NKD Mag - Issue #32 (February 2014)

36-45 JENNETTE MCCURDY

NAKED MAGAZINE

FEATURES 4 - Sirah 8 - Smallpools 14 - Jake robinson 18 - Ellen Wong 24 - Tiffany Houghton 28 - Macy Kate 48 - WaterColor 50 - Once Upon A Time 52 - Janoskians 58 - Lucas Grabeel 64 - Ron Pope

EDITORIAL 12 - Artist Write-In: Social Media 22 - Feedback: January 2014 Issue 23 - Playlist: Mindy White 30 - Live Photos 46- The History of Glamour Kills 56- February Essentials PUBLISHER

SENIOR EDITORS

PHOTOGRAPHER

Isabelle Chapman Jordan Melendrez Noah Tavlin

Catherine Powell

COPY EDITORS

Catherine Powell

Tatiana Baez Jenna Ross Alexandra Tse

DESIGNER Catherine Powell

WRITERS

Jackie Bui, Susan Cheng, Tara DeVincenzo, Alex Lane, Stacy Magallon, Christine O’Dea, Shina Patel, Stephanie Petit, Catherine Powell

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SIRAH Words by CHRISTINE O’DEA Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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From selling drugs to life coaching, from living on a hippie reservation with nudists to living in a New York City basement - Sirah has “lived several lives.” She estimates about fifteen. Sirah has built a house, was in a gang and was a professional painter. Though raised all over the country, Sirah is mostly influenced by New York City, but she has since moving to Los Angeles she has started living yet another life—this time as a rapper.

Growing up, Sirah was “a serious little kid.” She believes she grew up in the opposite manner of most people. Her trajectory, however, is towards becoming more fun as she gets older. This “reverse growth” might have come from her parents and her childhood. “We grew up poor,” she explains, “And that leaves you with a sense of coupled fear, and also a good sense of self-worth.” Spending time in a rough town like New York also toughened her skin.

Sirah believes that if you want something, you need to do it yourself. “My mentality came from the uncertainty of everything and not being able to rely on anyone else but myself,” she says. Whatever odd job she’s doing to make ends meet, she believes it’s important. After years of moving around, Sirah has finally found something she can commit herself to. She has now spent more time as a rapper than as anything else.

Despite the struggles of her childhood, Sirah’s found stability and encouragement at home when it came to music. Growing up, music was everywhere. Her father played in a band and the two wrote a duet together when Sirah was only seven. Her father’s rock roots, and her sister’s love for house music and reggae, gave Sirah a vast array of influences to draw upon. Her household was full of encouragement and allowed her to feel confident in her music endeavors.

Sirah began keeping a journal at the age of seven, and soon after, began performing spoken word poetry. When she arrived in Los Angeles when she was around 15 or 16, she fell into a crowd of motivated young artists and musi6

cians. “It was aggressive, but friendly,” she recalls. “But it was also driven, passionate and hard working.” She admits that having others listen to her songs makes her feel strange. “When I write, it’s for me. It’s for my feelings and whatever is going on in my head.”

Currently, Sirah is working on a full-length which she hopes to finish and release this year. Though she’s writing these songs for herself more than anyone else, she recognizes the positive affect her music can have on other people. “If my words help me or help just one other person, then they have done their job,” she says. Her music and her messages of strength and independence are helping people understand that accepting ones identity is the key to becoming a better person.

Just as Sirah has eluded being pinned down to one lifestyle, her music covers a spectrum of human emotion.

Each song grows from what she feels at the moment—love, pain, or something in between. Rather than adopt a more straightforward persona, she feels the need to express the totality of who she is. “People get caught up in what they have to be,” she explains. Sirah’s music represents tolerance and acceptance for human inconsistency. “I have angry music and happy music, and I have sad things and stupid things. And it’s all important,” she says.

Sirah encourages people to embrace both good and bad in life. Many artists worry about reaching a specific demographic, but Sirah sees the big picture. She describes her EP, Inhale (2013), as an introduction to who she is— but not all she is. The legacy Sirah wants to leave has yet to come. “If people like it or don’t like it, it doesn’t matter because the thing is, we’re all going to die,” she says. “It’s important to me to represent myself in my truest form,” she says. Because she constantly changes and reinvents herself, Sirah’s music documents who she is at given moments. She combats fear with creation and growth, and will continue doing so even if no one’s listening. NKD

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smallpools Words by SHINA PATEL Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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“This time last year I had a job and no money. Not that I have any money now,” says guitarist Mike Kamerman. Vocalist Sean Scanlon adds, “In college I was going to be a business major and try and make money in the business world. I decided to flip the switch and make music a real thing. I never graduated.” Though Mike and Sean may not have money or degrees, they do have something much rarer — a rising indie-pop band called Smallpools.

In 2007, Sean Scanlon met Mike Kamerman. At the time, both played in separate projects. They kept in touch, and when their previous music endeavors fell apart, Sean and Mike decided to form Smallpools with their friends Joe Intil on bass and Beau Kuther on drums. Before starting their new band, Sean and Mike, originally from New York and New Jersey respectively, moved to Los Angeles. “We spent a year and half getting crappy jobs and just trying to figure out how to start this [band]. Eventually we just put our foot down and said it’s time to do it,” says Sean. This decision to finally get the band moving came in the summer of 2012.

Mike and Sean both come from the New York area, yet decided to position themselves away from the music hub they grew up around, and relocate to L.A. “L.A. is like…rent is cheaper, the vibe is happier, it’s easier to be crappy,” says Sean. Mike also attributes their moving because of their familiarity with New York City. “We needed something new. It wasn’t happening at home,” says Mike. Joe and Beau meanwhile, both Oregon natives, felt constricted by what they call “Portland fame” — feeling limited by living in a bubble you can’t break through.

That August, the band flew to Atlanta to record their demo tracks. Their initial single, “Dreaming,” launched May 16th, 2013 and three days later, reached number one on The Hype Machine. The song received positive feedback from fans and critics alike. The song got radio time when the Denver radio station KTCL spun the song after discovering it on The Hype Machine. Shortly after its release, Billboard called it “one of alternative 10

radio’s songs of the summer,” noting its “Passion Pit vocal riffage; sparkling, hi-fi production; and young-andinvicible ‘tude.” When the band searched “Smallpools” on Twitter they saw an ever increasing number of people were talking about the new song. The number of downloads on SoundCloud increased each day. And they still had yet to play a single show.

Although they recorded their demos in August 2012, Smallpools didn’t release “Dreaming” until May 2013.

The band attributes this to constantly nit-picking their own music. Mike wouldn’t say they are perfectionists, but conceded they are the next closest thing. “We wanted to get the initial songs right, dead on, before they were out. We had all the time in the world. No one was knocking on the door waiting for new music,” says Mike.

They worked with Captain Cuts, a musical production trio based in Los Angeles. They released their self-titled EP on July 16th, 2013 with RCA Records.

Smallpools started work on their full length album in January 2014. With this new album they are making sure to differentiate it from their EP. “You’re not going to have two ‘Dreaming’s’ or a shittier version of ‘Mason Jar,’” says Mike. When making music, as a band, they tend to focus on one song at a time rather than try to tackle the album as a whole. “If you treat each song separately, you can cater to its needs more,” says Sean.

They put each song into its own world and work on it and make it strong enough to stand on its own. Smallpools doesn’t want songs on their album to have to rely on each other.

This time last year hardly anyone knew about a band called Smallpools. In one short year, Smallpools has released a hit single, signed with one of the biggest record labels in the country, and toured with acts such as San Cisco, Two Door Cinema Club, and Twenty One Pilots.

In one short year, Smallpools has accomplished things that have taken others before them years to accomplish.

They have progressed in great leaps and bounds and will undoubtedly continue in the future to achieve momentous milestones. NKD

Artist Write-In How has social media affected your career as a musician?

Nick Giumenti (My Ticket Home)

Spencer Sutherland

Austin Kerr (Set It Off)

Ashley Allen

It’s completely distorted it, actually. Social media is the means by which success is measured today so if your band doesn’t have a flourishing buzz around all your social sites then you’re basically falling behind. It’s kinda sucks, actually, because no one in our band really gives a shit about that stuff, but now you have to because you’re in a band. If it wasn’t for MTH I’d delete my Facebook for sure I never would have made a Twitter. It’s definitely a useful tool but it’s all just crap. It’s like a game to post whatever you can just to get the most traffic, the most likes or the most followers.

Thats why I think popularity and fans don’t mean what they used to. But it’s funny because if you play hard enough you’ll get famous off of it so its a double edged sword.

I feel like it controls my life to be honest. Between band pages and personal, I easily spend three hours a day minimum! Without it though, the fans wouldn’t know me the same way. It would be harder for them to stay updated on what we’re doing. So I think it’s a mostly positive thing.

Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills)

I LOVE social media because it helps me to connect. It has made it possible for me to interact with my fans daily no matter where I am. It’s a great way to promote a show, new music, video or just have some fun! It’s cool because I get immediate feedback! I personally manage my own social media and TRY to respond to EVERYONE I possible can! It also gives other people a way to reach me instantaneously. In fact, I have been fortunate to have been contacted directly by professionals in the music business! And it keeps me up on what is going on all over the world. We are lucky to have social media. It’s an extremely vital part of my career and will only continue to grow as time goes on!

As a musician, there is honestly nothing better then social media. I love that I am able to chat with fans so easily. I love that I can share my everyday life with them and that I can see theirs. Social media has really just made is easier to communicate with the people that make my dreams possible. I love that and I love them.

I cannot overstate how critical sites like Myspace and Facebook have been in building our band’s fanbase.

It took a period of trial and error to find the best and fastest way to reach new listeners online, but when it clicked, the results were pretty exciting. I still remember the moment I figured out that I could go to a website of a popular group and potentially convince their fans to listen to my band and that realization changed my entire approach to marketing and promotion. After perfecting our social media skills, we were able to mobilize our online fanbase to vote us on to the biggest tour and opportunity we had ever had at the time - The 2012 All Stars Tour with Suicide Silence. That tour was incredible exposure for us and proved to be an enormous spring board for the band’s current success.

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Rachel Brown

Social media is a blessing and a curse! It’s amazing to be able to directly connect with people in the far corners of the world, and everyone with an internet connection has access to your work, which means you don’t have to wait for radio or a label to give you their stamp of approval in order for people to hear it. On the other hand, social media (and all the various platforms) are constantly evolving, and it can be a difficult to keep up with it while still finding time to create and perform music. Overall, though, I find the pros outweigh the cons, and as artists we’re extremely lucky to have a direct line to our audience.

Sam Miller (Paradise Fears)

It’s taken over virtually all other forms of media & advertising. Everything we do, any time we release anything, social media is 99% of our focus. Which is a blessing and a curse. It’s wonderful because it’s a direct and brief medium to immediately reach our audience, which has awesome possibility. But sometimes it dilutes and makes content considerably more... shallow.

Basically what I’m saying is, I don’t like taking photos of my own face and putting them on the internet, but I have to now, because doing that generates the attention that a Newspaper ad used to.

Printz Board

Social Media has altered the musicians existence in so many ways... Its become easier for us to reach the people, but easier for the people to take our music for free. Its become easier for us to express ourselves and show people WHO we are, but easier for people to cut us down and judge who we are. All in all, social media has opened a lot of peoples eyes to different things, and allowed creativity to be rewarded by public acceptance, which I agree with. The hard part is knowing that if you arent up on your social media game, the people may not ever know you exist.

Justin Collier (Man Overboard)

Social media was completely revolutionary in terms of promoting a band so anyone would be lying if they tried to say it hasn’t helped their band in one way or another. For Man Overboard, we value the connection it gives you to fans. We’ve seen a range of interesting situations bloomed from us interacting on our social media.

We’ve been able to help people, thank them or even find the cover of our album Heart Attack.

By the same token, some fans take it for granted and abuse it. It takes a lot more balls to approach a band after a show and tell them you thought their set sucked because they didn’t play “insert old obscure song here” than to tweet it at them from the comfort of your smart phone.

Howi Spangler (Ballyhoo!)

I remember neglecting our band’s .com page to work solely on our Myspace page. That’s where everyone was and no one seemed to care about general websites anymore. Now with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr & Instagram, you can to connect with your listeners in different ways. It’s made connecting with our audience both easier and more challenging because other bands are doing the same thing. You have to be able to stick out with visually appealing layouts and interesting content. I don’t know what any band would do without social networking.

Cody Carson (Set It Off)

It’s the whole reason we were taken seriously in the first place. So many people wouldn’t have found out about us if YouTube didn’t exist. Twitter is our outlet to fans to directly communicate with them. Instagram is our way to show them what we do in our spare time. Our fanbase gets the chance to know the real us via these websites.

It’s the reason we all feel so connected.

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jake robinson

Words by STACY MAGALLON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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Inside Burger Joint on Eighth Street in Manhattan, actor Jake Robinson is preparing to tell me his life story. And his life story is roughly 22 minutes long — the perfect amount of time for lunch.

Jake looks relaxed and calm, unlike the pouring rain outside. A waitress arrives at our little alcove and asks for his order before he begins his narrative.

Across from me, he orders a cheeseburger with the works — lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup and mustard. “Medium rare please,” he says to the waitress.

“That’s the way to do it. Well done is just not as good.” When she walks away, Jake begins with the basics. He was born in Loveland, Ohio. His parents, older sister and older brother lived in a 150-yearold farm house owned by a Quaker family. It was the perfect place to grow up.

Jake’s parents were artists, as was his grandfather.

He was nurtured in an inventive, free, imaginative environment where he could do anything he wanted. He was surrounded by 375 acres worth of open land, ponds, creeks and rivers — a suitable place where Jake built teepees sand imagined he was a soldier. “My entire life existed around playing pretend,” he says. Today, Jake still manages to play pretend, but as a variety of characters on screen.

As a young kid, Jake never considered pursuing an acting career. He was far too invested in youth football to think about it. His mom, however, wanted her son to be a “well-rounded kid” and guilt tripped him into auditioning for his school’s production of Oliver Twist because his cousin was also auditioning. Jake, who was 12 at the time, found himself enjoying theater and was slowly growing interested in girls. This only made acting look cooler in his mind. “I would tell my friends to try this theater thing because you’d get to play pretend and there were really cute girls there,” he laughs.

When Jake started school at Saint Xavier High School in Cincinnati, he continued participating in the school’s theater productions, namely The Wizard of Oz and Sweeney Todd. It wasn’t until he performed in The Laramie Project that he realized how

serious he was about acting. The play, which focused on the topics of homosexuality, homophobia and violence, helped him realize his passion. “It was so poignant and touching,” Jake says. “Being part of the organic process that told an important story was what really sold me.”

When Jake’s senior year rolled around, he could not settle on a college major. But after being accepted to most of the colleges to which he applied, Jake chose Otterbein University, a small school in Columbus, Ohio where he could graduate with a bachelor’s degree in acting. But Jake didn’t really know what he was doing. Although he landed lead roles in high school and had an “I’m the shit, check me out,” mentality, college slapped him in the face.

He realized he did not know much about acting.

“What I knew was valuable,” he says. “But there were so many more layers to add to my craft.”

When Jake interned for NBC during his senior year of college, acting on television still wasn’t on his radar because it didn’t particularly excite him.

But after the internship, Jake couldn’t help but be interested. “There was some really amazing stuff happening,” he recalls. “I loved the fast-paced nature and the community, and I wanted to be a part of it.” When Jake graduated from Otterbein in 2012, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in theater. Instead, he landed a recurring roll on the CW’s The Carrie Diaries.

Jake portrays Bennett Wilcox, a columnist at Interview Magazine. He meets protagonist Carrie Bradshaw at the magazine’s office in New York City and eventually begins dating her best friend, Walt Reynolds. “I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I think Bennett is kind and caring and passionate,” he says of his character. “And I think that’s the kind of person I am.”

While Jake only appeared in six episodes of the series’ first season, he is now featured in 10 of the 13 episodes of the second season, as the romance between Bennett and Walt is a central element of the show. The Carrie Diaries, set in 1984, provides the audience with an accurate perspective of the NKDMAG.COM

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hardships homosexual men faced 30 years ago. For Jake, he sees how far we’ve come as a society coming to accept homosexuality. “This was such a struggle in the ‘80s,” he says. “People had to fight for their rights not only to be gay, but to be human beings.”

Although he is straight in his personal life, Jake loves portraying a gay male. “So many kids are just looking for guidance and help,” he explains. “It’s so fun to play a gay character because it’s important with everything going on with the world right now, especially gay marriage.” Our waitress returns to the table with his cheeseburger and French fries.

Jake eyes the food with a wide grin before thanking her. “I think that’s the coolest thing about acting,” he says, picking up a French fry. “You can lead an infinite set of lives outside of your own at any given time.”

Prior to The Carrie Diaries, Jake worked on a horror film titled Old 37, which will be released this year. He stars alongside Kane Hodder, Bill Moseley and Brandi Cyrus. The film focuses on two brothers who intercept 911 calls in an old ambulance, numbered 37, to murder their victims. “My character, Jordan, would probably be in his fifth year of high school,” he says. “The guy’s a dick, to be honest.”

