by Todd Betzold

 

With only a few more spots left on each team, the coaches were being a little picky on last night's episode of The Voice. Despite the pickiness, we were still able to see some new additions as Nicolle Galyon, Karla Davis and Mathai joined Team Adam and Naia Kete, Charlotte Sometimes, Jordan Ranger and ALyX joined Team Blake. They all got together today for a conference call with reporters to talk about their journey so far on The Voice.

 

Q. You are a classically trained pianist and you admit there isn't piano in country music, so what appeals to you to go into that genre of music?
A. Nicolle: I probably never really chose country music...I grew up in Kansas and when I started writing songs, I was writing what I knew and that just started being country. As long as I'm being honest, my music is going to be country.

 

Q. How do you see piano tying into country music? Do you think it has to be a form of country music?
A. Nicolle: I'm not trying to bring classical piano into country music, I'm just trying to integrate piano into country music. I grew up playing piano for the Methodist church and every Sunday we would go to my Grandma's house and our whole family would gather around the piano and holidays were together around the piano...to me, it's very middle American...very country, so I don't feel it's a forced thing to play piano with country music. You turn on the radio, there is so much piano in what's out there. I just don't think people are used to seeing a girl sitting at a piano singing about Kansas or middle America (laughs) and I think that's what makes me different.

 

Q. Can you talk about the friendships you've made already on The Voice? Chris Cauley said he was more proud to see you audition then he was to see himself.
A. Mathai: Oh man, I love that guy. It's been incredible. One thing I would say about The Voice competition that is so different from other competitions out there is that everyone that is here is so loving...almost mature enough in their artistry that they can have friendships with other people without being hateful or being jealous or any of those weird things that have happened in other competitions, like arguments or fights. I don't know...I just got that loving, friendly vibe from this whole competition. Yeah, me and Chris are really tight...we both live in Atlanta, we do shows together...it's an awesome friendship that came about because of this competition.

 

Q. Who are some of your family influences and what is it about Blake that is so special to you about working with him?
A. Jordan: Some of my biggest family influences would have to be my granddad, just because he is the rock of our family. He's the one that prays before Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. He's just the guy that everyone goes to...I just go to his house when something is bothering me and I can't figure out anywhere to go. Also my Mom and Dad who have been extremely supportive of me. As far as Blake, he seems like a very humble and genuine guy...he's just real and that's why I want to work with him more than any other coach.

 

Q. Talk us through that moment when all four coaches turned around and what that felt like.
A. Charlotte: It was so overwhelming having all four coaches turn around. I just wasn't expecting that...I thought to myself the night before, oh gosh I hope somebody turns around, so I was kinda hitting a high note and my eyes were closed and I opened them and all of them had turned around, so I was so content on trying to keep in the scene of my song, which was quite depressing. I was so excited...as soon as the song was over, I became a giggling idiot.

 

Q. Why did you ultimately pick Blake over everyone else?
A. Charlotte: I chose Blake because he seemed the most sincere and genuine the way he talked about me. I also know he's a big whiskey drinker, so he reminded me of home (laughs).

 

Q. I was wondering how you came up with your stage name, since that is probably not on your birth certificate with the capital and lower case letters?
A. ALyX: My full name is Alexandria and I just wanted something different...something to pop, so I thought the ‘y' was not really real, so I just lowercased that and uppercased the rest. It's as simple as that.

 

Q. Can you tell us how performing on the streets prepared you for a show like The Voice?
A. Naia: I think that performing on the streets, in a sense, that someone walks by and hears you and stops to listen. With doing that since last spring and I'm out there like four or five days a week for like six hours a day really helped me in that no matter what just sing your heart out and if people like it they'll turn around and don't take it personally.

 

Q. You were trending on Twitter last night. How did it feel to go from no one knowing who you are as an artist to trending worldwide on a site that big?
A. Mathai: Oh man, I don't even know...I don't have words. Honestly, I couldn't handle it for the first 15 minutes...I just turned my computer off, turned my phone off, hung out with my family, just bask in all this craziness. I couldn't handle it...it was overwhelming to me. I mean, it was awesome...it's such a blessing. I'm so shocked and pleasantly surprised and so thankful to America for this favor...I don't know, it's really awesome.

 

Q. It says in your bio that you've turned down some major record deals. I was wondering who they were from and how you came about to making those decisions?
A. Karla: I was in this country singing competition called The Colgate Country Showdown in 2009 and through that a lot of opportunities came about. The judges from this competition were all from major labels that were based out of Nashville, so I basically got a meeting with every label in Nashville...I had literally just started music and had no idea what I was doing and I was scared to death and I went to these meetings. Honestly, I didn't know enough about what I was doing to commit to anything, so within a couple weeks I learned a ton and I just knew I wasn't ready to step into anything that big and looking back now, I know I wasn't.

 

The Voice airs Mondays at 8/7c on NBC.

 

(Image courtesy of NBC)

 

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