NKD Mag - Issue #45 (March 2015)

MARCH 2015 4 6 10 18 20 26 28 30 34 36 46 48 54

founder photographer editors designer writers

taylor berrett lindsey morgan sleeping with sirens clare foley robbie amell jessica meraz four year strong holly taylor bean laura marano dillon lane veronica dunne smashing satellites

catherine powell catherine powell jordan melendrez catherine powell catherine powell merissa blitz joanna bouras shelby chargin tara devincenzo alyssa girdwain stacy magallon jordan melendrez catherine powell sam rosenthal riley stenehjem katelyn thompson josephine tse

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Taylor Berrett // words by josephine tse // photos by catherine powell

At 22, Taylor Berrett is about to release his debut album, Great Falls.

Currently in the middle of a residency at New York City’s infamous Rockwood Music Hall, this busy, rising star is ready to give up his free time for his dream.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah but raised in the suburbs of Northern Virginia, Taylor grew up with four siblings — three older, one younger.

They lived in an area with a bustling city life to the east and the mountains and rivers to the west. His parents were not professional musicians, but there was always music playing in the house — particularly jazz and classical music.

As a child, Taylor loved to read books and always wanted to write. In elementary school, Taylor’s passion for music really began to shine. He started taking piano classes with his aunt when he was 11 years old and took up guitar classes at school. He started a joke band with his friends called Bob and the Pears, and they performed songs in their cafeteria at lunch.

In middle school, he was at it again with another band called White Elephant. However, they broke up because Taylor “wrote a serious song without the other members’ permission.” That is when Taylor realized that songwriting was in fact, another form of writing, and it could be a career. “It is an extension beyond spoken word, just with harmonies and melodies,” he explains. “So that was why I stopped doing a lot of other stuff and started writing a lot of songs seriously. I also slowly learned to record and do multitrack.”

Participating in a local battle of the bands competition helped Taylor start mapping out his connections. Just a teenager in high school, he met his manager through one competition, which helped expand his network in the music industry. With the guid-

ance of his manager, Taylor recorded his first demo with SRP Productions, who he still works with to this day. He signed with Warner Brothers/Warner Chappell and has since released an EP called Anchor Chasing in 2012 and embarked on many tours around the country with other artists such as Alex Clare, Bobby Bazini and Lily Kershaw.

For Taylor, the key to getting better at songwriting is to study it. “I had to get comfortable with finding things I disliked with the music I liked, and finding things I liked with the music I disliked,” he comments. “I think it is important to be critical of your own self. I listen to my own music a lot just so I can go back and say, ‘This is bad,’ or ‘This may have worked.’”

“There is no part more interesting to me than getting better at [songwriting],” he adds. “I mean, of course I hope it happens because if it does, it shows improvement. To look at a song I wrote a year ago and being able to pick at things that I now realize are terrible is the thing that excites me the most.”

At the end of the day, Taylor simply believes that if one wants to be a great musician, they must observe other great musicians to learn from their stories and experiences.

Taylor’s passion and hard work has really paid off, as Great Falls will be hitting shelves later this month. Taylor says that he is “not trying to do more than what anyone’s asking for,” so his goal was just to pick 11 great songs to be on Great Falls. “There is sort of a running theme of incompleteness, but it was not a deliberate theme,” he says. “There are several songs that deal with the balance between hope and despair, hope and frustration, progress versus the lack of progress- opposites like that.”

He recorded the album in the United Kingdom with Jake Gosling, who has worked with Ed Sheeran,

One Direction and Christina Perri.

Still, Taylor was left alone most of the time. “I am not one of those big pop, mainstream guys,” Taylor says.

“I had the time I needed to finish it.

The most pressure to finish it probably came from my parents because they wanted to hear it. Being away from everything was nice, too.”

The songs on the album were written both by himself and co-written with others such as Jake and his songwriting partner Chris Leonard in the United Kingdom and Julian Benita in California.

Fortunately, Taylor only had positive things to say about working with co-writers. He admitted that prior to writing Great Falls, he did not do a lot of co-writing because he has a hard time with it. But he says co-writing taught him when to speak up, stop or listen. He says that everyone in the room ultimately strives for the greatest good. “Writing with Jake was amazing. He did not have an element of ego,” Taylor recalls. “He was just excited about songs and wanted to make the best songs yet.”

For the rest of the year, Taylor will be nonstop touring, so people can hear his new songs live. He hopes that his upcoming album will be give out good, positive vibes. Maybe it can make a small difference for someone.

