NKD Mag - Issue #33 (March 2014)

COVER STORY Triple threat, Zendaya, on her killer career 44

EDITORIAL 14 Artist Write-In: Luck in the music industry 26 Op-Ed: Mike Ziemer 27 Playlist: Acacia Clark 54 Fashion: Sugar & Spice 74 March Essentials

FILM 4

Disney’s latest dreamboat Luke Benward dishes on growing up on set

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Baby Daddy’s Jean-Luc Bilodeau on parenting and Los Angeles

28 Rowan Blanchard, star of Girl Meets World, meets Hollywood 32 Switched at Birth star Vanessa Marano discusses her lack of routine 66 Leon Thomas transitions from the screen to the soundtrack 70 Teen chef, Reed Alexander, explains how it all got started

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TEAM NKD Editors: Isabelle Chapman Jordan Melendrez Jenna Ross Noah Tavlin

Photographer: Writers: Catherine Powell Jackie Bui Susan Cheng Designer: Tara DeVincenzo Catherine Powell Alex Lane

Stacy Magallon Christine O’Dea Shina Patel Stephanie Petit Catherine Powell

MU SI C 16 Hot Chelle Rae prepares to release their new album 22 Hip-hop group Air Dubai on their life-changing year 56 Dustin Lynch talks paying his dues and finding success 62 American Idol’s James Durbin shares about his struggles and family

PHOTOS 38 Live Photos: Little Mix, Emblem3, Panic! at the Disco 64 Photo Special: The Summer Set at PACE NKDMAG.COM

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luke benward Words by SUSAN CHENG Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Despite landing his first acting gig early in his childhood, 18-year-old Luke Benward never thought of acting as his career until two or three years ago. For most of his life, Luke treated acting as just another activity, along with playing various sports and maintaining a close relationship with his tight-knit family. After playing leading roles in a number of Disney Channel Original Movies, Luke has now set his sights on honing his craft and even winning an Oscar one day.

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Born in Franklin, Tenn. to a musician father and an actress mother, Luke would accompany his mother to her auditions when he was a kid. Luke has since locked down a number of roles, beginning with a role alongside Mel Gibson. He landed the part at age five, after hearing about it through his mother’s agent.

“I went, I didn’t know how to read, and I didn’t know any of the lines, so I just said the pledge of allegiance. I ended up doing the movie and met my agent there,” Luke says, recalling his audition for the 2002 war film We Were Soldiers.

Even though he got his break at a young age, Luke maintained a relatively normal childhood — attending public school and playing football. Luke’s selectivity in choosing what roles he auditioned for also ensured he had time for school and other hobbies. “I was always encouraged that acting was kind of an extracurricular alongside football and school, so it allowed me to be a child and have friends,” he says. “[Acting] was honestly like playing a sport. Instead of playing basketball or something, I acted.

It’s not an extracurricular activity most kids do, but it was kind of how it was looked at for me.”

As a child, Luke did not have to sacrifice academics and his social life for acting. In 2012, however, he moved with his family to Los Angeles for two TV shows Luke had shot during pilot season.

Neither shows were picked up for a full season. “I’d heard so many times about how excited [the producers] were for it to be on air, so that kind of got me ready,” he says, recalling he and the producers’ shared excitement for beginning a new project.

Yet even with the cancellation of his two projects, Luke remained optimistic about moving to L.A. “When neither of them worked, I was like, ‘Well, I still want to go,’” he explains. “My family sold our house. It’s great, and we love it.

I’ve been able to work, and my dad’s a musician, so he kind of made all the connections he could in Nashville, and now we’re in L.A.” Luke’s athleticism prepared him to play the lead role of a skilled snowboarder, Will Cloud, in the 2014 Disney Channel Original Movie Cloud 9. Will has been branded a failure after nearly

dying from a move he attempts, and must attempt to rebuild his career.

Playing Will proved difficult for Luke, who says the Disney film was one of the hardest shoots he’s ever done because of the harsh weather in Park City, Utah.

“During the winter, it was freezing.

Especially during night shoots — they were especially cold with the wind chill on the mountains, so that was pretty brutal,” he says. “We went through a lot of hand warmers and big jackets.” Nevertheless, Luke is satisfied with the work he’s done with the cast. “Looking back, we all bonded together, and we made a great movie, in my opinion. It makes it all the sweeter to see the finished product.”

Luke was also required to train at snowboarding camp for a week and half.

However, for Luke and his co-star Mike Manning, who had both snowboarded before, training felt more like vacation than work. That, and the fact that a little movie magic meant they didn’t have to learn to perform any death-defying stunts. “Say I’m supposed to be standing on the board, but it’s off screen. Then I don’t have to have the board on my feet,” Luke explains. Actually riding the snow and performing the tricks, however, helps Luke to get more in character. “I always prefer to [do] it because it puts me in that imaginary circumstance and gives me more to play off of.”

Likewise, the cold helped Luke focus on his role. “Personally, I would say the conditions helped me, whether it was the cold or the snow or having to wear a helmet. I always use the circumstances I’m in to feel the emotion of the scene.”

By the time filming wrapped up, Luke had grown pretty close to his character. “I really like the character of Will because he’s multidimensional. He’s got many different desires and motivations for what he’s doing. For a character that’s been through so much, he’s strong,” Luke says. “I also love the relationship he has with his mom. You can really tell they’re buds, and he really takes care of her. It’s very much the same with my mom, who is actually in the movie.”

Luke’s real-life mother, Kenda, also makes an appearance in Cloud 9 as the mother of his character’s love interest. Working with his mother, who has

been his acting coach since he was five, felt like old times — except now they’re colleagues. “It’s nice that we’re at a point now where I’m an adult, and she’s an adult,” he says. “She’s still my mentor, but we’re kind of peers now.”

With a family who motivates him in both acting and his other interests, Luke has always reciprocated the support to his younger siblings. When Luke isn’t on set, for instance, he cheers on his sisters at their dance competitions. “My parents are extremely supportive, so I honestly don’t think I’d be where I am without my parents,” he says. “They keep me grounded, humble, and in reality, so I definitely don’t think I’d be who I am without them.”

Luke recently wrapped up shooting the first and only season of Ravenswood, ABC Family’s spin-off of Pretty Little Liars. In the season finale on Feb. 4, viewers find out Luke’s character Dillon Sanders is the show’s antagonist who murdered his on-screen girlfriend’s father — an unusually dark twist for a show affiliated with Disney.

“I definitely think they are pushing the envelope with the themes of this show, and I definitely think it’s darker than anything they’ve ever done before … I’m proud of it,” Luke says.

Despite its cancellation after just one season, Luke is right to be proud. Ravenswood premiered with 2.12 million viewers last October, making it the network’s TV premiere with the highest number of female viewers between ages 18-34 to date. For Luke, it also presented him with a different type of role to play.

“It’s nice to finally play the bad guy,” Luke says. “I actually kind of played my first dream character in the Field of Lost Shoes, which was a civil war character. I want to play everything — from psycho killers to drug addicts to all of the above, really anything that comes to my head.”

Beyond expanding his repertoire, Luke, like many actors, also hopes to one day win an Academy Award. “I think that’s most actor’s goals,” he says. “I just want to make art, and I want to make art that makes people think and impacts people. I feel like God’s given me a gift for a reason, and I want to use that gift to his glory. Whatever that looks like, that’s what I want to do.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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jean-luc bilodeau Words by CHRISTINE O’DEA Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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For someone who does not consider himself a “Los Angeles actor kindof-person,” 23-year-old Jean-Luc Bilodeau seems destined for fame.

You might have seen him years ago on Kyle XY or 16 Wishes on Disney Channel, or currently as the lead on the successful ABC Family original series Baby Daddy, now wrapping up its third season.

Jean-Luc, born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, never expected to act for a living. Sports, the outdoors and playing the drums were — and still are — his passions. But when a young Jean-Luc made his family laugh with his impressions of Jim Carrey characters like Ace Ventura, his mother found him a talent agent.

The next three or four years were spent auditioning and working on commercials and small roles, followed by independent films and soon, Kyle XY. The series lasted three seasons.

“I credit [Kyle XY] for 90% of what I know now,” Jean-Luc says. “I honestly wouldn’t change a thing if I could.”

Jean-Luc didn’t have a typical childhood, attending school in trailers on film sets and shooting episodes of TV shows instead of sitting in a classroom. He would go to a school every few weeks just to pick up homework assignments. “I used to walk in with my regular clothes on while everyone else was in uniforms. I’d pick up my stuff and leave to go back to set,” he says laughing.

Jean-Luc never felt as though he fit in the private school mold. He is, however, a big fan of trailer school and on-set schooling. He grew up attending public schools until high school when his parents sent him to a private catholic school. He never felt in sync with the more rigorous private school vibe. Jean-Luc confesses to playing video games while his teacher wasn’t watching and even cheating on his exams. He

feels more comfortable when there are fewer rules — not just in school, but at work, too.

Similar to the way he felt hesitant to attend private school, Jean-Luc unexpectedly found himself in the entertainment industry. In the latter case, however, he found he fit like a glove in the roles he received. Now, Jean-Luc is grateful for the flexibility he finds in his work and lifestyle, even though it was not what he expected to be doing for a career.

“I’ve been very lucky and fortunate to have this career go so well so far, but I don’t claim it like I was bred to do this,” he says. The multi-talented Canadian has fallback career ideas if he were to move on from the acting business. “It’s a luxury being on a popular television show. I think it’s a good career opportunity for me and I’ll do everything I can to go farther in it, but this whole L.A. scene isn’t really who I am as a person.”

Jean-Luc first moved to L.A. with his girlfriend from Vancouver. For a year, he was a homebody who watched movies and hung out at their apartment. It was not until he found roommates on Craigslist that he felt more settled into the southern California lifestyle. The difference in lifestyle and atmosphere Jean-Luc found between California and Canada made him feel even more different and separated from people in the city.

“I dodge the douchebags pretty well, and I can see through people really easily. That has kept me from falling into a bad crowd of fake people, which I think is pretty easy to do out here,” he says. Jean-Luc says the difference between Canada and California is evident when it comes to weather and sports, but especially people.

“A lot of people out here are trying to grab the same exact thing, and that’s fame or celebrity. It’s easy

to fall into a group of people that don’t really want to be friends with you, but just want to make something off of you. I’ve done pretty well dodging that since I’ve been out here.”

Jean-Luc takes pride in always being genuine and never pretending to be someone he’s not. Jean-Luc’s rule of thumb: “I am always nice, but I don’t associate with people who I feel are not being genuine. If I see someone doing something that I couldn’t take myself seriously doing, then they’re not being genuine.”

His relaxed upbringing and family-focused childhood played a significant role in the way Jean-Luc makes decisions and determines what is important to him. He does what he loves, and he does it for himself — no questions asked. JeanLuc believes this to be a fundamental difference between his acting career and others’ acting careers.

While he became an actor because he thought it would be fun and rewarding, some others act for the fame. Now, he feels like he doesn’t belong in L.A., a place where he has found that people act both on and off camera.

Part of the reason Jean-Luc doesn’t feel that acting is his scene is because of this environment. He prefers to stick to his Canadian background. Jean-Luc’s best childhood memories are from lakes, forests and atop snowy mountains — places he doesn’t feel are the same in California. He describes Vancouver’s incredible balance of summer with winter and all of the outdoor activities made possible by the changing of the seasons.

