Aspiring musicians used to send in mix tapes to record labels or haul themselves at multiple auditions for the chance of stardom. However, two young musicians were able to use the power of the internet to share their music and turn their passion into a career.
Clara Chung, otherwise known as ClaraC, joined YouTube in 2009 and quickly gained a fan base after posting covers of hit songs such as Owl City’s “Fireflies” and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” Chung has won over many with her quirky, charming personality as well as her talent in playing multiple instruments and vocal skills. In 2010, Chung released her self-released debut album, “Art in My Heart,” along with her self-released debut single, “Offbeat.”
David Choi joined YouTube in 2006 with the release of a humorous, light-hearted song entitled “Youtube (A Love Song).” The song acquired over 2.6 million views and quickly made Choi one of the most popular musicians on Youtube. Since then, Choi has unleashed three self-released albums and obtained over 900,000 YouTube subscribers. With the success of his YouTube channel, Choi’s original tracks can be heard in popular Korean dramas such as Secret Garden, Playful Kiss, and To The Beautiful You and American television networks including FOX, VH1 and MTV.
It should come to no surprise that these two artists have struck a chord with a young audience. Many young teens are anxiously waiting for their joint tour stop in Houston on November 17th. Junior Keryn Tat already bought her ticket and is hyped up for the up-coming concert.
“[Clara] is really inspirational and I love her,” Tat said. “I was listening to her on this podcast in Las Vegas and I felt really inspired by her music so I went on YouTube and found out that she was having a concert.”
Choi and Chung met through mutual YouTube friends and soon became close friends. They have one collaboration song and have performed at multiple events together. Now, they are ready to hit the road together on their first joint tour. However, in order to kickstart the tour, finances needed to be met. Therefore, Choi and Chung started a fundraiser to help fund their tour. They asked for donations and in return, depending on the amount of money, donors received a gift, such as an autographed CD. According to their official fundraiser page on Kickstarter, their goal was $18,000, but with an overwhelming response from fans, received $20,969.
“I’m really excited for this concert because I’ve been a fan of David for a really long time now,” senior Janique Alcantara said. “I can’t wait to hear him in person. His music is really mellow and has a meaningful message behind it.”