At first, Jake had a method to auditioning. But now, he tells himself to “just do his thing.” “Casting directors are searching for good actors, but they’re also searching for people with good personalities,” he explains. As seasons of a show progress, Jake believes it’s essential for a writer to work to an actor’s strengths. “The character is yet to be written and you can influence the character’s behavior that way.”

And when his character is assigned, Jake enjoys reading his scripts over and over again. He enjoys studying humans and listening to how people interact. “Ninety percent of every character is you, and the other 10 percent are the things you see in your environment,” he says. “But if you are really paying attention to the story that is being told, it’ll give you keys on how you should be acting.”

Since graduating from college, Jake has dedicated his life to his craft. “If you choose to act seriously, you can’t just do it in a mediocre way,” he says. With multiple characters in his acting arsenal, I ask Jake what role he wants to play next. He scrunches his eyebrows and replies, “I really want to be a superhero,” before digging into his cheeseburger. NKD

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ellen wong Words by STACY MAGALLON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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“There’s something about exposed brick that makes you feel at home,” Ellen Wong tells me.

We’re sitting in a corner of The Grey Dog cafe on West 16th street in Manhattan. Outside, fresh snow is coating the sidewalk. Inside, the dimly-lit cafe is crowded, with New Yorkers who are gossiping beneath twinkling Christmas lights and sipping teas.

Ellen is warming up her hands with the hot cup of coffee. We’re discussing the last episode of her CW show, The Carrie Diaries. “What’d you think of it?” Ellen asks me with a wide smile. When I divulge my thoughts, she smiles even wider than before. To my surprise, I learn that the Canadian actress initially kept her passion for acting under wraps.

Ellen, 29, was a quiet kid who grew up in Scarborough, a small suburb east of Toronto. She was raised by Cambodian immigrants who lived in a refugee camp in Thailand before moving to Canada. Because of her conservative parents, Ellen’s life as a child was sheltered and strict. It wasn’t until high school she discovered her love of acting.

“I always felt like I needed to act,” she says. “But my parents didn’t understand what it was.” When she earned her first role in a high school play, her parents responded with one question - ‘What’s a play?’

Ellen was often frustrated with her parents’ lack of understanding. Her first headshot was taken at a photo booth at the mall. She asked her friend to scan it, then print the photo on 8x10-inch paper. There were even lines across her face from the scanning process. “That’s how badly I wanted to act,” Ellen says, laughing. “I had to make it work somehow.” From there on, Ellen began making

phone calls to every talent agency in Toronto, and began auditioning. She was, however, gaining experience on the production side of the business. She did volunteer work within television studios in the city to get a more wholesome understanding of the industry. “I fell in love with the environment,” she says.

After Ellen graduated from L’Amoreaux Collegiate Institute, she backpacked through Southeastern Asia to visit her parents’ homeland. Her trip was an eye-opener. It was there she realized her need to fulfill her dream of acting.

“The kids in these countries live day to day wondering if they’re going to survive,” she says. “They can’t even fathom what the meaning of dreaming is.”

As soon as she returned home Ellen sat her parents down to tell them that she was quitting her desk job for a year, and was going to pursue acting full time. She didn’t want them to say anything about it, but would appreciate their support. Her parents gave her the green light.

Ellen just wanted to tell stories. She was open to theater, television and film, though she was particularly interested in the risks an actor could take in movies. Fortunately for her, Ellen landed her first role as Knives Chau in the 2010 comedy film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World six months later. The film featured major names like Michael Cera, Chris Evans and Anna Kendrick. Ellen was terrified by the intensity of the eight-month long production, but wanted to learn.

“When I’m not nervous about anything, I know there’s something wrong,” she says. “It means I don’t care.” Since then, Ellen has only pushed herself harder.

Today, Ellen currently stars as Jill “Mouse” Chen in

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the CW’s The Carrie Diaries. When her agent brought the script to her attention, she was immediately charmed by the positive messages throughout the show. The auditioning process went by quickly. Ellen sent her audition via tape, flew out to Los Angeles, did a screen test with her new co-stars, and began working on the show. “I wish more people watched the show because there’s a lot of fun of self-discovery and it’s nice to see characters grow up on a show,” she says. Ellen’s character Mouse is nothing short of an overachiever. The brainy best friend of protagonist Carrie Bradshaw is motivated, driven and will not quit until she’s where she wants to be. “I really respect her,” Ellen says of Mouse. “She’s big on perseverance and I feel like I’m the same way.”

Ellen believes in the multiple facades high school students have in and out of the classroom. “We have a whole other world at home that we need to learn how to fit into,” she says.

For Ellen, the best part about working on The Carrie Diaries is the on-screen and off-screen friendships she has developed with her co-stars. The show, now in its second season, is addressing big and risky issues that were not seen throughout the first season. “I think it’s great to have a show people can watch and see these characters get through these obstacles together as friends,” Ellen says.

“That strength is friendship and that’s what I really love.”

The show’s producer, Amy B. Harris, cast certain actors because she easily envisioned them as friends. Friendship was an important part of the original series Sex in the City, and Harris wanted friendship to play an equally strong aspect in The Carrie Diaries too.

“It was a huge comfort pad for us to be friends onscreen because we’re friends off screen too,” Ellen says.

With her role on The Carrie Diaries, Ellen made a big move from Toronto to New York City. While living with her parents in Canada, she had a lot of responsibilities at home. It was hard for her to not only leave, but to start a life in a new country.

Now, the Brooklynite doesn’t want to leave, and she credits the city for giving her the confidence to be okay with acting. “New York City is just so big, everyone’s so cool,” Ellen says of her move.

The third season of The Carrie Diaries is currently up in the air, but that’s not up to the cast. They do, however, wish to come back and continue filming. “We still have more to tell and a huge story to finish,” Ellen says. In the case that the show does not come back for filming, she is already accustomed to working sporadically. She’s keeping busy writing her own material for the future.

“If you want to tell a story, there’s not one way of doing it,” she says, smiling. “I wanna do everything, I guess.” NKD

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view past issues and more at

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THE PLAYLIST (MINDY WHITE OF STATES)

“Come a Little Closer” - Cage The Elephant

“Instant Crush” - Daft Punk ft. Julian Casablancas

“Love Me Again” - John Newman

“Epiphany” - Christette Michele

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tiffany houghton Words by JACKIE BUI Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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“I think an album cheapens a song,” says rising country music star Tiffany Houghton., “Tthe thing about my songwriting is that each song has an honest story, [it comes from] my journal. I want my songs to each have a life of their own and I feel like putting them out as a single with a video with a concept and a story is going to let each song have the life that they deserve.”

In this upcoming year, rising country singersongwriter Tiffany Houghton plans to release new music — but not an album. Rather, she will release each song as an individual single. “It keeps people engaged knowing that I’m putting [out] music, not all at once, but giving people stuff to look forward to,” says Tiffany.

The 20-year-old Dallas native says her love for music started at a young age, when she and two neighborhood friends put on concerts. She recalls wanting to perform for the first time while listening to a Shania Twain CD in the back seat of her father’s car.

“I remember looking at the speakers and being like, ‘I want to be on the other side of that.’” Since that epiphany, Tiffany has stopped at nothing to attain her dream. Tiffany, who credits her grandma for teaching her to play the piano, spent her teenage years writing songs and booking weekend gigs for herself.

When she was 15 years old, Tiffany traveled to Nashville with her voice teacher, where they went to studios to watch musicians create music. “I learned so much just by watching at that time,” she says. “I fell in love with all of it. I was enamored and all I wanted was to move to Nashville and figure out how to be the best songwriter that I could be.” Tiffany aspires to a long-term career and looks up to songwriters like Katy Perry, Sara Bareilles, Shania Twain and Taylor Swift. “They know how to write and I was like, ‘if I’m

going to do this, I have to figure out how to write,” she says.

Determined to start her career, Tiffany graduated high school early and moved to Nashville right before her 18th birthday. The day she arrived at the country music capital, her car got broken into. “Not only did they take everything that was of monetary value, but they took my box of journals that I’ve had since I was six.” Tiffany says although she was, and still is, heartbroken about losing those journals, she knew she needed to persist.

Her parents insisted she come back to Dallas, but Tiffany had already made up her mind. “I just felt so strongly that it was exactly where I needed to be,” she says. Her parents flew up to Nashville that day and Tiffany says eventually she got back on her feet.

Being away from home for the first time to pursue her career was a struggle for Tiffany, but she recognizes the essential role Nashville played in her success.

“It was some of the hardest times I have ever been through. I proved to myself that this is what I want,” she says. “The thing that’s hard about pursuing your dreams is that people say it with a smile on their face, ‘oh pursue your dreams, it’s this beautiful, glamorous thing,’ and it’s not. It’s going to kill you. The only way it’s going to work is if you’re okay with that.”

