setlist also included “Kill Bill” by SZA, “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” by the Arctic Monkeys and “Umbrella” by Jay-Z and Rihanna, with Delcarmen getting a chance on the microphone alongside Bouyer.
“We have our own little playlist that we add a bunch of songs into, and we’ll just be listening through it like, ‘Oh, this is a good one, we should try this one day,’” Bouyer said.
Looking ahead, SoundZer0 wants to try to take on a “Freaky Friday” performance of switching roles on stage, in addition to trying to learn some more difficult songs.
“I’ve been trying to get us to play covers that are more challenging drum-wise, just because we do play slow-tempo songs, and it’s kind of the same for me,” Camey said.
Although SoundZer0 has only performed covers, the group has not ruled out the possibility of original music.
“I write my own music and my own songs, and I’ve never performed them or anything like that, but they just sit on my laptop, sit in my voice memos, and I sent them a recording of one of them, and they seem to be excited to possibly do it,” Bouyer said.
“Possibly?” Campos asked. “No, we are doing it.”
