July 27, 2021 • 25 mins
10 years after their big win on "The Sing Off", Pentatonix is at the top of their game and on top of the world! 4 of the 5 members of this iconic a cappella music group join me today for a delightful chat. What about? Oh, how the group was formed, some of the obstacles they've overcome, the importance of leaning on and learning from each other, and just what make them, "The Lucky Ones." (And if you're looking for some advice on how to write that elusive second verse, you won't want to miss what they have to say!) Join us! ~ Delilah
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello there. You know what it feels like every single
time I welcome you to my podcast Loves Someone, I
say in one way or another that today's episode holds
a special treat. Well, that's because every single time we
do a new episode, it's a treat for me. So
many fantastic guests, so many great topics, so much inspiration.
(00:30):
Today is no different. I'm so excited to be welcoming
today's guest, all four of them, to this program. This
group is recently celebrated an important anniversary. It's been ten
years since they burst upon the scene with an appearance
on NBC's Vocal competition The sing Off. They wowed the
(00:50):
crowd and the judges with the rendition of Lady Gaga's telephone,
going on to win the twenty eleven season title. Since then,
they've been a staple on a C radio and you've
heard a lot of them on The Delilah Show, especially
at Christmas time. For those of you familiar with my
twelve stockings of Christmas sweepsteaks, you'll know I always try
(01:14):
to include their Christmas e d because it is just
so so so good. I love to share the joy
of their music. I'm talking of course of the fabulous
acapella phenomenon Pentatonics, and we will be right back talking
with this group we got Scott, Mitch, Kirsten and Matt. Today,
(01:35):
I'm going to give one of my incredible podcast sponsors
a shout out right now that they deserve. I love
being creative, and I'm excited to welcome Annie's Kid Clubs
as one of my podcast sponsors. As fast paced and
crazy as the world is today, I love that Annie's
Kids get kids off the screens and into some hands
(01:58):
on creative and there's kids for all ages, even adults,
from young woodworker kids to card making to knitting. Annie's
has a great summer offer sent off your first month
visit Annie's Kit Clubs dot com slash Radio. Annie's Kit
Clubs dot com, slash Radio. They let everyone escape into
(02:24):
a world of creativity. As I was saying earlier, we
are so very blessed to have the group Pentatonics on
this episode of Loves Someone. There are not many people
or groups that I fan geek about after you know,
forty seven years on the air, but you guys, you
guys are an exception to that. I am fan geeking
(02:44):
bad right now because I've watched you. Um, just like
when you first started out, there were so many people
in my industry going what is this? And it's hard
to describe it is once people started listening to the music,
they were all hooked. All of the naysayers were hooked.
(03:07):
And so it's been really exciting to see your trajectory
over the years and what kind of felt like, um,
the underdog in the beginning has turned into you guys
are on top of the world. Oh. Thanks, I mean,
does it feel that way to you? Does it feel
like like you're finally getting the recognition and the um,
(03:33):
I don't want to say accolades, but the respect. Yeah,
it definitely feels like we've we've got the respect from
the industry more so than we we than in the beginning.
But I still do feel like we have that twinge
of underdog vibe to us. Do you think it's a
cappella or do you think it's the fact that you
guys don't let anyone put you in a corner? Oh?
(03:54):
I like that. I'd say a little bit about what
any knows there anything we've ever gotten. We always try
to strive through them and work work harder. Um, I
think it's contributed greatly to our work ethic. Um, We're
always just trying to move on to the next, you know,
and keep climbing. Kirsten, who is the one in the
group that actually loves the nose. I love the nose.
(04:15):
I mean, I think it inspires all of us. You know,
I think opportunities inspire us, but also the nose inspire
us to work harder. Um. You know, we're very close
knit as a band, and I feel like every time
we've gotten them, we're always like, Okay, what can we
do to not let that happen next time? Or how
can we achieve higher? Or what opportunity can we create
that's not that one, but we'll do the same thing.
Like I really think that we're it's a big group
(04:37):
effort to take on those nose and those yeses. And
that's that's the beauty of a team. I think too.
It's like to have your teammates you come alongside of
each other and we go no, we we believe in
this together and we're gonna go for it. How many
years have you been this team? We just had our
tenure anniversary like a few days ago. It's been fun
(04:57):
to watch you grow up. It really has more from
these kind of nervous kids to really beautiful, powerful artists
in your own rights and the group as a whole.
Thank you so much. Yeah, I mean it did. We
were we were just kids when we started out. Sometimes
(05:20):
we still feel like kids, you know. But I think
what I'm still shocked by, what I'm still amazed by,
is the fact that we just jumped into it um
and really just didn't let anything rock the boat too much.
