NEW YORK (CNN) -- What started as a college a cappella pastime became a ticket to the big time for 10 Indiana University graduates.





Straight No Chaser broke up years ago, but success on YouTube brought the band back together.





Last year a member of the disbanded group -- called Straight No Chaser -- posted a video of a quirky 1998 performance of "The 12 Days of Christmas" on YouTube. It got more than 8 million hits. And one of the people watching was Craig Kallman, chairman and CEO of Atlantic Records.





Kallman summoned a couple of the troupe members to Los Angeles, where he offered them a record deal. Straight up. The boys (now men, of course) got back together and within 10 months -- and almost 10 years after graduation -- had a debut album neatly tied with a bow.





And you thought your college reunion was exciting.  Watch Straight No Chaser blend their voices »





"Holiday Spirits" mostly features festive covers such as "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and "Silent Night," all sung in the a cappella tradition but with creative and entertaining tweaks. (They do a stirring Christmas-infused rendition of Toto's "Africa.")





Members of Straight No Chaser sang for CNN in New York recently, talked about their surprising career turn and where it leaves their day jobs.





CNN: What is it like then to actually become a YouTube sensation?





Randy Stine: Well, [Jerome] got recognized on the street in Hong Kong.





Jerome Collins: A person walked up to me and said, "Hey, I know this may be out of line, but you look like this guy on this video I just saw." I called [Randy] and I was like, "We officially made it. We're being recognized in Hong Kong by some random person on the street." So it was kind of cool, and that's when I knew that [it] was on a bigger scale than we thought.





CNN: What went through your mind when you got the call from Atlantic Records?





Stine: I was half believing it was a prank. I got the call from Craig, and while I'm talking to him the first time, I'm on the computer Googling his name to read his bio. It was just kind of a dream phone call. And I kept thinking, "Is this really happening?" It was pretty amazing.





CNN: You all have day jobs, don't you?





Stine: Yeah. I was actually in Chicago doing IT sales, wishing I was still in music. We're all spread across the country. We've got guys in Chicago, Vegas, Atlanta, here in New York. Jerome was actually in Hong Kong when all this started, and he moved back from Hong Kong to be a part of this.





CNN: What were you doing in Hong Kong?





Collins: I was doing a festival of "The Lion King," and I was Simba. We have one guy selling medical devices, another guy a reporter for ABC, one guy working at a bank, another guy a teacher. ... You name it, we have it.





CNN: And how do you arrange rehearsing or performances if you are scattered throughout the country?





Stine: That's probably one of the big challenges. We all have to fly in from whatever city we're in to New York, to Chicago, L.A., wherever we have to meet up to rehearse or record. But when we get together it's like no time has passed.





CNN: Are you going to keep your day jobs?





Collins: There's no chance that I'm going to be keeping my day job. I obviously gave it up to try and do this so I know for a fact that I'm not going to be going back. I hope they didn't hear that. This is it. This is what I dreamed to do as a kid. This is what I want my day job to be.
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