For Jean-Luc, staying active in Canada meant pond hockey and snowboarding, while in L.A. it means hiking. He frequents Griffith Park and Runyon Canyon, but still prefers the Canadian outdoors. “I love California but I wouldn’t raise a NKDMAG.COM

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family here,” he says. Starting a family may not be in Jean-Luc’s immediate future, but it’s central to the life of his latest small-screen role.

As the star of the television series Baby Daddy, where Jean-Luc plays Ben, a twenty-something who gets stuck with a baby as a result of a one-night stand, Jean-Luc often finds himself thinking about the life his character leads. “I got the script and Ben is me.” He explains, “I know who he is and I am him sometimes.”

Because the show was on the same network as Kyle XY, Jean-Luc was already familiar with the talented team behind the series, so it took little convincing for Jean-Luc to accept the role.

Jean-Luc has a personal bond with Ben. “I feel like Ben has developed me as a person,” he says. “Until the first episode, I had never picked up a baby before — ever, ever, ever.

So it was like, ‘Here, have a TV show and here’s a baby!’” he says, laughing. Jean-Luc has come a long way from his first day on set, having never held a baby in his life, to three seasons later, understanding the pressures and hardships that young parents face. “I developed this whole fathering nature through my own journey as Ben. I was figuring it out along with him,” he explains.

Baby Daddy casts babies, usually twins, to play the role of Emma, the surprise baby girl left on Ben’s doorstep. The series follows Ben who, with the help of his friends and family, navigates the challenges and adventures he encounters on this unexpected journey.

“I think I would have done the same exact thing [Ben] did. Like Ben, I have a support structure,” Jean-Luc says. Jean-Luc holds strong family values, and grew up close to his parents, grandparents and sister.

Working with babies was a new experience that Jean-Luc did not expect to have so soon, but he contin-

ues to find that the acting career he didn’t exactly sign up for has some tricks up its sleeve.

Marriage and children are far down the road, but Jean-Luc feels confident he will one day make a great baby daddy. But for now, the on-screen dad is hoping for the renewal of Baby Daddy’s fourth season.

Like his character Ben, Jean-Luc seems as though he is discovering that perhaps a new lifestyle can result from unexpected decisions.

Jean-Luc does not quite feel as though he is destined for fame and the multi-talented Canadian has many other fallbacks if he were to move on from the acting business.

On the show, Ben is a father and a flair bartender — a bartender practice involving bottle and bar tool tricks, juggling, etc. Jean-Luc jokes about a back-up career as a flair bartending babysitter. “I could start Cocktail Daycare, Inc. I will flair bartend milk bottles for the kids.

Moms would love it!” he says.

If his next career move is not as a flair bartender/babysitter, JeanLuc hopes to attend film school to become an episodic director. He wonders if he was meant to stand behind the camera, rather than in front of it. “I’d like to be remembered as a director over anything else,” he says. In his short-term plan, Jean-Luc would also like to play the comedic relief on a drama. “You’re not the lead, and you get to be the funny guy so that’s my dream job for sure,” he says.

At the end of the day, what matters to Jean-Luc is that he continues to do what is important to him. There is something about the talented actor that says the world hasn’t seen the best of him yet.

Whether it’s in the film, TV, sports or any unrelated industry, expect to be impressed by Jean-Luc in all of his future endeavors.

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ASK THE ARTIST HOW IMPORTANT IS LUCK IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY?

BRANDON WHALEN (MY BODY SINGS ELECTRIC)

ELWOOD KUDDLES (KILLING KUDDLES)

Luck is good to have within any profession, but it is extremely important in one that is so objective.

I think success in the music business always looks Bands can practice everyday until they are the tightlike luck to people who are not in the trenches fight- est band in the world and they still might not be ing every day to make a career happen. Though it lucky enough to catch anybody’s attention. Catching looks like “luck” on the outside, in reality success is the people’s attention is half the battle then they still a combination of determination, years of practice, have to be lucky enough to make a connection with good taste, a great attitude and incredibly hard work. the band to separate them from all the other bands There may be a little bit of a “right-place-right-time” doing the exact same thing factor when you look at the business overall, but at the end of the day our society is pretty good at detecting the bullshit. You don’t get very far without being some combination of hard working, talented, interesting, engaging, likable or hate-able. As for My Body Sings Electric? We focus on creating our own luck. You’re a lot more likely to be in the “right place I personally believe that luck doesn’t exist in the muat the right time” if you are playing packed shows, sic industry. It is when opportunity & preparation planning great tours and putting out a ton of quality come together at a perfect time. There are certain content -- music videos, podcasts, records, intersituations that might implicate some sort of luck, but views, press etc.

I call it fate or destiny.

RYAN HOWELL (FAREWELL, MY LOVE)

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CHRIS KAMRADA (THERE FOR TOMORROW/ DILLON DEVOE (MIME GAME) SLEEPWAVE) I think that for a lot of musicians, luck is a crutch.

I believe that luck has almost nothing to do with being successful in the music business. Everyone’s career began with hard work & a certain level of focus. Some will succeed quicker than others (if at all) & that’s all about timing. Good timing still won’t come without working hard & having the dedication/desire for lifestyle within the music industry.the interim while you’re wishing for a miracle and go create your own.

CODY CARSON (SET IT OFF) I personally don’t feel like luck is necessary, but I do see it as a short cut. You may get lucky and play a great show in front of a manager that’s looking for new acts that stopped by the show to meet a friend and land a deal with him. Or you work really hard until your accomplishments speak for themselves.

Then submit to someone and hope they accept to work with you. There’s no formula for success in the music industry. We all have taken different avenues and our decisions and circumstances led us to where we are. Luck sure doesn’t hurt to have on your side though!

AARON MELZER (SECRETS) I wouldn’t call it luck as much as I would call it timing. Some bands come along with the perfect sound at the perfect time, just what music lovers need to hear. Other bands put out amazing records and grind it out for years before catching their break.

Timing is everything.

Some aspiring artists allow themselves to be disillusioned very early by these seemingly “overnight” successes and for the most part, none of them really even happen that way. The careers of the managers and label personnel and artist and the myriad of other individuals involved in “breaking” a project have been long-spanning and full of twists and turns that possibly saw their resolve shattered and their hearts faint. The only things that will get you by in this music industry, and in life, are: persistence; focus of vision; the ability to socialize and compromise without diminishing your own voice and your own truths; and a positive attitude. Luck may find you here and there as you go and the opportunities that it presents should be fostered and cherished, but if your goal is a lifetime-long, loving relationship with your own musical career, the best move would be to take responsibility for what it is that you can do in the interim while you’re wishing for a miracle and go create your own.

VIC CHAN (THE NEW CLASSIC) For someone who has been hacking away for the better part of a decade in multiple different genres of music, my opinion definitely reflects that luck plays a huge part of being in the music industry.

I’ve seen kids get things handed to them on a silver platter and the greatest of song writers and musicians get the short end of the stick day in and day out. As Justin Beck from Glassjaw once said, ‘’The music industry is the most poorly run, most unfair industry in the world.’’ In a way I can agree with that statement. Not to take anything away from actual talented artists but I do agree that luck/who you know is extremely important in this industry.

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hot chelle rae Words and Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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In a world where full-length albums are becoming obsolete and one single can make or break an artist’s career, it’s easy to become a one-hit wonder.

When Hot Chelle Rae’s double platinum “Tonight Tonight” shot up the Billboard charts in the summer of 2011, listeners unfamiliar with the band assumed Hot Chelle Rae would fall into that trap. In reality, the Nashville-bred group had been working their butts off since 2005 and scored another platinum song by the end of the year with “I Like It Like That.” Now, after almost three years of touring around the globe, Hot Chelle Rae are finally finished with their follow-up to Whatever (2011) and are preparing for another busy year.

I meet with the band a few days after the release of their new single “Don’t Say Goodnight” — just a couple of hours before they fly back to Los Angeles. The guys — Ryan Follesé (vocals), Nash Overstreet (guitar) and Jamie Follesé (drums) — are in good spirits thanks to the positive response to the new song. In the two years since we last spoke a lot has happened. Hot Chelle Rae made their way around the world a few times, touring with artists like Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato and Cher Lloyd. The spent their few days between shows writing songs for their next album, and they only took six weeks off at the end of 2013 to record in the studio.

The band originally planned to stop touring last spring and step into the studio earlier in the year, but the universe had other plans. “We got the offer for the Justin Bieber tour and couldn’t turn down an opportunity that big,” Ryan says. While the tour was huge exposure for the band and gave them a chance to test new material, it did set them back a few months in terms of releasing new songs. Luckily, their fans understand why it’s taking so long. “We lay it out for

them,” Nash explains, “We say, ‘Would you rather us cancel shows to record an album, or would you rather us play the scheduled shows before finishing the album?’” More often than not, fans choose the latter. After getting fans hopes up by constantly promising new music “soon,” they’ve abandoned that word from their vocabulary.

For some bands, writing on the road can be near impossible. For Hot Chelle Rae, it is necessary. “The way I picture it is when you walk onto the bus, you’re walking into a completely different world,” Jamie says. The guys are often demoing out ideas in their back lounge on off days, but when they only have one day off it can be challenging to switch gears so quickly. They’ve written great songs on a during their downtime, but they believe they wrote some of their best material while they were taking their six-week break from playing shows. “You can get completely into one vibe,” Nash says. But there are some exceptions: “Tonight Tonight,” which was recorded just hours before a show one night. The guys have no preference when it comes to writing, as long as it feels natural to them. “If a song is over thought, you’re almost over it when it’s done even if it’s a great song,” Nash says.

“Don’t Say Goodnight” only took 90 minutes to write and lay down vocals, though Nash admits a lot of Red Bull was involved that day.

After gaining so muchfinding success with Whatever, it would be natural for Hot Chelle Rae to feel pressure going into their next record. But the band didn’t feel any different, because at the end of the day their goal is to write great songs. “In a non-negative way, I feel like we haven’t done something good enough,” Nash says. They recognize their achievements from these past few years, but always strive to out-do

themselves. While “Tonight Tonight” and “I Like It Like That” proved to be huge turning points for the band, it took a while for them to understand the full weight of their achievements. “Because it was such a slow build, it didn’t feel to us like it looked from the outside,” Jamie explains. For the trio, there was no specific moment when they realized their songs were accumulating a fan base, but they do cite getting their first tour bus as a huge achievement.

When Hot Chelle Rae’s career started to progress, they decided to move from Nashville to Los Angeles. The move affected their songwriting in the sense that they were writing much more than they had been in Tennessee. “Every time we were off tour we would be flying out to L.A. to write, so it just made sense to eliminate a flight,” Nash explains. While they feel there is definitely a more supportive music community in Nashville, the opportunities available for them in Los Angeles were worth a change of scenery.

Relocating wasn’t the only change Hot Chelle Rae experienced recently: founding member and bassist Ian Keaggy left the band this past fall. It was a longtime coming, but the band still considers Ian their best friend and supports everything he’s doing now. “Ian told us it was a possibility a few months before it actually happened,” Nash explains. Ian didn’t want to leave the band hanging and finished out a few remaining tours before officially stepping down in October. “It was shocking when he initially told us, but by the time he actually left we had all come to terms with it,” Nash says. In terms of workflow, Ian’s departure hasn’t altered the group much because the remaining members recognize that as fun as being in a band is, it is a job, and they continue to work at their careers. Ryan and Nash have al-

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ways written music and recorded in the studio together, so going back in didn’t feel unnatural to them. They recognize that a presence was missing, but they didn’t let it influence the final product.

