December 3, 2025 • 21 mins
This week on Behind The Christmas Hits, Drew Savage is joined by Kevin Olusoa of Pentatonix to talk about their new holiday album Christmas in the City, working with Canadian Producer Dave Pierce - and how they managed to cover Frank Sinatra!
Kevin Olusoa of Pentatonix tells Drew what songs Pentatonix has tried to cover with little success - and the different ways they approach different genres.
Kevin Olusoa tells drew about how the plot of Netflix' Meet Me Next Christmas being centred around a Pentatonix concert.
Pentatonix' Kevin Olusoa tells drew about how special it is to perform at Christmas time, and what Christmas is like in his family!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
How do they do it? How does Pentatonix always make
an old song sound fresh? Well, let's find out with
Kevin Olushala.
Behind the Christmas hits with Drew Savage. For over a decade,
Pentatonix has had one of the most unique careers in music.
Mitch Grassy, Scott Hoying, and Kristen Maldonado all went to
(00:21):
high school together in Arlington, Texas, and tried to win
a radio contest to meet the cast of Glee. They
sang Lady Gaga and Beyonce's hit, Telephone. They didn't win,
but they did become a hit on YouTube.
A couple of years later, Scott learned of the NBC
competition series, The Sing-Of, and convinced Kristen and Mitch to
join him. They were advised though that adding some voices
(00:44):
to support the three of theirs might help their chances.
Scott met Abby Kaplan through a mutual friend, and then
they all loved Kevin Olushala's viral cello boxing videos, so
they approached him about rounding out the group. The five
didn't meet for the first time until the day before
the auditions, and in 2011, they won the whole thing.
14 years and 12 albums later, Pentatonix is back with
(01:07):
their latest called Christmas in the City. And joining us
for this episode is the world's greatest cello boxer, Kevin Olushala. Kevin,
thank you and congratulations on the new album.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Thank you so much. It's been so fun to see.
The response from all of our fans, from all of
our friends, even my wife, I'm on tour right now.
She says every single day, they watch the YouTube video
and listen to the music just to remind themselves of
their dad. So, it's really cool to see the effect
that the music's having on.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
It's different too for a Pentatonix album. I, I was
listening to it last night, and I'm like, I feel
like I am hearing far more instruments on this album
than I've heard on some of the previous ones. So,
what was the vision for Christmas in the City, uh, and,
and how is it different from previous Pentatonix albums?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Absolutely. Well, you know, we had never felt like we
had done a classic Christmas album, you know, a la
Bing Crosby, a la Michael Buble, if you will, and
we wanted to do something that felt like it got
back to our vocal roots in terms of how harmony
was birthed in this 1940s style. You're thinking about the,
(02:15):
the kind of the, the Andrews Sisters.
The, the vocalizations, the jazz harmonies that really made vocal
music kind of, it was the predecessor of what it
is today. We wanted to honor that, that tradition. We
wanted to honor that style, and with that comes a
good amount of instrumentation that supports what they're doing vocally.
(02:35):
So I think that was really the, the, the point
of it and it's been so cool to see people go,
you know, I'm not really like.
Like deterred, oh no, are they not a cappella anymore?
We're just using our a cappella in a way that
I think really enhances this, this world that we're trying
to build.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
And that was, it was it different because you are
working with, whether it's big bands, big instruments, big sounds
beyond your own voices for the first time. Was that,
was that a challenge, uh, at all in terms of
blending all of these, these new sounds together?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Absolutely it's so funny you ask that because I remember
when we got into the studio with Dave Pierce, our
executive producer, brilliant mind
Speaker 1 (03:15):
who actually produced,
Speaker 2 (03:17):
yeah, and Canadian. Hey, hey, he, he, he was killing
the game. Let me tell you, Canadians, y'all know music.
And so, he was executive producing this and he helped
us kind of fill out the arrangements that we pre-arranged.
We go through a process where we first kind of
make arrangements ourselves and then find somebody to fill out
the sound.
And I remember after we got in the studio with
(03:39):
him and recorded, we listened through everything and we said, wow,
this is really beautiful, but now we have to figure
out how to make sure our voice isn't lost. For example,
you know, there's a lot of drums and also bass,
whether it's bass guitar, whether it's um string bass, and
so Matt and I were trying to figure out what's
the balance of utilizing these instruments and making sure that
(04:00):
the beatboxing and the
And, and, and our vocal base still remains um at
the forefront, but it feels like it's a melding, so
it just took a lot of experimentation and we're really
proud of where it landed.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
That classic pentatonic sound with the a cappella and the beatboxing,
which you excel in, um, how do you, when, when
you're taking a song.
That has been done before. There's a lot of original
music on this new album too, which is pretty exciting,
but also you're known for putting the classic Pentatonix sound
on some classics that people have known for a long time.
(04:35):
So whether it's a Jolene, or whether it's a Silver
Bells from the new album, how do you approach a
song that everybody knows, but you wanna make it fresh
and very much your own?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
That's a very, very good question.
