How YouTube changed the lives of Sam & Kurt

MANILA, Philippines - There’s a growing number of talented individuals who have become famous through YouTube. Yale University graduates and buddies Kurt Hugo Schneider and Sam Tsui are among the hottest on the list of YouTube stars.

It was in 2009 when Kurt and Sam’s video per- formance of a Michael Jackson medley went viral on YouTube, and it continues to hit millions of views to this day. That same video got them to The Ellen Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, etc.

But Kurt and Sam are out to prove that they’re not Internet stars limited to doing covers. In fact, Kurt is
a songwriter, director and director of films, music vid- eos and recordings. He has worked on major brands like Coca-Cola, Samsung, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. Sam, on the other hand, was one of the first musicians to establish a music- focused channel on YouTube.

Kurt and Sam are headed to Manila for a concert on June 25 and 26, 8 p.m. at the SMX Convention Center as part of their Asian Tour.

Kurt and Sam talked to The STAR recently and shared how their rise to fame has given them lots of opportunities to connect and share their music with more people.

“We had no expectation that that video would blow up this big as it did,” said Kurt regarding their hit MJ medley. “That was a great surprise for us. We just made the stuff that we really liked and I’m glad that people watched it.”

Kurt added that being friends work to their ad- vantage “because we could easily say (to each other), ‘Hey, I think this is good’ or ‘I don’t like that line.”

Sam agreed, “I think it really works that we’re friends because if not, there will be misunderstand- ings. So, it’s all good that we are not just enjoying each other’s company but we also enjoy the same music. It’s definitely a win-win situation.”

They first worked together in the feature-length film College Musical during college. Kurt graduated magna cum laude in 2010 with a Math degree while Sam took up Classical Greek and also finished magna cum laude in 2011. Despite the unlikely backgrounds, they succeeded doing covers and collaborations with other artists.

”We’ve been doing covers for years now and I think that’s a great training to make a good song. I write about everything in my life. It’s just so cool to share my work with people around the world,” said Sam.

Make It Up was the result of Sam’s effort to release an all-original album last year. That’s why, he found it tough to pick a favorite from the song line-up “because every time you do an album of songs, each one is special to you and I treat them all as my babies but I have to say that my favorite is the third track Shadow. I always love doing ballads. Honestly, that’s the first song that I wrote for the album so it’s very special to me.”

A new album, Sam revealed, is in the works. “We started writing new stuff right before we leave for our tour. We’re going to put out three songs so that when we come to Asia, we will not only be singing covers and songs from Make It Up but also new stuff so that’s coming out for just about a week.”

And while their music career is their priority at the moment, Sam said there is always time for fam- ily and friends. “The great thing about what we do is that we can put a show with friends and family so we definitely have the time to enjoy stuff with them.”

Besides, their families support their every endeav- or. ”My mom is hoping that we succeed at what we do,” Kurt said.

As for Sam, “My mom and dad are so supportive especially my dad, he’s so excited that our music is bringing us to Asia because he’s actually from Hong Kong.”

Asked what Filipino audience can expect in the show, Sam replied, “They can expect to have an amazing time; you know doing stuff on YouTube is
so cool because we get to connect with people from around the world but nothing beats a live perfor- mance. We enjoy that so much that every time we get to perform in a show and meet new fans, it is really something for us so we like to make it an amazing time. We gonna get people dancing and singing. It will be a big party.”

No doubt, Sam and Kurt are willing to stay in
the music scene for a long time with the former stressing, “As long as they will keep listening, I will definitely keep making music and we can keep com- ing back to Asia, touring the world and yeah, we’ll be doing it forever.”

(Sam Tsui and Kurt Schneider Asian Tour is presented by Global Entertainment Productions and Star Media Entertainment. Tickets, available at SM Ticketnet, are priced at P5,280 [VIP Limited], P3,170 [Platinum], P2,120 [Gold], P1,060 [Silver] and P800 [Bronze].)