While the record is completed, an official release date and name have yet to be determined, but it will be out in 2014. Since the group is constantly writing, it’s difficult for them to know when to stop and release music. “We had to literally be told that we were done by multiple people,” Nash says. They have over 30 songs recorded, but Ryan is still hesitant to say that it is completely finished. “I wrote a new chorus last night. It could turn into a new song!” he jokes. After six weeks in the studio, they recognized the songs that really stood out and are beginning narrow down their final selection.

One of the songs that stood out is “Don’t Say Goodnight.” The band knew almost immediately that this song would start off the album cycle for the next record: It is the first song they have written that gets stuck in their head, and they know it will do the same to others. Jamie’s strategy for picking singles is simple: listen to the same handful of songs for three weeks straight and whichever one he still doesn’t hate is probably good. “Jamie plays out songs more than anyone you will ever meet in your life,” Ryan says.

As they continue to iron out the details of their upcoming record, Hot Chelle Rae are planning their touring schedule for 2014 and hope to be back out on the road by spring or summer.

They’ll be shooting an official music video for “Don’t Say Goodnight” in the coming weeks and playing various radio shows around the country. It may have been a slow rise for Hot Chelle Rae, but at this point they’re on overdrive and ready to put all their energy into the release of this new album. They’re focusing all their attention on “Don’t Say Goodnight” and doing everything they can to make it successful. “We’re making sure we’re dotting every ‘I’ and crossing every ‘T’, and once we can do that and breathe we’ll figure out the rest,” Ryan says. Something tells me I don’t need to wish them luck. NKD 20

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AIR DUBAI Words by STEPHANIE PETIT Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Since being signed to Hopeless Records in late 2012, things have really picked up for Air Dubai, a six-piece band from Denver, Colorado. Combining genres like hip-hop and alternative rock creates a unique sound that defies genre and energetic live performances.

The band, comprised of Julian Thomas (vocals), Jon Shockness (vocals), Lawrence Grivich (guitar), Michael Ray (keyboards/synth), Taylor Tait (bass), and Nick Spreigl (drums), are touring and recently announced they will be on the lineup for Warped Tour 2014.

How did Air Dubai get together?

Julian: It started with Jon and me in high school. I was 16, he was 18. We were in a group of four, Air Dubai, came off of it and tried to do a little bit of a side project. It got a little bit of attention and then Nick [Spreigl] came in — I’m still not clear how that actually happened. Nick just popped up.

Jon: We had a lot of music on MySpace back in the day — this was 2007 and 2008. He heard the music and he was like, ‘It would be cool if we could turn this into a live thing.’

Nick: Alright, but I wasn’t just creeping on you guys! I met you and I liked your band. I was in another band and Jon was hired as a rapper, to do some rap and stuff. So Jon and I didn’t really like it and we started talking about how we liked hip-hop and then he told me about all this stuff. He told me about Air Dubai and then your stuff, and I listened to all of it and I was like, ‘Air Dubai is dope. Let’s make that a band.’

How did the idea of rapping with the band form?

Julian: I don’t think we ever thought about it.

Nick: I feel like at first we were trying to be a regular hip-hop backing band and it just evolved naturally from there.

It’s weird, it wasn’t a conscious thing.

We weren’t trying to be different — we just are different. We’re six random people that probably wouldn’t know each other unless this band happened.

Is it a different kind of music than what is out there now. How does that help you and how does that hold you back?

Michael: I think it’s hard for people to put us in a genre, which definitely holds us back in terms of marketing, but I feel like that’s also a strength so it goes both ways.

Jon: I think we can appeal to a lot of people, which is a good thing, but when it comes down to the general world of marketing, they don’t really know where to stick us so we have to make our own name.

Nick: Sometimes the freaks of nature come out, like Lady Gaga, that’s like cabaret and pop — two things that shouldn’t go together, but it was the next [big] thing.

How long were you a band before you found your footing and found a place for your music?

Julian: We’re still figuring it out. We really don’t know.

Jon: We play with bands that are a little closer to us and bands that we probably shouldn’t have toured with them. We still go out and do what we do and I think some people like it, no matter where we’re at.

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When did Hopeless Records get involved?

Julian: Maybe three years, maybe three and a half into it. Something like that.

Nick: It was like late 2012 — we started like early 2009.

Jon: That’s why they signed us too. We weren’t anything like their other artists. Maybe like an experiment, maybe a mistake.

Were they the only label after you at the time?

Nick: No, but yeah. It’s not like labels were popping off left and right, but we had a couple. One of them came in and criticized us and another one would have another thing to say. Another just flaked out completely. Then this one actually stuck with it so we went with them on the advice of our team and everyone’s belief that it would be a good idea.

What was appealing to you about Hopeless Records?

Julian: I think we liked their passion for the band. They’re younger. The label’s a lot younger, only like 20 years old now.

The dudes are younger there.

Jon: The big thing for me was when we were on the conference call with our A&R and he was fan boying by talking to us. I was like, alright.

Nick: They weren’t going to try to change us and make us try to fit into a genre. They just wanted to build the band and help Air Dubai be Air Dubai.

Jon: We also heard a lot of horror stories about what happened to bands on major labels. For me, it was nice to be approached by an indie label.

Since signing, what has been the best thing to happen?

Julian: All the touring. We were on the road 201 days last year. We’ve definitely crossed the country many a time, which has been great.

Had you guys been touring much before that?

Michael: A little bit — little runs.

Nothing cross-country.

Jon: It was a take what you can get thing. We’d play a show in New York, then the next show would be in Texas 24

so we’d have to drive and then the next show would be in New York.

Julian: Somebody organized tours for us, which was nice. We have a plan, a little less crazy.

making hits, but they’re a little bit more on the Top 40-ish side without sounding like Top 40 songs. They’re a little more pop than the other ones we did with Dwight.

What about music — what are you working on now?

Julian: We just finished our full length.

Michael: We went into the studio so we have music. I don’t know where in the process of talking about it we are, but we have music ready to go.

Julian: Currently being mixed, coming out soon.

What does it mean to you to write a hit? How do you go about that?

Nick: I think we react really negatively to that. I don’t know if there’s ever a formula for making hits. For me at least, it makes me a little uncomfortable. I think the best thing to do as an artist is to just write what feels good to you. As a band, we listen to a lot of music. We listen to popular stuff and we listen to stuff that might not be so out in the open, but I think we have an ear for what’s popular so I think that helps. But you can’t go into any situation saying, ‘This is going to be a hit.’

Who did you record with and where?

Julian: We started the recording in Austin, Tex. with a producer named Dwight A. Baker and this latest one, we wrapped up with Collin Monroe out in Los Angeles. Two totally different styles of producing so that was fun for us, just to get that experience.

Nick: Collin has a dope resume so I feel like that got me really excited to record with him.

Jon: He’s worked with Drake and Kendrick [Lamar] and Dwight has worked with Kelly Clarkson and the Plain White T’s. He does their albums. Completely different styles.

How did working with two very different producers affect the final product?

Jon: Honestly, it was all stuff that we created — they just put their little taste on it. Dwight surprisingly is really good at what we do, like hip-hop music, even though his roster probably would not show it.

So what’s different with these songs than music you’ve released previously?

Nick: Most of the songs have been done for a year and a half, but the ones we did with Collin were done at its time so like a month or so ago. I feel like when you have a label overseeing you, they put hits in your mind like, ‘Make hits, make hits, make hits.’ So I feel like the ones that we did with Collin were a little more on that train. Obviously not at all the way, we wouldn’t be comfortable with just

Who influenced these new songs?

Jon: That’s impossible.

Julian: I personally just write from what I hear the song to be. I don’t think it’s coming from any sort of artist or anything like that. What feels good for me, writing lyrics and telling a story, that’s kind of what I’m influenced by more so than a sound, a genre or a person.

Nick: You have to let it occur naturally rather than focus it on what we want it to sound like.

Jon: Just let it evolve.

Nick: We all pull from a lot of influences individually so it’s kind of such a melting pot for any given individual. We’re into drastically different stuff.

What is the writing process like between the six of you?

Jon: It’s very collaborative. It has been changing, it has been evolving. Being on tour has forced us to flesh out ideas differently so now they’re more beat based where Lawrence will create an entire song almost and we’ll go back and revisit it as a band. Some of the parts will stay or Nick will change up a drum part or I might like a synth part and keep it in there. They’re definitely more fully fleshed ideas than they were in the past.

In the past we would get in a room and fuck around.

Do you feel like you have more concrete ideas for songs and what you want them to sound like now?

Jon: Yeah. We’re getting more comfortable with the song writing process and we’re getting more comfortable with just saying what we want to say as opposed to trying to be something. I feel like the stuff that we had done previously, even a year and a half ago that has yet to be released, I feel like a lot of that stuff was trying to be somebody else. The newer stuff is more just us — what we like.

Do you think your songs have one specific message that you’re trying to get across?

Michael: I don’t think we’ve been a “message” band. We kind of came up with bands that were like, ‘Be positive and support freedom!’ and stuff like that. I think

early on we decided we didn’t want to be one of those. To me, they feel a little gimmicky, to have this message that you’re trying to drive into people’s heads. After a while, someone might get sick of hearing the same thing over and over again. We definitely have themes that come up a lot in our music but as far a particular message, I don’t think so.

Nick: Have a good time.

Jon: Julian’s lyrics in particular are a lot darker sometimes, but I feel like you go to an Air Dubai show and you’re still having fun and dancing. It’s not like super emotional or anguishing or brooding.

What are some short-term and longterm goals for the band?

Nick: Put out a full-length album.

Jon: This might be a personal one, but I’d like to go overseas by the end of the year, which I think is very tangible.

And the album will be out in 2014? Do you have a ballpark date?

Jon: Yes. Late spring, early summer.

Julian: Graduation season. Plan out your grad party.

Does that mean a single is coming out soon?

Nick: I certainly hope so.

Besides Warped Tour, what else is on your agenda for the year?

Michael: We have another tour with K. Flay coming up with March, pretty much right after this one.

Nick: It’s like the West side version of this.

Julian: The album and then Warped Tour. Then after that, who knows? NKD NKDMAG.COM

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WRITE-IN | Mike Ziemer of south by so what? e

When I was growing up in Huntington Beach, California, I would always look forward to when the surf competitions would come to town. I didn’t really care to watch the surfing — I lived there and could do that any time I wanted to. I cared about the musicians and skateboarders that came to the festival to perform. I remember seeing this band called Time Spent Driving that I had never heard of before and I fell in love and bought both their CDs. After moving to Texas I learned about Warped Tour, which was the perfect mix of extreme sports and bands for me. I would spend most of Warped Tour watching up-and-coming bands I had never heard of along with the bands I, of course, HAD to see like AFI, Alkaline Trio, New Found Glory, and others. My experiences at these events set the tone for how I wanted to run my own festivals.