While in Nashville, Tiffany lived the ups and downs of pursuing a career in music. She had the pleasure of meeting people who helped her hone her craft, but also had doors slammed in her face. It was in Nashville that she met her manager, Jade Driver. “I always say Jade’s my other 100 percent because you can’t just have two one hundred percents,” says Tiffany. “It’s two people giving everything. I would not be anywhere without her. She understands my vision and my appreciation for fans and the reason behind

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why I want to do what I want to do.” Jade had Tiffany spend her mornings writing songs and her afternoons connecting with her fans online on every social media platform available.

Tiffany knows that everything in her career comes back to her fans. Her goal isShe aspires to continue to make music that reflects a life that is true to who she is and influence othersher individuality. “I know that I have had role models, like Shania Twain, Katy Perry [and] Taylor Swift. I want to be a role model to people who need one,” says Tiffany. “I want to be a voice for people who need that as well.” Tiffany aspires to continue the relationships she’s built with her fans and keep growing the friendships with them.

“There have been so many days I couldn’t have done it without them,” says Tiffany. “It’s just during the low times; they’ve really pulled me through.” “I want to create a team of people that know my journey and know my story that feels like they’re friends with me,” she says. “My end goal is to be a voice for others and to be a friend.” Tiffany is thankful for the support her fans have given her. “There have been so many days I couldn’t have done it without them,” says Tiffany. “It’s just during the low times, they’ve really pulled me through.”

Tiffany recently moved from Nashville to Los Angeles when she felt she learned all that Nashville could teach her. After spending two years writing music, she now felt passionate about each and every one of her new songs. “It was a wonderful and interesting feeling realizing, ‘okay, you did what you said you wanted to do when you were 15, you went to Nashville and figured out your voice and found the backbone and the integrity of your career,’” she says.

“I had found my foundation and it came to putting it out there. L.A. is the place for that.”

For 2014, Tiffany has plans to release new music as well as embark on a high school and college tour. And with her plans to release an unprecedented 14 songs as singles with music videos, Tiffany Houghton is certainly an artist to watch for 2014. NKD

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macy kate Words by SUSAN CHENG Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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At just 16 years old, rising pop star Macy Kate has already opened for Aaron Carter, locked down a deal with Sony/ATV in partnership with YouTube, and captivated millions of viewers on the video-sharing website. Although Macy owes part of her early success to YouTube, the Florida native has accomplished much on her own, relying on her talent, confidence and the business know-how she has acquired in the past three years.

Macy’s first encounter with the entertainment industry took place when she was 13 years old, after she had auditioned for and landed a role in an all-girls performance group based in Atlanta.

“It was my first step into the music industry, and it was a bit overwhelming at first because I feel like it’s one of the hardest industries,” Macy says. “It’s just kind of crazy how things happen, so you really have to stay grounded and just be yourself and not let anyone change you, so I had to learn that.”

It was around this time Macy also competed in the 2012 Olympic trials and was about one second away from securing a spot on the swim team. She also found time to audition for reality shows like The X Factor and American Idol. Macy received a callback for The X Factor Season 2, making her the youngest contestant to advance past the initial auditions.

Macy progressed all the way through the boot camp round of the show, all the while earning praise for her talents. “I got really good feedback from the judges, so I just ended up going straight to Los Angeles and working with different producers. And that’s where I met my manager Chris Borchetta, and also Kurt Schneider,” she says.

Schneider, a videographer, musician and singer famous for his work on YouTube, has been helping Macy gain a YouTube audience by collaborating on videos with the young songstress. In March 2013, the two teamed up to produce a medley of songs by Pink. The video, which has garnered over thousands of views on Macy’s page and 2 million views on Kurt’s channel, features Kurt on the piano and Macy belting out her own soulful renditions of songs like “Sober,” “Raise Your Glass,” and “Just Give Me a Reason.”

Kurt, Macy and her band collaborated on another cover of Imagine Dragon’s “Radioactive,” which hit thousands of views on Macy’s site and 6 million views on Kurt’s in just one month.

“YouTube has been insanely amazing,” she says. “I never thought it would be this big.”

The website has also helped her win the affection of thousands of fans who now attend her shows — many of whom are teens who admire the emerging vocalist.

“A lot of teens are attracted to me and my message, which is, ‘Fall down seven, get up eight,’” Macy explains, referring to a message she writes on her hands for each of her performances. “It just means never to give up on your dreams, always stay inspired even when life gets hard, so that’s what I kind of want to portray in my songs.”

Macy, who released her own original songs “Window Seat” and “Go” in 2013, wasn’t a songwriter until about a year ago, when she began working on her own lyrics and learning from other writers.

“I mean, it’s kind of hard to pour and tell your feelings out to just a random person who you have just met, but you kind of get used to it,” she admits. “It was a little uncomfortable for me at first, and I just kind of transitioned into it.” She is currently working with a mentor, Shanna Crooks, who has written songs for the likes of Demi Lovato and Kelly Clarkson.

For Macy, it was important to develop her own style and sound — one that others have likened to Christina Aguilera’s versatile voice — and to branch out beyond YouTube.

“We’re trying to build my YouTube channel up to about 500,000 subscribers with the help of Kurt, too,” she explains. “Once we hit that, we want to release original music on YouTube.”

But she also plans to secure radio time for her original songs with the assistance of her manager Chris, who is also a radio promoter.

“I have been pretty consistent with YouTube, but I think there’s also a point where you have to kind of break away for a little bit and focus on more of the songwriting side and stuff,” she says. “You do have to incorporate both … so it’s kind of hard to branch out into each one, but I think with the help of YouTube, the originals will come.”

Macy even has her own app, The Macy Kate App, which can be purchased on iTunes and features her original songs, videos and photos — an app sold to her by WhatsGoodApps LLC. “[A fan] emailed us, and he said that he wanted to create an app for me and the band … and we really liked it, so we decided to release it and make it public,” she says.

With a new year ahead of her, Macy and her band hopes to tour with Kurt or someone signed to the singer’s talent agency, Paradigm. She also plans to write more of her own original tracks and release an album. “Writing, writing, writing, tours, more performances, trying to boost my social media stuff,” she names just a few of her goals. Ultimately, the budding singer wants to perform.

“I want to headline a tour with some openers all across the country and just be in front of thousands and thousands of people every night,” she says. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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JAY Z Jan. 13, Barclays Center (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

TOM ODELL Jan. 27, Madison Square Garden (New York, N.Y.)

BILLY JOEL Jan. 27, Madison Square Garden (New York, N.Y.)

JENNETTE MCCURDY Words and Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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At only 21 years old, Jennette McCurdy has already been in the public eye for seven years, though she’s been acting for even longer. The petite blonde started her career at the ripe age of eight before landing her first major role in 2007: Sam Puckett on Nickelodeon’s iCarly. The rest is history.

I met with Jennette at a friend’s house in Los Angeles during her hiatus from filming her new Nickelodeon show, Sam & Cat – a spinoff of both iCarly and Victorious co-starring Ariana Grande. It’s chilly for California, but Jennette seems comfortable in her faded skinny jeans, a white, short-sleeved t-shirt and Converse sneakers that she has doodled all over.

Jennette may not necessarily be dressed like a stereotypical television star, but she has had quite a bit of success. In June, Sam & Cat premiered to 4.2 million viewers and was ordered for 20 additional episodes (bringing the first seasons total to 40) just one month later. But Jennette also faced tragedy this past year. In September, her mother passed away after a 17-year battle with cancer. But despite the drastic highs and lows last year, Jennette remains positive, grounded and mostly just busy.

Jennette was born in Long Beach, Cali. and grew up in a small house with her parents, three older brothers, two grandparents and three dogs. “It was never short of conversation or company,” she says. Growing up, she did everything her older brothers did and began watching shows like Saturday Night Live and movies like Saving Private Ryan at a young age. Because of that, she feels like she was exposed to a lot of good entertainment very early on, and that sparked her initial interest in acting. After watching a Star Wars film at the age of six, she turned to her mom and told her she wanted to act. Being a persistent little girl, Jennette harassed her mom for two years before her mother eventually gave in and got Jennette an agent when she was eight. “I literally harassed her,” Jennette laughs.

The early years of her career consisted mostly of indie films and guest appearances on various television shows like Law & Order, but once she got involved with Nickelodeon her life completely changed. “Most of my roles were sad, now that I think about it,” Jennette recalls.

