KoverBoyz is the creative outlet of Ben Klute ’13 and Josh Erdman ’13, two Economics majors with a major love of music. With over 1.4 million total video views on their YouTube channel and nearly 5,500 subscribers, KoverBoyz reaches an enormous Internet audience. But KoverBoyz didn’t achieve this success overnight. The summer before their freshman year of college, Ben reached out to Josh, wanting to connect to other gay men on campus. They soon met in real life and were “practically inseparable,” according to Ben. One day while doing homework together, Josh realized that his guitar playing and Ben’s singing could be a great method of procrastination. “The idea just came to me,” Josh says.
The boys started recording videos in the dorms in the fall. By December, their obvious talent had secured them a fan base that has only continued to grow. KoverBoyz may have been born to beat homework boredom, but it soon turned into a regular hobby for Ben and Josh. Then the regular hobby turned into a partnership deal with YouTube and front-page coverage in The New York Times Sunday Arts and Leisure section as a part of a feature on pop culture reaching out to the LGBTQ community.
Ben and Josh are both openly gay, and much of their inspiration comes from their work as activists. They both hope to be gay role models, and believe that if they are able to “change the life of one person for the better” then they have done their work. They include the tag “Legalize Gay” into their music and have encountered fans that “thank us for giving them the strength to be proud of who they are,” Ben says. “We even have some letters where our fans have told us that we gave them the strength to come out of the closet.” According to the boys, being able to be that support for the LGBTQ community is why they believe so strongly in KoverBoyz.
And the fans believe in KoverBoyz too. 1.4 million video views later, the boys have become something like Internet celebrities. “Being recognized in public has been entertaining,” Ben says. Because they are under their YouTube contract for the next three years, they’ll certainly continue to get recognized as their popularity continues to grow. Though their work is largely online, they have enjoyed playing live shows.
Their live shows have all been on Oxy’s campus or at Oxy-associated events, and both boys are certainly fixtures on campus. Ben is a first-year RA, the director of the male a cappella group, a member of the Glee Club, a manager at TeleFund, and an active member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. Josh is involved with the Queer Straight Alliance and Center for Gender Equity, and he is the Assistant Occidental College Conference Coordinator.
What advice would the KoverBoyz give to Oxy’s class of 2015? Both agree that getting “involved with something you love,” while cliché, is the best advice they can give. “Go out on a limb and try something new,” they say. So what’s next for KoverBoyz? In addition to their YouTube contract, the boys are currently working on some new original content; their first original song “Last First Kiss” can be heard on their YouTube channel.
Visit them at their YouTube channel to hear their covers of artists like Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and more, and follow them on Twitter to get their latest updates!