Our People

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	Owner - CEO Senior Mixing Engineer

A Cappella became a central part of Carl’s life during his college singing days with Higher Ground at Appalachian State University.  After joining the group, he helped to triple concert attendance and led them in recording their first album.  Carl has been deeply involved in the a cappella community ever since, founding Liquid 5th Productions, producing records for groups all over the country, pioneering modern collegiate a cappella live sound, and working alongside various organizations like CASA, the AACI, and Varsity Vocals.

Working with the AACI, Carl helped to launch the first SoJam. Attending SoJam in 2003, acting as a producer in 2004, and technical producer from 2005-2007, Carl has become well-known for his live sound production abilities. He has produced concerts for numerous groups throughout the United States, including the UNCG Spartones, UNCG Sapphires, NCSU Grains of Time, Elon Sweet Signatures, Cornell Chordials, Cornell Last Call, UR Midnight Ramblers, Duke Rhythm and Blue, UMD Faux Paz, UConn Completely Different Note, and many more!

As a producer and mixing engineer for Liquid 5th, Carl's work has been widely recognized and awarded in the a cappella community.  His work has been featured on BOCA, Voices Only, and Sing and has received numerous CARA nominations and awards.

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	Owner Mixing Engineer/Senior Editing Engineer

During college, Chris directed and arranged for multiple a cappella groups at different age ranges and was a member and director of the UNCG Spartones from 2003 to 2007. During his tenure as director, the Spartones competed in the state and regional levels of the International Competition of College A Cappella multiple times, and won 1st place at the state level in 2005. At the same time, Chris directed the VIP, a co-ed high school a cappella group.  During his time with them, the VIP also won the state championship and placed at the regional finals of the High School National Competition and also often performed with college-level groups in different areas.

As a singer/songwriter, Chris has always kept his work going throughout his life. After years of writing songs and performing in local venues, he released his debut solo album in early 2006. The album was written, performed, and recorded entirely by Chris. His second album, SPACE, was released in 2010. Both CD's are available on numerous media outlets including iTunes, CDBaby.

Chris and his amazing wife Meredith, a North Carolina native and fellow musician, were wed in May of 2007.  The couple have two children, Brooks, 2, and baby Ellie born in 2011. Along with years of experience with Liquid 5th, Chris brings a high level of self-taught recording, editing, mixing and creative abilities to the company. Chris, Meredith, Brooks and Ellie reside in Burlington, NC.

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	Mastering/Editing Engineer

Since early childhood, Eric has always been immersed in musical experiences.  At age three, his father gifted him his first [real] drum set, and at age 6, he received his first electric guitar.  In his teenage years, he began turning household items into multi-track recording devices.  In addition to having performed with almost every ensemble in his high school, he was almost always in multiple bands at once, in which he playing drums, guitar, and sang.

Eric’s a cappella experience started when he was thrust into the musical co-director position of NC State’s Acappology.  Under his leadership, Acappology received track placements on BOCA 2011 and BOCA 2012.  Their 2011 album, Aftershock, received 3 CARA nominations as well.  His work with Acappology helped to define the group’s reputation as an innovator and trendsetter.  In college, he also produced and engineered releases for dozens of local artists and bands that range from folk to full-band hip-hop.  He graduated from NC State University as a Park Scholar in the class of 2012, and also earned a minor in music performance with a concentration in jazz drum set.

The culmination of Eric’s experiences in instrumental performance and a cappella music results in an exceptionally broad perspective.  With the ability to see the big picture in any project or arrangement, Eric is an arranging, coaching, recording, editing, mixing, and mastering powerhouse.

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	Recording/Editing-Mixing Engineer

Raised in the Sunshine State (Florida), Josh began his musical interest early. Following in his father's footsteps, he picked up his first instrument, the trombone. From that moment on, he was in love with music.

Once Josh got to high school, he sang in the award-winning choral group, OPUS, a group with which he traveled the country and the world, competing to bring home the gold. From there, a smaller barbershop group was formed, which sparked his interest in a cappella.

After searching for a choir at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, he found APC Rhythm, NYU's first co-ed group. After 3 years of singing, competing and traveling, he started directing the group.

Although Josh's interest lies in music and post-production sound, his degree from NYU is in filmmaking and cinematography, adding yet another layer of services to the Liquid 5th team!

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	Recording Engineer

Dave recently graduated from the University of Rochester with a Bachelor of Arts in Music. A four-year member of the all-male a cappella group The Midnight Ramblers, Dave served as Music Director for two years. During his tenure in the group, the Ramblers embarked on four Spring tours (Florida, Los Angeles, Seattle/Portland, London). He recorded and released three full-length studio albums and one DVD, co-producing three of them. In 2005, Dave helped lead the Ramblers to the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) finals, where the group finished third overall in the nation.

In four years, Dave arranged and co-arranged over 25 songs for the Midnight Ramblers. His arrangement of “Question!” was selected to appear on Sing III and Voices Only 2007, and his arrangement of “I Write Sins, Not Tragedies” appears on BOCA 2008. Many of Dave's arrangements are still performed by the Ramblers and can also be heard in high school choral rooms and colleges across the country.

