It’s been more than a decade since vocal group Pentatonix won a cappella-competition series The Sing-Off and started their YouTube channel. Since 2011, they have amassed 6 billion views and 20 million subscribers on YouTube, while winning three Grammy Awards and releasing 11 studio albums.
The five harmonists blend theatrics, enthusiasm and vocal wizardry into their music, converting some of music’s most popular hits into a cappella versions. Check out their Daft Punk mashup, or their emotional version of “Hallelujah.”
Pentatonix has made their mark on Christmas music, releasing multiple albums and a few Christmas-compilation albums. The group is about to hit the road for “The Most Wonderful Tour of the Year”—which begins Tuesday, Nov. 14, at Acrisure Arena.
“You would think at this point, we’d be Christmas-ed out, and be like, ‘You know what? Why don’t we just take a Christmas break off?’” said beatboxer and vocalist Kevin Olusola during a recent phone interview. “Honestly, it’s our favorite tour that we do. I think there’s something so beautiful about all the times that you had your friends going out caroling, or when you’re in church and you’re seeing these beautiful, beautiful harmonies. We get to do that, onstage, with thousands of people. It’s just a magical, unbelievable, beautiful experience, and it brings so many families together and so many generations together. You don’t really see that in any other place, so for us, we still love it. It really is our favorite, favorite, favorite type of music to do.”
Olusola grew up singing Christmas music—but not as much as his bandmates did, he said.
“I’d go to church and sing songs, and there was some caroling here and there, but not to this extent,” said Olusola. “With my bandmates, they were in choir and show choir, so I think they probably had a lot more of that experience going up. For all of us, just being musicians, you appreciate the music, the musicianship and the musicality that’s required to be able to do this type of music, and I think it shows on the stage when we perform—and we have a great time doing it.”
For the members of Pentatonix, Christmas is on their minds year-round.
“We start thinking about Christmas in January,” Olusola said. “We’re starting to conceptualize what the Christmas album could be like, and we’re starting to record ideas and demos. June and July is usually when we try to finish—and it’s been so fun to be able to think about, in June and July, how we are going to conceive of this Christmas show. You’re in the Christmas spirit all year round, and what other spirit would you want to be in? This is the happiest, the most joyous and the most fun, so honestly, to us, it’s a pleasure and a delight.”
Many of the group’s viral videos feature the singers’ faces in different boxes on the screen, bringing focus to their facial expressions in addition to the music. Obviously, live shows are a much different experience.
“I think what we’ve always tried to do is, in our videos especially, create an experience where it’s truly about the singing and the vocals and the harmonies,” he said. “You see this in a lot of our grid videos, for example, or even if we’re doing nice, beautiful scenery, we’re always making sure that you’re focusing on our voices and seeing us. I think that actually translates really well onto the stage and what we do. We have lots of (image magnification), so you’ll see our faces and our voices as we sing, because we want you to similarly get that experience from the videos onto the stage. The production really elevates … what we focus on, which is the vocals. We don’t want to detract from the vocals; we want everything to elevate and make more beautiful what we’re doing vocally.”
A dozen years into Pentatonix’s career, the vocalists don’t mess around when it comes to their health. You’ve heard of singers taking vows of silence or drinking hot tea for vocal care—but things get a little bit more extreme for these a cappella pros.
“I don’t listen to crazy loud music … because I really need to keep my years as fine-tuned as possible when I’m onstage and listening,” Olusola said. “There is a ton of water; we sleep eight to 10 hours a night if we can. There’s lots of throat coat; we eat healthily; and we try to work out as much as we can, because it’s an aerobic experience being onstage and singing that long and walking and talking. We really do try to be athletes; that’s the best way I can explain it. We try to take an athletic approach to our ability to sing. … We want to make sure that we’re at our best so that we provide to our audience. They paid their hard-earned money. They left jobs early, or they are taking their kids out of school for this experience, and we want to give them our best.”
YouTube helped Pentatonix achieve massive fame after the group won the 2011 season of The Sing-Off. I asked Olusola if musicians today could still go viral to the extent that Pentatonix did back then.
“It really is a different time … but this is what I would say: When we started off, the main concentration of people’s eyes was either on TV or YouTube, and YouTube was in its early stages,” he said. “I think there was also a zeitgeist around group singing, thinking about Glee or Pitch Perfect or The Sing-Off. For us to go from the TV show straight to being on YouTube, there was just a concentration right there where people could find it. The algorithm wasn’t as complex as it is now; people actually found us, and we could build a real business. I think today, it’s a little bit tougher, because there are so many different ways you can find people, so to gather everybody and all your fans on one platform is tough. I think virality, in that case, is shorter in its timespan and its lifespan, so I think it takes a different approach, and a lot more hard work. … I don’t think it’s impossible; I think it’s just a different landscape that you’re going to have to navigate.”
Even with 6 billion YouTube views, Pentatonix will never stop trying to reach new audiences, Olusola said.
“We are always thinking about how we adapt to the times, but still give people the iconic-ism that they loved about us when they first heard about us,” Olusola said. “Think about Taylor Swift. She has been able to adapt throughout her whole career, and use social media in a way where now she’s finding Gen-Z fans, and those people are coming to her shows. To them, she’s a new artist, which is so cool. … We want to keep our iconic harmonies and showcase the new ways that are adaptable to these times—but still give people the same feeling that they might have had before, or they can (newly) have if they are a new listener.”
Pentatonix will perform at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 14, at Acrisure Arena, 75702 Varner Road, in Thousand Palms. Tickets start at $39.50. For more information, visit acrisurearena.com.