Fast forward to 2008 — I’m sitting in my apartment in the suburbs of Dallas trying to put together what will become the first South By So What?! Music Festival. The word “festival to me has always meant lots of bands, multiple stages, different genres, and lots of people having a good time. So I spent some money on headliners, added on the mid level up-and-coming bands and then mixed in some hard working and talented local acts. The goal of doing this was to get people to come out for not only the headliners, but also the variety of bands and the amount of bands they can see for a low ticket price. Would you pay $30 - $60 to go to a festival filled with all bands you had seen before? Maybe, maybe not. Would you pay that to see all bands you had never seen before? Most likely not. But when you have a mix of the headliner bands you’re familiar with, upcoming bands you’re excited about, and new bands you will be hearing for the first time, you’re going to spend the money and have a good time. Festivals are a chance to embrace the familiar and explore the unknown when it comes to music. Some of my current favorite acts such as The Neighbourhood, AWOLNATION, and Cage The Elephant are all bands I saw at a festival for the first time.

This mix of the familiar and the new is exactly what we try to accomplish with South By So What?! and what we feel we are known for. We’ve had bands like Asking Alexandria, Memphis May Fire, We Came As Romans and many others start out as the opening bands and work their way up to headlining and main support slots over the years. If your band impresses people at our festival, the fans will demand we book you again. That brings me to my last point — a festival becomes important because it is what the fans want. For us, we talk to everyone that comes to our shows, we run our own social media and we keep our eyes and ears wide open for what the people that support our shows and keep us going want. Suggestions like Northlane, The Story So Far, Neck Deep, We Butter The Bread With Butter, G-Eazy and others over the last year or so have resulted in huge plays for these bands with huge crowds.

The job of a music festival is to keep large bands relevant, acknowledge the growth of medium sized bands and introduce new up-and-coming bands. If you can do this properly, people will appreciate it and support you. You will become an important festival, a destination event and something to look forward to year after year for the fans of your event.

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THE PLAYLIST (ACACIA CLARK of WATERCOLOR)

“She Sounds So Perfect” - 5 Seconds of Summer

“Tears” - The Tragic Thrills

“Tonight You’re Perfect” - New Politics

“Ain’t It Fun” - Paramore

“Icarus” - Bastille

“She Way Out” - The 1975

“I Believe” - Basic Vacation

“Home” - American Authors

“The Torment of Existence Weighed Against The Horror Of Nonbeing” - Mayday Parade NKDMAG.COM

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rowan blanchard Words and Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

When I meet with Rowan Blanchard in Griffith Park on a slightly chilly Los Angeles morning, the carousel has just opened for the day and kids of all ages anxiously wait in line for the ride. While Rowan and I find a place to sit, she’s still just another kid at the park. Later this year, however, she’ll be a household name, when her highly anticipated series Girl Meets World premieres on the Disney Channel.

Born in Burbank, California, Rowan began showing an interest in entertainment at just 5 years old. She spent three years doing commercials before booking the role of Rebecca in Spy Kids: All the Time in the World.

Following Spy Kids, she filmed a pilot for FOX, which was not picked up.

She then decided to take a break from entertainment. “I wasn’t booking anything and I was getting frustrated,” she explains. So she went back to school full-time and put acting on hold temporarily. But when the opportunity to audition for Girl Meets World was NKDMAG.COM

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presented to her, she couldn’t say no.

A spin-off of the criticallyacclaimed 90s television series Boy Meets World, starring Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel as Cory Matthews and Topanga Lawrence respectively, Girl Meets World picks up 10 years later with Cory Matthews and Topanga Lawrence living in New York City.

Boy Meets World was a staple in teen culture from 1993-2000, and continues to have a cult following through DVDs and parody Twitter accounts. It was notable for tackling difficult issues in delicate ways and for being relatable to its general audience. The series concluded where it began — in Mr. Feeny’s classroom, as his long-time students bid him a tearful goodbye before they leave to make their own lives in the world.

In Girl Meets World, Rowan plays Cory and Topanga’s daughter, Riley Matthews. When rumors first hit the Internet about a possible spin-off, Boy Meets World fans could not have been more ecstatic. When Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel officially signed on, only one major question remained — Who would play the Cory of the new generation?

Rowan’s life changed drastically the day she signed her contract. “It’s been such an incredible ride!” Rowan exclaims. The show was officially picked up by Disney Channel in June and production began in November. “I started getting all this attention I didn’t know I could get — and the show hasn’t even aired yet,” she says.

On set, Rowan couldn’t be more comfortable. “Everything I’ve learned [about being on a set] I’ve learned from Ben and Danielle,” she says. The two have showed her the power of being gracious and understanding to everyone involved, and both have “a positive energy” that everyone feeds off of. Rowan goes to Danielle whenever she needs advice and cites Ben as her go-to when she needs a laugh.

Despite Rowan’s excitement about working on Girl Meets World, there are 30

inevitably some nerves that come with a spin-off — especially a spin-off of a show as popular as Boy Meets World.

“Girl Meets World really possesses the same heart that Boy Meets World did. Every episode of Boy Meets World was a new life lesson and they were teaching those life lessons through comedy. That’s exactly what we’re doing on Girl Meets World,” Rowan says.

The nerves she initially felt after booking the role quickly went away once she arrived on set. Right away, Ben and Danielle made sure Rowan and the rest of the kids on set, felt comfortable in the studio environment. Now the nerves have turned back into a feeling of excitement as she prepares for the show’s premiere this summer. “There’s not going to be a way to ease into it,” Rowan says of the mass of attention that will follow the series premiere.

With Disney Channel behind the series, Girl Meets World is expected to be hugely successful right away, as shows rarely get pulled from children’s networks for low ratings.

In addition to Disney Channel’s current viewers, Girl Meets World is expected to draw an older audience — the adults who grew up watching Boy Meets World. While it would be easy to simply recreate the plots of Cory’s childhood, Rowan says the new stories are completely different. “It’s a different world,” she says, chuckling a little after she catches the pun. The main difference is technology. Cell phones and social media were not a part of Cory Matthew’s world, but they’re a huge part of Riley Matthew’s middle school world. Because the show will air on Disney Channel, it can’t dive into some of the intense issues that its predecessor did, such as child abuse or underage drinking. However, it is expected to go deeper than the typical Disney show in addressing important issues, such as cyber bullying, for example. Girl Meets World will be a realistic look at the normal school and home lives of children today.

In Rowan’s reality, there’s nothing

normal about her school life. She and the other four kids on set work with two tutors and are able to complete assignments on their own time. The kids completely personalized their classroom with a celebrity inspiration wall (featuring Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Watson, among others) and a Mr. Feeny poster, paying homage to Boy Meets World. Don’t be fooled by her unconventional classroom — school still takes first priority for Rowan, and the producers accommodate that. “If I’m behind in schoolwork they’ll give me extra time to do it instead of having me on set,” she says.

Rowan dreams of attending an Ivy League school in the future, and would consider putting her acting career on hold to do so, if necessary. “If Natalie Portman can do it and still be present in the acting world, I think I could do it too,” she says.

At home, nothing has changed for Rowan. Her mom drives her to set and to various events, and Rowan’s siblings treat her the same as they always have. “I think you need people to keep you grounded if you’re going to do this,” Rowan says. After booking Girl Meets World, she quickly learned that people will try to become your friend superficially if you’re in the spotlight.

“I have three good friends that I’ve stayed close with, and those are the people I know will be there no matter what,” she says. Though she may have lost a few friends due to her new life, she made new ones on set. Her current best friend, Sabrina Carpenter, plays her character’s best friend Maya onscreen.

With only a few months left before Rowan’s face is on TV screens across the country, she’s preparing to live her teenage years with a spotlight on her.

“I think I’ve had to mature a bit faster than I would, but I think that’s a good thing,” she says. In a business that forces you to grow up, Rowan is thankful that she has great people around to help her. “I mean, Cory and Topanga are my parents! It’s perfect!” NKD

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VANESSA MARANO Words by STEPHANIE PETIT Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Nothing was going to stop actress Vanessa Marano from breaking into the entertainment industry — not even her mother.

The acting bug bit Vanessa when she was only 6 years old, but it took two years of begging before her mother, in the entertainment industry herself as a drama teacher and actress, took her to see some agents she thought would end Vanessa’s acting fantasy.

“[My mom] found these two particular agents, Wendi Green and Jennifer Millar, who had the reputation for literally just turning kids down,” Vanessa says. “She was like, ‘I want them to say no, you don’t have it and it’s over and the 8 year old’s dreams are crushed and she’ll want to be a pony the next day.’”

However, the plan failed. Even without her mom’s support or help, Vanessa read for the agents and the

agents decided to represent her.

They also wanted Vanessa’s younger sister, Laura, who didn’t even have to read for them.

“They were like, ‘She’s cute we’ll take her too,’” Vanessa says. “So [my mom] had to drive both of us around for 10 years of her life.”

While their father worked as a college professor, Vanessa’s mom continued to work as an acting coach while seeing that Vanessa NKDMAG.COM

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and Laura were able to get to their acting gigs. She would coach people wherever the girls were and as the prime time Emmy Awards consultant for HBO, all she needed was a computer, internet access, and the ability to make phone calls.

“We were lucky that she had a job where she could work anywhere, and we fortunately didn’t work at the same time,” Vanessa says.

Vanessa often had to travel or work outside her home state of California so she began home schooling during middle school.

Although at first she was against the idea of home schooling, she ended up loving it, thanks in part to having a creative teacher.

Vanessa graduated early and started taking college courses at a community college, which she continues to do.

“I knew what I wanted to do from a very young age and I knew the sacrifices I was going to have to make to do that and I was totally fine with that, but I didn’t want to sacrifice my education,” she says.

“When I’m not working I continue to take college courses just to keep learning because why not? There are so many periods of time when you’re an actor when you’re not working — you can go months. I have friends that have gone years without working so I’m like cool, I can always take a class.”

Luckily, Vanessa hasn’t had to worry about lack of work for almost three years. Three days before she turned 18, she found out she got a lead role on ABC Family’s show Switched At Birth. On the show, Vanessa’s character realizes she is not biologically related to her parents and she was mistakenly given to the wrong family at the hospital after she was born. The girl she was changed with is deaf after losing her hearing as a result 34

of bacterial meningitis when she was 3 years old.

Vanessa admits she usually tries not to get her hopes up when she lands a job because she knows how fickle the entertainment industry can be. However, she recognized there was something special about this show at the table reading.

“We were sitting in the room in front of the network hearing the words out loud and seeing people use sign language at the table read,” she says. “The reaction from the people watching the table read was amazing. Their minds were blown — breaths were taken away. In that moment, I had to step out of my cynicism for a second and be like, ‘This might be the one. This might be something that is going to be around for a very long time.’”

The show is recognized for featuring many deaf characters and actors as well as its use of American Sign Language. Vanessa praises ABC Family for taking such a risk on the show and encouraging its use.

“We have silent scenes and caption-only scenes,” she says. “I don’t know a lot of networks that would be willing to take a risk on a show like that and ABC Family was just like, ‘Bring it.’ This show wouldn’t be what it is without the support of the Deaf audience and I think ABC Family totally embraced that.”

Vanessa believes the show works because it’s about identity, and identity in the context of Deaf culture. It brings that community to light and gives Deaf men and women a show that represents their community.

Before working on the show, Vanessa had never met a Deaf person and did not know American Sign Language. In fact, she quickly found out she had been spelling her name wrong.

“You learn the alphabet in el-

ementary school and I found out I was doing an r instead of an s the whole time,” she says.

Vanessa has loved this job because it has introduced her to an entirely new community and provided her with opportunities every day to learn more about Deaf culture and lifestyle. She is also grateful to work in a fantastic work environment with the cast that she has gotten close to.

