Pentatonix is a five-person a cappella group and winner of the third season of NBC’s “The Sing-Off.” Their amazing vocal talents have drawn widespread attention on their YouTube channel and now on a US and Canada tour. Life & Arts Editor Mitch Harris spoke to Scott Hoying, a member of Pentatonix.

 

Mitch Harris: How did the group form?

Scott Hoying: The group started as a trio – Kirstie, Mitch, and I. We formed a trio in high school, arranged an a cappella version of “Telephone” and used it to compete in a radio to meet the cast of Glee.

We didn’t win, but we got a lot of YouTube attention so we decided to try out for season 3 of “The Sing-Off.”

A friend of mine from USC suggested I find a beatboxer and a bass to add to the group to add some depth to our sound. We found our beatboxer on YouTube. He had a viral YouTube video of him playing cello and beatboxing to a song called Julie-O.

We called him up and he was down to fly out and try out with us. My friend also knew Avi because he was a powerhouse bass in the a cappella community around LA, so we asked him to join as well and he agreed. And voila. The rest is history.

MH: What is your musical background pre-Pentatonix?

SH: I took piano for 11 years, and was involved in choirs, jazz bands and different performing groups growing up. I also took voice lessons every week starting at age eight.

MH: What would you say to people who want to be singers?

SH: I would say take a lot of time to really brainstorm on how you can be unique in an industry with thousands of artists. How can you stand out? What are things that make your music/talents special and how can you capitalize on that?  

Try to upload well-made videos on YouTube and see people’s reactions.  It’s a cut-throat industry, so it’s important not to get down.

I personally have received thousands of NOs in my lifetime. I’ve been rejected from multiple shows and have been rejected from TONS of auditions, but I stuck to it because it was my passion and in the end it really paid off.