“I think it is a far stretch to say that musicians change people’s lives,” he says. “My dad used to tell me that Stevie Wonder was his musical idol when he was a kid, and sometimes, it was Stevie Wonder that got him through a day.

“I believe they can change people’s days. And that’s why I think songwriting is so amazing,” Taylor adds. “Your voice and words have a chance of becoming a part of a stranger’s life and really altering their mood. I find that appealing and interesting, and that is ultimately a place where I want to be.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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LINDSEY MORGAN Words by JOANNA BOURAS Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

No one could believe it when Lindsey Morgan dropped out of college to move to Los Angeles.

“I was young enough, naïve enough, and ignorant enough to be like, ‘Oh my God, I can do this,’” Lindsey says.

Born in Georgia, Lindsey and her family moved to Austin, Texas, where she was raised. She performed in theatrical productions while she was growing up, but her career wasn’t extraordinary. “I wasn’t very good,” said Morgan. “I was never the star of the show, but was put in the chorus, played an understudy or painted the backdrop.” She was very shy.

That’s exactly why her family was surprised when she decided to major in theater in college and suddenly move to Hollywood halfway through her collegiate career. “My mom was mortified,” Lindsey concedes.

They made a deal that she could intern with a theater company for that summer, but she never went back home. “I felt like I learned so much and gained so much experience [that] I wasn’t getting in Austin,” she says.

So she moved permanently and enrolled in as many classes 6

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as she could. She was taking 15 hours of college courses to make up for her time off.

Lindsey says her first agent and manager were terrible, but she accepted them instantly. Being so green, she took whatever she could get. She would later learn that that was not the best decision.

“They gave me bogus contracts that were illegal and charged me way too much money,” she recalls. They took advantage of her ignorance to the point where she barely did anything her first year.

Finally, she found a great acting studio and coach John Rosenfeld. “He championed me.

He was great,” Lindsey says.

However, she was coming up to the point where she was spending all of her saved up college money from home and not making any in return. Just when she was about to take time off from acting lessons her coach offered her a scholarship. John told Lindsey to pay him back once she booked a role. “The best advice he gave me was to go into debt for my education, so I did,” she says.

Lindsey was so accustomed to hearing that she wasn’t good enough and that she shouldn’t audition that once she finally left her agent and manager, she was shocked to learn they had been holding back from great opportunities.

“They had been taking a higher percentage of money than the acting union allowed, so when they threatened to sue me I told them they couldn’t because the contract was illegal,” Lindsey explains.

She then found a great manager and agent who sent her on numerous auditions, which landed her a contract position on

the popular soap opera, General Hospital.

Lindsey had never watched soap operas prior to booking the role of Kristina Davis, so she wasn’t sure what she was getting herself into. She describes it as working all day every day, learning 30 new pages of dialogue a night and performing a new play every single day. She says it moves quickly, and you have to nail your part on the first or second take.

“That was crazy because at that point I was still very green,” she says.

She also joined the cast at a point when many soap operas were canceled. “I started when General Hospital was moving into a new regime,” she explains. “It was a high-pressure cooker of everyone wanting to stay on the air.”

To make the situation even more difficult, she was replacing an actress who was well-liked by the audience. She received a good amount of hate on the Internet, which took a toll on her.

“Looking back, I came into what feels like now as a hostile environment,” she recalls.

Although Lindsey was nominated for an Emmy for the role of Kristina, she did not feel like she performed best work on the show. Receiving so much hate from the audience hurt her confidence, and she was always stressed. “They tell you to develop a thick skin and get rejected from auditions but also at work,” Lindsey shares.

She describes acting as very different from a job like accounting. In acting, you are constantly under a microscope, with millions of people judging you from your very first take.

After about year, it was unclear where her character on General

Hospital was heading, which led to a mutual parting.

Lindsey was left feeling as though she was fired. Although she was slightly devastated at first, that sentiment was quickly replaced by a huge sigh of relief.

Leaving General Hospital left her with self doubt, pondering whether she should continue to pursue acting. However, her love and passion helped her persevere.

When she booked her role of Raven Reyes on The CW’s postapocalyptic drama The 100, it was supposed to only be a five episode guest role. Lindsey was prepared for her character to be killed off quickly. But now in season two, Raven is still alive.

