What do you get when you mix a senior with a smile, a singer with a passion, a serenader with the voice to help the fellas get the females, and a super cool guy who likes pandas, spinning his pencil in class, The Notebook, and watching Glee? Senior Adam Gruezo is a proud member of Echo Effect who is extremely passionate about music and singing.

“[I like doing] anything musical,” said Adam. “I have to have music somewhere in my day. In my free time, I like to arrange music, play around with my guitar and piano, [and] sing to myself. Other than that, [I like to] hang out with friends. Anything’s better than sitting at home.”

Echo Effect is West’s male acapella group that recently won the Great Lakes Semifinal Competition on Saturday, March 5 and scheduled to leave for New York on Thursday, April 14 and competing in the ICHSA (International Competition of High School Acapella) National Finals on Friday, April 15.

“It [feels] amazing [to have won],” Adam says. “I’ve been part of the group for 3 years and for it to be my senior year and my last year it feels like a huge accomplishment to finally reach one of our biggest goals since the beginning of the group. I feel like [the characters] in Glee, when they all went to nationals. It just feels great.”

Adam and the other members of Echo Effect have worked very hard to get to where they are now and continue to practice for their performance in New York.

“We have rehearsal about two days a week that go [on] for two hours to three hours,” he said. “And besides those rehearsals, we have some outside rehearsals at my house or at other group members’ houses. We just prepare all of our songs and put a lot of practice time into it throughout the whole day and all week until we actually [get to] our performance day.”

There isn’t just intense competition and work planned for Echo Effect’s trip.

“[There will be] a lot of bonding,” Adam said.  “We’ll be shopping together and eating together. We’ll go sight-seeing New York. We’re staying in Time Square, so that should be fun. Other than that, we’ll be watching the college level competition too, that way we can get a feel of if we want to do it in college, and I think we’re seeing a musical, like a Broadway show. I’m not sure.”

Singing isn’t the only thing Adam likes about Echo Effect.

“[I really get along with] all the guys. I got to know all 14 of them, and I swear, if I wasn’t part of Echo Effect, I probably would have never talked to them. But, after being in this group, they’re the best bunch of guys to be with.”

For a great singer, Adam only started singing as a sophomore.

“I actually started singing sophomore year, surprisingly,” he said. “I was never a big fan of singing, but Mrs. Brahnal, our Choral Director, [when] I was in her guitar class freshman year, she kept encouraging me to join choir and I did end up doing it. I have no regrets at all. A lot of people didn’t know I could sing. A lot of people were actually surprised I could sing, and everyone wants me to sing for them, which is kind of hard because I always decline. Singing for me has to be special in a way.”

Choral director Amy Branahl speaks equally as highly of Adam.

“Adam is such a talented individual,” she said . “He does it all. He sings, he plays guitar, he plays so many different instruments, [like] piano, he played for a couple of events for us, played for the musical, and played for our voices only concert. He got to see Echo Effect perform as a freshman and I guess he decided that was something he wanted to do. He joined choir his sophomore year and he really made a name for himself. He arranged one of the pieces that we’re taking to ICHSA National Finals in New York next Friday and he arranged with Ravi Patel a song called ‘Taken Up’ by inside out. He did a really nice job arranging that piece. I think Adam is great. He’s one of my best students.”

Adam’s family and friends have inspired him to be a part of the musical world and are very supportive of his singing.

“My whole family’s a part of the music industry,” he shared. “My aunt’s a singer, my grandma, who passed away recently, is my biggest inspiration because she’s the one who inspired me to take part in the musical world, to play piano, play guitar, play violin, and especially to sing. She was a big time singer back in the day when she was in high school and college, and I’d say she was the biggest influence that really entered my life. My parents like to fool around and say that I suck [at singing] because they think that I sing too much around the house. Sometimes, they want me to stop. I love singing.  [Also], my best friend, Ravi [got me into singing]. He was in my guitar class too, and we were fooling around and singing and playing guitar. I guess we both developed an interest in it.”