She made a few comedic guest appearances on shows like Malcolm In The Middle, but never worked on a kids show before booking a one-episode guest role on Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101. “Even from that one episode I started to get recognized in public,” she says, “Adults won’t come up to you and ask if you were on Law & Order, but kids have no problem running up to you.” Two years after Zoey 101, a producer at Nickelodeon remembered Jennette and wanted to cast her in their new project, iCarly. “Within six months of the show airing I couldn’t leave my house without being recognized,” she says.

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pected it would get picked up and have a decent run, but she never expected it would go for 110 episodes. When the show came to an end in 2012 after five years, Jennette says she “felt an emptiness” walking away from the cast and crew. “I was very scared, to be honest,” she recalls, “We really were like a family.” Though she still sees her co-star Miranda Cosgrove three times a week, she admits it’s not the same as spending 12-hour days together every day. She relates the experience to ending high school, but was luckily able to find some comfort with Sam & Cat, which has the same crew as iCarly.

When iCarly wrapped production, Jennette had no idea Sam & Cat would soon be in the works. She had heard that Nickelodeon wanted to develop a show for her a year before iCarly ended, but tried not to take the rumor too seriously. “Until you actually go and shoot something, nothing is for sure. That’s my mentality,” she says. When she was first approached with the idea of Sam & Cat, she didn’t like the idea of playing Sam Puckett again. “I did not want to play Sam anymore – I was over it. I’m sarcastic and blunt enough in real life that I wanted to do something different,” she admits. She starts to say executive producer, Dan Schneider, convinced her that the project would be great, but cuts herself off. “I think really I just knew he was the boss,” she laughs. Jennette was critical of the first few scripts, but eventually realized Sam & Cat had its own voice. “I’ve come to terms with it,” she jokes. It’s a good thing, too, considering a 40 episode season is a huge commitment.

But as much as she is enjoying her time playing Sam, she’s ready to try something different. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have that itch,” she says. Even just the process of auditioning for new projects excites her because she always wants to challenge herself. At the same time, she likes the comfort that comes with knowing she still has a job if she isn’t cast elsewhere. “Having your own show is a crazy thing in itself, and I’m extremely happy about that and that it’s been successful,” she says. Though there’s no word on a second season yet, Jennette feels that she and Ariana won’t be able to convincingly play teenagers for much longer.

“I’m open to more episodes, but I’m planning as if they’re not happening,” she says.

While filming Sam & Cat consumes most of Jennette’s time, she does make an effort to make time for her other passions – Jennette also loves music. “In a professional way, music is on the back burner for me,” she explains.

During the iCarly days, Jennette had a career as a country singer with the help of Capitol Records. She released a few EPs and a full-length record, and had some success on country radio, but ultimately the path wasn’t for her. “It sort of fell into my lap – Capitol Records heard a twang in my voice in some covers I posted,” she explains. During that time she had to move to Nashville and spend a lot of NKDMAG.COM

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time on the road and neither of those things were for her.

She missed her friends and family in California and wasn’t able to focus on acting at all.

After ending her professional relationship with Capitol Records, she also stopped posting covers because she felt that there was too much pressure for her to do music in general. Though Jennette isn’t opposed to pursuing music again in the future, she won’t unless the timing feels right.

“I was really burnt out on music for a while,” Jennette admits. She continued working on songs in the comfort of her own home, and just recently began posting cover videos on YouTube again – which have been extremely well-received by fans. “I don’t want to take it to seriously though, because I feel like it’s really easy to cross the line of doing something fun in your bedroom to being stressed out about a career,” she explains.

Jennette is interested in is writing. Lately, she’s been working on stand-up but hasn’t gotten the nerve to perform it anywhere – though that is one of her goals for 2014. In addition, she’s been writing essays, a screenplay and comedy sketches. “For me, writing is therapeutic. I can’t even compare it to anything else,” she explains. Jennette will sit at her computer and write for three hours, though sometimes she needs to force herself to. But after 40 minutes or so she reaches a point she describes as “the wall a runner goes through and can’t stop after.” As long as she can remember she’s been a writer – even completed a 115 page screenplay at the age of ten. She admits that it was terrible, but just finishing it was an accomplishment on its own. For Jennette, it doesn’t matter if her words are “good” or not - writing has been her go-to way to express herself – there are no limits or restrictions. Through her writing, she’s been able to become more in-touch with her emotions, which helps her to portray more emotion in her acting.

When Sam & Cat eventually comes to a close, Jennette has a few goals: get a staff writing job, perform stand-up and act on a network comedy. Though she has incredible connection with the Nickelodeon team, she definitely wants to expand in the future. But it’s not that easy for Jennette – she’s the face of the channel and out of all of Nickelodeon’s currents stars, she’s been with them for the longest. “It’s puts a lot of pressure on me,” she explains.

Her face is associated with the channel and the brand, and completely breaking away from that into more mature territory is not going to be an easy task. “I feel more pressure from the network than the kids watching it,” she expands.

She recognizes that with the help of the Internet and social media, kids are more advanced than they were a few years ago. “There’s nothing they haven’t seen, and the things that they’ll do or say are far beyond what I would myself,” she says. Though regardless of her ties with Nickelodeon, Jennette doesn’t think she’d be doing anything all that 42

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scandalous even if her fanbase was a little older. Jennette was brought up in a religious household and because of that has certain standards for herself. She believes the way she was raised is a key component of the art she creates, whether it’d be writing, acting or music. “My brothers and I have all grown up in various ways, but our family has stuck together and that’s all you can hope for, really,” she says. While some of the things she posts online (such as a crude but funny tweet or a semi-provocative photo on Instagram) may not directly reflect her fostering, her family has never stopped supporting her.

Social media is a huge part of both Jennette’s career and personal life. At first, she was completely overwhelmed by it and only used Twitter. “I didn’t understand why I couldn’t just post a picture to Twitter and be done with it. I didn’t see the point of having Facebook and Instagram in addition to Twitter,” she says. She has since realized that there is a place for each and now utilizes all three, in addition to Vine, and keeps them all separate.

Her Vine account is strictly for comedic posts, and she never posts about any of her endorsements on that network. Twitter is also for comedy, but is also her #1 source for sharing important information or spreading links.

Instagram is her least used site and mostly just consists of photos of her and her friends, whereas Facebook is what she uses most. It is filled with generic posts, photos and videos that she shares for her 8.3 million followers. “If you

have a certain type of career, you have to use social media,” Jennette explains. She notes that actresses like Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence don’t need Twitter accounts simply because of the level of their careers and the projects they are associated with. But for Jennette, it’s vital. “I feel like it’s a way for people to connect with you and also make you stand out,” she explains. In a world where actors may not get cast in a role because someone else who auditioned has more Twitter followers, social media can be that extra push for a casting director.

My time with Jennette is running out, as she has to get to an audition across town – something a little more adult than her past projects, though she can’t share many details. She’ll be filming Sam & Cat through April, but after that she’s really not sure. “In this career, you have so little say in what happens,” she explains. If Sam & Cat ends after one season, she’s going to spend some time focusing on herself instead of her career. “I’m luckily in a position where if something new doesn’t come right away I don’t need to worry about a paycheck for a little while, so I can do something I really want to do, like taking weird classes or going strange places,” she says. For seven years she’s felt comfort in playing Sam Puckett, and for the first time in a long time she knows she may not have that security for much longer, and that’s okay for her. “Whatever happens, I’m going to embrace it,” she says as she gathers her things, ready to move onto the next thing. NKD

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the history of May 2005 Glamour Kills was born in my parents upstate basement. No investors, no business plan. Just a pizza delivery driver who freelanced design for bands in his spare time.

June 2008 Glamour Kills joins the Vans Warped Tour as its official summer camp vacation every year. Solidifying our place amongst our peers for this summer long vacation, if you want to call it that. In 2010 we had a GK stage and every year we focus on bringing fun and new experiences between bands and fans, such as meet and greets and the Warped Dodgeball Competition.

May 2006 Bamboozle Festival. The first year at the Meadowlands - sold out of everything we brought and even sold the hoodies off our backs. It was surreal. The first time I thought GK could be my career and for life.

November 2008 Glamour Kills opens it first office/store in Beacon, N.Y. The youngins in All Time Low played the kick off celebration party. Whole town of Beacon shut down.

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June 2009 Zumiez begins carrying Glamour Kills and Glamour Kills eventually becomes one of the top brands in Zumiez stores nationwide.

February 2010 Glamour Kills accepts and comes to terms with its love for cats and opens up product inside of Urban Outfitters, Tilly’s and more.

November 2008 Glamour Kills kicks off its first annual Glamour Kills tour. Headliners in the past have included All Time Low, The Wonder Years, Mayday Parade and more.

January 2011 Mark Capicotto is named innovator of the year by Alternative Press magazine for his involvement in the punk community and overall participation in the music scene.

glamour kills

with creator and designer, Marky Capicotto

February 2011 GK opens up its first West Coast warehouse and relocates its home office to N.Y.C. GK also becomes an internationally sold brand.