Raven is a brave and intelligent mechanic who can fend for herself. To prepare for the role, Lindsey picked up a copy of Mechanics for Dummies. “I flipped through to the control panel and wiring because I knew she had to be good with her hands and really know what she’s doing,” Lindsey says.

She also started CrossFit training so Raven could believably stand her ground as the only female in a group of men.

“I watched how guys walked and carried themselves and brought a very masculine energy to her,” she explains.

Lindsey describes her scenes as “very stressful and exhausting.”

Raven is constantly in a “kill or be killed” situation. “I can’t fake cry. So when I cry [on screen], I’m really crying,” she says. “You have to trick your body into a traumatic state. It’s exhausting.”

The 100 has taught Lindsey has strengthened her confidence and shown her how capable she is for the role. By pushing herself in her role as Raven, Lindsey is continuing to evolve as an actress. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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words & photos by catherine powell The usually busy streets that surround Penn Station are uncharacteristically quiet for the late afternoon, and it probably has something to do with the freezing temperatures and harsh winds that have plagued New York City over the past couple weeks. But just two blocks from the train station, hundreds of teenagers are lined up all the way down 34th Street and wrapped around 9th Avenue and looped back around at 35th Street. Some are bundled up, but most are not, as they are anticipating breaking a sweat during tonight’s show.

They’re rowdy and anxious, and there’s still seven hours to go before Sleeping With Sirens hits the stage.

Upstairs in a tucked away dressing room above the wide 10

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stage at Hammerstein Ballroom, frontman Kellin Quinn is quite the opposite of his adoring fans. For starters, he’s warm — dressed in layers despite the venue’s heat being cranked to a comfortable level. But that’s not all. He’s remarkably calm considering he’ll be singing to over 4,000 people later tonight and is exactly one month away from releasing what could potentially be a career-changing album.

He speaks confidently and with poise about Sleeping With Sirens’ fourth studio album, Madness, due out March 17. There are a lot of factors as to why Kellin feels so comfortable at this moment in his life, but it all comes down to the fact that after 28 years and four records, Kellin finally feels like he’s found himself.

It’s been almost two years since Sleeping With Sirens, which comprises Kellin, Nick Martin (rhythm guitar), Jack Fowler (lead guitar), Justin Hills (bass guitar) and Gabe Barham (drums), released Feel, their third and most successful studio album to date. It debuted at number three on the Billboard Top 200 — 75 spots up from their last release, Let’s Cheers To This (2011).

Feel took the band to new heights, as they sold out shows across the globe and multiplied their fan base. “It was kind of a weird transition in our career,” Kellin says of letting the Feel era end. “I think we just felt like it was time to start the next part of our journey.” Part of that journey was the addition of Nick, formerly of Chiodos and D.R.U.G.S. While Nick had been playing the guitar for Sleeping With Sirens’s live shows for a year already, NKDMAG.COM

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this was the first time he joined the band for studio sessions.

“We had to re-create the way we write,” Kellin explains. “It was refreshing [having Nick].”

For Madness, the band joined forces with John Feldmann, who has worked with bands like Good Charlotte, Black Veil Brides and 5 Seconds of Summer.

“All of us grew up listening to Feldmann’s catalog, and I think it’s always kind of been a dream for most of us work with Feldmann on a record,” Kellin says.

Nick adds that he actually knew Feldmann from working with a previous band. “I had such a great experience working with him in the past,” he says.

All the members of Sleeping With Sirens were inspired by the records Feldmann worked on when they were growing up. But despite his discography, there was nothing nerve-wracking about the recording experience.

“He makes you feel real comfortable,” Kellin laughs. “I’ve seen Feldmann naked too many times.”

The band wanted Madness to sound similar to the records they listened to when they were growing up: inspirational. “I remember a point in my life where music was much more inspiring,” Kellin says. “That feeling is what I was trying to create.” They went into the studio extremely open-minded (partly because they had just spent time recording a different album that did not and will not get released).

“We had to kind of rethink things,” Kellin states. “We walked into the experience like, ‘Here we are, and let’s see what we get out of it.’”

“That’s probably the beauty of 14

working with Feldmann,” Nick adds. “He doesn’t really have any constraints as to what sort of direction you want to go.”

They went into the recording process with the intention of challenging themselves, and Feldmann was able to push that goal even further. “I think we needed the Feldmann kick in the ass,” Nick continues. “But there was also, as cheap as it sounds, a madness on our end because we had just finished recording a whole different record that we had exhausted ourselves, emotionally and mentally, doing.”