We just kept pushing forward. It's like what you were
talking about with liking to hear knows um. There was
(05:41):
something that we felt we had to prove, and I
think when we got rejected it just made us work
ten times harder to prove everyone wrong. So tell tell
my listeners who don't know the Pentatonic story how this group,
how the the how each of you were kind of
woven together because it started out as a couple of friendships, right. Yeah. Yeah,
(06:04):
So here's like the abridged version. So Kirstie, Mitch and
I we grew up together in Arlington, Texas to choir
in theater, and then we all went off to like
separate places, which was in high school. Kurst he went
to college in Oklahoma, I went to California and then
we all decided to reunite for the show called the
sing Off, which was an acapella competition show, and we
were going to do it, the three of us, but
they were like, you're gonna need a beatboxer in a base.
(06:25):
So we found Um, our beatboxer on YouTube and are
based their mutual friend Um and then five years in
our base went off to do solo stuff, so we
found Matt and yeah, that's the story of Pentatonics. You know,
I'm a mom with a lot of kids, and several
of them, for five of them at least have been
the choir kids. You know, the I would say, goofy
(06:48):
choir kids because that's kind of what they're labeled at school.
But the choir kids that they spend their lunch hour,
you know, in the choir teachers room hanging out, and
you know, they they would travel, They went to Disneyland,
they performed there, they did all the choir kid things.
And that's that's what you three were exactly that the
(07:10):
best teacher would let us practice our little trio thing
and take us from classes and then she would let
us like perform. So are you still close with your
choir teacher, your choir directors. Yeah, now we see her
every time we go back to Texas. Is she's so
proud of you that like she can't stand it? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
(07:31):
she's very proud, proud. Mama's great and for Christmas concert.
At the past couple of times, we've had our old
choir from Martin High School open for us at our
Texas shows, which was a really cool full circle moment.
How fun would that be to film you guys, with
your old choir teacher in your old choir opening up
the concert. That would be so much fun. Oh yeah,
(07:53):
I love that. I think everybody in life has some
of those little full circle moments, like, Um, a girl
and went to high school with ran into a guy
at our tenure reunion and the sparks flew And now
they've been married for years and years and raised children,
special kids they adopted, and I'm like, Wow, if you
(08:15):
hadn't come back for that class reunion. Ginger and Dan,
who knows what would have happened. We were just talking
about people that say no, And for me, I was
probably in my forties before I realized how much I
love that. I mean, I do love that. I love
when people underestimate me, especially as somebody who um sings
(08:38):
a foundational part of acapella. It's and a lot of
acapella and some a lot of base and you know,
it's not the flashiest thing. It's not the most impressive
and most important thing all the time. Wait wait, wait,
wait wait wait. If this house didn't have a foundation
on it, would my house stand very long? That's true
that you have to have a firm foundation for whatever
you're doing and life, in relationships and especially in music.
(09:04):
So it might not be flashy, um, but dang, it
wouldn't be if there wasn't a firm foundation. Absolutely definitely
necessary and solid. Well, thank you when someone tells me
and and Scott, I know this about you too, when
(09:25):
somebody decides to underestimate me or judge me for whatever reason.
And I realized that's with the place where it's coming from.
I mean, some people are just ignorant, but some people
judge me. That just gets me so excited in the
same way. Then you guys have faced some big challenges. Yeah,
(09:49):
I think I think we've really become so tough over
the years. I think maybe or speaking from personal experience
just so sensitive. I wasn't used to hearing to hear
r no, or to hearing that I wasn't good enough
for something like that, because you know, we grew up
in this It's not a small town, but it's it's
in northeast Texas and it's not really like the rest
(10:10):
of the world. So it was kind of a culture
shock getting out there and becoming part of the music industry,
which is arguably one of the toughest um but it's
it's changed a lot of It's changed a lot of
our lives for the better. I would say each of
you can take a term best thing that thing, but
(10:30):
best element that you feel that you have grown into
or achieved or accepted or experienced because of that, because
of that adversity that you, um, you guys faced the
last ten years. Yeah, I think I would say resiliency
because just from watching Pentatonics come back time and time
(10:53):
again from rejection and what have you, it's you guys
should do a movie. You know that. I think you
should too. I'm not kidding because I know because I
know people in the music industry. Some of the some
of the times you've been pushed off a Cliff. Yeah,
it was nice to watch as a group. The group
unit prove itself time and time again, and it's very
(11:16):
inspirational to me personally. It's like, oh wow, I guess
you really can do anything that you really want and
that you go after. Now that we've chatted about the
music Pentatonics, I want to ask each of you another question.
I want to know what gifts, what gifts, what little
treasures adversity has brought to your doors. Let's talk about
(11:37):
that right after I sing the praises of one of
my podcast sponsors. This edition of Loves Someone is sponsored
by the folks at the Home Depot. Have you had
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(11:58):
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It's just one example of how the Home Depot is
(12:21):
helping us d I wires get more done. Download their
mobile app to get started, Matt, for you, what's the
best gift that's come out of the trenches the real trials? UM?