You know, first thing we think about is what is
the essence of the feeling of this song? What's the
essence that people, regardless of the style of music you do,
whether it's a pop song or a country song, what's
the essence of the feeling that people are trying to
get from this song? OK, great. Now that we understand
(05:06):
that essence, how do we make sure that we hit
on that vocally, right? If it's something that people want
to feel.
A wave of deep like sadness, for example, are we
singing in a way or are we utilizing vowels that
really emote that? Is my beatboxing done in a way
that helps to emote that sadness as well, done in
(05:27):
a way where only vocals can do it, you know,
there are some things that, for example, if there are
motifs that are in the song that are integral to
the song like da da da dum dum dum dum
da da da da.
Always make sure we keep those motifs there, but maybe
we do something different around it that feels like only
voices could have created something to help enhance this motif.
(05:47):
So it's a lot of experimentation, but it's always about
keeping the essence that people love and enhancing that essence vocally.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Have you ever approached a song and you're like, we gotta,
we gotta try this one, and as you're working through
the process, have you ever come to a point where
it's like, I just don't know whether it's gonna work
with this song?
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Oh, absolutely. I can give you two examples right now. One,
we tried Muse Madness, and oh what an amazing song,
but we just couldn't figure out how to give it
an arc because that one motif is so, you know,
so forward that mad mad, and we're like, so how
(06:28):
do we do anything around that, that, that creates arc and, and, and, and,
and lets it grow.
And we just couldn't figure it out. And then another one, honestly,
is Taylor Swift's, We will never, ever, ever get back together.
We tried so many times. I really mean it. I mean,
we worked hard to see if we can make this
one work and we just couldn't figure it out. And so,
(06:52):
you know, we gave the good old college try, maybe
we'll come back to it at some point, but
You know, sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. On the,
Speaker 1 (07:00):
on
the, on the flip side, what's an arrangement that you
are most proud of?
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Oh, that's a very good question. You know what, I'd
say Daft Punk is still one that when I go
back to that, I go, I can't believe we created that.
I mean, I even think about the processes of us
trying to figure out which songs we should use and
how do you create an electronic feel with our voices,
and I remember at that time, you know, our
(07:27):
Previous bass Avi when he heard our initial intro, which
was very, um, it was weird to be fully honest,
but we all liked it and he goes, guys, I
just don't feel like this is professional enough. I don't
feel like this is creative enough and he really pushed
us and we didn't wanna be pushed, but we said,
you know, we'll just do it to appease him.
But it was literally the best thing that could have
(07:48):
ever happened because that intro feels so iconic for what
we do with a cappella. So that one was a
labor of love that I'm really, really proud of how
it
turned out.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Uh, Kevin, it's so cool to hear the voices of
Pentatonix blend with some of the most famous talented voices ever.
I mean, you did it with Jolene and Dolly Parton
a few albums ago, and on this one, the.
The new album Christmas in the City. How cool is
it to hear you all sing with Frank Sinatra on
(08:18):
You've Got My Love to Keep Me warm. I've got
my love to keep me warm, man.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I, I mean, who could have ever thought when we
started off that this could even be a possibility for us.
I remember, so we, we worked with Dave Pierce obviously
on this album, and he had a really great relationship
with the estate.
And so, he talked to them about the possibility of
maybe having a Frank vocal on our album and they
(08:43):
granted it to us, and it's so cool when you
even hear his stem, his vocal stem, cause
You could hear the rustling of the papers. You could
hear the instrumentation in the back cause there was bleed
from the orchestra to his voice. It was a never
heard before vocal and so it was just so magical
(09:04):
to be able to work with one of the most
iconic singers of all time and to have.
His voice on, on, on our album, truly like the
greatest honor and we're so thankful to the, the Frank
Sinatra estate for that.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
And, uh, and that is a, uh, terribly underrated Christmas song.
I mean, I know it's not technically Christmas, it's more
of winter and, and stuff like that, but that's, that's
a lot of Christmas songs. They're winter songs more than
they are Christmas songs, and that's, that's one that.
I don't think we hear enough of, and I love
it when somebody takes it for a fresh spin, and, uh,
and you guys, you guys smashed that. That was great.
(09:38):
That was great.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Thank you. That really means the world. We, we had
so much fun doing that 11 of
Speaker 1 (09:43):
the other new songs, again, there's a lot of originals
on this album, Christmas in the City, the latest from Pentatonix. Uh,
there's a song called Christmas Movie.
On the new album, and last year you actually were
in a Christmas movie. Uh, Meet Me Next Christmas on Netflix,
that was about a woman who was desperately trying to
get to a Pentatonix concert to reconnect with the guy
(10:05):
that she thought was the one that got away. Um.
How fun was it to have a film producer call
you up and say, hey, I wanna base the entire
plot of my Christmas movie around one of your concerts.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
It was so cool and you know, it was so
funny because to be fully honest, this was one that
we did not think was gonna get to the finish line.
