Pomplamoose meets MTSU students to talk music, business

Music duo and YouTube stars Pomplamoose visited Middle Tennessee State University for a Q-and-A session with students Thursday afternoon.

Vocalist /bassist Nataly Dawn and multi-instrumentalist Jack Conte have gained a large fanbase by independently recording and releasing covers and original songs on YouTube.

Their YouTube channel, PomplamooseMusic, has amassed more than 102 million views since 2008, with their most popular video, a cover of Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)," being watched in excess of 10 million times. Their music has also been heard on national TV commercials.

Questions mostly covered the duo's unorthodox rise to popularity and the business of being an independent artist.

"What Pomplamoose does is very different than what Coldplay is doing," Conte said. "This a small business version of a band. We're the Mom 'n' Pop corner store of bands."

Dawn and Conte emphasized that they tried several social networks to expand their fan base, but video was the medium that launched their success. In their words, it was the "spaghetti that stuck to the wall."

"Try a million things," was advice Conte offered in an interview after the session. "Keep refining your process until something sticks."

Despite the hard work it takes to be an independent artist, Pomplamoose (the name comes from an Americanized pronunciation of the French word for a grapefruit) couldn't imagine doing it any other way.

"We get to wake up in the morning and go to a recording studio and play bass and piano." Conte said. "For us, that's living the dream."

Pomplamoose will play Mercy Lounge tonight (October 2) at 9 p.m. in support of their new album, "Season Two."