“We have a group that really enjoys what they do,” she says.

“You’re there for five days straight, 12-14 hours a day — everyone gets delirious at one point so you can either get delirious and angry or delirious and happy. Thankfully we’re with a group that chooses the latter.”

Even though it’s a steady job, Vanessa still says she doesn’t have a routine.

“One day you’re up at 6:00 a.m. working until eight o’clock at night, the next day you’re up at 1:00 p.m. working until 3:00 a.m,” she says.

“It makes it impossible to plan anything. You just have to let that go if you’re in the entertainment industry.”

The show does take short breaks of about two months in between shooting 10 episodes, so Vanessa tries to fit in some other acting gigs where she can. She’s been able to guest star on shows like Grey’s Anatomy and CSI. “Those are the greatest for people on television shows because it’s just a week or two weeks worth of work and usually it times out with our hiatus,” Vanessa says. “Those are a lifesaver for anyone who doesn’t want to go crazy waiting around for two months to work.”

Made for TV movies and independent films can also fit into her schedule, and she says ABC Family is extremely accommodating when actors work on other projects. Van-

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essa recently did an independent film called Senior Project, about students from different cliques being put together to work on their last project. A release date is not yet set — something that made Vanessa want to do that project was one of her best friends, Meaghan Martin, got a part in it.

“Our characters hate each other in the movie which was so much fun,” she says.

Outside acting, Vanessa is an ambassador for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation which works to find a cure for people suffering from paralysis and spinal cord injuries. Vanessa worked with Christopher Reeve on a television movie he directed called The Brooke Ellison Story when she was 11 years old. The movie was about a real life girl who became a quadriplegic as a child and was the first quadriplegic accepted into Harvard University. She became more involved with in the foundation though the years.

“I really felt very strongly about spreading the word about that because I don’t think people realize how close we are to [finding a cure],” she says. “As soon as that change happens, there’s no limit to what that research could do for a number of different ailments and injuries and other things affecting people on a day to day basis.”

Vanessa is happiest when she’s staying busy. Acting has been such a large part of her life, now she can’t imagine a life without a place in the industry.

“A lot of this industry has to do with right place, right time and I have been very lucky and I hope to continue to be,” she says. “I just would like to do good work whether it’s in film, television, theatre, behind the camera, wherever it is. I would just love to continue working in this industry.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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LITTLE MIX Feb. 4, The Hard Rock Cafe (New York, N.Y.)

PANIC! AT THE DISCO Feb. 4, Roseland Ballroom (New York, N.Y.)

EMBLEM3 Feb. 25, The Wellmont Theater (Montclair, N.J.)

Zendaya Words by STACY MAGALLON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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I

n the PMK BNC Entertainment office in New York City, the walls are bright and the halls are almost completely silent, until I hear heels clacking in the distance.

When actress, singer and dancer Zendaya Coleman walks into the office’s kitchen, she’s calm and poised — and very tall. Zendaya’s hair stylist pins down a small strand of her hair with hairspray while her makeup artist applies the final strokes of powder to her face. Zendaya’s dressed in high fashion — a silky golden buttondown blouse, tight patterned capris, black heels and accessories on her fingers and wrists. Zendaya’s chic style and slicked bun fits — make her stand out even during New York Fashion Week. At only 17, she has her finger on the pulse.

Zendaya introduces herself to me quietly, smiling widely when we shake hands.

As I watch her pose for the camera in the office screening room, there’s one thing about Zendaya that becomes clear: She’s a natural model. Her facial expressions and poses are serious and silly at times, but her posture and presentation are beyond her years.

When she sits down on the white leather couch in one of the conference rooms, I hand her my tape recorder and she begins telling me her life story. It’s then that I see another side to Zendaya — she’s quirky, outgoing and incredibly motivated — all of which have contributed to her success thus far in her career.

Zendaya, born in Oakland, Calif., grew up around the California

Shakespeare Theater. Her mother worked there as a stage manager since Zendaya was two years old.

It was there Zendaya first discovered her love for performance.

Once bitten by the performance bug, she then attended the Oakland School for the Arts and starred in its plays. Everyone in Zendaya’s family played music, which only inspired her further.

She began dancing in a hip-hop dance troop called Future Shock Oakland when she was eight, then moved on to small modeling gigs when she was 10. By the time she was 11, Zendaya had modeled for Macy’s and Old Navy and had appeared in several small commercials. “I wanted my career to be more than that,” she says. So she and her family moved to Los Angeles.

Within six months of moving to Los Angeles, Zendaya booked her first role on Disney Channel — at age 12 she had already gotten her big break. After shooting the pilot, the series got picked up and began filming its first season as Disney’s new sitcom, Shake It Up. The series focuses on Rocky Blue (Zendaya), CeCe Jones (Bella Thorne) and their shared dream of becoming regular performers on a local television dance show, Shake It Up, Chicago! Zendaya’s character balances her teenage life with two contrasting passions — books and dancing. The television show was a combination of both acting and dancing. The first episode of Shake It Up aired in November of 2010 and the series ran for three seasons.

Growing up and attending school on a television sound stage, Zendaya might’ve missed out on a typical high school experience, but she’s more than content with the tradeoff. “Some people get to go to prom and some people get to

go on Dancing With the Stars,” she laughs. “I think I’m good.”

Dancing With the Stars was one of the most difficult obstacles Zendaya has faced in her career thus far. She stressed over learning new choreography and could not appreciate the experience for what it was. On top of that, she had to balance her education with dancing for hours every day for months. As the youngest contestant on the show, Zendaya had some expectations to live up to. “I didn’t want to come in there as the celebrity who tried to pass by doing some little two-step,” she says.

“I wanted to learn how to be a professional dancer.” Zendaya explains that it was far easier to not know how to dance at all because it meant fewer expectations. It meant you could be funny in your performances. Instead, Zendaya struggled through physical pain from rehearsals. “Being 16 years old helps, and maybe my knees are a little bit better, but it still takes a lot out of you,” she says. Zendaya is proud of her success on Dancing With the Stars. She even discovered her knack for ballroom dancing. However, she would never complete in a similar show again.

“I didn’t go on the show to try and win,” she says. “I went on the show to experience something new.”

For Zendaya, having the spotlight on her isn’t just about getting attention. “Spotlights are put on people for a reason,” Zendaya says.

“Spotlights are used to highlight something in someone that can bring a spotlight to other people.”

Zendaya’s young fan base looks up to her for support and guidance.

She wrote a book, Between U and Me: How to Rock Your Tween Years with Style and Confidence, with her fans in mind. Zendaya feels she had a mission with her Disney Channel show: to promote a NKDMAG.COM

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positive attitude with her audience and to give them a useful guide for a difficult part of their lives. “I wanted to be a good influence on my demographic,” she says. “Their parents have told me they’re proud of me and that they want their kids to be like me.”

Zendaya’s fanshave inspired her to write a how-to book. They also make her want to work harder.

“It’s the best feeling to know that people love you wherever you are in the world,” she says. As Zendaya’s career has developed over the past three years, her fans have become closer to her through social networking sites. Based on their undying support over the years, she believes they’ll continue to follow and support her as she grows an artist.

Zendaya finds it increasingly necessary to express herself in new ways as she gets older. As a young artist, she explains, you’re initially hesitant to share your thoughts.

As a new artist breaking into the industry, you can’t disagree with most decisions made by your management team or label. For this reason, Zendaya names Beyoncé and Michael Jackson as two of her biggest inspirations. She attempts to follow in their footsteps and take a hands-on approach to her own career. “I’ve created my platform and I’ve established my identity,” she says.

From this platform, Zendaya released her self-titled debut album. She felt driven to establish her own unique sound. “If you’re a new artist, you should always try

to create your own way of music,” she says. Zendaya came into the studio with an image but wanted to refine it. She found herself slowly maturing with her music during the recording process. “Every decision was mine to make,” she says. “I found my producers, chose the artwork, songs and all the visuals that came with it.”

Zendaya was picky about which songs made the record, released on Hollywood Records in September 2013. “I only chose songs I would listen to a million times,” she says.

“If I wouldn’t listen to it a million times, who will? I needed to be in love with it.” When it came to the album’s aesthetic presenta-

talents that range from computers to martial arts. Her parents are accountants — or so she thinks.

Katy’s life change forever when she learns her parents are secret government agents. “The series is about a girl who balances two different worlds,” Zendaya says.

“It’s kind of like a spy version of Hannah Montana but catered to a demographic of older teenagers who understand what it’s like to be awkward.”

Though at first, Zendaya didn’t believe she could do the switch from her days as Rocky Blue on the same network. Yet she made the transition with ease. “I found Katy pretty easy to portray,” she says. “I really found her personality inside of me and I connected with her on more levels than one so this role is very special to me.” Zendaya finds Katy to be a great role model — a girl who embodies beauty, hard work and normalcy.

More importantly, she’s looking forward to her fans seeing her in a new light.

Zendaya is happy to tackle both the lead role and the responsibilities of a co-producer. In fact, it doesn’t add extra pressure to her already intense career. Rather, it relieves her of pressure. If she left the production in the hands of others and felt unsatisfied with its result, she would feel like she was under even more pressure. “If I have control and I can express myself, then it’s a huge weight off of my shoulders,” she says.

Zendaya finished filming her newest Disney Channel Original

“I’ve created my platform and I’ve established my identity.”

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tion, Zendaya had to fight for the perfect photo that was “cool and edgy and weird enough.” At first, not everyone on her management team favored the photo she wanted. Zendaya persisted. It took six phone calls for everyone to agree on the photo she had in mind. “If everyone hated that photo, I would take the blame,” she says. “I’ll go down with my ship.” Fortunately, she didn’t have to.

On top of having creative control of her brand, Zendaya now co-produces her new Disney Channel series, Super Awesome Katy. She stars as Katy Cooper, an intellectual but socially awkward teenager. Katy has multiple

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movie Zapped this past September.

After the season finale of Shake It Up, she felt unsure whether a new show on the network would be in the works for her. Fortunately for Zendaya, she also had the option of leaving her fans with something new to look forward to. The film follows the world of 16-year-old Zoey Stevens, a talented dancer and straight-A student who struggles in a new high school and in the new family her mother re-marries into, which happens to include a house full of annoying stepbrothers. “Zoey buys a dog training app on her smart phone and now she can control the boys around her,” Zendaya says. “But of course it blows up in her face.”

Zapped will be released in the summer of 2014.

Zendaya often finds herself taken aback by how successful her career has been thus far. Her life has changed dramatically since her first big break. But she always remembers to be thankful, which is fitting as her name means “to give thanks” in the language of the Shona people of Zimbabwe, Africa. She hopes to continue living her dreams as a performer.

“People from all walks of life are listening to me,” she says, smiling.

“They don’t know me yet they’re connecting to my music and that’s the most important thing to me.”

When our conversation wraps up, Zendaya scurries off to another direction the room. She’s taking off her high heels and discussing a new look with her stylist at the same time. Zendaya wishes me off with a hug before sneaking a peak into the wardrobe she packed along with her. She’s muttering under her breath, finding the last pieces to her next outfit. Just like that, Zendaya’s off to another interview and new experiences along the way. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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sugar spice &

Words by JACKIE BUI Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

There’s no doubt that the faces behind Sugar and Spice — Madeline Becker and KayKay Blaisdell — are best friends. Although living in different parts of the country prevented them from seeing each other for more than six months, they are still finishing each other’s sentences as they sit down at Panera to talk about themselves — 54

specifically their business.