I mean there were so you, you have to think
about it. So when we were starting this process, the
producer Mark Roberts reached out to us before COVID, and
then when COVID happened.
There were some things happening within the Netflix system that
(10:37):
made us say, oh, we may not be able to
get this movie done. But then we had a show
at the Hollywood Bowl in 2022, and he said, you
know what, I'm gonna bring the whole Netflix crew to
see what we do. And because they could see us
in concert, they could really grasp what we do, and
they greenlit the film, and that's how they're able to really,
(10:58):
I think in this film, be able to make sure
our person.
Personality shine. I mean, you get to see us really
in concert doing what we do, and it's all because
they were able to see us and go, oh, we
understand who they are. So we're just super appreciative of
Netflix and we had so much fun being in that movie. It's,
it was such a good time. Well,
Speaker 1 (11:14):
the Pentatonix concert experience, I mean, it's pretty much an
annual tradition now. You're always, I mean, you do other tours,
of course, but the Christmas tour is an annual thing. Uh,
what do you love most about performing in front of
crowds at Christmas time?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
You know what, I, I, obviously, I love to perform,
but it really is the connection that we have with
the fans and intimate moments that are really special to me. Like,
let me give you an example. I remember a few
years ago, we came to our VIP experience where we
have a very intimate moment with fans and there was
(11:49):
a grandmother, a mother, a daughter, and a great-granddaughter, all
who came.
and said this is the only type of music that
we all agree on and connects us all together. I mean,
those are generations all saying that we love this music
and that touched my heart. How rare is that in
(12:12):
this day and age to have an experience like that.
They can all go to the same concert and all
be hooping and hollering and enjoying themselves from all these
different decades and being able to bring themselves together.
I just, I'm appreciative of those moments.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Uh, speaking of family, you've got two young kids. Uh,
your daughter's 4, your son is 1. Did I get
the ages right there? That's
Speaker 2 (12:34):
exactly 4.5
and 1.5.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Dude, you are in the thick of it. You are
in the thick of it. I can imagine Christmas is pretty, uh,
thrilling for your 4.5 year old daughter. Son might be
still a little early for some of this, but give
us a, give us an idea of what Christmas morning is,
is like, uh, around your house.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Oh
my gosh, it's so.
So nice. I mean, my wife loves Christmas so much
and she really wants to curate the best experience. So
I think to be able to just let them know
that there are presents under the tree, I mean, Kay,
she screams every single time, going, Oh my gosh, there's presents.
And she gets down there. She wants to open everything.
(13:11):
We have a really beautiful breakfast and my family, uh,
my mom, my dad, and my brother and sister, they
live close to me now. And so we also do
something all together as a family.
Family as well, it's, it's just amazing. It truly, truly
is a fun time.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Whose music do you have playing in your house at
Christmas time? I mean, be on your own, but, uh,
Speaker 2 (13:30):
who, who, what
else do you want? Some, some of our, I, I'm like,
I'm a fan of, I'm a fan of our music.
I can't, I can't. It's not even like, you know, I,
I just really like it, and it's so funny. Scott,
my bandmate, said, you know, if I wasn't even in
this band, like I would listen to this all the time.
I'm such a fan. I just like, I fully agree.
Agreed. You know, we also have the classics too, but yeah, I,
(13:52):
I really do love
playing our music. There,
Speaker 1 (13:53):
there's no shame in that. Michael Buble, uh, we talked
to last year for, for this show, and he's like,
I crank up my album every single year just like
everybody else. He loves Frank and Bing and everybody else,
but Michael Buble listens to Michael Buble too. So I, uh, that,
that makes sense. It's, it's, it's great stuff. Do you, uh,
because you're known beatboxing, cello boxing. Just curious, how much
(14:15):
of that do you do around the house?
I like, are you just always?
Speaker 2 (14:21):
She's like, please stop. Like I am just trying to
focus on watching tonight's TV show. I don't really want
to hear beatboxing in the background, my husband. I love you,
but please stop.
I do it often for sure. But you know what's
so cool? It's great to see my kids be really
enamored by what I'm doing, or I'll, I'll say one
(14:43):
of my kids, Kaya, it's like white noise to her.
She's like, OK, I've heard this. Been there, done that. Thanks, Daddy.
I'm going to keep moving on. I'm going to play
with my dolls. But my son is so enamored by it,
and every
Every single morning, oh, this touches my heart. Every single morning,
so I go into practice before everybody wakes up and
then I just hear this little knock and he just goes, cello, cello,
(15:07):
and he comes in, plays with my cello while I'm practicing.
He takes my bow, waves it around. It's just so funny,
but he's so enamor.
Hammered by music and that's just such a cool thing
to see.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I love that. I love that. And, and, and just,
you know, son mimicking dad, or, you know, daughter mimicking
dad or whatever. It's just cool when they start to
pick up on the things you do and they want to,
they want to give it a try themselves. I can,
I can just imagine your wife then if she's telling
you to stop, if she winds up with 3 beatboxers
in the house.