I think for me it's seeing um seeing dreams come
to fruition, you know, UM pentatonics, being one of them,
(12:44):
you know, being a fan of the group before I
joined the group, and then being able to join the
group and against you know, other people that auditioned, and
people think not thinking I was good enough for you
wouldn't be able to do that and things like that,
and I'm just quietly it was like, oh no, I
definitely could do this, And when I got into the group,
it was like, oh yeah, I'm meant to be here.
(13:04):
And so I would say my biggest thing is um
to like speak the life, speak life into people in
their dreams and and just realize that it's not it's
not so far fetched, just so unattainable, and like people
are just the people that are putting you down, or
it's like the own reflection of themselves that they'red's like
a mirror thing, you know, you hear all the time,
(13:25):
but it's just like they they're just they're just cranky
and they hit it and then it's all really about
what they feel and they're just projecting on you. So
ignore them and just keep moving. They clearly haven't listen
to your music, because you cannot be cranky listening to Katis,
you can't jolly. It's definitely jolly. It's jolly, it's happy,
(13:45):
it's it's catchy, it's it's head popping, it's fun. I
don't even drink coffee, and I like coffee and bad,
you know, Kurson, How about for you, what is one
of the best gifts are um, sweetest rewards uh that
you have experienced? How many times have you guys had
(14:09):
to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and say we're
not giving up? Yeah? A lot of times. I Mean,
I think resilience is is a great is like the
key word. But overall, I just feel like incredibly rounded
based on all the things that we've had to overcome.
We've had so many challenges musically and live just getting
through the process. Um. So you know, I think we
(14:31):
all wear many hats and it's so fortunate that we
get to do this together because we get to lead
on each other as well in times of adversity. UM.
But you know we're not only arrangers and performers and singers,
were also like mediators and business people and entrepreneurs and
this we've just been through such a journey that I
really just feel like it's taught me so much. I
(14:51):
have so much understanding and compassion for different people. You
have to work with five different people every day. It's
not just like a solo career about you. So I
just feel like overall, I've just I feel very rounded,
and I feel like it's so shaped me and to
be the person I am today and how I understand
and um take things on. So Scott, yeah, I agree
(15:13):
with everything everyone has said. I think a huge thing
that Pentatonics has done for me and like all the
overcoming of obstacles, it's given me a lot of authentic
self love and authentic confidence. Um, because we have been told, no,
you have seen negative comments, but we've like rose to
the occasion time and time again for so many years.
(15:34):
And um, and I'm really proud of all of our
talents and I'm really proud of everything we've achieved and
I know that every day I and I'm sure everyone
on this planet struggles with kind of like believing in yourself,
and I think the Pentatonics has really really given that
to me, which has been amazing. If I were a
movie writer and I were going to write a movie
(15:56):
about you five, I think it would be like a big,
tough circus. Well, because I grew up in a tiny
town on red Sport. I never saw you know, Barnum
and Bailey or anything, but there was a circus that
came to town, that would come to our town every year,
and my dad would find out before this. The town
(16:19):
found out because he worked for the power company, and
so they would let him know, you know, a few
days or a few weeks in advance, so that he
could arrange to have power delivered to the field where
they would set up. And so he would let us
kids know when we would go there to meet them,
and they would let us help set up the tents
and everything in exchange for free tickets. I wanted to
(16:41):
leave with the circus so bad because not because I mean,
I have no talent, so I couldn't, but but I
saw the love and the the camaraderie in that group
of people. You know, a couple of them were biologically related,
but they were the most amazing, eclectic, colorful family, you know,
(17:06):
Troubadours musician, and there was like, you know, maybe eight
or ten people. I don't know how many were in
the whole group, but they were so close and so
um encouraged each other's unique talents. And I see that
in you guys. Oh that's a really that's a really
cool like, I see that closeness in that family. I
(17:28):
I honestly thought you were siblings for the first four
or five years of your career, that Scott, you and
Kersen were like siblings or something. I don't know, but
you you, your stage presence, everything is that of siblings. Yeah,
well that makes a lot of sense. I mean we
even before Pentatonics, we knew each other as kids. You know,
(17:50):
we went to school together, we did community theater together.
So it's it's it's been a relationship that's been cultivating
for a really, really long time. So Matt, you're the latest,
the latest. Remember what would you be in the Big Top?
Would you be like the circus master. I don't know
about the circus master. I like, like, I want to
(18:10):
be the fun host, and that's I know the master
does both sometimes, but like I would definitely be the
m C and like also the hype man you're bringing
every Like, I'm like, that was crazy. Could you see
that what just happened? Like nobody could do that and
you know, and just keep everybody engaged like that would
be so much fun. I have so enjoyed, like I said,
(18:34):
watching your career and listening to the lyrics of of
the Lucky Ones. I know that you guys, that's your life,
that's your story. It makes me emotional every time I
hear it because it does I feel like encapsulate our
story and our journey so well when you do your movie.
