They're the band of misfits whose A Cappella performances have already blown away their Queensland competitors.
Now Jazel, the all-female contemporary quartet from QUT, has represented the university and state in a Pitch Perfect-style battle of the voice, the Australian A Capella Awards (AUSACA), in Melbourne at the weekend, claiming third place.
"We were really pleased to win the Queensland finals of the competition but we weren't expecting to take out all seven awards we qualified for, including the state title, and get the highest score nationally," third year QUT music student Alex Van Den Broek said.
"I think the fact that we sang one of our original compositions, Thinking, helped us show off our talents well and capture the judges' attention."
Alex has never seen the Pitch Perfect movie franchise, we kid you not.
Jazel members Kathleen Missingham, Madison Rossetto, Charity Soo Choon and Alex are skilled at making something stunning out of nothing, literally.
The group formed in 2014 for a second-year music degree assessment at QUT.
While many of their cohort formed into conventional bands for the Creative Industries Faculty's Creative Studio unit, these women broke the mould and formed their own four-piece unaccompanied vocal group in a unit which requires students to collaborate on music-making for an entire semester.
"We're passionate about showing people you can make beautiful music with just your voice and a bit of body percussion," Alex said.
"We stayed together after that class, spending last summer writing and rehearsing for a real-world career.
"We started performing in public early this year and nominated ourselves for the Queensland AUSACA competition in May."
Jazel has been hitting high notes ever since, supporting high-profile US A Cappella group Naturally 7 at a Brisbane City Hall concert, rocking the Robotronica stage and joining QUT's very last Indie 100 project, which brought together South East Queensland's best up and coming artists and songwriters in late May to record 100 songs in 100 hours.
"Indie 100 was great for us - we were really excited to be a part of the final project because it didn't seem like there had been anyone else come through that had done our sort of style before," Alex said.
"Also, getting to record in Gasworks Studios with such amazing producers was a fantastic real-world experience for us."
Lecturer in Music and Sound Brad Millard said the four-member student ensemble had a combination of voices that blended beautifully.
"As a group they are polished, refined and poised," he said.
"The sound of their human voices unaccompanied is a pure sound that is open and transparent.
Mr Millard said there was no particular tradition in A Capella at QUT and Jazel was borne from the initiative of the group's four members while studying the Creative Studio suite of subjects.
"Original, collaborative music making forms the backbone of Creative Studio and while most students participate in bands, a combination of instrumentalists and vocalists, Jazel is currently our only pure voice ensemble, so they are breaking new ground for us."
Jazel performed one original and two covers as part of the group's 12-minute set at the AUSACA nationals, earning the group the award for Best Original Song in the national competition.
Watch and listen to Jazel on YouTube.
RELATED STORIES
Everyone's a star: 21st Century theatre audiences' part of the show
TEXTA: the QUT book club for lovers of art and literature seeks members
Beat the future at Robotronica
Final countdown for marathon of music
Media contact:
Kate Hagman, QUT Media, 07 3138 0358 or kate.haggman@qut.edu.au
After hours Rose Trapnell, QUT Media team leader, 0407 585 901 or media@qut.edu.au