(15:40):
Fully, fully, fully. It's gonna be difficult for her to
watch anything in peace, uh, in a, uh, in a
year or two's time. Uh, when you first started to
kind of blend beatboxing and, and cello and stuff like that, I've,
I've heard you comment you were a little, I don't
know whether shy is the right word to, to do it,
but worried that people would kind of take it the wrong,
almost the wrong way, that you were being.
(16:01):
Like disrespectful to one form of the music or another,
but this is just like an authentic expression of, of you.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
That's exactly it. Yeah, I was in, um, I was
in China, funny enough, of all places studying Chinese, and
one of my teachers said, Naomi Oxiang guobalata teaching he
biaoyan Koji ronghataichi, which in Mandarin Chinese means, have you
ever thought about taking cello and beatboxing and combining the two.
(16:30):
And honestly, I, I was nervous that I was gonna
get judgment from the classical community because this is such
a timely, uh, this is such a timeless tradition, right?
That has hundreds of years of a certain type of pedagogy.
And to tarnish it with beatboxing, to me, I, I
didn't know if it was gonna be a huge no, no.
But at some point, I kind of said, why am
(16:50):
I allowing a preconceived notion, something I'm literally just thinking
about in my own mind. Nobody's ever said this to me,
but why am I allowed
Showing that to limit a possible gift that I have.
And that's when I said, you know what, let me
just experiment and have fun. And it was cool to
see the reaction even from that first performance I did
in China where I had some of my students just go,
(17:13):
Oh my gosh, I've never seen anything. And then I
remember one professor said, Hey, you sure sure gabuna, which means,
are you a ghost, which I go, I don't know
what that means, but I think it just basically meant
like this is something I've never ever seen before. So
it was just so.
Cool to get that reaction and really helped me to say,
you know what, I'm gonna continue working on this authentic
expression I have.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
When you can do something in music that people feel
like they've never heard before, I mean, that is, that is,
that is pretty unique, but that's, that's pentatonix, like doing
unique things. There aren't a lot of other artists that
you can look to and say, I'm going to model, we're,
we're an a cappella group, and the a cappella super successful, uh,
a cappella group that we're gonna follow is.
(17:56):
There aren't many. Like it's, it's the Manhattan Transfer in
terms of commercial success. Pentatonix has always followed their own path,
which is so super cool, and you have to be
the most successful group that ever came out of one
of the, the US singing competition shows. The, the Sing Off, uh,
was the one that, that you guys were on. But I,
I can't think of another group that's come out of
(18:17):
whether it's Idol or The Voice or
Anything else, I mean, there have been solo stars, but
I can't think of another group that has come out
of any of these shows that's had the kind of
career that, uh, the Pentatonix has had. Congratulations. Well,
Speaker 2 (18:28):
I mean,
first and foremost, thank you so much. It's so it's
such an honor to, to think that we could cement
our own place in history like that, and I have
to give credit to so many factors that I feel like.
Had they not been there, I don't think the success
would have been possible. I mean, first and foremost, like
you said, the Sing-Of, you know, the Sing-Of came out
(18:49):
in a time where I think vocal harmony and singing
was kind of in the zeitgeist. You think of Pitch
Perfect was coming out during that time. You think about Glee,
which was massive around that time. So singing and group
singing was kind of in the zeitgeist, and then also,
YouTube was in its early stages and when something went viral,
it really, really was significant at that time. So for
(19:12):
us to utilize YouTube to gain our own fan base
and to really do something in a way that I
think people could authentically connect to us and it wasn't
through a label, it wasn't through anything except for
Us just uploading something on YouTube and connecting with people,
you know, it, I think if none of those things
had happened, I don't know if we'd have the success
(19:32):
that we had today. Well,
Speaker 1 (19:34):
you continue to connect. Kevin Alushula from Pentatonix. The brand
new album is Christmas in the City. Do you have
a favorite bit just before we let you go, uh,
do you have a favorite, favorite song on the album?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Mine is Santa be good to my baby. Oh my gosh,
it's just like.
The perfect Christmas pop song and we really wanted to
hone in on that trio harmony, Andrews Sisters type vibe,
and I think they just, they nailed it, you know,
and we worked with some amazing songwriters, Mark Lowe, Gion Stone,
I mean, he's worked with everybody. So to have kind
(20:08):
of their stamp and their songwriting prowess on that song,
I think really elevated what we do. And so I'm
just so grateful that
I'm so grateful this album's out. I'm grateful to have
this conversation with you. Just, it's been a great time.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
I'm grateful that, uh, that you agreed to join us
here on Behind the Christmas Hits. Thank you, Kevin, so much.
Appreciate it. All the best with the album. Uh, enjoy
the rest of the annual holiday tour and to you
and your family. Happy holidays. Thanks so much. You too.
Happy holidays. I'm Drew Savage. Thank you so much for listening.
You can find me on Instagram at Drew.