That needs to be the title of the movie and
the theme song. Yes, yes, I love the lyrics, you
(18:57):
know when you talk about the struggles but and overcoming
and how you are the Lucky Ones I think. I mean,
obviously you're you're blessed to have the success you have,
but being a little bit older than y'all, um, I
could be your mama. The thing that you are most
(19:17):
lucky for are the relationships that you have with each
other in your extended family. Absolutely, absolutely, yeah, it's it's
been bonds that time and time again just have kept
us going and keep keep us lifted up and confident
in ourselves. And I think it's just love at the
(19:38):
end of the day. It gets you through anything. I
heard a speaker years ago. I was pregnant with Sheyla
and she's twenty six, so that's how long ago it was.
He said, the end of the day, anything that you
are doing, putting on a production, uh, you know, working, planning,
building a house, anything that is worth doing, it's not
(19:58):
about the thing. It's about the relationships you're building with
the people that you are a team with. And I
stopped and I said, wait a minute, can you say
that again? And he said it again, and I wrote
it down and I went, that might be the most
important thing I have ever heard in my life to date.
Anything that you're doing, anything that I'm doing, it's not
(20:21):
about the thing. It's about the relationships that you're building.
And you, guys, that's the best part for me is
watching that and seeing that energy with you all. Thank you.
I love that sentiment so much. That is so true,
really beautiful, and it's appreciation for the journey, including the
relationships the journey. And that's why those full circle moments
(20:42):
are even more special because they're all a part of
that journey too. Well. Good luck on the next phase
of this journey. Um My, my engineer Ryan has some
questions he wants to ask you. He's one of those
unique people that is wicked, wicked, wicked wicked smart, like
genius smart, like alien smart. I've known his mom since
(21:04):
we were kids. We grew up together in the small town,
his mom and I. Um but in addition to being
like genius smart, could build a computer, does build my computers.
He's really wicked talented. I mean when he was a kid,
he would just sit down at the piano and start playing.
I called his mom and said, when did you give
Ryan listen? She said, are you talking about He's never
(21:24):
had a piano list And I said, he just like
played a concert for us all in his head. I'm
really good at a melody, but when it comes to lyrics,
I get hung up on that second verse. Hump yeah,
in the same way you guys have any tricks for that.
(21:45):
Always the second verse I try to make it more
of an anecdote and like the first verses more general,
and then the second verse I try to tell a
specific story to kind of like take that song to
a more interesting level. Um, that's the same way. The
first verse is always more figure to and then the
second verse for me is more this is the message,
this is what I'm thinking, This is what I'm trying
to say. I think it's also okay to like step
(22:07):
away for a second to like if you're pouring all
your energy into it and you can't think of anything
new or you're not feeling inspired, like maybe just like
take even ten minutes to walk around, like go away
from it, because I know that always really helps me
if I get to invested in it, and then I'm
only shooting down like one hallway of what I think
it should be. Um, thinking a break is is really
(22:28):
nice to kind of refresh the brain. They can take
me a week to write a song by myself. It's
just it's it takes so long to write lyrics sometimes,
and that's okay, that's just the process. Also, you know
something that helps me so much, which I I never
really want to do it because it sounds like extraneous,
but it always works, is I was just right every
thought I'm having, no matter how trite it might be.
(22:49):
I just write every thought, and then when I start
to go back and look for second verse lyrics, I like,
have so much to pull from, and they're always better
than I thought they were going to be. When I
was writing them, I was like, actually, this would be
really dope lyric. Do you guys usually work independently or
do you have like writing sessions. I've got friends in
Nashville that I can't talk to you, Delili. I'm stepping
into a writer's meeting and they have like four people
just you know, throwing thoughts out. We do both. Yeah,
(23:14):
for the lucky ones. We were in writing camps with
with different writers and different um formations of each other
as well, but we're all always writing alone as well,
and sometimes will bring that to the group. That's awesome.
Thank you, guys. Maybe next time you're just just you know,
playing around, you could call Ryan and he could set
in and give you learn from you guys, And because
(23:37):
you guys need any melodies, he's got thousands of All right,
I'll let you guys go. Thank you, Thank you for
spending this time with me. Thank you Music. We love
you so much for so appreciative Scott, Kirsten, Mitch, and Matt.