The fashion-forward duo met at a concert in Houston, in 2009 and immediately developed a friendship — and mutual feeling that they cannot share which concert because it is too embarrassing to share. After realizing they both started fashion blogs featuring their love and appreciation of art

and fashion, they decided to collaborate. “We were kind of doing the same things, just differently,” KayKay says.

“And we were like, ‘why don’t we do it together?’” Their website juxtaposes both girls’ drastically different and eclectic styles. The name of the company is a personification of who they are as people and their own personal

styles. “I think KayKay has been Spice since she’s been out of the womb,” Madeline jokes.

“Madeline has always been the sweet girly girl,” KayKay responds.

“I’ve always just been a little bit unpredictable. Sometimes a bit questionable, but mainly unpredictable.” Madeline, of course, chimes in and finishes her co-workers sentence, “I love that you take risks though.” “That’s how you excel,” she continues. “If you stay in your little safe zone, it gets boring.”

Aside from coming together to create a platform that shows off their daily outfits and fashion inspiration, the girls started Sugar and Spice as a way to stay connected as friends, even after they moved from Texas. “[We started] Because we’re best friends, and we both lived in Texas, and we moved to go to different schools and were like, ‘what can we do to stay best friends.’ And we both love the same things like art, fashion and photography,” Madeline explains. “We figured if we put our two minds together then it would be a good way to stay connected as friends.”

They started a blog for their company on Tumblr, a small blogging platform. By just consistently posting content, Sugar and Spice gained traction and a dedicated fan following.

“We just posted content and I guess people cared,” KayKay says. “We didn’t initially make it to be anything; it was really just for us for fun.” Madeline adds.

What started as an enjoyable way for two friends to connect and keep in touch turned into a business venture, and the Sugar and Spice duo have no intention of turning back. “We didn’t do it with the idea like we could turn it into a business and that people would like it,” Madeline says. “For some reason people liked it, and it kind of opened up more opportunities and we kind of jumped on it.” Once they had established themselves on that social media site, they kept the momentum going and created accounts on Insta-

gram and Twitter. Eventually, KayKay and Madeline launched a company website and have been reeling in its success ever since. They’ve had to opportunity to partner up and work with other companies but are careful when deciding which is the best fit. “We’re advertisers, but it’s very organic,” KayKay says of collaborating with other companies. “It’s not stuff we wouldn’t wear or anything we wouldn’t like. We make it our own.”

When it comes to offers from clothing companies, KayKay says, “We try to pick things that works for us and is still true to our styles. And sometimes when we do it, we want to challenge ourselves a little.” Sugar and Spice has worked with the company Nasty Gal, an online shop that caters to both the Spicy-edgy-girl and Sugary-sweet-girl and plans to continue that partnership in the future. Because the duo is so diverse in their own styles, they want to find pieces that work for both Sugar and Spice. “We are trying to influence people and we wouldn’t want to promote something we wouldn’t wear,” Madeline says. “We want to be ourselves.” The company also plans to expand its horizons and work with larger corporations, like Nordstrom or Macy’s. Madeline says her dream would be to work with Anthropologie and Free People, both of which have a classic and feminine look to their clothes, while KayKay says she would like to touch upon cosmetics and work with Mac, which is known for its bold and dramatic looks.

A popular feature of their website includes a section titled My Room, where users can post pictures and links to various objects that can be found in a home. KayKay’s room has items that display her eclectic personality and bold sense of style, including bright red Nars lipstick several Nasty Gal dresses, record players and even a bicycle. Madeline’s room shows off the softer side of Sugar and Spice, as it is filled with fun and flirty sunglasses, natural make up palettes, several

dresses from ASOS and, like KayKay, a record player. The links lead to the store where the item can be purchased or a link to add that feature to their room as well. “We really love fashion, and we love picking stuff out,” KayKay explains. “We can’t create a store, so we thought [my room] was a way of creating a store without really creating one and kind of show people what we think are cool.”

Madeline says the future of Sugar and Spice will continue on the same trajectory, but at a faster momentum.

“We want to continue in the direction that we’re heading, but on a bigger scale,” she explains. “We each love fashion, naturally. But at the end of the day, we want to make a bigger impact.”

She elaborates, “We want to be able to connect with all kinds of people, not just girls that like clothes. We want to be able to make a positive influence and hopefully get involved in charities and make a bigger touch on the world.”

Sugar and Spice is still developing as a company, but KayKay and Madeline emphasize how they want to be known as more than just bloggers: they are artists. “We blog, but we’re a lot more than that,” says KayKay. “We’re artists. We create. We just want to create things and help people.”

The girls have goals to travel the world, style people for photo shoots and events or attend shoots themselves and release it on their website as content. A big dream of theirs is to travel to Europe, specifically Paris — the fashion capital of the world — and to be immersed in that environment.

“We see other bloggers travel around the world, and they get to interact with all different kinds of people and different cultures, and that’s something we would really like to accomplish, especially in 2014. We want to start building our business so we can travel,” KayKay says.

“We want to take over the world,” Madeline says ambitiously. KayKay, of course, chimes in and giggles, “Worldwide, Sugar and Spice go worldwide.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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Dustin Lynch

Words by STACY MAGALLON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

When country singer Dustin Lynch was a kid, he wanted to be Garth Brooks.

After performing in Madison Square Garden as the opening act for Keith Urban, I’d say he’s getting there.

Inside his dressing room, Dustin is flipping through a past issue of the magazine. The room is pretty empty but vast — fitting for a basketball team, no less Dustin, his crew and his band.

He’s dressed in a gray V-neck, jeans and looks comfortable, seated on a green chair across from me. “Dallas Smith,” he says, putting his fingertip on the page. “I helped write one of his singles.”

Although Dustin has been successful in pursuing country music — hitting a spot on the U.S. Country Billboard Chart in the process — his journey has not been simple. In fact, he almost became a surgeon.

At age four, Dustin believed in superheroes. His superhero, however, was Brooks, who inspired him to pursue country music. “He was my Spider-Man,” he says. “I would dress up and pretend I was him, and there are pictures and videos to prove it.” But Dustin’s attraction to country music was also natural. He grew up on a farm in Tullahoma, Tenn., where he rode horses, hunted fish and raced cars.

“We’re rednecks,” he jokes with a wide smile. Dustin’s mother recalls him singing in the backseat of the family’s car, often harmonizing with the hits on the radio. When she tried to get him to play the piano, he thought it was silly and refused. At that time, he preferred playing in the dirt. When Dustin was eight, his father brought a guitar home for the family. He began to learn the basics, but gave it up because the strings hurt his fingers. He began playing again when he turned 15.

While participating in middle school chorus, Dustin fell in love — not with a person, but with a feeling. His relationship with the buzz of having butterflies fueled his passion. “I fell in love with being nervous,” he says. “Enjoying the rush and the high kept me interested in music.”

When Dustin started high school, he and his friends started an Incubus 58

cover band called 15 Rain. Their musical moniker was inspired by a test one of their friends took in school. The question was number 15 and the answer was ‘rain.’ “It sounds pretty emo, right?”

Dustin laughs. He would sing his heart out night after night, covering the styling of Brandon Boyd’s alternative rock vocals, and then he would slow down their set with one country song. While Dustin’s friends were not interested in the genre, it gave him a chance to get his “twang” out there. And when they began performing, he fell in love again.

“This band got me on stage and writing songs,” Dustin says. “It was a whole other beast that I fell in love with.”

While he grew fond of turning feelings and emotions into sounds, Dustin got accepted to Lipscomb University in Nashville — a few blocks away from The Bluebird Cafe, a songwriter’s club where his longtime idol Brooks began his career. Dustin used the cafe to learn and study the craft of songwriting from the writers in Nashville, and he used it to his advantage. He rented an apartment behind the cafe’s parking lot and walked by the cafe a few times a week to observe and listen. It was the Bluebird where Dustin continued to develop a passion for the process of how a song was constructed — from the way it was written to how the finished product came about.

Dustin wasn’t old enough to get into clubs and wasn’t sure how to obtain a fake ID, but that didn’t suppress his desire to perform. Being in Nashville gave him the start he needed. He began playing for fraternity houses around the area, which helped brew his following. “I was learning how to entertain a crowd of drunk college kids, which is what we do in country music,” he says.

Down at some college bars, Dustin began learning the basics of performing.

He learned that a performer couldn’t just hop on stage and do your thing. It required not only talent, but experience.

“For me, it was playing night after night to bartenders and bar stools,” he says of learning the ropes. Dustin believes keeping tourists entertained enough to not leave during his performance is an art. In Nashville, there were other bars

with other performers trying to achieve the same goal as him.

Dustin auditioned to perform at the Bluebird’s open-mic night. After nailing the audition, the cafe’s host, Barbara Cloyd was blown away — impressed enough to help him get his foot through the door of the industry. Fortunately, one show turned into two shows. He was being booked to play for colleges without the help of a booking agent.

Shortly after that, Crescent Moon Entertainment signed him.

While Dustin was beginning to bud into a country star, he was on a premedical track at school. He worked hard in class during the day and worked for tip jars at night. “I always wanted to be a surgeon,” he says. “And a rock star.”

He graduated from Lipscomb with a 3.96 GPA, a degree in pre-med and was accepted into medical school. Though his future was laid out for him, he still felt strongly about music. His career was progressing organically over time, and breaking the news to his parents was tough. “I was going piss away my college education to play in more bars, but I knew I had to do it,” Dustin admits. But one day, while he was working in a chemical laboratory, his manager called him saying a label was interested.

Since he signed his first record deal, Dustin released his self-titled debut album in 2012 on Broken Bow Records.

He has written material with some of country music’s finest writers — Tim Nichols, Casey Beathard, Steve Bogard and Phil O’Donnell. Now, while traveling on the Light The Fuse Tour with Keith Urban, Dustin is in the midst of writing his sophomore album. Most of the work is being conducted on the back of his tour bus. Dustin compares his first album to freshman year of high school — being the new kid on the block, unsure of where you stand.

His goal with his second album is to fill it with great material that is going to make a third album possible. “I love when an artist comes out with a new album and you ask yourself, ‘How are they going to top that?’” he says. “That’s what I want to do with this album.”

With a new album came fresh ideas and moments to write about. Most of

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these moments have occurred during the past two years of Dustin’s life.

Prior to touring, he hadn’t seen much of the country with the exception of the southeast coast. “I remember driving in California and looking out and going, ‘Oh my God, this is awesome and that’s a really big tree,’” Dustin laughs. “I still can’t believe I get to travel and be paid for it.” Dustin’s lead single off the new album is called “Where It’s At.” The song, written with Zach Crowell and Matt Jenkins and produced by Mickey Jack Cones, will hit radio airwaves on March 31.

Now he has toured all over the country, shaken hands with new people and lived through a lot of experiences since releasing first album. Dustin’s inspired by landscapes and scenery and colors — all of which impact his creative process. He recalls the vibe and atmosphere of the West Coast, which he hopes will show in the material on his second album. “It’s going to be an easy transition to make sure I don’t write the same record,” Dustin says. “Hopefully I write about some moments that affect people in a positive way.” His next record will hit shelves sometime late summer or fall of 2014.

Though Dustin’s run on the Light The Fuse Tour is coming to an end, he can happily say the experiences have been some of the best times of his life.

