KIRSTIN MALDONADO

When Pentatonix started, my whole vision of what I thought my life was gonna be completely changed - in a great way, obviously. I never thought that I would have the confidence to do this.

I guess, just being in a group, I had never thought to question my individual artistry.

Every single 'no' that you get, you know that that was an experience that you learned from. Keep going.

Being able to wake up every day knowing I'm living out my dream of performing is the best feeling in the world.

Honestly, the most excited I've ever been for Christmas is when I get a big fluffy blanket.

We're very comfortable in our own sound and what we do, and so that's where our inspiration is from - just things that we are truly inspired by or that we think will work well for us, and not just because something is Top 40.

In my honest opinion, in 'Volumes I' and 'II,' we were still trying to figure out our sound.

A cappella group names are hard!

The first artist that did it for me with just production was James Blake... I was just blown away... I feel like James Blake kind of was the one that introduced me into that world.

My favorite thing to hear is when people will come up and be like, 'I started an a capella group at my school!' or 'I got my best friend, and we wanted to sing, too!' And then they start groups.

I want people to see that I'm just a girl who went for her dreams.

I think it's cool to do a summer outdoor show because, growing up, like, those were always the shows and the concerts that I would get to see, where I would be sitting on the grass with my friends and hanging out, and it was such a moment.

It is based off the pentatonic scale, which is a five-note scale in music. And there are five of us. We were going to be The Pentatonix, but we dropped the 'The' and added an 'x' to try and be cooler.

David Phelps has an uncanny ability to sound full and powerful on every part of his range and sing with so much emotion.

I love Halloween - I'm a die hard.

My favorite singer was Shania Twain. I would love for her to sing with me. And J. Lo - they are my favorites.

I think, now that I've been writing songs in general, whether it's for the group or for me, I definitely feel like I got a little trigger happy, because it was so exciting to have production and create and put a lot in there.

Jennifer Lawrence can play me. We look exactly the same.

I think YouTube has been super instrumental in our success as well, because I think there's something really important about seeing and hearing what we're doing.

The experiences you gain by doing something solo - you have such a great work effort there as well, one we all have now - we can all bring it back to the group.

Success is not defined by money or status, necessarily, but by how many people you've impacted and how fulfilled you feel with your decisions. If you can garner all of these things, then more power and success to you, but all in all, you must feel happy and satisfied with what you personally have put out into the world.

The theater community is so incredible, kind, and supportive.

I've learned that even just as an individual, regardless of who I am, and regardless of who anyone is, to really be true to yourself and your own self expression and really use your voice for that.

I thought I would move to New York and be on Broadway; that was my goal. I was very work-focused.

Music is so universal, and so I love that we can all be different, and we can all just show that.