Randomly combine 15 people from 15 random majors and 20 ethnicities into one group, make them sing a bunch of random songs, and the result is Random Voices, UCLA's only all-female a cappella ensemble.

Under founder and director Molly Jones, Random Voices will perform its second annual concert tonight in the Northwest Campus Auditorium. Featuring pop songs including everything from The Beatles to Janet Jackson to Brazilian bossa nova, skits, and whatever randomly comes out of their vibe, the concert is meant to show off what the group does best – have fun.

At rehearsals, giggles are flaunted. People randomly come up with things that may interrupt the practice or may eventually become part of the actual performance. It can't be predicted. It's a random process.

"We go in with the intention of being professional about it, but once we're on stage, we're all hams. We're always bouncing around doing something. Something gets thrown in and we play off of it. I don't think we could handle being on stage for an hour solemnly singing each of our songs," said Sandra Sakai, a second alto.

Sakai also doubles as a beatboxer, one of those vocal performers whose utterances often get mistaken for drum kicks, hat hits, turntable rips and cymbal crashes. Like much of what happens on stage, the beatboxing was also a random creation, an evolution where Sakai added something vital to the group's sound. Now her vocal mixing technique is a staple for all their songs.

Jones started the ensemble three years ago in order to create an alternative to the other campus ensembles, UCLA Chorale and Chorus. She noticed that more women than men wanted to sing, and she fashioned her group to take advantage of the demand. Over the years she distributed flyers on Bruin Walk, auditioned over 300 people, and now has a group of 15, noticeably smaller than the 100-member UCLA Chorale.

"I wanted to have that whole friendship, small-group feel to it. If it's a big choir, you're not going to know everyone. My whole policy was friendship first, music second. The reason for the group's name is that we all came from random backgrounds. We weren't friends first, but we became really good friends – and that was the base for continuing the next two years," Jones said.

After three years, they've bonded enough to make a sorority jealous. They've developed inside jokes, created nicknames (the group's next director, Valerie Madamba, is known as "Bad Mama Madamba"), nursed illnesses, and argued and argued. Jones cites members' broken ligaments and broken hearts among her biggest obligations on top of rehearsals and her double major in English and history.

"My nickname in the group is 'Twitchy' because my eye twitches when I get really stressed out, which is the vast majority of the time. At this point, as a fourth-year, my classes get cut a lot, but it's about what's more important to you. My group is most important to me so that's what I'm doing," Jones said.

Indeed, Jones often averages four to five hours a day getting gigs, writing the group's vocal arrangements, checking the group's financial accounts and getting media coverage. It's been a rough road, but the women are now welcome back in the dorms (Northwest Campus Auditorium is operated by the Office of Residential Life), where they once were considered a nuisance.

"I lived through the rehearsals in Dykstra, where I heard people telling them to 'shut the hell up.' Even though we knew we were just getting off the ground, we knew that if we kept together something would come of it," Sakai said.

After having performed at most of the UC campuses, including Berkeley and San Diego, two Spring Sings and last year's International Championship of Collegiate A cappella, the group hopes to expand to more elaborate tours and continue auditioning more talent in years to come. In fact, they'll need four more members come fall. Auditioners are expected to do solos, contribute random energy to the group, and most of all, have fun.

"I just hope that we can keep on having fun while making music. When we're getting ready for a concert or a show, it gets stressful. If you put 15 girls in a room, all that estrogen is just gonna explode. But it's always fun," Madamba said.