After this tour, he immediately begins his headlining tour until summer of 2015. He’s excited to be back on the road, but keen on giving the audience a new show to look forward to.

Dustin hopes to strip down his live performance and build it up again. “I want to break down all the parts, clean them up and put them back together,” he says.

At the end of the day, Dustin’s parents are two of his biggest fans.

Even when he wasn’t performing at the level that he is now, his parents knew there was a sense of happiness that came with their son’s career. He is also ecstatic to no longer work in a chemical lab — he was either going to “blow it up or quit.” “This business can be tough and quick and sometimes we live and die by song,” Dustin says. “I just hope I can keep doing it.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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james durbin Words by SHINA PATEL Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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“I’m bred from white trash,” 25-yearold rocker James Durbin jokes. James was born in Santa Cruz, California and grew up in what he would call a very poor and urban neighborhood. His mother, who raised him and his two older sisters by herself, cleaned houses to make ends meet.

Two important things happened when James was ten years old. He fell in love with music, and was diagnosed with Tourette’s and Asperger’s syndrome. Tourette’s syndrome is an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder that is characterized by multiple physical tics and at least one vocal tic. Asperger’s syndrome, a high functioning autism, is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication.

During this time, James’ older sister was doing musical theater in high school. The school needed a child to play a role in their play, the musical South Pacific. He was cast as Jerome, a young Cantonese boy who had to sing a song in French. So the school dyed his hair black, put face make up on him, and taught him French. To this day he still remembers all the words to the song The theater allowed James to forget about Asperger’s and Tourette’s. “When I’m off stage I’m stressed, I’m ticking, I can’t hold a conversation, I can’t keep eye contact, and I’m not social whatsoever. When I’m on stage, everything goes away and I’m a completely different person,” he says. James continued to do theater for several years but in high school he became interested in bands. A friend asked him to audition for his metal band, Leviathan, and that’s when he first became involved in music outside the theater. After Leviathan fell apart, he sang for another band called Whatever Fits for a little over a year.

“Possibly the worst name for a band in the history of bad band names,” says James. But with Whatever Fits James was able to master his stage presence.

He could make jokes and talk more and just interact with the audience as the band began to perform regularly.

While all of this was happening, James met Heidi, who would soon be his wife. Heidi became pregnant not long after they met. James would be a

father at the age of 19. With the support of his Whatever Fits bandmates, James was able to balance the band, a job, and a child.

In 2008, James auditioned for Season 8 of American Idol. “I didn’t make it past the first round. I didn’t even make it through to anything I could be eliminated from,” he says. He does admit that for a couple years he did hold a grudge. So he continued to play with Whatever Fits. But after a while he became tired of the material the band was working with. He wanted to go heavier, he wanted to go metal.

So he and his buddy Jeremey, who is currently James’ drummer, started a metal band called Hollywood Scars.

The band had local success in the Santa Cruz area many shows selling out.

After Hollywood Scars, James started performing solo under his own name.

He did a couple shows around Santa Cruz but then his vocal coach, Dale Ockerman, approached him with the idea to start singing with his band, The White Album Ensemble. The White Album Ensemble is a group that was dedicated to performing Beatles music that hadn’t been played by the Beatles much in concert. James started singing with The White Album Ensemble, and he realized that he wanted to sing as a career. He continued playing with them and the crowds became bigger and bigger. At his final performance with The White Album Ensemble he pulled Heidi onstage and proposed to her in front of 6,000 people. Luckily she said yes.

In 2010, American Idol came back to San Francisco, and James decided to audition again. Two days before auditions he was laid off from his job at Domino’s Pizza because the branch had run out of money. He and Heidi drove to San Francisco, waited in line for 34 hours, and James auditioned for Season 10 of American Idol. But this time, he made it past the auditions, to the Hollywood Rounds, and he made it to the Las Vegas Rounds, to go on to the live rounds.

James made it to the Top 4. During the live rounds James was given the opportunity to work music legends such as Will.I.Am, Don Was, Bob Babet, and Judas Priest. “I’m very fortunate. A lot of amazing stuff has happened because of Idol,” James says.

While some might argue that a show like American Idol is cheating in terms of making it in the music industry.

“People say ‘Oh don’t do Idol. You’re not earning it.’ Well fuck you. I am earning it. You go on Idol and see how much shit you have to do, how much work it really is. It’s not just a walk in the park,” says James. Not only is Idol about the singing but you’re in rehearsals, dance training, photo shoots and even media training. James admits that he wouldn’t be where he is now if not for the Fox show. “I’m totally thankful for everything Idol has done for me. I am forever grateful and in debt to Idol,” he says. He encourages struggling artists to try out for Idol. Coming out of the show, James has a record deal and a lot of great connections within the music industry.

And as for his fans, he believes that Idol helped him develop a solid fanbase.

Because James made it to the Top 11 of the show, he was a part of the American Idol arena tour that year. The 11 artists played 49 shows in a span of four months. They even played two back to back shows in the Philippines.

While arena tours were amazing for James because he was able to play to such a large audience he admits that it became pretty dry after a while because he was constantly performing someone else’s songs. He didn’t have any original work to use on the tour. James felt that he hadn’t yet earned the right to play arenas because he was just starting off.

“It felt evil,” he says. He admits that he loves playing small rooms and different clubs. “There’s just a lot more magic in small rooms.”

Since his time on Idol, James has released a full length album entitled Memories of a Beautiful Disaster. The album, which dropped on November 21, 2011, debuted at number 36 on the Billboard 200 chart. This past January and February, he was on an acoustic tour that played small clubs and venues all across the nation.

As for the future, James wants to continue doing what he’s doing. He does want to keep progressing as a songwriter and write better songs. But as of right now James says he is happy because, “I love what I’m doing. I get to live my dream. I get to play music for a living.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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the summer set @ pace university With only 48 hours of advanced notice, The Summer Set packed their

perform at Pace University’s Michael theater is most famous for its “Inside -

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LEON THOMAS

Words by ALEX LANE Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

The first time that Leon Thomas III was recognized because of his career, he thought he was being mugged.

“I was on the train in New York.

And up until that point, if someone was staring at me for a long time, I thought they were trying to mug me. So this guy kept staring at me the whole train ride.

So I was getting my fists ready, getting my moves ready, just in case he made a move.

So he walks up to me, and I’m like ‘It’s about to go down’, and he’s like ‘My daughter loves your show. Can I take a picture with you?’

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I was just like ‘Whoa. This is crazy.’ It was a life changing moment,“ Leon said.

But it shouldn’t have come as a surprise, as Leon had been building to that moment his whole life.

Born in Brooklyn to an artistically talented family — his mother is a singer and dancer, and his grandfather performed on Broadway — Leon began playing drums at the age of three. By age 10, he was performing in some of Broadway’s most popular performances.

At 13, he signed a development deal with Nickelodeon, where he has appeared in shows like iCarly, and True

Jackson VP. He is probably most popular, however, for his role as Andre Harris on the Emmy- nominated, Nickelodeon sitcom series Victorious.

Obviously talented at a young age, Leon knew he wanted to be in show business and saw Broadway as a progressive move forwardstep in the right direction. His grandfather had been a Broadway actor, so Leon says, “Coming up, I always wanted to be like him and do the things that he did. So for me, to audition was a big deal, and then once I got it and started doing other Broadway plays, just one thing lead to another.”

Leon is a modest man. His talent and desire secured his roles in Caroline, or Change, The Color Purple alongside Oprah and Quincy Jones and The Lion King as young Simba. “I got the opportunity to chill with some really awesome people, some legends,” he says. “For me, it was just a playground of creativity.”

That playground acted a a stepping stone for his time at a performing arts high school on the set of Victorious, which aired from 2010 to 2013. On the show, he played Andre Harris, a student musician at a performing arts high school with an immense amount of talent but sever stage fright “It was just a dream come true for me honestly,” Leon says of signing with the company. “To know that so many people have signed off on believing in the fact that I have talent, and believing in my vision is just a dream come true for me … Nickelodeon was everything for me.”

Victorious became the ideal platform for Leon to showcase his talent as an actor and as a musician. The parallels between himself and his character provided him the opportunity to express his personal journey in a professional way. “Just about all the songs that I sang [were mine]. It was a really cool opportunity for me to be that young and be producing and writing for a TV show,” he said.

The creators of the show were very open to featuring Leon’s music and encouraged him to submit material. “I think if you have really good material, it’s hard to turn down. I just worked as hard as I could to make sure that everything I presented was just the best of my abilities. I think they really responded to that, and it all worked out,” Leon explains.

On set, he was also able to form relationships with other up-and-coming Nickelodeon stars. Victoria Justice, Ariana Grande, Elizabeth Gillies, Avan Jogia, Matt Bennett and Daniella Monet, who were all co-stars, have supported Leon since starting on the show. He says being on set “was cool” and “It was like one long jam session. We never stopped singing.”

Which was a good thing, because while he was working on the show, he was actively working on his music.

While he was acting, writing, singing and producing music for the show, he also started other personal musical projects. In 2012, he released his first mixtape called Metro Hearts. That was followed in 2013 by his co-authorship of four songs on Ariana’s album Yours Truly. Leon, along with his production partner Chris Tines, received production credit for 5 tracks on Ariana’s album. Then, at the start of this year, he released a mixtape called V1bes.

Leon says when Victorious wrapped in early 2013, it was the most popular show on Nickelodeon. The popularity of the show had surpassed most everyone’s expectations, and the show’s cancellation came as a surprise to cast and crew.

But Leon expresses that the experience was unique, exciting, and amazing. “It was crazy. I didn’t expect for it to go as big as it did. But just to know that people loved it so much. It’s weird for me, meeting grown people, who are saying ‘I grew up with you dude.’ It’s a blessing to be a part of peoples lives like that,” he says.

Leon was sad to walk away from the project but knew it was time for the next chapter in his life. He plans to continue balancing acting and music, but lately, he has been focusing on his forthcoming debut album, which is currently in the final stages of production and is due out before summer. The album, which is being created under his Columbia Records contract, is being co-produced

by Kenneth Edmonds. Kenneth, who is known as in the music industry is a 10time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and producer.

“I’ve been working with Babyface, who’s an amazing producer,” Leon says.

“He’s a legend in the game, and he’s been mentoring me as a producer and a writer and an artist.”

With mentors as renowned as Babyface, it’s easy to see where Leon finds his inspiration and work ethic. Between Babyface and a roster of co-stars, and co-collaborators stacked with their own talent, Leon is constantly challenged to put out his best work.

This upcoming album is something Leon has been working on for a long time, and like any artist, he wants to ensure it’s perfect before he releases it .

“I like to picture it like a movie,” he says

about creating the album. This way he is able to able to engage the audience with an experience that captivates all the senses.

Leon says he really tried to tell a story, get back to basics, and lead by example within the industry as an artist who thoughtfully constructs albums.

“Usually an album from track 1-11 is just a great experience. I don’t think we should lose that. And I think that moving forward, a lot of people are going to get back to the basics. At least I hope so, because this single-driven market is kind of whack. It’s tough because I feel like the attention to detail has been lost knowing that it’s more important to just sell a great single. I’m really just looking forward to musicians and creative people taking the time to create an album that works from track one to whatever.”

Dedicating the time is the hardest part. For Leon, finding a balance between music and acting and still living the life of an average teenager — now a young adult — has been challenging but well worth it. “I’m just trying to be successful in both,” he says about both careers. “I’ve seen my heroes like Will Smith and Jamie Foxx have the ability to do a great movie and then release an awesome single, or even a great album.