Even though Adam’s greatest inspiration has passed, he strongly believes his grandmother continues to support him.

“In a sense, I feel like my grandma is looking over me,” he said. “Like, sometimes I feel like she’s right there looking over my shoulder, and sometimes, when I sing, I feel like she’s there in the crowd watching me and supporting me in everything I do.”

Adam has also been inspired by a particular R&B artist.

“My favorite artist is Ne-Yo. I love him. He’s my favorite artist. I’d say my favorite song by him is ‘I’m in love.’ It’s like one of those new ones that he has only on Youtube and not on his albums, but [my] long time favorite would be ‘Mad.’ [I really like] R&B and pop. I feel like that type of music has a connection to my life and I just feel like it brings me to a state of relaxation.”

Adam is involved in other extracurricular activities other than Echo Effect.

“I’m part of Ultimate Frisbee and Choir board, so we help run everything and anything that goes on in choir. I used to play volleyball, but I gave that up for singing because I felt more passionate about singing,” he said.

Despite his vocal talent, Adam has other plans for his future and a great dream in mind.

“I’m going to UIC,” he said. “I got my acceptance letter already, so that’s where I’m going. I plan on studying somewhere in the Dentistry field, hopefully. I had a lot of problems with my teeth, and I didn’t have the best smile in the world, but after going through years of dentistry and all this work on my teeth, especially with all the money put into it, it fixed it so I had a more confident smile. It gave me more confidence in myself and that’s what I really want to do with my life. I want to help kids get a sense of confidence and bring smiles to the world.”

Even though Adam seems like a confident individual, he feels as if he needs to improve his level of confidence.

“You have to have a lot of confidence to sing in front of a big crowd and that’s something I still have to develop,” he said. “I kind of like the way I am, but maybe [I should stop being] so quiet sometimes.”

“[When I first heard him sing I thought] he had a really good voice but he needed somebody to encourage him and give him more confidence in singing, so he joined my men’s choir,” said Branahl. “He gained a lot of confidence in that class and moved up from men’s choir to my top group, which is Master Singers, in one year and also made Echo Effect as a sophomore. Obviously, his confidence and stage presence has boosted up each year. He gets stronger and stronger every year and now he’s one of the front runners in Echo Effect. I guess you could say he’s one of the leaders. [But,] he’s like a quiet leader; a quiet confident leader. He’s not really obnoxiously loud. He’s like of those behind-the-scenes, you can depend on him kind of guy. He’s someone I can trust with a lot of things and get things done.”

Adam has made good use of his marvelous melodies outside of Echo Effect.

“I [have] serenaded a couple of my girlfriends in the past, and there was this one time I had to help a graduated senior from last year ask his date to prom, so I ended up singing for them too. It was a lot of fun actually.”

Adam will be missed after leaving his band of singing brothers as he leaves West.

“[I’m going to miss] Echo Effect. It’s my last year here and I don’t even know if I’m good enough to get into a college level yet, and all my friends are going different ways. At the end of the year it might be the last time I ever see them. I’m definitely going to miss everyone.”

“I’m really going to miss him as he leaves,” said Branahl. “And our program will greatly miss him with the other seniors as well.”

Admire Adam? Here are more fun facts:

His favorite color is turquoise, his favorite sports are volleyball and basketball, his favorite actors are Ashton Kutcher and Robert Downey Jr., and his favorite food is a burger and fries.
 

NWN: If you were president for a day, what would you do?
Adam: “First thing I’d do is play basketball in my new basketball court that’s there. Other than that, I’d try to do   something that helps the environment. There are just so many problems that are fixable and with our economy, I wish there was something we could do to help it.”

NWN: What do you think of the earthquake in Japan?
Adam: “I think it’s devastating. It’s horrible news to find out that people are being relocated and missing. I feel terrible about it and I wish there was something that Echo Effect could do about it. Maybe host a fundraiser or something. I don’t know, I just wish there was something we could do.”