Savage on air. If this is the first episode of
(20:42):
Behind the Christmas hits you've listened to, thank you. Please
consider leaving us a rating and review, and of course
hitting that subscribe button. There are all kinds of other
fun conversations to enjoy over the holidays. Michael Buble, Brenda Lee,
Wham's Andrew Ridgeley, those are just a few, and of course,
dozens of other stories behind the Christmas hits.
How do they do it? How does Pentatonix always make
an old song sound fresh? Well, let's find out with
Kevin Olushala.
Behind the Christmas hits with Drew Savage. For over a decade,
Pentatonix has had one of the most unique careers in music.
Mitch Grassy, Scott Hoying, and Kristen Maldonado all went to
(00:21):
high school together in Arlington, Texas, and tried to win
a radio contest to meet the cast of Glee. They
sang Lady Gaga and Beyonce's hit, Telephone. They didn't win,
but they did become a hit on YouTube.
A couple of years later, Scott learned of the NBC
competition series, The Sing-Of, and convinced Kristen and Mitch to
join him. They were advised though that adding some voices
(00:44):
to support the three of theirs might help their chances.
Scott met Abby Kaplan through a mutual friend, and then
they all loved Kevin Olushala's viral cello boxing videos, so
they approached him about rounding out the group. The five
didn't meet for the first time until the day before
the auditions, and in 2011, they won the whole thing.
14 years and 12 albums later, Pentatonix is back with
(01:07):
their latest called Christmas in the City. And joining us
for this episode is the world's greatest cello boxer, Kevin Olushala. Kevin,
thank you and congratulations on the new album.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Thank you so much. It's been so fun to see.
The response from all of our fans, from all of
our friends, even my wife, I'm on tour right now.
She says every single day, they watch the YouTube video
and listen to the music just to remind themselves of
their dad. So, it's really cool to see the effect
that the music's having on.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
It's different too for a Pentatonix album. I, I was
listening to it last night, and I'm like, I feel
like I am hearing far more instruments on this album
than I've heard on some of the previous ones. So,
what was the vision for Christmas in the City, uh, and,
and how is it different from previous Pentatonix albums?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Absolutely. Well, you know, we had never felt like we
had done a classic Christmas album, you know, a la
Bing Crosby, a la Michael Buble, if you will, and
we wanted to do something that felt like it got
back to our vocal roots in terms of how harmony
was birthed in this 1940s style. You're thinking about the,
(02:15):
the kind of the, the Andrews Sisters.
The, the vocalizations, the jazz harmonies that really made vocal
music kind of, it was the predecessor of what it
is today. We wanted to honor that, that tradition. We
wanted to honor that style, and with that comes a
good amount of instrumentation that supports what they're doing vocally.
(02:35):
So I think that was really the, the, the point
of it and it's been so cool to see people go,
you know, I'm not really like.
Like deterred, oh no, are they not a cappella anymore?
We're just using our a cappella in a way that
I think really enhances this, this world that we're trying
to build.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
And that was, it was it different because you are
working with, whether it's big bands, big instruments, big sounds
beyond your own voices for the first time. Was that,
was that a challenge, uh, at all in terms of
blending all of these, these new sounds together?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Absolutely it's so funny you ask that because I remember
when we got into the studio with Dave Pierce, our
executive producer, brilliant mind
Speaker 1 (03:15):
who actually produced,
Speaker 2 (03:17):
yeah, and Canadian. Hey, hey, he, he, he was killing
the game. Let me tell you, Canadians, y'all know music.
And so, he was executive producing this and he helped
us kind of fill out the arrangements that we pre-arranged.
We go through a process where we first kind of
make arrangements ourselves and then find somebody to fill out
the sound.
And I remember after we got in the studio with
(03:39):
him and recorded, we listened through everything and we said, wow,
this is really beautiful, but now we have to figure
out how to make sure our voice isn't lost. For example,
you know, there's a lot of drums and also bass,
whether it's bass guitar, whether it's um string bass, and
so Matt and I were trying to figure out what's
the balance of utilizing these instruments and making sure that
(04:00):
the beatboxing and the
And, and, and our vocal base still remains um at
the forefront, but it feels like it's a melding, so
it just took a lot of experimentation and we're really
proud of where it landed.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
That classic pentatonic sound with the a cappella and the beatboxing,
which you excel in, um, how do you, when, when
you're taking a song.
That has been done before. There's a lot of original
music on this new album too, which is pretty exciting,
but also you're known for putting the classic Pentatonix sound
on some classics that people have known for a long time.
(04:35):
So whether it's a Jolene, or whether it's a Silver
Bells from the new album, how do you approach a
song that everybody knows, but you wanna make it fresh
and very much your own?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
That's a very, very good question.
You know, first thing we think about is what is
the essence of the feeling of this song? What's the
essence that people, regardless of the style of music you do,
whether it's a pop song or a country song, what's
the essence of the feeling that people are trying to
get from this song? OK, great. Now that we understand
(05:06):
that essence, how do we make sure that we hit
on that vocally, right? If it's something that people want
to feel.
