by Autumn Shultz
In addition to choirs, chapel bands, and the shower, female students now have one more outlet for their vocal talents. AnarKey, the newest female a cappella group, started this semester. It currently has 11 members.
Students Mandie Lira and Kate Arndt created this group as a way for students with busy schedules to still have a chance to sing with one another. The group chose its name as a reflection of its democratic creed that there will be no set leaders and all members will play a part in making decisions.
“In a cappella all the voices apart from each other, one individual voice each, is chaos if they’re not synced, if they’re not properly tuned, and if they’re not properly harmonized,” said Arndt. “If you put them together it’s beautiful in that chaos.”
AnarKey doesn’t yet have any events planned, since the group was founded only two weeks ago. However, members of the team are already planning auditions and events for them to participate in.
“Adding a new group on campus simply adds more opportunity,” said Lira. “Our goal has just been for people to come together and make music, and we stand by that. We really just want to be a place where people can have an outlet and to be able to go somewhere. [It’s] for girls who love to sing. If something like that brings them joy, then we want to be that for them.”
AnarKey is the second all-female a cappella group on campus. Key of Sea, the other all-female group, started last year.
The men’s a cappella group, Pointless, began 11 years ago. In regards to Anarkey’s recent creation, Pointless member A.J. Wolf said that PLNU’s all-male group will support any new a cappella group, so long as it was formed out of a love for music.
“I think I speak for Pointless when I say, if you sing a cappella music, then I support you,” said Wolf. “I’m willing to support Anarkey and Key of Sea equally.”
According to former Key of Sea member and current AnarKey member Haley Courtney, Anarkey’s split from Key of Sea caused unnecessary tension between members, and was handled poorly by the parties involved.
“We just wanted to sing and hang out, work better for our schedules, and do things a little differently,” said Courtney. “I don’t think anyone should be punished for that. It was not a hit on anyone; I think things just got blown way out of proportion in regards to the reasons and motivation behind what we were doing.”
After AnarKey’s transition into a group from Key of Sea was resolved through a clarification of the group’s purpose, members of both groups were quick to dispel rumors of any lingering tension.
“[M]usic is music and it doesn’t matter who’s making it as long as someone is,” said Alyssa Salter, President of Key of Sea. “If they’re happy making music, I say go for it. There’s no reason for me to have any sort of negative feelings towards them because it wasn’t about me.”
Although AnarKey only recently started, members of the group are already bonding through their love of music.
“I really like the group of girls that I’m working with, and I’m becoming friends with them really quickly,” said Courtney. “We have this love for this activity and music, and singing a cappella and singing in general, and it’s really exciting that we all feel that everyone’s on board and we like what we’re doing.”
AnarKey is already planning for the coming school year. The group seems to be intent on embracing its creed and creating something beautiful out of the tumult of its creation.
“If you think about it, music in general is chaos. It’s a chaotic combination of different things, but when you bring them together it turns into something truly beautiful. That’s kind of what we’re trying to do,” said Kate Arndt.
Disclosure: Abby Hamblin, editor-in-chief of the Point Weekly, is a member of AnarKey.
