Pentatonix’s Scott Hoying and Husband Mark Share Debut Children’s Album, Musical Aspirations, and Parenthood Plans

Pentatonix’s Scott Hoying — who became a household name in the 2010s in the when his five-piece, a capella group won the third season of NBC’s The Sing Off — has a knack for performing big hits in front of big crowds. But for the musician’s first album with his husband Mark, M.Y. F.A.M.I.L.Y., Scott co-curated a more personalized body of work, inspired by his life as an aspiring dad.

“We wanted the album to feel cozy, emotional, and like home …the originals are love letters to our future kids,” Scott, who has been vocal about his surrogacy journey with Mark, tells Rockmommy. “It became this really beautiful balance of nostalgia and storytelling.”

The album, released alongside the couple’s second children’s book Fa La La Family features classic covers and heartwarming originals that showcase the couple’s complimentary vocals — Mark’s unexpectedly sweeter tones, and Scott’s soulful, beautifully weathered crooning — and a powerful message of love and acceptance.  

A folksy, banjo-backed cover of “You Are My Sunshine” –featuring 17x GRAMMY-winner Béla Fleck – is fun, unexpected, and transports me back to the days of summer camp in the rural Virginia mountains. The festive “All I Need” featuring Meghan Trainor is candy for the ear, with Trainor’s distinct, vintage-sexy vocals a cool counterpart to Scott and Mark’s deeper tones. But celeb vocal superstars aren’t the only collaborators. On “Mahal Kita,” another favorite, Mark’s parents sing in the Filipino language.

We caught up with the musical couple to learn more.

Rockmommy: Hi Scott and Mark! Congratulations on the FIRST album (and second children’s book)! What inspired you to go into children’s music? 

Mark Hoying: Thank you so much! Last year, Scott and I published our first children’s book “How Lucky Am I?”, which was accompanied by its own original song. We had such an amazing time releasing that book and song, that we instantly started working on our second picture book (and original song) “Fa La La Family”, which is all about how families can be anything: a mom and you, a dad or two, your chosen family! Family is love whoever who! We decided to expand the world of “Fa La La Family” and create a whole children’s album called “M.Y. F.A.M.I.L.Y.” and it has been one of the most fulfilling projects we’ve ever worked on together!

Scott Hoying: Love! Love for family, love for the idea of becoming dads one day, love for the magic that kids bring into the world. Our biggest goal as parents is to make our kids feel safe, loved, and celebrated, which is what inspired us to dive into children’s music and books. It felt like such a natural extension of who we are and the family we’re building.

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Rockmommy: How did you curate the album, and decide which classics you wanted to cover? 

Scott Hoying: We wanted the album to feel cozy, emotional, and like home. We landed on having a mix of timeless songs that every family knows, and also original ones to bring in our story and heart. The originals are love letters to our future kids. It became this really beautiful balance of nostalgia and storytelling.

Mark Hoying: While curating the album, we had a fun idea of starting each song with the letters M-Y-F-A-M-I-L-Y! The first song on the album we knew had to star with “M”, so we decided on a medley of “Mary Had a Little Lamb x Twinkle Twinkle Little Star x Rock A Bye Baby”, because Mark and I love the creative process of making a medley, and those three songs are some of the most iconic children’s songs of all time. For the second track, we knew the song would need to start with the letter “Y”, and one of our favorite songs of all time is “You Are My Sunshine”, so that felt like the perfect fit. And the rest of the songs are all original songs!

Rockmommy: You’ve got a couple of cool collaborators on this record. How did that happen? 

Mark Hoying: We are so grateful that we got to work with two of our favorite artists of all time on our album “M.Y. F.A.M.I.L.Y.”! Meghan Trainor is one of our best friends in the world, and we were so thrilled when we got the chance to collaborate with her on our original song “All I Need”. It’s one of our favorite songs on the album, and it’s all about spending the holidays with the person you love most. Meghan is one of the most talented vocalists and lyricists we’ve ever had the pleasure of working with, and it’s still so surreal that we have the honor of having her on our album!  One of our favorite lyrics is “Thank you Santa for thinking of me, but don’t you worry, ‘cause I got all I need.”

We also got to collaborate with Béla Fleck, who we met last year at the GRAMMYs when Scott and Béla were both nominated for “Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals.” He is truly one of the most brilliant musicians in the entire world, and hearing him play the banjo on “You Are My Sunshine” gives me chills every time I hear it. We got to see him in concert recently and we were absolutely blown away.

Rockmommy: You both have been open about your journey to start a family! How’s that going?

Mark Hoying: We are closer than ever to starting a family! There’s nothing more that Scott and I are excited about than becoming dads, and we can’t wait to read our children’s books and play this music for our kids one day soon. A big reason why we’re inspired to go into children’s music is that we wanted to create the soundtrack to our lives as soon-to-be dads. 

Scott Hoying: It’s been a journey of patience, hope, and so much love. We’re taking it one step at a time and keeping our hearts open. We’ve always dreamed of being dads, so every step, even the challenging ones, feel like part of something beautiful.

Rockmommy: Have you played some of these new songs for your younger fans? What has that experience been like, as compared with an international, all-ages pop act (Pentatonix)?

Mark Hoying: My family was visiting from Seattle last month, and we got to play the album for my nieces and nephews and they were the first kids that heard our new music! It was such a blast seeing them dance around to the album, especially because one of the songs, “Mahal Kita” has the Filipino language Tagalog in it!

My parents are both from the Philippines, and it means so much to us to include my Filipino heritage in the album. Also, my parents have cameos in the song too! We took a phone call that we had with our parents teaching Scott some Tagalog words, and we put little snippets of our phone call into the song. It makes us smile every time we hear it!

Scott Hoying: Yes! And it’s been the sweetest thing. Seeing Mark’s little nephews and nieces’ faces light up or watching them dance is the best. It’s been magical!

Rockmommy: I just watched the Instagram spread of your wedding, which looked pretty epic! I’m curious for Mark, who has a non-music profession — did being married to a successful, full-time musician prompt your own creative journey (or influence it)? 

Mark Hoying: Thank you, that really means the world! Our wedding was without-a-doubt the best day of our lives. It was filled with so much love, family, and music! Being married to an incredible musician like Scott has inspired me in so many ways. Scott’s love and passion for music is so electric, and when we get to work on music together, it is my favorite thing in the entire world. His songwriting, arranging, and producing is one-of-a-kind, and I learn so much from him every single day. Scott lifts me up and encourages me every step of the way, whether that be in music, and in everyday life as husbands.

Rockmommy: We live in divisive times, and art is a salvation. What is your hope for how your work is received in these times? 

Scott Hoying: Representation is so important to us. We want kids who don’t often see themselves reflected in stories to know that their lives and experiences matter. We want them to know that their story deserves to be told. That’s why we share our love openly, why we write books about all kinds of families, and that’s why we make music about love. It’s all about showing that everyone belongs.