A wave of deep like sadness, for example, are we
singing in a way or are we utilizing vowels that
really emote that? Is my beatboxing done in a way
that helps to emote that sadness as well, done in
(05:27):
a way where only vocals can do it, you know,
there are some things that, for example, if there are
motifs that are in the song that are integral to
the song like da da da dum dum dum dum
da da da da.
Always make sure we keep those motifs there, but maybe
we do something different around it that feels like only
voices could have created something to help enhance this motif.
(05:47):
So it's a lot of experimentation, but it's always about
keeping the essence that people love and enhancing that essence vocally.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Have you ever approached a song and you're like, we gotta,
we gotta try this one, and as you're working through
the process, have you ever come to a point where
it's like, I just don't know whether it's gonna work
with this song?
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Oh, absolutely. I can give you two examples right now. One,
we tried Muse Madness, and oh what an amazing song,
but we just couldn't figure out how to give it
an arc because that one motif is so, you know,
so forward that mad mad, and we're like, so how
(06:28):
do we do anything around that, that, that creates arc and, and, and, and,
and lets it grow.
And we just couldn't figure it out. And then another one, honestly,
is Taylor Swift's, We will never, ever, ever get back together.
We tried so many times. I really mean it. I mean,
we worked hard to see if we can make this
one work and we just couldn't figure it out. And so,
(06:52):
you know, we gave the good old college try, maybe
we'll come back to it at some point, but
You know, sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. On the,
Speaker 1 (07:00):
on
the, on the flip side, what's an arrangement that you
are most proud of?
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Oh, that's a very good question. You know what, I'd
say Daft Punk is still one that when I go
back to that, I go, I can't believe we created that.
I mean, I even think about the processes of us
trying to figure out which songs we should use and
how do you create an electronic feel with our voices,
and I remember at that time, you know, our
(07:27):
Previous bass Avi when he heard our initial intro, which
was very, um, it was weird to be fully honest,
but we all liked it and he goes, guys, I
just don't feel like this is professional enough. I don't
feel like this is creative enough and he really pushed
us and we didn't wanna be pushed, but we said,
you know, we'll just do it to appease him.
But it was literally the best thing that could have
(07:48):
ever happened because that intro feels so iconic for what
we do with a cappella. So that one was a
labor of love that I'm really, really proud of how
it
turned out.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Uh, Kevin, it's so cool to hear the voices of
Pentatonix blend with some of the most famous talented voices ever.
I mean, you did it with Jolene and Dolly Parton
a few albums ago, and on this one, the.
The new album Christmas in the City. How cool is
it to hear you all sing with Frank Sinatra on
(08:18):
You've Got My Love to Keep Me warm. I've got
my love to keep me warm, man.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I, I mean, who could have ever thought when we
started off that this could even be a possibility for us.
I remember, so we, we worked with Dave Pierce obviously
on this album, and he had a really great relationship
with the estate.
And so, he talked to them about the possibility of
maybe having a Frank vocal on our album and they
(08:43):
granted it to us, and it's so cool when you
even hear his stem, his vocal stem, cause
You could hear the rustling of the papers. You could
hear the instrumentation in the back cause there was bleed
from the orchestra to his voice. It was a never
heard before vocal and so it was just so magical
(09:04):
to be able to work with one of the most
iconic singers of all time and to have.
His voice on, on, on our album, truly like the
greatest honor and we're so thankful to the, the Frank
Sinatra estate for that.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
And, uh, and that is a, uh, terribly underrated Christmas song.
I mean, I know it's not technically Christmas, it's more
of winter and, and stuff like that, but that's, that's
a lot of Christmas songs. They're winter songs more than
they are Christmas songs, and that's, that's one that.
I don't think we hear enough of, and I love
it when somebody takes it for a fresh spin, and, uh,
and you guys, you guys smashed that. That was great.
(09:38):
That was great.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Thank you. That really means the world. We, we had
so much fun doing that 11 of
Speaker 1 (09:43):
the other new songs, again, there's a lot of originals
on this album, Christmas in the City, the latest from Pentatonix. Uh,
there's a song called Christmas Movie.
On the new album, and last year you actually were
in a Christmas movie. Uh, Meet Me Next Christmas on Netflix,
that was about a woman who was desperately trying to
get to a Pentatonix concert to reconnect with the guy
(10:05):
that she thought was the one that got away. Um.
How fun was it to have a film producer call
you up and say, hey, I wanna base the entire
plot of my Christmas movie around one of your concerts.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
It was so cool and you know, it was so
funny because to be fully honest, this was one that
we did not think was gonna get to the finish line.
I mean there were so you, you have to think
about it. So when we were starting this process, the
producer Mark Roberts reached out to us before COVID, and
then when COVID happened.