July 2012 Glamour Kills holds its first annual Dodgeball Competition with bands from Warped Tour in Philadelphia, Penn. I Call Fives crush the competition and win first place.

November 2011 Glamour Kills hosts its first pop-up shop in SoHo with performances from Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low, Craig Owens, The Ready Set, The Summer Set, The Swellers, Koji, Hot Rod Circuit, White Wives and Beast Make Bomb, plus a special appearance from Jack Barakat of All Time Low.

May 2013 Glamour Kills hosts The Greatest Generation pop-up shop in Philadelphia with support of The Wonder Years’ album of the same name.

June 2013 Create Destroy Rebuild is launched, which is GK’s first ever mens only line It is built for like-minded individuals with punk ethos.

May 2013 GK opens up warehouse & distribution in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Augsut 2013 Glamour Kills hosts it’s first aample sale in Irvine, Cali.

November 2012 GK releases its first ever Glamour Kills Annual Zine, which highlights intimate stories and looks into the lives of touring bands from the punk culture and scene.

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watercolor

Words by SHINA PATEL Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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When Connor Montgomery was first introduced to the idea of working with Acacia Brinley, he really didn’t know what to think except that it was a chance for him to do what he loved: play drums and make music. With Connor on drums and Acacia on vocals, all that seemed to be missing was a guitarist. Luckily, Connor knew Brixton North; the two boys had played in bands together since the seventh grade. Together, these three individuals become WaterColor, a fresh new band based out of Los Angeles.

Even before their paths crossed, all three members of WaterColor were already on their own musical journeys. Connor comes from a family of musicians and has been playing the drums since a young age. For Brixton, music became a passion at an early age. “In the third grade I saw a Green Day music video and decided I wanted to be them,” he says. He learned to play the guitar and has been playing in different bands since middle school. As for Acacia, her musical story stems from her brother, who was a singer in a musical group that performed at festivals and carnivals. About three years ago, Acacia decided she wanted to join the same group. She admits that she was not a naturally gifted vocalist,but she “really, really, really wanted to be a singer” and worked hard at it.

They released their first single “Stick Around” as a band on Jan. 3. The song had an outstanding response, as it landed the number 29 spot on the overall iTunes chart and number 15 on the Pop chart. The response to the song was far beyond what any of them expected.

“We didn’t even expect to get on the charts but to even break the top 20 was mind blowing,” Brixton says.

When Acacia first wrote the song, she knew it had to be the first single she would release with the band. It was catchy and the style of music was a good start for the band. “It wasn’t too poppy where it was annoying, in a way,” she says. Brixton and Connor think that “Stick Around” was a great first single choice because they love playing it live. “For me, it had more of a heavier drum feel to it, so I thought it was cool in that sense,” Connor says. Brixton appreciates that there are portions of the song that allow him to go all out on his guitar and just wail. “That’s one thing I really like about that

genre [pop music], it sounds really good live,” he says.

At the end of this month, they will be joining Hollywood Ending for a couple West Coast shows on the Freaks and Geeks tour. While the band has only released one song, they hope to have more songs finished by the end of the month so they can actually perform.

Their next step is to finish writing and to release their EP by March or April of this year.

They only recently started the writing process and are trying to figure out what their trajectory will be as they mature as a group. They have a lot of different ideas for where the band should go and what kind of sound they should work with, but overall, “We just want really strong songs that stick,” Brixton explains. Connor adds that he is a fan of pop music and wouldn’t mind if the band stuck with that genre,but Acacia says their pop music would be different. “I’m just kind of done with 15-year-old girls with pop music and talking about boyfriends and dance clubs and stuff,” she remarks, “So I wanted a band that changes things. Make real music.

Talk about real subjects with really good tracks, not some techno beats.”

They draw inspiration from all across the board.

Acacia says that lyrically she admires Mayday Parade because of the complexity in meaning that their songs hold. Brixton contends that he listens to alternative R&B, which is different from the style WaterColor plays. While he wants to continue using pop music as a means of grabbing attention, Brixton wants to incorporate meaningful lyrics. Pop music, he believes, successfully captures an audience’s attention because it is so catchy and gets stuck in fans’ head. Connor adds that recently he has been listening to and drawing inspiration from Justin Bieber’s new album. “I love Bieber,” he proudly states.

Although they recently wrote a song about a breakup, they still think their songs have more depth. But in today’s music world where pop dominates the music scene, it’s hard to make a song stand out. They want to create tunes that are relatable because they think that’s what makes the music stick. “If I listen to a song and I don’t relate to it, it’s not going to be one of my favorites,” Acacia says. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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ONCE UPON A TIME Words by STEPHANIE PETIT Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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Most college students spend their winter break lounging around their parents’ home, enjoying a month or so relatively free from responsibility.

The three members of pop-rock band Once Upon A Time spent their time performing with Action Item and Paradise Fears in New Jersey as well as a sold-out headlining show in their hometown in Arizona.

While speaking to frontman Andrew Long the day after the sold out show, he still seems overwhelmed by the support they received and excited to be reunited with his band mates, guitarist Jamie DiCarlo and pianist Connor Schnepf, who attend school in Arizona while Andrew goes to a college in St. Louis, Mo. “There’s a little bit of a long-distance relationship going on there, which has definitely been the toughest thing for us,” Andrew says.

Since their formation in summer of 2011, the band’s greatest hardship has been working around everyone’s schedules while they are in college. Andrew met guitarist Jamie in musical theater when they did a show called “Honk,” based on “The Ugly Duckling” story. Andrew played the ugly duckling and Jamie was his father. They realized they had a similar taste in music and decided to form a band. Once Upon A Time started as a six-piece group, but as members went away to college or realized they only wanted to pursue music as a hobby, Andrew and Jamie met their current keyboardist and became a trio.

They’ve spent the last year and a half touring with bands like Allstar Weekend and released their second EP, Wrong Feels Right, on Dec. 2, 2013. The EP broke into the top 100 on the iTunes Pop charts in a matter of hours.

“We’re actually very happy with it because we finished it back in August, and it was the first time we’ve ever walked out of the studio and been like, ‘Wow, we just did exactly what we set out to do for this set of songs,’” Andrew says. “We were really excited about it, and it was tough not being able to put that out for a couple months. But the reaction has been so good.”

Compared to their first EP, Andrew says the second is a little less mature and more fun. “We realized we’re three young guys, and we like playing fun music,” he says. “It’s more fun for us, it’s more fun for the fans in general, so we wanted to write music that was more upbeat but still carried some lyrical substance to it. I think we found a really good balance that I’m really proud of.”

After recently playing the new music live for the first time, Andrew is happy to say the more upbeat songs translate to an energetic live show.

“We’re a band that’s always kind of built ourselves around our live show,” he explains. “That’s what we pride ourselves on and that’s our main goal to make sure that when kids come out, whether they’ve heard of us and they’re there for us or whether they’re there to see another band and they’re just at

the show and catch our set by accident, we want to make sure that they walk away and had a good time at our show.”

Allstar Weekend gave Once Upon A Time a taste of performing on a tour and in front of a large audience during the All The Way tour in 2012. Andrew credits the tour with providing the band with an eye-opening experience and helping to form their original fanbase.

“The biggest thing for us was that it kept us hungry, if you will, to reach higher goals and always want more and keep setting new goals as we progress as a band,” Andrew recalls.

Although Once Upon A Time is working without a label, Andrew says they do not know what would happen if they receive an offer. They enjoy the freedom of releasing the music they choose. However, the downside of being independent is the financial burden.

“I don’t think people who aren’t involved in music realize how truly expensive it is to be in a band,” Andrew says. “You’re looking at several thousand dollars per member for all of the equipment. Plus, if you want good songs, you’re looking at a couple thousand dollars per song there.”

One way the band accumulated funds was through a Kickstarter campaign that raised $2,307, exceeding their $1,500 goal, towards their second EP. “The fans were absolutely incredible with that Kickstarter,” Andrew says. “It was a surprise because we had not been as active on social media and were kind of regrouping and writing that new album, so that was awesome for us.”

Otherwise, they’ve been earning money the same way as other teenagers — working part-time jobs during breaks from school. Andrew and Jamie worked 60 hours a week each at a local movie theater in Phoenix this past semester.

“I think we kept each other sane at that job,” Andrew admits. “Not the hardest job, so that’s the good news.”

They will likely record again in 2014, and Andrew says he is constantly writing new material.

“It’s one of those things that I’ve done since I was in high school,” Andrew explains. “It’s a way that I express my feelings.”