(23:58):
Thank you so much for being with us today. Thank
you for sharing your incredible, powerful, harmonic gifts of love
and music with the world. Every single time I listened
to a Pentatonics tune, I feel uplifted, and I know
that's why your sound has resonated literally and figuratively with
(24:19):
so many because of that love, because of the joy
you have in sharing your gift with us. The Lucky
Ones has been out since February and is available everywhere
you get your music. Download it right now. It's a great,
great summer soundtrack, perfect for the beach, for patio parties
anytime you're enjoying a little rest and relaxation, and check
(24:43):
in with PTX dot com for all things Pentatonics, including
new releases and upcoming tour information. This has been so
much fun. It's a joy to be able to share
these wonderful heart to heart conversations with you. My podcast
asked people join me next time, and of course join
(25:04):
me on the air each and every night, where I
always encourage you to slow down and love someone
Hello there. You know what it feels like every single
time I welcome you to my podcast Loves Someone, I
say in one way or another that today's episode holds
a special treat. Well, that's because every single time we
do a new episode, it's a treat for me. So
many fantastic guests, so many great topics, so much inspiration.
(00:30):
Today is no different. I'm so excited to be welcoming
today's guest, all four of them, to this program. This
group is recently celebrated an important anniversary. It's been ten
years since they burst upon the scene with an appearance
on NBC's Vocal competition The sing Off. They wowed the
(00:50):
crowd and the judges with the rendition of Lady Gaga's telephone,
going on to win the twenty eleven season title. Since then,
they've been a staple on a C radio and you've
heard a lot of them on The Delilah Show, especially
at Christmas time. For those of you familiar with my
twelve stockings of Christmas sweepsteaks, you'll know I always try
(01:14):
to include their Christmas e d because it is just
so so so good. I love to share the joy
of their music. I'm talking of course of the fabulous
acapella phenomenon Pentatonics, and we will be right back talking
with this group we got Scott, Mitch, Kirsten and Matt. Today,
(01:35):
I'm going to give one of my incredible podcast sponsors
a shout out right now that they deserve. I love
being creative, and I'm excited to welcome Annie's Kid Clubs
as one of my podcast sponsors. As fast paced and
crazy as the world is today, I love that Annie's
Kids get kids off the screens and into some hands
(01:58):
on creative and there's kids for all ages, even adults,
from young woodworker kids to card making to knitting. Annie's
has a great summer offer sent off your first month
visit Annie's Kit Clubs dot com slash Radio. Annie's Kit
Clubs dot com, slash Radio. They let everyone escape into
(02:24):
a world of creativity. As I was saying earlier, we
are so very blessed to have the group Pentatonics on
this episode of Loves Someone. There are not many people
or groups that I fan geek about after you know,
forty seven years on the air, but you guys, you
guys are an exception to that. I am fan geeking
(02:44):
bad right now because I've watched you. Um, just like
when you first started out, there were so many people
in my industry going what is this? And it's hard
to describe it is once people started listening to the music,
they were all hooked. All of the naysayers were hooked.
(03:07):
And so it's been really exciting to see your trajectory
over the years and what kind of felt like, um,
the underdog in the beginning has turned into you guys
are on top of the world. Oh. Thanks, I mean,
does it feel that way to you? Does it feel
like like you're finally getting the recognition and the um,
(03:33):
I don't want to say accolades, but the respect. Yeah,
it definitely feels like we've we've got the respect from
the industry more so than we we than in the beginning.
But I still do feel like we have that twinge
of underdog vibe to us. Do you think it's a
cappella or do you think it's the fact that you
guys don't let anyone put you in a corner? Oh?
(03:54):
I like that. I'd say a little bit about what
any knows there anything we've ever gotten. We always try
to strive through them and work work harder. Um, I
think it's contributed greatly to our work ethic. Um, We're
always just trying to move on to the next, you know,
and keep climbing. Kirsten, who is the one in the
group that actually loves the nose. I love the nose.
(04:15):
I mean, I think it inspires all of us. You know,
I think opportunities inspire us, but also the nose inspire
us to work harder. Um. You know, we're very close
knit as a band, and I feel like every time
we've gotten them, we're always like, Okay, what can we
do to not let that happen next time? Or how
can we achieve higher? Or what opportunity can we create
that's not that one, but we'll do the same thing.
Like I really think that we're it's a big group
(04:37):
effort to take on those nose and those yeses. And
that's that's the beauty of a team. I think too.
It's like to have your teammates you come alongside of
each other and we go no, we we believe in
this together and we're gonna go for it. How many
years have you been this team? We just had our
tenure anniversary like a few days ago. It's been fun
(04:57):
to watch you grow up. It really has more from
these kind of nervous kids to really beautiful, powerful artists
in your own rights and the group as a whole.
Thank you so much. Yeah, I mean it did. We
were we were just kids when we started out. Sometimes
(05:20):
we still feel like kids, you know. But I think
what I'm still shocked by, what I'm still amazed by,
is the fact that we just jumped into it um
and really just didn't let anything rock the boat too much.
