UPDATED: Pentatonix’s Scott Hoying talks fans, original songs and (maybe) topping the Billboard charts

“Whirlwind” doesn’t seem quite dizzying enough a description of Pentatonix’s past four years.

At lightning speed, the acappella quintet with three members hailing from Arlington (Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi and Kirstin Maldonado) has moved from breakout reality TV stars, winning the third season of The Sing-Off, to major label signees with RCA Records, to Grammy winners, to tour mates with another fellow Texan, Kelly Clarkson.

Now, Pentatonix is poised to achieve its biggest goal yet: topping the Billboard 200 charts.

As of Wednesday, the five members of Pentatonix are, according to their label publicist, “very, very, very close” to securing a number one album on the coming week’s Billboard 200 chart, something no other acappella group has ever done. (The chart considers sales from the previous week, and Pentatonix’s seventh, self-titled album was released last Friday, Oct. 16.)

To talk about that possibility, as well as all the other goings-on in Pentatonix’s world since the release of the new album, which features predominantly originals (another first for the group), 24-year-old Arlington native Scott Hoying hopped on the phone Wednesday afternoon. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation.

Congratulations for being on the cusp of some good news, it would seem.

Scott Hoying: Yeah — thank you so much!

What would that mean to you guys if you do get that No. 1 spot? Particularly as an acappella group.

Honestly, just the fact that we're in the top two is the most surreal thing ever, especially since it’s an original album. Obviously, if we hit No. 1, it would be a dream come true, because we would be the first acappella group in history to do that. Yeah, we’re just so pumped and riding the wave.

You’ve been on that wave for, what, four years now. Has any of it really sunk in? Because it seems like every time you turn around, something else incredible is happening to you guys, whether you’re selling out your tour, or going on tour with Kelly Clarkson, and then the [new] album. It’s just kind of one thing after another.

We’ve been fortunate enough to have one thing after another happen. [laughs] It has been really crazy. There’s always that checklist of stuff that we want to achieve, and boundaries that we want to break. This is a huge, huge one on that checklist.

You’re not ripping through that list at warp speed? You still have stuff left to do on the list.

Oh, yeah. We still need some radio single hits, and we need a No. 1 album.

Why was it important to you guys, now, to do an album of mostly original songs?

You know, I think we’ve done covers for a really long time, and we’ve done the Christmas stuff. I think it was just a moment in our career, for us, and for our fans, that we wanted to establish ourselves as an original artist, and show that we have something to say. It just felt like the right time, and we were all very inspired. It’s been the most amazing experience putting together this original album.

Was going that route as challenging as you thought it would be, or was it easier than you thought it might be?

Oh, absolutely. It was definitely just as challenging as we thought it would be, if not more. Creating music that could play on the radio, but that's acappella — it’s definitely a puzzle. Because we were being pulled in a million different directions, in terms of “More production here; more this, and we need to strip it down; this is losing integrity.” There was so many conversations that had to happen to kind of get it to where it was. Where it is now is definitely something we're very proud of.

The thing that I would think would be especially challenging is you can go in any direction.

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Acappella is kind of a genre unto itself, but also, you’re pulling from all these different genres. You could have done a country album, or a classical. You could have really gone anywhere.

Exactly, and that’s funny that you say that, because at the beginning, we were like, “You know, we need to find our genre, and our little niche, and then just go with it, and make all the songs kind of sound like that.” Then we were like, “Wait, we already have our niche and our genre, and that's the fact that we’re all voices.” We have a soulful moment on the album. We have a folk moment on the album. We even have a little country moment. We didn’t want to limit ourselves, since we like to do it all, and a lot inspires us.

Why do you think acappella vocal music is catching on as it is? Clearly, it’s had staying power. You guys are proof of that.

Thank you. I really think it has to do with the fact that it’s just ... acappella is so fun, it’s humble, it’s organic. It’s just singing. I think in a world where everything is really produced, and there’s all these crazy tracks ... it’s just kind of refreshing and different. I think people are really intrigued by it.

Can you talk a little bit about the chemistry of the group? Because obviously, that’s a key component of how well you guys all, probably not only sing together, but also write together, and just generally interact.

Oh, yeah. We have an incredible chemistry. We’re all choir nerds. We all did choir in school, and love this type of music, and we did show choir and stuff like that. We’re all very, very passionate about it, and as for like putting [songs] together and creative decisions, we always discuss it out, the five of us, just in a circle. We talk about every single decision that we make as a band, and come to unanimous agreements. Sometimes the conversations are tough, but we’re all so just in it for the business, and in it for the music, that we put egos aside.