This year, the band will travel more than ever before. Once Upon A Time plan to take their new songs on the road during a summer tour and hope to earn an opening spot on a major national tour.

Until then, Andrew will focus on completing his last semester of college and earning a degree in accounting. Although Andrew has sacrificed sleep and his social life while balancing music and school, he recognizes value of both.

“I’ll admit, band stuff probably takes a higher priority than it should,” he concedes. “I knew that I wanted to finish school and continue this band, so having both of those things be very important to me drove me to make sure I make them both work.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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JANOSKIANS

Words by CHRISTINE O’DEA Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Self-made YouTube icons, Janoskians, have come a long way in a handful of industries. From stunts and pranks in videos to live music and entertainment performances, these Australian teenagers have been featured on MTV, worked with Sony, traveled the world performing and filming their videos, and gained millions of YouTube subscribers.

NKD: How did Janoskians get started?

Luke Brooks: Basically we just like to make short videos and we didn’t intentionally plan to blow up out of nowhere. Me and my brothers like to make short films and we went to school with James [Yammouni], who is a friend of Daniel [Sahyoune]. They got involved early and we’ve stuck around since.

What inspired you to start making funny online videos?

Beau Brooks: We just wanted to make our friends laugh and we enjoyed doing it as well. We never expected a fan base from it.

Jai Brooks: Yeah, we didn’t do it with the intentions of getting fans and all that stuff — we just did it to have a laugh at school and have it as an inside joke and it randomly just popped off.

At what point did it become more than just an inside joke? When did it really start to take off?

Beau: November 4, 2011. It went kind of viral. We uploaded a video, and MTV and Sony saw that we had a large gathering of girls because we did a meet and greet at Luna Park, Melbourne.

We expected 200 people and we got 6,000 people which was nuts. So Sony and MTV saw, and they signed us.

James Yammouni: After that first meet and greet all these media outlets started calling our family trying to get in contact with us. That was the first time we took a step back and thought, “Wow, how is this happening? It’s just YouTube!”

How old were you guys as this was happening?

Beau: Ranging from 15 to 18.

When did the move to Los Angeles happen?

James: It was about 4 to 5 months ago.

Luke: We’ve been going back and forth between L.A. all year but we finally settled in August.

Why was that?

Luke: We got some plans and stuff we’re working on here. There are bigger opportunities up here in entertainment. Everyone goes to L.A. if they want to make it big. But our management is here — that’s a big part of why we came here.

Once you moved out here, what are some of the opportunities you’ve gotten that wouldn’t have gotten had you stayed in Australia?

Jai: Just leaving the country — I’d never left the country. So we got to see a lot of countries that we wouldn’t have had the chance to see.

James: America is so different on the news and TV and movies than Australia. And when you come here and see the actual lifestyle, and how the countries and how people act themselves it’s so cool and so different.

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Do you guys feel like you fit into California lifestyle now that you’ve been here a couple months?

Beau: We all make our own fun. It’s fun to watch other artists and see how serious they are and look at us and seeing how fun and stupid we are. I guess that’s why our fans like us as well because we’re not always all serious.

James: When we go places, we make it our own and don’t mold ourselves to theirthe California lifestyle.

Luke: We’re definitely outcasts. and well and everyone Everyone knows it — , including us.

Jai: Even in our gym, everyone hates us.

James: Some guy comes up to us yesterday and started eyeing us just for swearing — called it profanity!

James: We never use that word in Australia and we’re trying to convince him we don’t know what the word is and he’s getting more angry thinking we’re just being smart asses.

You guys went on tour earlier this year. What was that like?

James: Massive adrenaline rush. We had to do like 25 cities in something ridiculous — like, 30 days. The whole thing was just a flash and an adrenaline rush. It was so good going around the world and meeting new people and seeing how they live.

Beau: And it’s crazy to see what we had in Melbourne become so popular. People are traveling around just to see us. They’re flying four hours just to see us.

What’s the difference for you guys between performing live and making videos?

Beau: They’re both pretty fun. It’s just us five boys having fun.

James: But at the same time we don’t really look at it as a job.

When did you realize that maybe this could be a career?

Beau: It was definitely after our meet and greets. Living in Melbourne you don’t really see that kind of stuff a lot — screaming girls. When we saw that and all the news and media outlets and people wanting to get to know us, we thought, “Let’s just show them more.” That’s why we’re continuing this.

Beau: We started that shit!

Luke: We heard someday we can make a massive movie or something — that’d be cool.

Beau: And releasing more music because that makes everyone happy.

What was the logic behind going on tour because like you said, not many YouTubers had done that?

James: We wanted to bring out YouTube videos to life on stage so that way everyone can go back home excited. First of all, we visited places we had never been before. That means they haven’t seen us in person through meet and greets or performances. So it’s just exciting to go there and meet new people, but then to bring out our YouTube videos like it’s real life on stage.

Beau: We just wanted to show our YouTube stuff as art on stage.

Luke: People have been asking and teasing us about what we are going to do but we just want to entertain the fuck out of them. That was our goal.

When did the music come into everything?

Beau: It was after the meet and greet at Luna Park. Sony Australia wanted to sign us. It was almost two years ago — April 2012.

What do you guys want to do with music?

Jai: We have no fuckin’ idea.

James: Just have fun with it. Make the most of our opportunities. If we just have fun, the good memories will come.

Luke: We just wanna be like…serious musicians.

Are you planning another tour in the future?

Beau: Yeah, our plan is to go on another world tour — bigger, better, more places, more seats.

What are some of your goals?

Luke: Just to get the most out of it as much as we can. Make memories and make people laugh and smile.

What is something you all hope to accomplish with this group?

Jai: Lifetime memories.

Beau: Always be friends, never forget who we really are, cause that’s what’s the most important. And to put smiles on people’s faces.

Luke: To become better people and mature as young adults.

Daniel: Bring on the laughs and make people happy.

Do you have plans to expand off of YouTube at this point?

Jai: Yeah we already have with MTV and Sony.

James: And doing the tour. No YouTubers really do that — it was pretty new. No one really knew what to expect.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Beau: Cheers for reading, thank you so much. There’s much more to come so keep tuning in to Janoskians and subscribe to our YouTube channel fuckers!

James: Thanks for all the support! NKD

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february essen TWISTED

RETURNS: FEB. 11

Twisted’s midseason finale left fans begging for more and when the ABC Family drama starring Avan Jogia returns this month, hopefully all questions are answered. But they probably won’t be.

Ugh.

WEIRD KIDS (WE ARE THE IN CROWD) RELEASE DATE: FEB. 18

After years of waiting for new music from We Are The In Crowd, fans are finally getting what they’ve been asking for. Weird Kids shows extreme growth for WATIC and listeners are sure to enjoy it!

WELCOME TO YESTERDAY RELEASE DATE: FEB. 28

The latest film from producer Michael Bay, Welcome To Yesterday, stars a group of young newcomers who discover the secrets of time travel, and it’s really, really awesome.

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THE OUTSIDERS (ERIC CHURCH) RELEASE DATE: FEB. 11

At press time, Eric Church had released two songs off of The Outsiders: “The Outsiders” and “Give Me Back My Hometown.” The two country jams are drastically different and fans cannot stop buzzing about either! The full album is diverse collection and after the success of Church’s single “Springsteen.” is bound to sell well.

ntials MUSIC SPEAKS (CANDICE GLOVER) RELEASE DATE: FEB. 18

After winning American Idol in May, R&B singer Candice Glover’s debut album has been long anticipated. Finally, nine months later, Music Speaks is being released and is filled with powerful vocals and lyrics.

GREY’S ANATOMY RELEASE DATE: FEB. 27

Grey’s Anatomy’s midseason finale left viewers questioning everything!

Will April choose Jackson or Michael? Why was the president calling Derek?

Are Meredith and Christina going to make up?

Seriously, what is going on here? After ten seasons it’s incredibly impressive that the drama is still up to par, and with Ellen Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey contracted in for two more seasons, it doesn’t look like it’ll be stopping anytime soon... Thank God.

DATE AND SWITCH RELEASE DATE: FEB. 14

This coming of age story mixed in with a coming out story, Date and Switch might be the perfect rom-com for V-Day.

SALUTE (LITTLE MIX) RELEASE DATE: FEB. 4

Dubbed the “girl One Direction” by bloggers and tweeters alike, Little Mix prove they are just as talented as 1D, but have a unique sound all their own.

Their first record, DNA (2013) was impressive, but the girls really found their footing with Salute.

VAMPIRE ACADEMY RELEASE DATE: FEB. 7

Zoey Deutch and her all-star cast are making vampires cool again with Vampire Academy.