There were some things happening within the Netflix system that
(10:37):
made us say, oh, we may not be able to
get this movie done. But then we had a show
at the Hollywood Bowl in 2022, and he said, you
know what, I'm gonna bring the whole Netflix crew to
see what we do. And because they could see us
in concert, they could really grasp what we do, and
they greenlit the film, and that's how they're able to really,
(10:58):
I think in this film, be able to make sure
our person.
Personality shine. I mean, you get to see us really
in concert doing what we do, and it's all because
they were able to see us and go, oh, we
understand who they are. So we're just super appreciative of
Netflix and we had so much fun being in that movie. It's,
it was such a good time. Well,
Speaker 1 (11:14):
the Pentatonix concert experience, I mean, it's pretty much an
annual tradition now. You're always, I mean, you do other tours,
of course, but the Christmas tour is an annual thing. Uh,
what do you love most about performing in front of
crowds at Christmas time?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
You know what, I, I, obviously, I love to perform,
but it really is the connection that we have with
the fans and intimate moments that are really special to me. Like,
let me give you an example. I remember a few
years ago, we came to our VIP experience where we
have a very intimate moment with fans and there was
(11:49):
a grandmother, a mother, a daughter, and a great-granddaughter, all
who came.
and said this is the only type of music that
we all agree on and connects us all together. I mean,
those are generations all saying that we love this music
and that touched my heart. How rare is that in
(12:12):
this day and age to have an experience like that.
They can all go to the same concert and all
be hooping and hollering and enjoying themselves from all these
different decades and being able to bring themselves together.
I just, I'm appreciative of those moments.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Uh, speaking of family, you've got two young kids. Uh,
your daughter's 4, your son is 1. Did I get
the ages right there? That's
Speaker 2 (12:34):
exactly 4.5
and 1.5.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Dude, you are in the thick of it. You are
in the thick of it. I can imagine Christmas is pretty, uh,
thrilling for your 4.5 year old daughter. Son might be
still a little early for some of this, but give
us a, give us an idea of what Christmas morning is,
is like, uh, around your house.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Oh
my gosh, it's so.
So nice. I mean, my wife loves Christmas so much
and she really wants to curate the best experience. So
I think to be able to just let them know
that there are presents under the tree, I mean, Kay,
she screams every single time, going, Oh my gosh, there's presents.
And she gets down there. She wants to open everything.
(13:11):
We have a really beautiful breakfast and my family, uh,
my mom, my dad, and my brother and sister, they
live close to me now. And so we also do
something all together as a family.
Family as well, it's, it's just amazing. It truly, truly
is a fun time.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Whose music do you have playing in your house at
Christmas time? I mean, be on your own, but, uh,
Speaker 2 (13:30):
who, who, what
else do you want? Some, some of our, I, I'm like,
I'm a fan of, I'm a fan of our music.
I can't, I can't. It's not even like, you know, I,
I just really like it, and it's so funny. Scott,
my bandmate, said, you know, if I wasn't even in
this band, like I would listen to this all the time.
I'm such a fan. I just like, I fully agree.
Agreed. You know, we also have the classics too, but yeah, I,
(13:52):
I really do love
playing our music. There,
Speaker 1 (13:53):
there's no shame in that. Michael Buble, uh, we talked
to last year for, for this show, and he's like,
I crank up my album every single year just like
everybody else. He loves Frank and Bing and everybody else,
but Michael Buble listens to Michael Buble too. So I, uh, that,
that makes sense. It's, it's, it's great stuff. Do you, uh,
because you're known beatboxing, cello boxing. Just curious, how much
(14:15):
of that do you do around the house?
I like, are you just always?
Speaker 2 (14:21):
She's like, please stop. Like I am just trying to
focus on watching tonight's TV show. I don't really want
to hear beatboxing in the background, my husband. I love you,
but please stop.
I do it often for sure. But you know what's
so cool? It's great to see my kids be really
enamored by what I'm doing, or I'll, I'll say one
(14:43):
of my kids, Kaya, it's like white noise to her.
She's like, OK, I've heard this. Been there, done that. Thanks, Daddy.
I'm going to keep moving on. I'm going to play
with my dolls. But my son is so enamored by it,
and every
Every single morning, oh, this touches my heart. Every single morning,
so I go into practice before everybody wakes up and
then I just hear this little knock and he just goes, cello, cello,
(15:07):
and he comes in, plays with my cello while I'm practicing.
He takes my bow, waves it around. It's just so funny,
but he's so enamor.
Hammered by music and that's just such a cool thing
to see.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I love that. I love that. And, and, and just,
you know, son mimicking dad, or, you know, daughter mimicking
dad or whatever. It's just cool when they start to
pick up on the things you do and they want to,
they want to give it a try themselves. I can,
I can just imagine your wife then if she's telling
you to stop, if she winds up with 3 beatboxers
in the house.
(15:40):
Fully, fully, fully. It's gonna be difficult for her to
watch anything in peace, uh, in a, uh, in a
year or two's time. Uh, when you first started to
kind of blend beatboxing and, and cello and stuff like that, I've,
I've heard you comment you were a little, I don't
know whether shy is the right word to, to do it,
but worried that people would kind of take it the wrong,
almost the wrong way, that you were being.
