BioShock Infinite understands the power of harmony. Its music, inspired by barbershop quartets, floats above the clouds like a memory. As a lifelong barbershop singer who started at the 2010 Harmony Explosion Camp and later won an International Silver Medal with Music City Chorus, I know what happens when voices truly lock. That same emotional charge is woven into the game’s soundtrack.
That same magic fueled both the “Aca-Easter Egg” that debuted in the game in 2013 and the “real-life cover band” that formed by four talented singers shortly after.
Now in 2026, BioShop Infinite has evolved from a PAX “floor gag” to a Main Stage headliner. I sat down with Tenor, Greg Alexandropoulos to discuss their journey from fans to official performers.
The Interview
Dom Finetti: The Origin Story – How did BioShop Infinite first come together as a quartet, and was there a specific “lightbulb moment” where you realized there was a dedicated audience for barbershop arrangements of video game music?
Greg Alexandropoulos: It started more than 10 years ago. Nick Pasco (Bass), loved Bioshock Infinite, and thought it would be a fun gag to dress up as the quartet from Bioshock Infinite, learn the “God Only Knows” arrangement from the game, and walk around PAX singing the song. Folks would ask “You guys don’t actually sing, do you?” and then BioShop would hit them with the song! It just grew from there—adding a new song every year, and eventually compiling an entire set of barbershop songs. The crowds just kept getting bigger—and I suggested we should become official musical guests of PAX and other shows. It became obvious that there was an audience for this music—the rooms and crowds just kept getting bigger!
DF: Individual Roots – Could you share a bit about the individual musical backgrounds of the quartet members? Are you all classically trained, or did you come from the hobbyist world of barbershop singing?
GA: (Greg - Tenor) I’m a trained vocalist, yeah. I studied singing in college, and have been studying since I was an early teen. My background is in Pop & Alternative music though—not barbershop. I’ve certainly learned a lot over the years (laughs). Derek (Lead), and Nick (Bass) are both pianists. Two of the best I’ve ever seen. Tyler (Baritone) is a multi-instrumentalist—mainly saxophone and guitar.
DF: The “God Only Knows” Legacy – Performing an arrangement as iconic and technically complex as the BioShock Infinite version of “God Only Knows” is no small feat. What are the specific vocal challenges of that four-part harmony that most listeners might not notice?
GA: The dissonance of the dense harmonies is very hard to feel “confident” in when you land on them, vocally. You really have to understand what the chord quality is meant to sound like (Major, Minor, Dominant 7th, whatever other extensions, etc), and really dig into the crunchiness. Understanding how the dissonance feeds into the resolutions, and so on.
DF: The Road to PAX East – Landing a booking for a full-length performance in the Condor Theatre at PAX East is a huge milestone. How did that partnership come about, and what was the process of pitching a vocal act to a massive gaming convention?
GA: About 6 years ago I suggested to the guys that we should contact PAX about being official guests of the show. Pre-2019-ish, the ensemble used to buy tickets and walk around the event and sing—but we were such a mainstay of the show at that point, that it was a no-brainer, and an easy “Yes” from PAX. And after that, the crowds kept growing: It started with a 90 person crowd in a “Bioshock Cosplay Meet Up” Room. Then it became a 200 person crowd in a Community Room. Then we did a 450-capacity room. During the 450-cap year, so many people got turned away, (because we hit capacity) that we did back-to-back shows. We knew then that our popularity was about to explode. Last year, we opened the main stage for about 2700 people—and now our Condor Theater 700 cap shows are the “Intimate” ones—Which is very surreal. As for pitching a vocal act—it’s easy: There just is not much vocal music in video games—and video game music vocal ensembles are very uncommon. BioShop is just inherently very unique.
DF: The Rehearsal Room – Barbershop is all about “ringing” chords and perfect synchronization. What does a typical Bioshop Infinite rehearsal look like, and how long does it take for the group to feel “stage-ready” with a new nerdy reference or song?
Greg: Great question. We typically start rehearsing about 8 weeks before an event. But before that—we all prepare individually before meeting up. Preparation is paramount—especially when the music can be challenging. We start with “ham-fisting” our way through the new song—just getting through to the end without accidentally changing keys, or making major errors. We then “tune” any trouble-spot chords: Critical moments in the song where something may be trickier to tune. It then goes to phrasing, breathing, timing, etc.
DF: The Wandering Performance – Your event description mentions “wandering the show bringing music to our halls.” How does the experience of performing intimately for people in a hallway compare to the high-pressure environment of the main stage?
GA: In some ways it is very different—in the hallways there’s no AV—so we’re not hearing anything back through monitors, or hearing our mic’d up voices coming out of PA’s—we’re just letting it rip. It’s also much shorter—typically a song or two at a time, so the pressure is certainly lesser—however, it’s also a preview of the show, so in some ways, the pressure is very high. We have to be “On” all the time—and we have to deliver! We stand very shoulder-to-shoulder when out in the halls, to control our blend and making sure not to over-sing. Walking the halls in some ways is our “warm-up” for the big show—but we also want to give attendees a good musical performance, even if it’s impromptu, you know?
DF: Nerdy References – Aside from the BioShock repertoire, how do you decide which other “nerdy” songs or game themes to weave into your catchy tunes, and what makes a song a good candidate for a barbershop flip?
GA: Depends. Everyone in the ensemble has their own taste. I pushed for a long time to do “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” from Bioshock Infinite—the choir version. It’s very beautiful, and we typically get a very good response from Bioshock fans. Expedition 33 had a lot of vocal music, and the game was extremely popular, so we thought it was timely to do some Expedition 33 stuff this year. As for the individual songs themselves—it helps if it’s a group vocal piece already—it’s easy to adapt. But we’ve done some unique adaptations as well: There’s a solo female vocal song in Elden Ring, being sung by a monster (Song of Lament), and we adapted that for 4-part vox. I think the line in the sand is: “Barbershop vs acapella”. Like—we aren’t Pentatonix (laughs), but we aren’t opposed to more choir-y things in addition to barbershop.
DF: Fan Interactions – Gaming communities are notoriously passionate. What has been your most memorable interaction with a fan after a performance?
GA: There was a marriage proposal in the crowd a few years ago. I don’t think that can be topped (laughs), and a bunch of gaming news sites got it on camera. She said yes! Thank goodness. Marriage proposals don’t typically go well at PAX (laughs). I think it’s still on RockPaperShotgun’s youtube channel if you want to see it.
DF: Future Stages – Where can fans catch your future live performances, and do you have any digital releases or social channels where people can follow your journey?
GA: You can watch our performances digitally on youtube! We’ve got a youtube channel called BioShop Infinite. Keep an eye out on your PAX and Comic Con schedules for our next in-person performances!
DF: Final Note – If you could pick any other modern video game soundtrack to give the full “Bioshop” treatment to next, which title would you choose and why?
GA: Modern? I feel like the most obvious are maybe Persona 5 or Alan Wake 2 (my opinion on Alan Wake aside) (laughs). But I’d love to do Silent Hill 2. That would be interesting. Vocalizing some of those instrumentals.
Closing Thoughts: The Harmony of Performance
BioShop Infinite reminds us that gaming is about the chords that resonate long after the console is turned off. Seeing this quartet bridge the gap between technical barbershop craft and gaming pulls on the heartstrings of 15-year old me, watching my first quartet performance all those years ago.
What are your own favorite musical moments in gaming? Let us know in the replies below or share a clip in the #gaming channel on our Discord!