We just kept pushing forward. It's like what you were
talking about with liking to hear knows um. There was
(05:41):
something that we felt we had to prove, and I
think when we got rejected it just made us work
ten times harder to prove everyone wrong. So tell tell
my listeners who don't know the Pentatonic story how this group,
how the the how each of you were kind of
woven together because it started out as a couple of friendships, right. Yeah. Yeah,
(06:04):
So here's like the abridged version. So Kirstie, Mitch and
I we grew up together in Arlington, Texas to choir
in theater, and then we all went off to like
separate places, which was in high school. Kurst he went
to college in Oklahoma, I went to California and then
we all decided to reunite for the show called the
sing Off, which was an acapella competition show, and we
were going to do it, the three of us, but
they were like, you're gonna need a beatboxer in a base.
(06:25):
So we found Um, our beatboxer on YouTube and are
based their mutual friend Um and then five years in
our base went off to do solo stuff, so we
found Matt and yeah, that's the story of Pentatonics. You know,
I'm a mom with a lot of kids, and several
of them, for five of them at least have been
the choir kids. You know, the I would say, goofy
(06:48):
choir kids because that's kind of what they're labeled at school.
But the choir kids that they spend their lunch hour,
you know, in the choir teachers room hanging out, and
you know, they they would travel, They went to Disneyland,
they performed there, they did all the choir kid things.
And that's that's what you three were exactly that the
(07:10):
best teacher would let us practice our little trio thing
and take us from classes and then she would let
us like perform. So are you still close with your
choir teacher, your choir directors. Yeah, now we see her
every time we go back to Texas. Is she's so
proud of you that like she can't stand it? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
(07:31):
she's very proud, proud. Mama's great and for Christmas concert.
At the past couple of times, we've had our old
choir from Martin High School open for us at our
Texas shows, which was a really cool full circle moment.
How fun would that be to film you guys, with
your old choir teacher in your old choir opening up
the concert. That would be so much fun. Oh yeah,
(07:53):
I love that. I think everybody in life has some
of those little full circle moments, like, Um, a girl
and went to high school with ran into a guy
at our tenure reunion and the sparks flew And now
they've been married for years and years and raised children,
special kids they adopted, and I'm like, Wow, if you
(08:15):
hadn't come back for that class reunion. Ginger and Dan,
who knows what would have happened. We were just talking
about people that say no, And for me, I was
probably in my forties before I realized how much I
love that. I mean, I do love that. I love
when people underestimate me, especially as somebody who um sings
(08:38):
a foundational part of acapella. It's and a lot of
acapella and some a lot of base and you know,
it's not the flashiest thing. It's not the most impressive
and most important thing all the time. Wait wait, wait,
wait wait wait. If this house didn't have a foundation
on it, would my house stand very long? That's true
that you have to have a firm foundation for whatever
you're doing and life, in relationships and especially in music.
(09:04):
So it might not be flashy, um, but dang, it
wouldn't be if there wasn't a firm foundation. Absolutely definitely
necessary and solid. Well, thank you when someone tells me
and and Scott, I know this about you too, when
(09:25):
somebody decides to underestimate me or judge me for whatever reason.
And I realized that's with the place where it's coming from.
I mean, some people are just ignorant, but some people
judge me. That just gets me so excited in the
same way. Then you guys have faced some big challenges. Yeah,
(09:49):
I think I think we've really become so tough over
the years. I think maybe or speaking from personal experience
just so sensitive. I wasn't used to hearing to hear
r no, or to hearing that I wasn't good enough
for something like that, because you know, we grew up
in this It's not a small town, but it's it's
in northeast Texas and it's not really like the rest
(10:10):
of the world. So it was kind of a culture
shock getting out there and becoming part of the music industry,
which is arguably one of the toughest um but it's
it's changed a lot of It's changed a lot of
our lives for the better. I would say each of
you can take a term best thing that thing, but
(10:30):
best element that you feel that you have grown into
or achieved or accepted or experienced because of that, because
of that adversity that you, um, you guys faced the
last ten years. Yeah, I think I would say resiliency
because just from watching Pentatonics come back time and time
(10:53):
again from rejection and what have you, it's you guys
should do a movie. You know that. I think you
should too. I'm not kidding because I know because I
know people in the music industry. Some of the some
of the times you've been pushed off a Cliff. Yeah,
it was nice to watch as a group. The group
unit prove itself time and time again, and it's very
(11:16):
inspirational to me personally. It's like, oh wow, I guess
you really can do anything that you really want and
that you go after. Now that we've chatted about the
music Pentatonics, I want to ask each of you another question.
I want to know what gifts, what gifts, what little
treasures adversity has brought to your doors. Let's talk about
(11:37):
that right after I sing the praises of one of
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(11:58):
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(12:21):
helping us d I wires get more done. Download their
mobile app to get started, Matt, for you, what's the
best gift that's come out of the trenches the real trials? UM?
I think for me it's seeing um seeing dreams come
to fruition, you know, UM pentatonics, being one of them,
(12:44):
you know, being a fan of the group before I
joined the group, and then being able to join the
group and against you know, other people that auditioned, and
people think not thinking I was good enough for you
wouldn't be able to do that and things like that,
and I'm just quietly it was like, oh no, I
definitely could do this, And when I got into the group,
it was like, oh yeah, I'm meant to be here.
