Scott Leonard sings high tenor for the pop-a cappella group Rockapella, of “Where in the World is Carmen SandDiego?” fame. He is the longest-standing member of the group and responsible for writing and arranging most of their original work. Rockapella will perform tonight at 7 p.m. in the Union Theater.

Badger Herald: How are you doing today?

Scott Leonard: I’m doing great; all is well here in Florida. We’re heading to a few shows over the weekend around the country. After Wisconsin we’re going to Asia and Europe. But first things first, it’s Madison, Wisconsin in a few days.

BH: Yeah, we’re really excited to have you guys.

SL: Oh good. It’s always really fun going there. It’s always such a great audience in Madison, and that Union Theater is such a cool place; I always remember playing there.

BH: Wow, great. I was actually curious about your set on Thursday. I’m a little bit (OK, huge bit) of a fan, and I know you guys have kind of a huge repertoire. What sorts of decisions go into picking out the right songs?

SL: Well, we kind of have a show right now that we’ve been doing in the States with some consistency. But like we said, we have such a huge repertoire, we can always change it up if people really want to hear something or we think there’s something the audience might like. But we’ve got a lot of new stuff — the group is really new. I don’t know the last time you’ve seen us or if you ever have, but we got two new guys in the last few years. It’s a new Rockapella, a new show. There’s a lot of staging and choreography. You know, kind of like a new Temptations kind of vibe to it. Of course we do “Carmen Sandiego” and the stuff people want to hear, but it’s very much a new show.

BH: I’m pretty curious about the choreography, I’ll be honest. Who’s in charge of choreography for you guys?

SL: Hmm…choreography. Well, I guess I’ve done most of it, but you know John, our newest guy, he’s a really great dancer, and he and I have put stuff together. Sometimes as a group stuff just comes together. Generally I guess ’cause I write the music and arrange it, I see what things might look like, and we kind of work it out. We don’t get too fussy about the choreography; it’s not about the choreography, though that’s part of the overall vibe. It’s about the music first, but when you’ve got guys who can do it, it’s kind of fun to see everybody move and groove. It adds to the show, I guess.

BH: Like you mentioned, you guys always have a couple of fan favorites, and I know “Carmen Sandiego” is one of them. Do you guys get sick of that song?

SL: You know, we don’t. Once in a while we’ll be somewhere doing two shows in one night, and the only time it gets tiring is when you do the same song twice in one night. We do about 100 shows in a year, and we don’t rehearse really ever, so it’s kind of like it’s always pretty fresh, and the audiences are always different and really love to hear that song.

BH: How do you guys feel about singing for college students? I mean, you guys have a pretty wide fan base, so what’s special about the college crowd?

SL: Well let’s see, sometimes we play performing arts centers and places where they really want to hear something that’s a little more tame, like the cover songs we do and the old stuff, which I love doing as well. But the college crowd is always open to hearing brand new, original music. And I think that’s one of the things that has really set Rockapella apart, that original music, not just a cappella versions of songs people know.

With this new group I’ve been able to write stuff that’s a lot more contemporary, funkier. Our college audiences are always really open to that, and it’s fun to have a crowd that’s a little hipper. But also, the college kids now are the ones that watched Carmen Sandiego, so that’s always a big hit too.

BH: I was also kind of curious about a cappella as a whole, it’s a big thing on college campuses these days, but what got you guys started in it?

SL: Well, you know, Rockapella started at Brown University coming out of one of the real traditional male a cappella groups there. But none of those guys are left from the mid-’80s when Rockapella was started for fun, as a hobby. There really wasn’t the kind of collegiate tradition of a cappella then that there is now, like in Madison now, I know there are all kinds of great groups. But it didn’t used to be that way… I really didn’t have an a cappella background. It’s funny when I say it, but I hardly think of Rockapella as a cappella. It’s kind of just we make music, and we happen to do it without instrument. I never really was an “a cappella-head” or anything like that. I didn’t really come from the world of a cappella, but the world of pop and performing arts, so the fact that we’re a cappella just is kind of a side note to me. We just try to make really original, unique music, and it happens to be a cappella.

BH: So I heard a rumor that we’re actually going to try and get you guys to sing, “Where in the World is Bucky Badger?”

SL: Oh absolutely, yeah. I actually hope Bucky Badger shows up.

BH: We’ll definitely cross our fingers! Well I’m really excited, thanks so much for the talk.

SL: No problem, have a nice one.