They only had a month in between recording the two albums and had to revert to the writing mentality immediately.

They say the original record just “wasn’t the right record” to release at this point in their careers. Two of the songs will make their way onto the deluxe edition of Madness. But for now, there are no plans for the remaining tracks to see the light of day. “There’s some great songs on that record,” Kellin says. “But it just wasn’t right for us, right now.”

Sleeping With Sirens parted ways with Rise Records prior to recording Madness, making it their first record without that label. While they intended to release it independently, Epitaph voiced their interest. The record was completely finished when they showed it to Brett Gurewitz, the label’s founder. “He has a very no-nonsense attitude,” Kellin says. “He really believes in music. He used to be in a band, and I think he really fights for the artist.”

As Sleeping With Sirens sound began to change, it was clear that

their label needed to as well. Rise Records has a very specific type of look that’s associated with it, and Sleeping With Sirens did not necessarily fit that vibe anymore.

“I feel like our band has matured, and we don’t really sound like a lot of those bands,” Kellin says.

With Epitaph, they’re among a collection of diverse and unique artists such as Motion City Soundtrack, Bring Me the Horizon and Bad Religion. “I think it’s a better look and fit for a band like ours,” Kellin says.

Despite their incredible successes in the Warped Tour scene, Sleeping With Sirens are not actively trying to break into the mainstream world. If it happens, it happens, but things like radio success are not goals for the band right now. “We wrote the record, it’s done, it’s out there and what it does is what it’ll do,” Kellin says. “We’re really proud of it.”

Madness is much lighter than Sleeping With Sirens’ previous releases – more acoustic guitars and fewer breakdowns. But even lyrically, the record feels more about hope and less about loss. There’s a beautiful positivity floating through the record, and Kellin’s vocals are stronger than ever. Feldmann’s influence is clear, but the record does not appear forced even in the slightest bit. Madness is a big step for Sleeping With Sirens, but it is definitely a step forward.

In addition to the sound alteration, there’s another noticeable difference on Madness: no guest vocals. “I don’t like guest vocals, I decided,” Kellin admits, causing Nick to chuckle. “I don’t like giving away parts that I write

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to other people to sing,” Kellin elaborates.

With the amount of changes going on between sound and an additional bandmate, Sleeping With Sirens feel that this record needed to be all them — no extra participators. Except Feldmann, of course.

Besides the release of Madness, the only other thing on Sleeping With Sirens’s agenda is a lot of touring. They’ll be taking their World Tour with Pierce The Veil overseas once the U.S. portion wraps, they’ll be announcing another U.S. tour for later this year.

The only goal they have for 2015 is to have as many people as possible hear Madness, because they are proud of it and the direction they chose to take.

Even when talking about selling records, Kellin remains relaxed and composed, truly comfortable with the place the band is currently at. “Buy it, download it, do what you will,” he says. “Just jam it.

It’s not until 10 p.m. that I see a more rambunctious side of Kellin, and it’s when he runs around the stage in front of flashing screens and sings passionately. His energy level parallels that of the crowd as they scream lyrics back to him. But mid-way through Sleeping With Sirens’s set, Kellin stands still in the center of the stage with Nick and Jack on either side of him, acoustic guitars in hand.

“This song is about finding yourself. If you’re 17 or 18 and don’t know who you are yet, that’s okay,” he says to the crowd.

“I’m 28 years old and just recently found myself. This song’s called ‘Roger Rabbit.’” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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CLARE FOLEY Words by SAM ROSENTHAL Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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At the early age of 13, Clare Foley has already made a name for herself in the entertainment industry.

You may have seen the Connecticut-raised actress in Gotham, or she may have scared you out of your skin in Sinister. But this is just the beginning for the young star.

Although she is most known for her movie and TV roles, she did not start out that way. When Clare was just 3 years old, she started modeling. The acting came along at age 5, and it took her by surprise.

“I was at an audition for my brother, and I wasn’t even trying out,” Clare recalls of the audition.

“Right after they were going to be having auditions for little girls my age in the same room for another Cheerios commercial. And they said, ‘Hey, wanna come in?’ And I didn’t even know. And then I got the job.”

It wasn’t a set gig right away though. They were unsure if she was going to be able to successfully shoot the commercial because of her young age. They had older kids on standby in case she was unable to pull through but she proved herself and was able to complete the commercial.

