The group was picked up by Atlantic Records and seemed well on their way to stardom with the help of their original fourth member, Matt Morrison. However, when the Broadway-starved Matt decided to return to his theatre roots, LMNT was forced to do a nationwide search for a replacement to fill out this quartet of cuties.
After auditioning about 30 different popstar wannabes, the group met Jonas Persch, an 18-year-old from Salt Lake City, UT, who met all their criteria and who had instant chemistry with the band to the boot!
Popstar!: Jonas, how did you get hooked up with these guys?
Jonas: A long time ago, I was managed by this guy who worked with a group that I was in called Fifth Element. That was going for a little while and it went great but then we all broke up.
About a year later I was totally bored, I wasn't in the business. I missed music. I called him and I said, "I want to get back in the music business." He said he would see what he could do. He got a call from a lady in LA saying they needed a guy for this group. She had exclusivity on the guy who would be found and she asked him if he knew anyone. So he flew me out to her and then they took me to New York. Then everything just fell into place-everything was perfect!
What were you guys looking for in a fourth member?
Bryan: We knew we wanted someone tall, a high tenor. They had to sing well, obviously, and just have a good vibe. We had just come off a mall tour and we had two cities-between LA and Orlando-where we had open auditions. We had scouts there. We met probably 30 guys and just for whatever reason they didn't fit. We'd just get guys in there that for one reason or another weren't a good match or decided this wasn't what they wanted to do. Jonas was actually our last hope! But our label was like, "Let's just meet these two guys." So when Jonas came out, there was just this instant chemistry there. We met him on a Friday and on Saturday we were like, "Okay, this is the guy for the group."
What does he bring to the group?
Mike: He brings a lot of flavor and style. He's really good stylistically. He really compliments the other three voices.
Ikaika: His voice has a good quality to it. He's like a mix between Bryan and myself-we needed someone in that range, with that type of voice.
Bryan: And he can move! He can dance too.(Laughs)
Mike: And he's younger, so a lot more fans can relate to Jonas. It's cooler, too, because there's more diversity-the age range is from 18-27 now and everyone is from different places and different backgrounds.
Ikaika: It's pretty cool-I feel like it's four brothers.
Bryan: He really is the kid of the group. I think for more reasons than him being younger and being the new guy. He just brings a fresh outlook on things and he's new to the industry. Having gone through this and having him come in at this point in the process is kind of refreshing.
Do you guys all live together?
All: Yeah...(All laughs)
How is that working out?
Jonas: I love it!-It's fun!
Ikaika: I think the younger you are, the louder your music is. There's a hierarchy in the house-Bryan plays his music kind of loud, then i play my music a little louder, Mike's music is really loud and then Jonas-
Mike: Jonas blows me out of the water, man. He'll tell you, too He'll say, "I'm going to bed but I'm going to blast my music, though, okay?" And then he starts singing. It's cool-it works out nice!