Creating a colorful combination of American pop, Indian classical and Bollywood hits, a cappella group Spartan Sur is preparing and raising funds to record their first ever extended play.
Vice president and world politics senior Charu Ganesh said Spartan Sur aims to bring their Indian culture to MSU students while blending with American styles of music.
“It’s very reflective of how our culture has been fused with American culture over the years,” Ganesh said.
After their first recorded single last year, the group has been putting all their efforts toward creating several tracks that will be representative of their style and spread their name in the music world.
To cover recording costs, Spartan Sur has reached out to the MSU community for donations.
So far they have reached an astonishing amount of $1,556 of their $1,500 goal.
Ganesh said Spartan Sur has always had the dream of recording an EP, but a busy schedule made this goal difficult to attain.
This year, the group decided an EP would be their main focus.
“We’ve been talking about this for so long, and we’re finally raising the funds for it and setting the gears in motion,” Ganesh said.
She said the EP has motivated the group to accomplish a lot in very little time.
“Even three weeks ago we were having doubts. But we’ve really surprised ourselves, and we really worked harder than I’ve ever seen this group work,” Ganesh said.
She said while the members of Spartan Sur are very different, they are all passionate about music and love to sing.
“We’ve gotten so close over the years, and the group has seen a lot of important changes,” Ganesh said. “They’re like a family to me at MSU.”
President and neuroscience senior Joseph Aquino said Spartan Sur has given him 14 other people he can lean on and count on.
He said being a part of the group has given him memories he will look back on for the rest of his life.
Aquino said he enjoys sharing his passion for music with people who are as passionate as he is.
“Our mission with our music is to show everyone else how much we’re enjoying our music and to share our passion with as many people as possible,” Aquino said.
Ganesh said while Spartan Sur has a presence within the a cappella groups at MSU, they want to make themselves known outside of the MSU community with the release of their EP.
“It’s about putting ourselves out there and getting on the map,” Ganesh said.
The group is now preparing for their first concert of the year, “Not Another Bollywood Movie,” which will be Feb. 28 at Kellogg Center.
Public relations manager and nutritional sciences senior Aamir Bandagi said the purpose of Spartan Sur is different from most a cappella groups because of their focus on culture.
“We’re combining our cultures from being Americans and also what we got from our parents, and everyone loves that,” Bandagi said.
He said for him Spartan Sur is an outlet for creativity and a way to do a lot of musically unique things that he wouldn’t get to do anywhere else.
Ganesh said the EP will be a product of their blood, sweat and tears at the end of the semester.
“As somebody who’s been here for years and seen it grow and evolve over the years, it’s really touching to me that so many people are coming together to help make this a reality,” Ganesh said.