As an a cappella clinician, Dave has led over a dozen workshops to students of all ages, inspiring many to start their own groups. His interactive workshops focus on arrangements, studio production, vocal percussion, and general rehearsal techniques and strategies.

In addition, David is an accomplished saxophonist. While a student at the University of Rochester, he was a member of jazz ensembles at the University and the Eastman School of Music and studied jazz composition and arranging under the tutelage of composer/arranger Bill Dobbins. He currently resides in New York City.

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	Editing Engineer/Arranger

Hailing from the Jersey suburbs of New York City, Noah has carried music as a passion in his life since the age of 5.  Instrumental music took him through much of his childhood, as he studied the piano, violin, clarinet, tenor saxophone, and guitar.  At 16, he began to establish an interest in composition, winning the state-wide 2008 New Jersey Harmonium Choral Society’s Annual Choral Composition Contest, and composing a complete suite for symphonic orchestra, making it the first student composition to ever be performed by his high school's full orchestra.  He participated in the various music ensembles at his high school, and formed a pop-punk band called Bravest Giant, where he had his first rocky, yet inspiring, experience with singing.  His band recorded an EP and professionally released a single, which is available on iTunes.  There, Noah learned of Pro Tools, and began messing around with GarageBand, Logic, and other similar programs.  And there it began.

Now entering his junior year at the University of Rochester, Noah is majoring in music composition, has learned to sing, and directs the all-male a cappella group, the Midnight Ramblers.  In his first year of direction as a sophomore, tracks from the Ramblers' latest albums were selected to appear on the a cappella compilation CDs Voices Only 2009 and Voices Only 2010, as well as Liquid 5th's own Ripple Effect: Constructive Interference.  The Ramblers' recorded audio was also nominated for three CARA Awards: Best Male Collegiate Album, Song, and Arrangement (his own).  Noah has arranged over fifty songs for the Ramblers to date, and in his next year(s) as director, plans many more.  It was through the Ramblers that Noah got to know Carl and Liquid 5th, and the rest... well, it was history.

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	Public Relations/Recording Engineer

Josh Chopak's a cappella experience started when he joined the all-male Weston High School (MA) Town Criers in his freshman year of high school. He helped take a leadership role as Business Manager during his junior and seniors years, and along with his peers he helped the group to its most successful year since its founding in 1976. Among the group's accomplishments was the release of its 2010 album Come Alive (produced through Liquid 5th), which was recently chosen to be featured on BOHSA 2011 and even more recently was nominated for all three High School CARAs (Best Album, Song, and Solo). Earlier in the year the group was also nominated for two ACAs for Favorite High School Group and Album (Stimulus Package).  Even more notable was the Criers' 3rd place finish at the 2010 ICHSA Finals, which left them as the top all-male group and the top student-lead group in the competition. The 2010 ICHSA/ICCA weekend was also the first time Josh crossed paths with Chris and Carl of L5, and things took off from there.

In June 2010 Josh also helped lead the production of Acapocalypse, a mini a cappella festival that brought together Mr. Tim, Overboard, Duwende, and Five O'Clock Shadow.  As a freshman at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, Josh sings with the Chessmen, the school's only all-male group. At the moment he serves as the Off-Campus Publicist and also arranges for the group. He double majors in business and sociology with a minor in music.  Josh's non-a cappella music business experience includes internships for the Newport Jazz Festival, Marshall Lamm Public Relations, Branford Marsalis & Marsalis Music, Jason Olaine, and Harry Connick, Jr. & Wilkins Management.  Most recently, Josh was selected as a CARA nominator & judge and CASA Ambassador for Central and Eastern Pennsylvania. He is also a very active arranger, often selling and being commissioned for customized arrangements.

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	Editing Engineer

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	Client Relations/Marketing

Nick's love for contemporary a cappella began in the 6th grade, when he began his performing career with the creatively named "Boys A Cappella Group".  Most recently, Nick sang with the University of Rochester Midnight Ramblers where he served as the group's Musical Director and General Manager.  With the Ramblers, he co-produced the award-winning albums Manifesto! and Ça, C'est Bon.  Under Nick's leadership, the Ramblers toured across the country, including a completely pro bono tour to New Orleans in venues where local music programs had been decimated in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.  Nick was also responsible for running the Ramblers' first overseas performance tour to Europe.  Though touring and singing with the Ramblers, Nick has lead seminars and workshops for thousands of students across the country.  He excels in producing tailored learning programs designed specifically to meet the unique needs of individual ensembles.  These workshops have covered anything from group management to vocal percussion and everything in between.  His solo of "Army" appears on Ben Folds' recent a cappella album as well.

Though his degrees from Rochester are in mechanical engineering and European history, Nick spent an additional Take 5 fellowship year studying ethnomusicology under Ellen Koskoff and Stefan Fiol at the Eastman School of Music.  Consequently, much of his vocal work includes nods to different musical traditions from around the world.  He plays a number of instruments, including digeridoo and mbira, though his favorite is the voice because it's the easiest to carry around. He currently lives and performs in the Pittsburgh area.