LAFAYETTE, La. — Oxytocin is known for being the hormone of love and joy and for the Oxytocin 5, that's what they set out to do.
KATC dropped by their weekly practice session and had a chat with all five band members about their experience singing together.
“It's just a fun hobby, and since Terry and I sang off and on with different groups for the 30 years, when you not singing with a group and you sing barbershop music, you miss it and it's so much fun," says Brent Prather, one member of the group.
Each member brings a particular sound to the group, they sing in what’s known as barbershop music.
According to Barbershop Harmony Society, barbershop is a style of arranging in close, four part, acappella harmony.
”It's a uniquely American form of music, barbershop quartet in a way are the originally street corner singers," says Danny Izzo. "Even going back to the late 1880s and early 1900s, when guys gathered around a street corner and start singing in different harmonies to church music or classical music. They would go into a barbershop back in the days when for a lot of men, the barbershop was the center of the social structure.”
For Terry Zenner, being apart of the five is something that was always meant to be.
“'I've been singing in a quartet for 55 years. My dad was in a quartet, with his brother and two nephews and I grew up listening to it as a kid,” Zenner said.
The group, needing nothing else other then their voices to create a perfect sound.
“The reason I really love barbershop is we don’t have any instruments, but that’s the great thing about it. It has harmonies that are not necessarily complex, they are tight harmonies so that’s why you can strike it up in the middle of a restaurant, in the middle of a living room, in the middle of the nursing home. We go to visit a lot of people so you can sing it everywhere, so that’s the point and it balances all 4 voices," says Rob Floyd.
The group performs for any business or individuals needing a little harmony to their life.
“It's the commodity and the joy of singing. We've seen everything from tears to smiles to embarrassment to joy. It's the full spectrum when you are actually singing to someone,” Ed Roy.
Oxytocin 5 showing off their skills by popping into local spots around the city.
“On any day we go drop in on Sunday Soda and start singing to waitresses and waiters there and the people that happen to be there and just surprise them. Maybe get a little ice cream if we sound good," Prather says.
If you are interested in having the Oxytocin 5 sing at your event, you can contact Brent Prather at (337) 280-3261.
