I'm not perfect, I would never say that, I just believe that if I try my hardest to be consistent, show what I believe, and live it, most importantly, then that will hopefully shine through more.
Work extremely hard, but as you continue to rise up the ladder, never forget your roots or where you came from or the people that helped you along the way. Humility takes people the farthest.
I actually love the challenge of being in a new place where I'm so obviously the foreigner.
With social media, if you have a viral video people can like what you do and it's homegrown and very organic.
I was actually going to go to a conservatory after I graduated college, now I'm thankful that Pentatonix happened because I'm working with singers in this realm of mainstream music, and to learn about how all that comes together has really helped my cello playing.
I am a singer, first and foremost, but the medium happens to be the cello.
It's quite difficult to figure out a common thread among us all as we're five very different people who love different types of music.
I would have never thought to put cello and beatboxing together. But I did, and it was extremely hard work to make it cohesive and musical, but it worked.
When you think about choir music, that's a cappella. You have church choir that you would sing without any instrument. I think the popular form that we have now is barbershop in the 20th century, and the collegiate movement.
The reason immigrants come to America is to provide their kids with opportunities, but when they say 'opportunity,' they mean a prestigious job and career. When I had the epiphany that I could do music and sustain myself, they were like, 'OK, son, we need to talk to you.'
Yeah, I would go to New England Conservatory a lot. My orchestra teacher ran a program for minority students there.
I would say Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' is up there - it's one of the best.
We're a microcosm of America and are blessed to live in a country that's so diverse. While it's great for people to see that we can love and respect each other and work together, despite our differences, at the end of the day, we just want to make great music.
For me, it's classical music I started with and I admire Jacqueline du Pre.
I finally realized that not only was I passionate about music, but I had a unique way of thinking of music.
It's really a blessing that our music can reach across generations.
A cappella music has always been around. It's such an old form.
I know a lot of people think a cappella is this cutesy, kind of novel thing.
I grew up in Kentucky, and went to boarding school outside Boston at Phillips Academy Andover for two years.
I think being part of Pentatonix has helped my arrangement style a lot, and that's helped me expand myself.
