KEVIN OLUSOLA

I think being part of Pentatonix has helped my arrangement style a lot, and that's helped me expand myself.

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.

I grew up in Kentucky, and went to boarding school outside Boston at Phillips Academy Andover for two years.

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.'

A cappella music has always been around. It's such an old form.

We want to be considered a band, like Maroon 5 or Coldplay.

I loved the idea of playing cello whilst beatboxing, and I ran with it. I didn't realize that it would put me in front of people like Quincy Jones or Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang, or even lead me to my current job, being the beatboxer of Pentatonix.

I know a lot of people think a cappella is this cutesy, kind of novel thing.

I actually love the challenge of being in a new place where I'm so obviously the foreigner.

Kids bring their mothers and grandmothers to our concerts. You don't see that with a lot of artists today.

That's something Pentatonix tries to do in all of our music. We try to keep it clean so that everybody can come to our shows.

My dad's from Nigeria and my mom's from Grenada and they both went into medicine. My dad's a psychiatrist and my mom's a nurse so I was going to go into medicine, also.

With social media, if you have a viral video people can like what you do and it's homegrown and very organic.

I finally realized that not only was I passionate about music, but I had a unique way of thinking of music.

My original plan was to be a surgeon.

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.

Uh, I think so many things have happened in the mainstream that definitely brought awareness and attention to a cappella. The 'Pitch Perfect' movies, 'The Sing-Off' - I mean, the college a cappella scene definitely has become really hot, which is definitely wonderful.

I have played Yamaha instruments since I was young, specifically their alto saxophones, and I have always appreciated their top-notch quality when it comes to making instruments.

I am a singer, first and foremost, but the medium happens to be the cello.

It's really a blessing that our music can reach across generations.

I went to Yale for undergrad.

Performing the American Music Awards and having Harrison Ford introduce you behind the John Williams orchestra for Star Wars, and then Meghan Trainor is in the front just standing up and like, 'I love you guys!' That was a huge moment.

My parents always wanted me to do music because they thought it was such a great extracurricular activity but we never thought it was going to be something that would be my career.

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.

I think it'd be weird for us to do hard rock.