Formal musical theory was entirely absent from Conrad's early development. His vocal education began in the pews of his mother’s church, where harmonies are learned by ear and performance is tied directly to emotional sincerity. Church singers do not rely on charts; they respond to the room, bending pitch to heighten feeling.
When Conrad entered high school in Tampa, he auditioned for and secured a spot in the school's competitive jazz choir despite being unable to read a single note of traditional sheet music. The environment forced an intense trial by fire. Surrounded by students who parsed complex modal charts, Conrad relied entirely on relative pitch and melodic memory. That period sharpened his vocal agility. Jazz choir demanded tight intervals, chromatic harmony, and vocal restraint, skills that directly counterbalanced the unrestrained, belt-heavy style of church singing. The collision of these two worlds gave Conrad his fluid, conversational vocal delivery, characterized by layered harmonies that weave effortlessly between minor-seventh chords.