She did not end up getting into movies and TV shows until she was a bit older. “I tried out for one when I was 7, and I booked it,” she says. Win Win was the first movie Clare landed, and it certainly was not the last.

Clare is currently working on FOX’s Gotham, where she plays Ivy Pepper. She was unaware of the role she was going to play when she first went out for the show. “When I auditioned I didn’t know what it was for. It was just an untitled project,” she says. “When I did get the part it was really amazing to think I was part of that whole Batman thing because there’s already been a lot done with that.”

Ivy Pepper is not your average girl. Clare states that Ivy is “very mysterious, and she’s very mischievous.”

“She kind of lurks around the streets,” Clare explains. “And her parents are both gone by now, so she’s kind of trying to find her way around and figure out what she’s going to do with her life.”

Growing up with four brothers, Clare was no stranger to Batman and superheroes. “Ever since I was younger, I always watched Batman,” she remembers. “I was familiar with most of the villains and their back-stories.”

Although Clare spends most of her time on TV and movie sets, she still attends school during the week and gets tutored while she is on set.

She tries to keep herself grounded, and schoolwork helps. “It’s kind of cool, just to be able to go from school over to filming. It’s not really that different because no one at my school really minds. They think it’s cool, but no one talks about it

that much,” she says. “I try to stay organized and not let it change me at all.”

Luckily for Clare, she isn’t the only young star on set these days.

Some of her fellow cast members on the Gotham set are also not even 18. Camren Bicondova, who plays Selina Kyle, is 15, and David Mazouz, who plays Bruce Wayne, is 13. “It’s a lot of fun to have three kids because we have a lot of fun together,” Clare states.

Not only does Clare enjoy working with young kids, she admires her older cast as well. “I haven’t got to work too much with all the adults, but just watching them act and do table reads and just seeing them. I feel like I’m really picking up a lot, and every time when I see them, how they interpret a role or portray a certain emotion; I try to bring it into my performance.

I take a little bit from them and see how they did it and reflect on that.”

Clare brings certain aspects to Ivy that no one else would be able to. “I try to make it so that Ivy is her own self. She’s doesn’t let any emotion show too much but at the same time people can feel what she’s feeling, they get her,” she explains. “I try not to show her anger, but maybe just show it in her eyes or maybe movement that she does.”

Gotham is the only thing Clare is choosing to focus on right now,

but she does have a movie coming out this spring or summer.

The film, The Great Gilly Hopkins is about an orphan girl who tries to find her place, and Clare plays her best friend, Agnes. Clare says Agnes is “a fun, chatty girl who’s always trying to have fun.”

The Great Gilly Hopkins also stars some big-name actresses: Kathy Bates, Glenn Close and Julia Stiles. Although Clare has worked with other famous actors, there are a few that she truly admires, like her fellow actresses in Very Good Girls. “A few years ago I did a movie with Dakota Fanning, and I thought that she was a really great actress, and I would like to be like her someday,” Clare says. “I also played Kiernan Shipka’s little sister, and she’s really great … I really like her as well.”

What’s next for Clare Foley? In terms of resolutions for 2015, she wants to get out more. “To try to do more instead of sitting at home.

To do more exciting things when I have down time so,” she explains.

“Just to meet new friends and go out in the world and meet new people and do new things.”

But as for her career? Even she isn’t sure yet. “I don’t really have that many set goals. I would like to keep doing this as long as I can, hopefully for a long time,” she says. “I just do the best I can.”

But she’s certain about one thing: She loves acting. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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ROBBIE AMELL words by alyssa girdwain photos by catherine powell

Canadian actor Robbie Amell can now say he has cardboard cutouts of himself. Of course, the cutouts are to promote his new movie The Duff, but he can’t help but have a little fun with it first — whether it’s by placing his cutout by Fifty Shades of Grey’s Christian Grey and making puns or plotting to surprise his mother.

“I asked them if they had an extra one and if they would mail it to my mom, so she has no idea,” he says. “There’s a cardboard box waiting at the door. She’ll know what it is the 20

second she sees it.”

But before there were lifesized cutouts of his characters, Robbie started with the basics: doing print work and acting in commercials as a child. Growing up in Toronto, Robbie split his time between playing hockey, acting and going to school. While he didn’t foresee himself making it all the way to the NHL, the friendships he fostered made it better. Besides, acting was becoming a more viable option.

