“A cappella” means singing without instruments. But we've come a very long way from the singing monks to Pentatonix, the a cappella quintet that won three Grammys and sold 10 million albums. YouTube fans have viewed their videos more than six billion times.
“We just gelled together over the years just because of how long we were together,” Kirstin Maldonado said.
And the three singers – Maldonado, Scott Hoying and Mitch Grassi – have been together for many years Very a lot of time. “Mitch and I were on the show together when we were ten years old,” Hoying said. “I met Kirsty in my first English year when we were 14!”
At their high school in Arlington, Texas, they formed a trio: soprano, baritone and countertenor. Grassi said of his voice: “It's incredibly high-pitched and was made fun of a lot when I was growing up. Yeah, when I was growing up in Texas, you know, it was very different and a little feminine, so it was like, “Get him out of here.”
Hoying said, “Our different timbres create such a specific sound when the frequencies of our voices come together, as if they all play such a vital role. When they're all together, it's like a hug. It's actually really magical.”
CBS News
In 2011, they decided to try out for the NBC a cappella show “The Sing-Off.” But when they learned that bigger bands had a better chance, they added bassist Avi Kaplan and wanted to add a beatboxer. Hoying said, “So, out of desperation, we literally went on YouTube and typed in 'beatboxers.' The first video that came up was a video of Kevin playing the cello and beatboxing at the same time.”
It was Kevin Olusola, a cellist, singer, beatboxer and medical student at Yale University. Asked what his parents said when he left his medical studies to become a musician, Olusola replied: “That was definitely not the plan!”
Not only did they make it to the Sing-Off, but they also won the grand prize: $200,000 and a recording contract. But a month later the record company dropped them. Olusola said, “They asked us, 'Hey, are you guys going to add any tools for what you're all doing?' And we said, “We literally just won an a cappella TV show.”
Hoying said, “We just said, 'No, we don't like that idea.' And they were like, “Okay, then we’ll drop you off.”
Instead, they turned to YouTube. Within a year they had four million subscribers.
“The video that would probably really break us in terms of the industry would be 'Little Drummer Boy,'” Olusola said. “It was in the top 10 on iTunes for four weeks.”
The higher the Pentatonix star rose, the harder they worked. Their behind-the-scenes sixth member, co-founder and producer Ben Bram, wrote even more impressive vocal arrangements. In 2014 alone, Pentatonix released three albums and toured for nine months each year.
“You never have to recuperate and be at home and see friends or loved ones,” Maldonado said. “It was very, very brutal.”
So brutal that in 2017, Avi Kaplan made a stunning announcement: he had decided to take a step back from Pentatonix.
“He didn’t really want to tour; he didn’t like the touring life,” Hoying said. “And we were in our prime and really wanted to tour a lot.”
After a nationwide search, Pentatonix has found its new bass: a Pentatonix superfan from Maryland named Matt Sully. “The opportunity to be part of the group and continue its legacy is something I treasure and take very seriously,” Sully said.
He was ready: “I knew everything,” he said. “I learned every song, every bass line of every song.”
“We were so excited and relieved and grateful that, oh, we can see a vision of the future, we can continue to do this,” Hoying said.
And they kept going.
To listen to Pentatonix perform “O Holy Night”, click on the video player below:
I asked: “Guys, you have been together for many years – you live, travel, work. Can’t you tell me that there aren’t things in each of you that drive others crazy?”
– Do we have time? – answered Sally.
“There are many. A lot,” Maldonado said.
Hoying said, “We're kind of lucky that none of us are overreactive.”
“I don’t think we all have crazy egos that get in the way of communicating clearly with each other,” Maldonado said.
But after 14 years in the spotlight, change was inevitable. Olusola said: “Nowadays everyone is starting to get married, have children. So what do we want at this stage?”
They wanted to focus on Christmas. Five of their last six albums have been dedicated to Christmas music, and their tour is definitely a holiday show.
And recently even bigger changes have occurred. Their new album “Christmas in the City” No a cappella! “I feel like it’s time to evolve and do something new,” Hoying said.
“Because if you limit your skill, you won’t grow,” Maldonado added.
But they say they are not giving up on acapella.
When asked what they thought Pentatonix's influence was on a cappella, Hoying responded, “I think we created the harmony and the singing, I feel like we were part of what made it cool. There are about 1,200 college a cappella groups now.”
“People used to either say maybe it was boring or maybe it wasn’t cool or something like that,” Maldonado said.
Sully said, “I think Pentatonix really gave the choir boy a voice, a platform where he could feel seen.”
WEB EXTRAS: Pentatonix sings “Christmas Time Is Here” (Video)
For more information:
The story was produced by Reed Orvedahl. Editor: Georgy Pozderek.
See also:
