Under Cover with Alejandro Manzano of Boyce Avenue

     Technology is a wonderful thing. This day in age, what would we do without it? Just ask Boyce Avenue. The internet (YouTube, specifically) has turned Boyce Avenue from 3 brothers jamming at their house in Florida into one of the most popular bands in the world. If numbers speak volumes, Boyce Avenue’s story is The Library of Congress.

     All the music videos on their YouTube page have received a combined 500 million-plus hits, making them the second most-searched artist on YouTube behind Linkin Park. It’s probably no coincidence that Boyce’s most viewed video is their cover of Linkin Park’s “Shadow of The Day” which has gotten 12,398,530 views to date. 101 of their videos have over 1 million views. The band began to draw attention to themselves by the incredibly well-done cover songs they started posting on their YouTube Channel (Boyce Avenue Channel). They did acoustic versions of hit pop songs, put their signature spin on rap and hip-hop songs, and even re-wrote a few (e.g. “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry, which Alejandro re-wrote from a male perspective).

     Brilliantly, the band began to sprinkle in original songs here and there. Since posting their first YouTube video, the band has released two full-length original LP’s and one single, “Every Breath”. The band’s first album was released on their own label, 3 Peace Records. The band signed with Universal Republic Records to release their second album, and major-label debut. Both have sold very well on iTunes, along with their cover songs.

     I’ve been listening to these guys for a long time (well, watching them on YouTube mostly) and it was great to sit down with Alejandro. He’s a monster guitar player (if you like Dave Matthews and John Mayer, you gotta check him out!) with once of the best voices in music. We chatted about the tour, how the band got started, and how they pick songs to cover (wait ’till you hear which one his favorite is!). I’m really hoping to sit down with all of the guys next time! I stayed for the show after the interview, and it was refreshing and awesome. They thanked the crowd after every song, and gave a little background story about each original tune. And let me tell you – their original material is just as good as their covers. My personal favorite original is “Briane”. I love this song so much, I think I may cover it as a thank you for giving me an interview! Stay tuned for that…until then, check out he interview!