Dude’s-A-Plenty, the renowned male group always heightens the excitement during Step Sing season. However, Samford’s 75th anniversary of Step Sing has brought a new male group into the spotlight: The Other Guys.
This group has a total of 57 guys made up of both fraternity members and independents, a type of group that is limited on campus.
Their logistics director, Ben Edwards, a sophomore and member of Lambda Chi Alpha, discussed how his fraternity did not have the numbers to have their own group.
When mentioning this to fellow directors Seth Hillis, choreography director, and Hayden Costa, vocal director, they came up with the idea of creating a new group.
As a group of sophomores involved in many activities, they had the skill set and ability to set up their own group. Hence the creation of The Other Guys.
Their name came about while brainstorming for names days before they met with the Step Sing committee.
During their interview, they talked about how they were struggling to come up with a name that truly fit who this group was.
“Seth was like, what if we were just the other guys?” Edwards said. “We think it’s a perfect name to encapsulate our group because the point was to get any group of guys on campus.”
With many skills being used throughout the performance, they discussed which they thought their group excelled at.
“I think it’s definitely our energy and the way that the guys carry themselves when we are performing and when we are practicing,” said Costa.
Hillis also mentioned how they were more at ease because they did not have a legacy to uphold but to create, but also that they were still working hard to silence the general question of whether a new guy’s group is necessary.
Another interesting dynamic of this group is that two out of the three directors have never previously been in a Step Sing show.
An element that they also proudly discussed was the connection of their group with faith, something they bring into rehearsals with a prayer and bible verse.
The directors discussed how they have high hopes for the sweepstakes.
“We decided really early on, if we were going to do this, we were gonna do it to win,” said Edwards.
They discussed their unique use of props and their song choices, but also how confident they felt in the group as a whole that had only met a few weeks prior.
“I’m just so thankful for the desire to do good from them and the desire to do well and do the best they can,” said Hillis.
The Other Guys is the “passion project” of these directors and it is safe to say that their show will be an occupational hazard.
On the Wednesday night dress rehearsal, The Other Guys debuted in front of a crowd of over a thousand students. During the performance, the crowd was electric, cheering on the guys as they blew it up.
“It was genuinely the loudest crowd I’ve ever heard,” said participant James Cochran. “It felt like every part of me was just like, ‘They’re cheering for us.’”
Edwards loved the energy his guys brought to the stage.
“I thought they rocked the house, I truly am at a loss for words,” said Edwards. “This started as me and Seth’s project daydreaming in our dorm room, and we just had all of Samford cheering on their feet for us.”
