The Filharmonic

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) How did you become involved with the World of Dance?

A) We attended their LA event a year ago and were able to connect and interview for The Drop. Then, we wanted to collaborate to see how both groups could support one another. We did our first show with them in Las Vegas and since then they have been so kind to invite us out to other events. We love them so much and can’t express how grateful we are to be working with them.

Q) What made you decide to cover “Uptown Funk?”

A) The second we all heard “Uptown Funk,” we knew we had to cover it. Bruno Mars is a huge influence of ours – He’s Filipino too! We also had the idea to partner up with Mini-Shock LA to find our mini-me’s to dance with us. It’s definitely one of my favorite video concepts we’ve done so far

Q) What kind of fan reaction have you received from it?

A) We received a pretty great reaction to it! It wasn’t the most popular video we’ve ever had, but most of the feedback was pretty unanimous: Mini -Shock LA is adorable and amazing!” Also, people seemed to appreciate the song and stylistic choices.

Q) How do you come up with the arrangements and choreography for your songs?

A) For us, sometimes arranging and choreography is a team effort, but when it’s not, VJ [Rosales] will usually take the lead on arrangements. Niko [Del Rey] and Joe [Caigoy] do the bulk of choreographing and staging. When we want to go full out on the dancing aspect, we ask our “The Sing-Off” choreographer, Kristin Denehy, to help us out.

Q) Since you recently performed at World of Dance LA and World Finals, what can fans expect from a live Filharmonic performance?

A) One thing that we’ve picked up from World of Dance is the amazing energy that every performance has. All of the dancers and fans vibe so much off of each other’s electricity and it makes the performances so much fun. We want to bring into our shows with our sound, our dancing and just get everyone off their feet and partying.

Q) Who are some of your musical influences and how do they inspire the work you create?

A) Our group grew up in the 90’s and we draw a lot of our inspirations from a mixture of R&B and the bands from that time. Groups like Boyz II Men have really been some our biggest musical influences. We like to add our smooth 90’s swagger and our dance moves to both our covers and our original music.

Q) We got to see you recently on “The Sing-Off.” What is one piece of advice you received while on the show that you took to heart?

A) One piece of advice from “The Sing-Off” was just to hone in our sound and let everything else follow. Working with such incredible and long-tenured groups and getting advice from the judges helped us become way better singers during such a short amount of time. We were learning things about vocal technique and group dynamic that has helped us so much in the long run.

Q) What sets your work apart from other a cappella groups?

A) Other a cappella groups are unique and great in their own way. What sets us apart is the six of us having different musical backgrounds. For instance, VJ studied vocal jazz and Joe studied opera. Being able to collaborate and fuse all our technical sound and love for music is what makes us The Filharmonic.

Q) Who is your dream collaboration with?

A) We have different aspirations of collaborating with artists like Beyonce or Sam Smith, but we think performing with Justin Timberlake would be a dream come true. If we had to model our image, sound and dance moves after one person, that one person would be most famed male artist Justin Timberlake.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your music?

A) We couldn’t be more appreciative. It sounds cliché, but we honestly couldn’t do what we do without you. We love meeting our #Filharmaniacs and interacting with them on social media. So, please say “hi” and keep sharing!