(16:01):
Like disrespectful to one form of the music or another,
but this is just like an authentic expression of, of you.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
That's exactly it. Yeah, I was in, um, I was
in China, funny enough, of all places studying Chinese, and
one of my teachers said, Naomi Oxiang guobalata teaching he
biaoyan Koji ronghataichi, which in Mandarin Chinese means, have you
ever thought about taking cello and beatboxing and combining the two.
(16:30):
And honestly, I, I was nervous that I was gonna
get judgment from the classical community because this is such
a timely, uh, this is such a timeless tradition, right?
That has hundreds of years of a certain type of pedagogy.
And to tarnish it with beatboxing, to me, I, I
didn't know if it was gonna be a huge no, no.
But at some point, I kind of said, why am
(16:50):
I allowing a preconceived notion, something I'm literally just thinking
about in my own mind. Nobody's ever said this to me,
but why am I allowed
Showing that to limit a possible gift that I have.
And that's when I said, you know what, let me
just experiment and have fun. And it was cool to
see the reaction even from that first performance I did
in China where I had some of my students just go,
(17:13):
Oh my gosh, I've never seen anything. And then I
remember one professor said, Hey, you sure sure gabuna, which means,
are you a ghost, which I go, I don't know
what that means, but I think it just basically meant
like this is something I've never ever seen before. So
it was just so.
Cool to get that reaction and really helped me to say,
you know what, I'm gonna continue working on this authentic
expression I have.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
When you can do something in music that people feel
like they've never heard before, I mean, that is, that is,
that is pretty unique, but that's, that's pentatonix, like doing
unique things. There aren't a lot of other artists that
you can look to and say, I'm going to model, we're,
we're an a cappella group, and the a cappella super successful, uh,
a cappella group that we're gonna follow is.
(17:56):
There aren't many. Like it's, it's the Manhattan Transfer in
terms of commercial success. Pentatonix has always followed their own path,
which is so super cool, and you have to be
the most successful group that ever came out of one
of the, the US singing competition shows. The, the Sing Off, uh,
was the one that, that you guys were on. But I,
I can't think of another group that's come out of
(18:17):
whether it's Idol or The Voice or
Anything else, I mean, there have been solo stars, but
I can't think of another group that has come out
of any of these shows that's had the kind of
career that, uh, the Pentatonix has had. Congratulations. Well,
Speaker 2 (18:28):
I mean,
first and foremost, thank you so much. It's so it's
such an honor to, to think that we could cement
our own place in history like that, and I have
to give credit to so many factors that I feel like.
Had they not been there, I don't think the success
would have been possible. I mean, first and foremost, like
you said, the Sing-Of, you know, the Sing-Of came out
(18:49):
in a time where I think vocal harmony and singing
was kind of in the zeitgeist. You think of Pitch
Perfect was coming out during that time. You think about Glee,
which was massive around that time. So singing and group
singing was kind of in the zeitgeist, and then also,
YouTube was in its early stages and when something went viral,
it really, really was significant at that time. So for
(19:12):
us to utilize YouTube to gain our own fan base
and to really do something in a way that I
think people could authentically connect to us and it wasn't
through a label, it wasn't through anything except for
Us just uploading something on YouTube and connecting with people,
you know, it, I think if none of those things
had happened, I don't know if we'd have the success
(19:32):
that we had today. Well,
Speaker 1 (19:34):
you continue to connect. Kevin Alushula from Pentatonix. The brand
new album is Christmas in the City. Do you have
a favorite bit just before we let you go, uh,
do you have a favorite, favorite song on the album?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Mine is Santa be good to my baby. Oh my gosh,
it's just like.
The perfect Christmas pop song and we really wanted to
hone in on that trio harmony, Andrews Sisters type vibe,
and I think they just, they nailed it, you know,
and we worked with some amazing songwriters, Mark Lowe, Gion Stone,
I mean, he's worked with everybody. So to have kind
(20:08):
of their stamp and their songwriting prowess on that song,
I think really elevated what we do. And so I'm
just so grateful that
I'm so grateful this album's out. I'm grateful to have
this conversation with you. Just, it's been a great time.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
I'm grateful that, uh, that you agreed to join us
here on Behind the Christmas Hits. Thank you, Kevin, so much.
Appreciate it. All the best with the album. Uh, enjoy
the rest of the annual holiday tour and to you
and your family. Happy holidays. Thanks so much. You too.
Happy holidays. I'm Drew Savage. Thank you so much for listening.
You can find me on Instagram at Drew.
Savage on air. If this is the first episode of
(20:42):
Behind the Christmas hits you've listened to, thank you. Please
consider leaving us a rating and review, and of course
hitting that subscribe button. There are all kinds of other
fun conversations to enjoy over the holidays. Michael Buble, Brenda Lee,
Wham's Andrew Ridgeley, those are just a few, and of course,
dozens of other stories behind the Christmas hits.
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