“I remember when I was in elementary school it didn’t oc-

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cur to me that it was weird to walk up to my teacher and just tell her that I had to leave for my job,” he says. “It never occurred to me that my teacher was probably like, ‘Who the hell is letting this kid work at 8 years old?’”

The summer before he entered 11th grade he auditioned and earned a small role in Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

“I got to watch and learn and not have a chance to screw anything up,” Robbie recalls.

Thus began a spurt of activity — after attending a series of on-camera classes, filming a season and a half of Life With Derek, obtaining a visa and finishing high school, Robbie decided to take the chance and move to Los Angeles. A fellow hockey friend moved to San Diego, California for school and was generous enough to let Robbie stay in a guest bedroom until he was able to find his footing.

Work was slow, and the opportunity wasn’t looking promising — until his grandmother gave him a gift of $10,000.

“Right when I had been [in Los Angeles] for a little while, I had gotten close to a lot of things but hadn’t booked anything, and she wanted me to give it one more shot,” he said, “[The $10,000] got me to my first gig and was the reason I could stick it out.” That gig was American Pie Presents: Beta House — a life-changing job in more ways than one.

The script shifted because of changing actors, but the fun times on set led Robbie to his now-fiancée Italia Ricci. The

movie was a bit of a catalyst, as during filming he booked a role in Picture This with Ashley Tisdale as Drew Patterson, Scooby Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster as Fred and Nickelodeon’s True Jackson VP as Jimmy Madigan. “I’ve really just been doing my best Freddie Prinze Jr. impression since I started acting,” he jokes.

His work on True Jackson VP proved invaluable, both in gaining a feel for comedic beats and timing, and because of the crew behind it. While the was geared toward kids, it was stocked with greats, like creator Andy Gordon, who worked on sitcoms like Fraser and Back to You. One of the show’s directors, Gary Halvorson, also directed episodes of Friends and Two and a Half Men. “I did a lot of kid stuff and built a younger fan base, which was amazing because a lot of them have grown up with me,” he states. “Now in the last couple years, I’ve gotten to play closer to my own age and do a little more of the things that I’m looking forward to doing for the rest of my career.”

But when it comes to The DUFF, Robbie’s back in high school, along with co-stars Bianca Santos and Mae Whitman. Based on the book by Kody Keplinger, The DUFF (the harsh acronym for “Designated Ugly Fat Friend”) is a coming-of-age film that follows high school students Wesley (Robbie) and Bianca (Mae) as they help each other navigate their own struggles.

Wesley, a jock with a good heart, needs to pass science, and Bianca is tired of being the DUFF of her friend group and wants to be dateable. “It’s about us learning from each other and realizing that we don’t have to change for anyone else,” Robbie says. “It’s becoming the best version of yourself.”

Robbie and Mae were able to improvise a lot on set, allowing the movie to feel more grounded and true to teens.

While there isn’t pressure to have made “the next big teen comedy,” Robbie believes it will be a success (especially for anyone who cannot resist a good teen comedy). “I think [The DUFF] has the heart it needs to have,” he explains.

Robbie has dealt with foreshadowed success and disappointment. He started in the CW’s sci-fi show The Tomorrow People, where he played Stephen Jameson, a boy with psionic powers. The show was canceled after the first season. Whether it was ratings or politics or a combination that took the show down, Robbie looked forward. But the dropped show didn’t end his involvement with the network.

The CW’s highly anticipated show The Flash, centering on the crime-fighting comic book superhero with superhuman speed, features many of the same crew members from The Tomorrow People. Writer Greg Berlanti called Robbie and asked if he wanted in. He was cast as Ronnie Raymond, the superhero alter-ego for Firestorm.

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“I would’ve been stupid to say no. I get to play a superhero on what I knew was going to be a hugely successful TV show for people that I’ve already worked with,” he explains. “It’s like going home for season two when I shoot.”

Instead of exclusively playing fictional characters, Robbie is also playing a real-life hero: a soldier. Max, directed

by Boaz Yakin, director of Remember the Titans, is the story of the dog that helped United States Marines that were stationed in Afghanistan.

Robbie plays Max’s handler, a marine who is killed in combat after sacrificing himself for Max. The film, which is slated to premiere in the fall, follows his family as they adopt the PTSD-stricken dog.

It examines themes of dealing with death and learning about lost ones through stories. To keep elements of authenticity, active military men shot alongside the actors and taught Robbie the correct way to hold and approach with the weapons.

