Midnight Madness, the Christmas tree lighting and yesterday’s Christmas chapel all had one standout factor that made them memorable moments: The King’s Men.
Biola’s a cappella group has a way of making any place they sing feel perfectly right, especially during the holiday season. But who are the men who put on such stirring performances?
Meet sophomores Arnold Geis, Trevor Gomes, Matthew Gould, and Matthew Sanchez, junior Drew Brokke, and seniors Kevin Krogstad, Dan Rigall and Jordan Tolentino. Each with a different story that brings them to the group, their eight voices brilliantly join together to form Biola’s male vocal ensemble.
The King’s Men have been a staple at Biola since 1986. The group changes in members and size yearly, but the job description has always been the same. They perform at a wide variety of events, from church services to last week’s commuter ugly sweater party, providing a unique style of song that demands full attention. Their a cappella performance may be one of the most difficult things to do in music, but the King’s Men seem to do it with ease, and they enjoy every minute of it.
“We work really hard at this,” said Sanchez, one of three tenors in the group.
Their hard work is evident, and it is starting to pay off with more and more gigs. The King’s Men are busy men these days, with packed schedules and multiple performances each week.
“The ends of the semester are always the busiest,” said Rigall, The King’s Men president. “With Christmas in the fall, and graduation in the spring, we have a lot of gigs.”
Rigall and Tolentino are in their fourth consecutive year as King’s Men. In the 2004-05 school year, the year before the two seniors joined the group, the ensemble took a year off due to lack of members. Because of this, Rigall and Tolentino, along with their changing group of men, have had to rebuild credibility for The King’s Men name.
“In our first year (2005-06) we didn’t get many gigs,” said Rigall. “But by the next year, we got more and it snowballed from there.”
This year, with multiple gigs weekly, six in last week’s Christmas frenzy and almost as many this week, The King’s Men’s name is definitely out there, and the ensemble’s voice is being heard.
“We are getting our name out, and making ourselves available to the public,” said Gould. “It’s a lot of work. You really have to love it, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” he continued, echoing the sentiment of his fellow members.
With a packed schedule of performances on top of the already hectic lives of music majors, The King’s Men manage to impress not only because of their incredible individual talents, but because they get along well as friends.
“We have fun making music together, and we have fun not making music together,” said Sanchez.
The King’s Men are so successful because they love what they do. They spend a healthy amount of time around one another everyday, with rehearsals on top of their gig-packed weeks, but love it simply because they enjoy one another’s company.
The King’s Men are some of the most talented vocalists at Biola. Most of them plan to pursue music in their future careers. Many want to be involved in music leadership in churches, others in instrumental performance.
Sanchez is already pursuing his music career professionally. He not only sings for The King’s Men, but he also works part time at Disneyland as a member of the Dapper Dans, a barbershop quartet. He also sings in the theme park’s High School Musical Parade.
But Sanchez, like his fellow members, loves his time with The King’s Men, thinking of it as time with “the guys.” They just happen to be guys who make great music together.
“It’s such an honor to be a part of this group,” Sanchez said. “We are excited to see where the Lord will take us.”