(13:04):
And so I would say my biggest thing is um
to like speak the life, speak life into people in
their dreams and and just realize that it's not it's
not so far fetched, just so unattainable, and like people
are just the people that are putting you down, or
it's like the own reflection of themselves that they'red's like
a mirror thing, you know, you hear all the time,
(13:25):
but it's just like they they're just they're just cranky
and they hit it and then it's all really about
what they feel and they're just projecting on you. So
ignore them and just keep moving. They clearly haven't listen
to your music, because you cannot be cranky listening to Katis,
you can't jolly. It's definitely jolly. It's jolly, it's happy,
(13:45):
it's it's catchy, it's it's head popping, it's fun. I
don't even drink coffee, and I like coffee and bad,
you know, Kurson, How about for you, what is one
of the best gifts are um, sweetest rewards uh that
you have experienced? How many times have you guys had
(14:09):
to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and say we're
not giving up? Yeah? A lot of times. I Mean,
I think resilience is is a great is like the
key word. But overall, I just feel like incredibly rounded
based on all the things that we've had to overcome.
We've had so many challenges musically and live just getting
through the process. Um. So you know, I think we
(14:31):
all wear many hats and it's so fortunate that we
get to do this together because we get to lead
on each other as well in times of adversity. UM.
But you know we're not only arrangers and performers and singers,
were also like mediators and business people and entrepreneurs and
this we've just been through such a journey that I
really just feel like it's taught me so much. I
(14:51):
have so much understanding and compassion for different people. You
have to work with five different people every day. It's
not just like a solo career about you. So I
just feel like overall, I've just I feel very rounded,
and I feel like it's so shaped me and to
be the person I am today and how I understand
and um take things on. So Scott, yeah, I agree
(15:13):
with everything everyone has said. I think a huge thing
that Pentatonics has done for me and like all the
overcoming of obstacles, it's given me a lot of authentic
self love and authentic confidence. Um, because we have been told, no,
you have seen negative comments, but we've like rose to
the occasion time and time again for so many years.
(15:34):
And um, and I'm really proud of all of our
talents and I'm really proud of everything we've achieved and
I know that every day I and I'm sure everyone
on this planet struggles with kind of like believing in yourself,
and I think the Pentatonics has really really given that
to me, which has been amazing. If I were a
movie writer and I were going to write a movie
(15:56):
about you five, I think it would be like a big,
tough circus. Well, because I grew up in a tiny
town on red Sport. I never saw you know, Barnum
and Bailey or anything, but there was a circus that
came to town, that would come to our town every year,
and my dad would find out before this. The town
(16:19):
found out because he worked for the power company, and
so they would let him know, you know, a few
days or a few weeks in advance, so that he
could arrange to have power delivered to the field where
they would set up. And so he would let us
kids know when we would go there to meet them,
and they would let us help set up the tents
and everything in exchange for free tickets. I wanted to
(16:41):
leave with the circus so bad because not because I mean,
I have no talent, so I couldn't, but but I
saw the love and the the camaraderie in that group
of people. You know, a couple of them were biologically related,
but they were the most amazing, eclectic, colorful family, you know,
(17:06):
Troubadours musician, and there was like, you know, maybe eight
or ten people. I don't know how many were in
the whole group, but they were so close and so
um encouraged each other's unique talents. And I see that
in you guys. Oh that's a really that's a really
cool like, I see that closeness in that family. I
(17:28):
I honestly thought you were siblings for the first four
or five years of your career, that Scott, you and
Kersen were like siblings or something. I don't know, but
you you, your stage presence, everything is that of siblings. Yeah,
well that makes a lot of sense. I mean we
even before Pentatonics, we knew each other as kids. You know,
(17:50):
we went to school together, we did community theater together.
So it's it's it's been a relationship that's been cultivating
for a really, really long time. So Matt, you're the latest,
the latest. Remember what would you be in the Big Top?
Would you be like the circus master. I don't know
about the circus master. I like, like, I want to
(18:10):
be the fun host, and that's I know the master
does both sometimes, but like I would definitely be the
m C and like also the hype man you're bringing
every Like, I'm like, that was crazy. Could you see
that what just happened? Like nobody could do that and
you know, and just keep everybody engaged like that would
be so much fun. I have so enjoyed, like I said,
(18:34):
watching your career and listening to the lyrics of of
the Lucky Ones. I know that you guys, that's your life,
that's your story. It makes me emotional every time I
hear it because it does I feel like encapsulate our
story and our journey so well when you do your movie.