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LUCAS GRABEEL Words by TARA DEVINCENZO Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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Anthony is Meg Griffin’s boyfriend who charms his way onto Lois Griffin’s radar. Toby Kennish is a talented musician who has a dangerous knack for poker. Ethan Dalloway is the son of a notorious villain who changes his ways when he falls for the heroine of Halloweentown. Yet Lucas Grabeel is the force behind all of the above.

It seems there has always been an element of diversity to Lucas’ creativity. He describes himself as an “artsy” kid.

Growing up in Missouri in, Lucas was accustomed to dirt roads and country music. In a family of “country folk,” meant he spent a lot of time singing and a lot of time in the car. His passion for harmonizing with his family on car trips quickly evolved into learning to sing opera. However, Wwhen he tried his hand at his first musical it all came together to bring him a moment of realization. This love for acting inspired him to take a leap of faith and move to Hollywood.

He didn’t commit himself to life in show business right away. Instead, he flew out to see how he would like it a year before graduating high school. On this trip, Lucas got noticed not for his talents, but for his look. While standing in a line for a smoothie, a stranger approached him and told him he looked like an actor. “Long story short, he became my manager,” Lucas says.

Lucas finished up high school in Missouri and immediately returned to Los Angeles. He caught a lucky break early on and landed a few commercial spots, but his career really took off when he got a shot with Disney.

Lucas played Ethan “The Warlock” Dalloway on the Disney Channel Original, Halloweentown High. With his foot in the door at the Disney Channel, Lucas’ acting career was off the ground but not far enough to leave his job at Blockbuster Video. Yet with Halloweentown on the shelf, Disney fans began to recognize him at work. “It was a very humbling experience,” he says. “Surprise, not every actor is a millionaire.”

When Lucas booked High School Musical, things started getting crazy for him. The movie was nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. Despite the mainstream public-

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ity and throngs of new fans, he began to feel the itch to branch out. During the High School Musical craze, he landed roles in indie films such as Virginia, the TV series Smallville and began recording some of his own music.

By the time High School Musical 2 went into production, Lucas had released his hit song “You Got It.” The track was featured in the movie’s soundtrack, which charted as the third best-selling album of 2007.

Seven years later, Lucas has released his next single “135n8,” which will appear on his latest EP Sunshine. The song, he says, is meant to explore the chaos in all of us. “I always try to write something that I would always like to hear in a movie,” he says.

With the video already in mind, Lucas teamed up with choreographers he had met from High School Musical who wanted to try something different from the Disney channel mold. “We wanted to get creative and work outside the confines of a box. That was kind of the catalyst of writing a song,” he says.

It’s not only Lucas’ new song that brought him out of his Disney reputation. His biggest contract to date came three years ago when he was cast in ABC Family’s hit show Switched at Birth. The show’s subject matter touches on very intense topics that attract an audience much different than High School Musical. The family of Lucas’ character, Toby Kennish, learns that his sister was switched at birth with another baby. His biological sister lost her hearing as an infant and grew up in a poor neighborhood. The show tells the story of the two families uncovering the truth and working to bring their households together.

Lucas sees the show as different from anything done by any other network. Coming from the innocence of a high school drama, Switched at Birth is a more intense and much-welcomed role for Lucas. His character struggles with gambling addiction and the temptation of making easy money by manufacturing fake IDs. However, the show goes beyond the drama of a troubled individual, and hits deeper topics that are rarely explored on television. “We’ve opened up people to deaf culture,” he says. “We deal with

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a lot of different issues that not a lot of shows on any network is doing,” Switched at Birth was only the second pilot script offered to Lucas. He read it and felt immediately connected to the character. However, he admits to not be choosy with his roles. “A lot of my philosophy has been you do the job and then you do the next job,” he says.

Lucas is currently in the third year of his five-year contract with the show. It’s been the biggest change in his life yet. He has a steady paycheck and a parking spot on set to make it feel like home for the four months of the year they are filming. He only has a two month break in between seasons to spend time at home. “I liked moving around and traveling but after a while it did get hard,” he says. “At the same time, I realize that it’s an amazing problem to have. Working a lot is never a bad thing.”

He still gets recognized for his role in High School Musical, but finds that the target audience for Switched at Birth — college aged girls — are more reluctant to admit they’re fans of his latest show. “I think because of the name [ABC] Family people don’t think it’s supposed to be edgy,” he says, “but it’s made for those kind of people.”

Despite playing an edgier character, Lucas feels himself as an actor is still very much as reserved as his 19-year-old self on Disney Channel.

He has gotten a chance to loosen up from the hard topics on ABC Family with a few comedy spots during his months off from filming. He voiced a character named Anthony on a 2010 episode of Family Guy, Justin Bieber on Cartoon Network’s Robot Chicken, and a Disney Junior show called Sheriff Callie’s Wild West. His free time is focused more on opportunity seeking than relaxation.

In the ten years since he began HSM to his role as Toby, heLucas has new projects lining up one after another, big or small. He seems to have struck a perfect balance between success and fame. Instead of mobs of crazed fans, he meets people who tell him he was part of their childhood.

Rather than having to desperately to work toward a music career, he has the luxury of keeping it a hobby. Though acting is his main focus, Lucas has carved out space for himself to stay busy, creative and active in all of his interests. “I feel like I’ve lived so much more life in 29 years than most people do,” he says. “I’m pretty fortunate.” NKD

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ron pope Words by TARA DEVINCENZO Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

“Music used to be my hobby, now it’s my favorite thing in the world.” Growing up in Georgia, Ron Pope played guitar and wrote music, but never considered it a career path. He entered college as a baseball player. However, when injuries forced him to put down the bat and glove for good, Ron rechanneled his energy into his guitar.

He transferred to New York University and began working with the other songwriters he met there. “It was my moment of ‘this is what I want to do with my life,’” he says.

At NYU, he met a group of like-minded musicians that formed into his band, The District. “It kind of just evolved,” he says. The District started off with Ron as their lead singer, playing songs he had written.

Ron was writing three to five songs a week, recording them in his bedroom and adding piano to his skillset by the time he graduated from school. As he began to experiment and develop his music, the songs began to drift away from The District’s style. As his personal songbook grew, Ron decided to release his homemade recordings for free online, separate from the material released as The District.

And just like that, Ron Pope’s solo career was born.

In 2007, Ron’s pop/rock sound began receiving attention from blogs and record labels. He was briefly signed to the record label Universal Republic, but ended decided to release, produce, and record everything himself.

He compiled his solo tracks into a 10-track feature called The Bedroom Demos in 2008, which he released on MySpace and iTunes.

“Since very early in my career I’ve wanted to do whatever I could to help myself because you never know if you’re going to find other people to help you,” Ron says.

With a little help from music sharing sites like Spotify, Ron’s independent spirit and work ethic have lead him to play to enormous crowds all over the world. A recent performance at a Swedish festival maxed out at 10,000 fans. Ron says they knew the lyrics to all of his songs.

Since Ron is the brain behind his entire operation, he has full control over his own publicity. As a result, he has made a point to meet his fans and get direct feedback from his shows. “It’s partly about your experience with the artist but also with the community,” he says.

In late 2012, Ron went to Paris for two months and locked himself in an apartment to write his new album. He considered his prior album, Atlanta, as more “rootsy,” so he wanted to grow from that base. Ron knew he wanted to write something different from what he already had, but didn’t know exactly what it would be until he wrote the song “Silver Spoon.” The song features a working class male character talking to a girl from a privileged background. From that song, spun the narrative and title of his newest album, Calling off the Dogs. The album follows the story of these two inNKDMAG.COM

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dividuals who meet, fall in love, and ends with the last moment they see each other.

As each song plays, listeners are meant to experience different sonic realms that correspond with a wide spectrum of emotions. He used everything from woodwind instruments to electronic production. Ron worked with friends spanning from members of The District to orchestral and electronic musicians. By reaching out beyond his comfort zone, Ron has produced something completely innovative.

This intense approach required much more of him than his previous recording sessions. Compared to Atlanta, which was made in five days, Ron says Calling off the Dogs called for a month of recording time. “I spent more time in the studio working on this album than I have the whole rest of my career combined,” he says.

“This is something that I wanted to be excited about and I made myself really stoked. I couldn’t sleep making this record. I would come home from the studio and it would be late and I’d be exhausted but I’d be bouncing off the walls.”

He compares his new album to rock albums like Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon with its strong conceptual theme, but also draws parallels with country music, as each song has a story. “I wanted to make sure that each song served a narrative,” he NKD says, “and if it did that’s all I care about.” Ultimately, sound levels out somewhere between pop and rock.

“Right now I’m stoked about it and I don’t want to shift my focus,” he says. “I don’t know when I’ll figure out the next thing or how I’ll do it. Maybe I’ll call Diplo and make a dance record.”

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