The premier doo wop group in the country, The Doo Wop Project ( DWP), released their new full-length album, “Echoes of the Street,” on Oct. 10. As their fourth full-length album, it pays homage to the roots of doo wop while reimagining modern classics for a new generation.

The group members are: Santino “Sonny” Paladino (Musical Director/Arrangements), Charl Brown, Dominic Nolfi, Russell Fischer, John Michael Dias, and Dwayne Cooper.

A few members first shared where they grew up, and what life was like there. Brown, who grew up in San Diego, CA, described his childhood and said, “I didn’t know how good I had it then, growing up in the best climate in the continental United States, and because of that, things were generally great!”

Cooper grew up in Florence, SC, and to him, his life was pretty slow-paced, but he grew up around learning and appreciating all types of music. Fischer grew up in Port Reading, NJ, where he’d paint, build with Legos, and put on “productions” in the backyard to pass the time. Dias grew up in Tiverton, RI, where he attended Catholic schools, sang in church, and did community theatre.

Next, they opened up about their musical influences. Cooper loves groups that can harmonize extremely well without instruments. As a kid, he was in a five-part harmony Christian capella group called The Cunningham Singers.

“It was kind of like the a acapella Christian group Take 6 (minus one). The harmonizing of these groups and others really influenced my love of creating harmonies and expanding my range as a singer. Creating beautiful harmonies without instruments really trained my ear and paved the way for me to learn how to make an a acapella arrangement,” Cooper explained.

Similar to Dias, Brown grew up singing gospel music in church, which had a big impact on his love of music and harmony. Also, the 1990s had a major impact on Brown’s musical taste, as he grew up loving music from various artists, such as Alanis Morissette, Janet Jackson, Kirk Franklin, and Dr. Dre. Male vocal groups like Boyz II Men instilled in him the love of harmony and throwback sounds.

Fischer and Dias were influenced by music from the 1990s and early 2000s. In addition to Janet Jackson and Boyz II Men, Dias loved listening to the group All-4-One, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and artists ranging from Judy Garland to Green Day.

They then discussed the most significant influences on their path today, and their interests in wanting to be musicians in a group.

Dias stated, “I had a few teachers who recognized that I wasn’t a typical kid and needed an outlet to be creative. I remember my teacher in Montessori School, Sister Jean, telling my mother she wasn’t sure what kind, but I would be an artist when I grew up. My mother’s mother, Grandma Francesca, was my biggest inspiration and champion for anything creative.”

The thing that influenced Brown the most was getting into the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts in 8th grade, after four years on the waiting list, which he said changed the trajectory of his life forever.
Cooper’s most significant influence is his mother because she saw that he had a voice and that “star quality” and supported his journey to the top, never questioning if it would happen.

“She dated one of The Drifters, and it just felt like a natural progression to be involved in a group that could not only inspire all, but really help inspire other black and brown kids to believe they can do it too when you have that kind of parental support,” added Cooper.

They then explained how their careers got started, as well as what led them to focus on the genre of doo wop music as a group. Fischer said, “My mom caught me at 3 years old with a blanket over my head singing ‘Climb Ev’ry Mountain’ like the Mother Superior in ‘The Sound of Music.’ My first professional job at 8 was in that show, only as Kurt Von Trapp.”

Brown grew up in a doo wop household, and since his father loved Motown and doo wop music,  it was instilled in him from an early age. His career started by doing regional theater in San Diego, learning the craft in my community, which sparked his intentions to do this as a career.

In addition to Cooper, Brown was also exposed to doo wop early on, as his parents met on the dance floor at an event while “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” by the Temptations was playing. According to his mom, while she was pregnant, they’d go dancing, and he would kick in her belly when she was on the dance floor.

Dias added that his Grandma Franny was a professional seamstress and factory manager. Being a frustrated theater performer herself, she started making costumes and performing with the Little Theatre of Fall River in Massachusetts. She pulled him into my first show (The Music Man) when the director needed more boys, and he never stopped.

According to Dias, when the men met each other and decided to form a musical group, it organically evolved out of their desire for more opportunities to perform together. They saw a need and enthusiasm for this kind of music, and they wanted to fill that void.

Explaining how that first meeting led to creating their latest album, Dias added, “We are constantly getting suggestions on what we should perform and what groups we should look at. ‘Have you heard this? Have you heard that?’ I think this album has been influenced by learning from our audiences over the years and realizing they enjoy the real roots of doo wop. The original stuff.”

He added that it gets easier every time between when they released their first album and now. “I think we know each other and each other’s skill set so well that when a song comes up as a suggestion to sing… we instantly know who should be singing what. ‘Blue moon…? Oh, that’s definitely a Nolfi lead vocal song,’ etc. It’s a very collaborative process.”

Furthermore, Cooper and Brown shared what reaction they’d like those in the Black community around the country listening to this DWP album to have, and how it would empower them.

“There would be no Doo Wop without the influence of Black people. Our renditions of the songs are an homage to the guys who paved the way for us. We want to honor those guys. We know their original sound can’t be replaced. We hope by recording and performing our version of these songs that we get the blessing of those who listen to it so we can keep it alive,” Cooper continued.

Brown shared a similar sentiment: “But we also honor groups like the Drifters by covering their songs. They were one of the first integrated groups in the national spotlight, and that is also reflected in our group’s ethnic makeup. We celebrate diversity just by our existence, and I also hope the community and our audience appreciate it. Each of us brings our diverse sound and experience to the group.”