That needs to be the title of the movie and
the theme song. Yes, yes, I love the lyrics, you
(18:57):
know when you talk about the struggles but and overcoming
and how you are the Lucky Ones I think. I mean,
obviously you're you're blessed to have the success you have,
but being a little bit older than y'all, um, I
could be your mama. The thing that you are most
(19:17):
lucky for are the relationships that you have with each
other in your extended family. Absolutely, absolutely, yeah, it's it's
been bonds that time and time again just have kept
us going and keep keep us lifted up and confident
in ourselves. And I think it's just love at the
(19:38):
end of the day. It gets you through anything. I
heard a speaker years ago. I was pregnant with Sheyla
and she's twenty six, so that's how long ago it was.
He said, the end of the day, anything that you
are doing, putting on a production, uh, you know, working, planning,
building a house, anything that is worth doing, it's not
(19:58):
about the thing. It's about the relationships you're building with
the people that you are a team with. And I
stopped and I said, wait a minute, can you say
that again? And he said it again, and I wrote
it down and I went, that might be the most
important thing I have ever heard in my life to date.
Anything that you're doing, anything that I'm doing, it's not
(20:21):
about the thing. It's about the relationships that you're building.
And you, guys, that's the best part for me is
watching that and seeing that energy with you all. Thank you.
I love that sentiment so much. That is so true,
really beautiful, and it's appreciation for the journey, including the
relationships the journey. And that's why those full circle moments
(20:42):
are even more special because they're all a part of
that journey too. Well. Good luck on the next phase
of this journey. Um My, my engineer Ryan has some
questions he wants to ask you. He's one of those
unique people that is wicked, wicked, wicked wicked smart, like
genius smart, like alien smart. I've known his mom since
(21:04):
we were kids. We grew up together in the small town,
his mom and I. Um but in addition to being
like genius smart, could build a computer, does build my computers.
He's really wicked talented. I mean when he was a kid,
he would just sit down at the piano and start playing.
I called his mom and said, when did you give
Ryan listen? She said, are you talking about He's never
(21:24):
had a piano list And I said, he just like
played a concert for us all in his head. I'm
really good at a melody, but when it comes to lyrics,
I get hung up on that second verse. Hump yeah,
in the same way you guys have any tricks for that.
(21:45):
Always the second verse I try to make it more
of an anecdote and like the first verses more general,
and then the second verse I try to tell a
specific story to kind of like take that song to
a more interesting level. Um, that's the same way. The
first verse is always more figure to and then the
second verse for me is more this is the message,
this is what I'm thinking, This is what I'm trying
to say. I think it's also okay to like step
(22:07):
away for a second to like if you're pouring all
your energy into it and you can't think of anything
new or you're not feeling inspired, like maybe just like
take even ten minutes to walk around, like go away
from it, because I know that always really helps me
if I get to invested in it, and then I'm
only shooting down like one hallway of what I think
it should be. Um, thinking a break is is really
(22:28):
nice to kind of refresh the brain. They can take
me a week to write a song by myself. It's
just it's it takes so long to write lyrics sometimes,
and that's okay, that's just the process. Also, you know
something that helps me so much, which I I never
really want to do it because it sounds like extraneous,
but it always works, is I was just right every
thought I'm having, no matter how trite it might be.
(22:49):
I just write every thought, and then when I start
to go back and look for second verse lyrics, I like,
have so much to pull from, and they're always better
than I thought they were going to be. When I
was writing them, I was like, actually, this would be
really dope lyric. Do you guys usually work independently or
do you have like writing sessions. I've got friends in
Nashville that I can't talk to you, Delili. I'm stepping
into a writer's meeting and they have like four people
just you know, throwing thoughts out. We do both. Yeah,
(23:14):
for the lucky ones. We were in writing camps with
with different writers and different um formations of each other
as well, but we're all always writing alone as well,
and sometimes will bring that to the group. That's awesome.
Thank you, guys. Maybe next time you're just just you know,
playing around, you could call Ryan and he could set
in and give you learn from you guys, And because
(23:37):
you guys need any melodies, he's got thousands of All right,
I'll let you guys go. Thank you, Thank you for
spending this time with me. Thank you Music. We love
you so much for so appreciative Scott, Kirsten, Mitch, and Matt.
(23:58):
Thank you so much for being with us today. Thank
you for sharing your incredible, powerful, harmonic gifts of love
and music with the world. Every single time I listened
to a Pentatonics tune, I feel uplifted, and I know
that's why your sound has resonated literally and figuratively with
(24:19):
so many because of that love, because of the joy
you have in sharing your gift with us. The Lucky
Ones has been out since February and is available everywhere
you get your music. Download it right now. It's a great,
great summer soundtrack, perfect for the beach, for patio parties
anytime you're enjoying a little rest and relaxation, and check
(24:43):
in with PTX dot com for all things Pentatonics, including
new releases and upcoming tour information. This has been so
much fun. It's a joy to be able to share
these wonderful heart to heart conversations with you. My podcast
asked people join me next time, and of course join
(25:04):
me on the air each and every night, where I
always encourage you to slow down and love someone
Host
Delilah
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