And if they can do it, I know that I can do it.”

And like his idols, he wants to do it all. Leon hopes to keep producing music and creating innovative tracks. But he also wants to work on his acting technique and maybe dabble in the production side of film. He aspires to having a number-one album and a Grammy someday.

“I feel like for me, as an artist, I have to be my own entity. I have to be my own thing,” he says. “And whatever that success is going to be, it’s always something that I will be proud of, I have put my heart and soul into it. I can’t really compare myself because I’m just a different thing.”

Leon has talent, and he knows it. He’s passionate, he’s eager and he earns his rewardhustles. He is the epitome of a triple-threat. But he’s not done. He says, “I’m just looking forward to 2014 and years to come because I just have a lot to give you all.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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REED ALEXANDER Words by TARA DEVINCENZO Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Reed Alexander, a well-spoken and motivated 19-year-old, wanted to be an actor from the time he was 8 years old.

“We call it my Martin Luther King moment,” he says. “We were sitting on the staircase in my house at the time, and I started crying saying ‘I have a dream.’”

Reed’s parents, always supportive of their son, moved their family from Boca Raton, Fla. to Los Angeles to help their son follow this dream of being a Hollywood Star. After 19 years, he has already found success.

Reed started with commercials and a few TV movies, but his breakout role was on NBC’s Will & Grace in 2005.

Soon, he landed a spot on iCarly, after doing a few small film roles.

Reed went from someone kids saw on TV to a role model.

At 14, Reed was overweight and lacked self-confidence and the energy to do things. He knew if he wanted to succeed in Hollywood, he would need to make some changes. He discovered that much of the information available about how to go about losing weight was intended for adults. It was then that he

decided to begin developing a program that would help him, and other teenagers, learn about health and nutrition.

Reed decided to work from the ground up, neglecting any existing health and fitness programs.

“Improvisation is a big word we use on set,” Reed says. “It takes up just as much root on the soundstage as it does behind the stove top.”

Reed started from square one, looking for spices and other food elements that could improve the taste of more healthy options. “One of the first things I got was a test-tube spice rack, which had 40 spices in it,” he says. “It was really my partner in crime along the way because I was changing up and experimenting with all these different ingredients.”

Substitutions for butter in apple pie and unfried french fries that he began to create and implement in his life, and soon he was able to lose 15 pounds.

Reed soon had gathered a large catalog of recipes that would help him get his health on track. And this was just the beginning. “I felt very compelled to share all that,” he says. “I wanted to be able to NKDMAG.COM

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give back and spackle up that hole that I encountered where there was a dearth of information.”

“I felt very compelled to share all that,” he says. “I wanted to be able to give back and spackle up that hole that I encountered where there was a dearth of information.”

And so “KewlBites.com: Reed Alexander’s Delicious and Nutritious Fitness Tips” was born. Reed’s physical cookbook hit stores last September after he took two years to write it. The KewlBites cookbook was unveiled on The Today Show on Sept. 3, and Reed is still in the process of a 20-city book tour. The tour is based in the United States but the book has caught attention around the world. It was recently named the best cookbook in the United States

by Gourmand International Publishers of the Beijing Cookbook Festival. The festival is being held in Beijing, China in May. Reed — as well as 10,000 authors, publishers and cookbook connoisseurs — will be in attendance. “I’m so thrilled,” he says. “It’s going to be fun and a nice way to kind of celebrate the long journey of this.”

What started in the confines of his own kitchen has expanded to dinner tables around the world, 20,000 American school districts, and has even attracted former President Bill Clinton’s attention.

Reed’s personal journey with childhood obesity became his motivation for his own project and Clinton’s organization, Alliance for a Healthier Generation, saw that he could be a great addition to their project as well. “This opportunity to team up with [Clinton] to make some changes and makes some waves here at home, with someone of his influence and clout, was really a thrill,” Reed says.

Reed and Former President Clinton have worked together on developing recipes at festivals as well as tailoring recipes to create healthier school lunches.They have successfully impacted 30 million students in 20,000 schools by renovating school lunches to make it more nutritious and more appealing.

The chance to do this gave Reed new perspective on his cooking goals.

Reed used to focus his attention on the food in his own kitchen, but now, he turns his attention to a larger issue: what, as far as food is concerned, is healthy, 72

accessible and affordable for schools.

“We think it’s really straight forward, but there are a lot of factors,” he says.

He compares it to the gears on a watch: combing all the cogs to make it run efficiently. They had to consider the possibility of locally sourcing the ingredients, the cost of those ingredients to the school and what would appeal to kids.

They tested the program in nine school districts and received an overall positive reception. “One of the students said ‘This is the best food I’ve ever eaten,’” Reed says. “We wanted it to be restaurant quality, but who would think it would be the best?”

Reed hoped his cookbook would be able to reach the entire spectrum of children, including their parents, teachers and peers. Mothers, personal trainers and teachers sent Reed letters, praising his book and his assistance. He produced something that could reach a large audience, but he also understood that he needed to compartmentalize it slightly.

Not every kid or young adult had the same health concerns, so he wanted to find a way to help every need.

Along with childhood obesity, Reed also hopes to address the issue of body image among young girls, which goes together with childhood obesity. Reed felt that it may be even more difficult for mothers with young girls to deal with it. He started getting feedback from mothers about the sensitive conversation. “There’s finally a place where [a mother] can do it in her own privacy,” he says, “go on the computer and really learn things that she could apply while [her daughter] is at school or around the dinner table.”

The KewlBites website, which just underwent a makeover, is an all-inclusive interface for the development of a healthy lifestyle. It features a large catalog of recipes as well as health related news articles and other “Kewl People.”

These featured celebrities include fellow iCarly and Nickelodeon stars, but also Colt McCoy of the Cleveland Browns and singer Savannah Outen. The Kewl People talk about how they follow a healthy lifestyle and how they stay motivated.

It’s an important factor for Reed to consider that his audience is very diverse, and he wants all readers to feel

connected. “Food is really the gateway to understanding any culture,” he says, “food is a universal language.”

With all of the success Reed has experienced from his cookbook and blog, food started to transform from a hobby to a passion. “If you had asked me 10 years ago — when I was on those stairs with that MLK moment — if I’d ever see myself cooking on TV or writing a cookbook, it would be the furthest thing from my mind,” he says.

His love for acting hasn’t subsided, but has been put on the back burner during the development of KewlBites, but he hopes to return to acting in time. “[Food] has grown really organically — pun intended — into another big passion,” he says. “I guess I love them both, but I’m still in the process of cracking the code on how to merge the two.”

In addition to touring the country to promote his book, he is also attending New York University for a specialized program that allows him to mold a major. His studies are personalized, so instead of following a pre-determined curriculum, he has a concentration that allows for flexibility in his coursework.

As a public figure and self-proclaimed politics junkie, he chose to specialize in broadcast journalism. “Journalism is another thing that has come very close to me, you feel such a rush,” he says.

This route is something he hopes can annex with his current career path. He finds that the media is one of the most useful tools to reach consumers, so learning the tricks of the trade will be a way to expand KewlBites. A course he calls “A Look at the Psychology of Pop Culture” is his attempt at identifying the niche that Rachel Ray and Bobby Flay have fallen into. “I’m studying what makes the mind of what makes media consumers tick,” he says. “I think that will be helpful. It’s good to know how to leverage that.”

Reed’s current plans include some work with Nickelodeon, but he does not intend to abandon cooking. After his trip to Beijing this spring, he wants to start working on a second cookbook.

Overall, he is focused on keeping KewlBites useful, fresh and accessible. “It’s an exciting time in health, it’s an exciting time of food,” he says. “It’s great to be a part of all that.”

NKD

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march essenti THE 100

PREMIERES: MAR. 19

Imagine if The Hunger Games had no rules and 100 kids. Based on the previews, that’s kind of what The 100 looks like. The CW’s new drama sends 100 teenagers to earth for the first time in over 90 years to test its living conditions.

CRISIS

PREMIERES: MAR. 16 This action/thriller drama will have you on the edge of your seat from the first episode. During a class field trip, a group of students from Washington D.C.’s elite Ballard High School are taken hostage in an ambush. The class contains some of the city’s most important teenagers, such as the President’s son, as well as children of CEOs and nieces of FBI agents. A national crisis begins. With an all-star cast, including James Lafferty, Max Schneider, Halston Sage and more, Crisis has the potential to be a huge hit.

DIVERGENT

RELEASE DATE: MAR. 21 Based on the hit young adult series

by Veronica Roth, Divergent is already posed to be a blockbuster hit. Starring Shailene Woodley and Theo James, Divergent takes place in a futuristic Chicago where people are divided into five distinct factions based on their personalities.

Tris (Woodley) finds out she does

not fit into just one category and with the help of Four (James), uncovers a sinister plot. Divergent is the first of three films in this series.

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GOING TO HELL (THE PRETTY RECKLESS) RELEASE DATE: MAR. 14

The Pretty Reckless (fronted by Taylor Momsen) began teasing Going To Hell in May 2013. After ten months of waiting, the record will finally hit shelves this month. Known for keeping things a little dark, The Pretty Reckless are sure to satisfy fans with Going To Hell. Their latest single, “Heaven Knows,” is catchy and relatable, but still harnesses that signature agony that The Pretty Reckless have perfected. This will be the band’s first release under Razor & Tie.

ials LOUDER (LEA MICHELE) RELEASE DATE: MAR. 4

It’s no secret that Lea Michele has had a tough year after the death of her boyfriend and Glee co-star, Cory Monteith. Her ability to stay strong has become an inspiration to many, and the songs on Louder emulate that strength. Louder will put Michele on the map as a true popstar - not just an actress with a voice.

NEED FOR SPEED

HAPPINESS IS

Aaron Paul has been greatly missed since his hit television show, Breaking Bad, came to an end in September. But luckily Need For Speed is just the first of many films Paul has coming out this year. Going from the risky, AMC drama to a blockbuster with a Walt Disney stamp of approval is an interesting decision on Paul’s part, but a smart one none the less. Paul’s character, Tobey Marshall, is a street racer who has just been released from prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He competes in a cross-country street race to avenge his friend’s death. Need For Speed is interesting and intense, much like Breaking Bad but without the meth.

Happiness Is is Taking Back Sunday’s sixth studio album and the second since they revived their original lineup of Adam Lazzara, John Nolan, Eddie Reyes, Shaun Cooper and Mark O’Connell. While many fans were disappointed by the band’s 2011, self-titled release, Happiness Is will draw those listeners back in. The TBS that created 2002’s Tell All Your Friends is back and better than ever.

RELEASE DATE: MAR. 14

RELEASE DATE: MAR. 18

PULSES (KARMIN) RELEASE DATE: MAR. 25

After being pushed back for months, Karmin’s debut full-length, Pulses, is finally being released. Their first single, “Brokenhearted,” took the airwaves by storm and their most recent hit “Acapella” was widely recieved by bloggers and DJs alike. The 13-track album is full of the upbeat, catchy tunes that attracted listeners to Karmin in the first place.

Now all that’s left for Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan is to tie the knot!

MUPPETS MOST WANTED RELEASE DATE: MAR. 21

Liz Lemon and Phil Dunphey on the same screen is exciting enough, but add Kermit The Frog to this mix and laughter is inevitable.

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