How, for you, especially, growing up — well, along with your other two bandmates who are from Arlington — but how did growing up here inform how you make music, and was there anything that you learned?

Oh, my gosh. We learned so much from ... We did community theater in Arlington, so that was kind of our introduction to performing, and then throughout junior high and high school, we were all in choirs together. [At] Martin High School, I did four choirs, and then, I would stay after school to do all-state choir, and then we would stay after that for the three of us [Hoying, Grassi and Maldonado] to arrange a little telephone trio, which was kind of the start of Pentatonix. We were always just doing everything we could, and we’re so thankful that there was so many avenues to learn music, and perform, and network in the Arlington area.

Kind of along those lines, what did you take away from being on tour with Kelly Clarkson this summer?

Oh, my gosh.

Learning experience?

Well, first of all, Kelly's a Texas native too, so it was amazing to be on tour with her.

Right.

Honestly, I could go on and on about Kelly. She’s one ... One? She’s THE nicest celebrity, musician, I have ever met in my entire life. Completely down to Earth. So warm. She just took us in and was really sweet. She would always come into our dressing room and have a long conversation with us. She had heart-to-hearts with us. She’s just such a good person. Treats everyone on her team with such respect. Then, also, on tour, she was, one, pregnant, had a baby, she was having vocal problems, and yet she went out there, and gave 150%. Every night was jumping around the stage with so much energy. She’s just such a professional, and we learned so much from her.

And brought you guys up for Heartbeat Song, too.

Yes, she brought us out. It was so much fun. You know, it’s funny, at the L.A. show, when she announced she was pregnant, we came out on stage with her during Heartbeat Song, and I mouthed to her, I was like, “Congratulations,” during the performance. She was like, “Thank you.” It was really a cool moment.

Can you talk, too, about your fans, because I really feel like they’re as much of a key ingredient to the group’s continued visibility and success, as you guys and your music. What does that mean for you to have so many people, many of whom you may never meet, pushing you and rooting for you?

It seriously means the world. We love our fans so much. We always say this in interviews, but we feel like the Pentaholics, that’s what we call our fans, are the nicest of all the fandoms. They just are genuinely appreciative of music and talent, and they love us, and are in it with us, and they have been from the beginning. It’s just so cool, because every time we achieve something, we feel like we’ve achieved it with them, especially since we came from social media, because we're connecting directly with them.

After we were dropped by the label after the [Sing-Off] show, we just started a YouTube channel, so we could connect directly with fans, and we started Twitter and Facebook, and we did all that. We know a lot of our fans. When I go to a concert, on the first few rows, I’m like, “Oh, I know that person. I know that person. They tweet me all the time.” It’s just cool to have that kind of relationship.

Do you feel like social media, the Internet, that fan connection, has enabled you guys to have ... You really, like you said, you had a moment where it was like, “Oh, we've been dropped,” but you’ve kind of scrapped your way back, and now you’re on a major label, and you're flirting with a number one record?

Yeah. I mean, that's exactly it. That's exactly what happened. After we were dropped, we really ditched the old, “Oh, my gosh. We have to stay relevant. We have a small, little cult fan base right now, but they're going to forget about us, unless we release something.” Thank God that YouTube was such a huge thing. We were like, that’s a perfect avenue for us to post stuff, because it shows what we’re doing, as well as you can hear it. It’s impressive to see what we’re doing on YouTube. We had these viral videos happening, one after another, and then kind of grew the subscriber base over the last few years, and then signing with RCA was the best thing that could have ever happened. Our first release on them was that Christmas album [2014’s That’s Christmas to Me], then [2014’s] PTX, Vol. III, and that ended up going platinum. After that was just like, a sprint.

For people who may not be familiar with Pentatonix, or have not maybe come across them yet, what are you hoping people who pick up this latest record come away thinking of the band?

Oh, my gosh. I just hope that they really, really love the songs. I mean, we poured our heart and soul into these songs, and we have so many stories to tell that we’ve been waiting to tell for a while. I just hope they’re really impressed by it, by the fact that it's only voices. I hope that they can be inspired. Really, there’s something for everyone on it.

I know that this is a crazy question, seeing as the record is very fresh, but what’s next? What’s on the horizon for you guys?

Well, we're going to promo the record. We’re going to gear up — we’re going to Japan and Europe, to just do all the television shows there and promote it. Then we will be doing a tour next year. I’m not sure when. It’s not an official thing yet, but we always tour. Oh, and we have a little deluxe Christmas EP coming out, of five songs. We’re staying busy.

This story was originally published October 21, 2015 at 4:45 PM with the headline "UPDATED: Pentatonix’s Scott Hoying talks fans, original songs and (maybe) topping the Billboard charts."