“Maybe in another life I could’ve joined the military,” Robbie says. “But I’ve always been very impressed by servicemen and women.”

Robbie is excited for what is ahead, and he’s thankful for having the opportunity to act.

“My last two years, especially, have been very successful, and I’m very blessed to be able to continue working and continuing doing what I love,” Robbie says. “Getting to go to work and having a good time every day is pretty awesome.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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JESSICA MERAZ Words by KATELYN THOMPSON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Born and raised in El Paso, Texas, Jessica Meraz discovered her love for the arts at a young age. “I started doing theater at 7,” she says. “I did theater all of my life, and then my junior year I went to camp out here [in California] for the summer, and then I came out here for college at USC. At USC, she studied theater, and she’s been there ever since.

After starting school in Los Angeles, Jessica quickly found her calling in on-screen entertainment.

“I started acting in the middle of college, that’s when I did Greek,” Jessica recalls. “In the beginning I did this terrible scary independent movie.”

“I died with my eyes open,” she adds with a laugh.

After working on a lot of sketches and comedies, Jessica landed a role on Chasing Life. “I actually tested for the part of Beth, and when I didn’t get that part, I was devastated,” she admits.

But she stayed connected with the show, receiving a part that even surprised her. “It must have been a couple weeks later, they wrote in another part because I looked a lot like Italia Ricci,” she says. “I didn’t know anything besides what was going to happen in the pilot. I didn’t know if I was going to know or if I wasn’t going to know. I didn’t have a name for a year. I was ‘Flower Girl.’”

Jessica’s role on the show is actually one of life or death. “What brings me [into Chasing Life] is April’s sickness, and how she is really needing a bone marrow donor. They’re looking for a match and the sister and mom don’t match. It’s better to go with a young relative, as much as they don’t want to, they have to reach out to me to see if I will get tested,” she says about her character. “They haven’t really wanted anything to do with [my character] until April gets sick, so it definitely feels like I’m being used.”

What really drew Jessica to Chasing Life was the script. “It was tackling such a serious issue while having all

of these really funny parts. It was such an entertaining script. I remember finishing the pilot, before my character was even part of it, and it was just a script that, even just from reading it, really moved you, and it was funny at the same time,” Jessica says. “It’s a really well-written show, Joni [Lefkowitz] and Susanna [Fogel] are bad ass writers. They wrote a play before that I had read and another really good script.”

And the skilled writers know how to make Jessica’s character, Natalie, come to life. “[Natalie] is very relatable to me. She’s a tough chick, and she’s just doing the best she can with the cards she was dealt in life. She doesn’t take any shit from anybody.

I like that she is a strong, feisty woman,” Jessica says.“Natalie is pretty awesome, the more you get to see her and get to see all of her different sides.

She’s fun to play and pretty spot on of an ideal character for me to play,” Jessica explains.

“The second episode is going to be a big Natalie episode,” she notes about the next season. “So that should be fun.”

Jessica laughs when she thinks about an upcoming episode, her favorite. “I’ve had some fun scenes where Natalie gets a little action with the boys. It was really fun.” She chuckles. “I know it’s supposed to be super professional, but I had a blast.”

Playing Natalie on Chasing Life has taught Jessica more than what can be displayed on a screen. “I’ve learned how cancer affects everybody. It gives another level to the show, that we’re not just entertaining but we can also use it as a platform to let people know that they’re not alone, especially if they are a young adult going through this,” Jessica states. “Sister relationships are complicated, and you really get to see that. It’s family and there’s going to be a lot of ups and downs.

Sometimes they get to connect, and they’re really not going to see eye to eye other times.”

When she isn’t working on Chasing Life, Jessica explores every opportunity presented to her, like Drunk History. “Derek Waters is the creator, he gets together with narrators and you actually get drunk. Then they film reenactments with the narrator’s voice, wasted,” she explains. “My story was about Ponce De Leon, and they gave me three weeks to prepare. They gave me tons of research. They actually use Ph.D. candidates to do their research, so they give you all of these amazing packets with all of this information.

Then I had to get a physical, to make sure I was healthy enough.”

Jessica’s experience on this Comedy Central show was far from a normal episode. “I got there on the day of, and they were like ‘OK, you can start now.’ So I pound three mimosas,” Jessica recalls. “And I was like, ‘I’m ready to go, let’s do this.’ And then the electricity went out in the whole building, so they had to call an electrician.”

“They didn’t know how long it was going to take, so I’m wasted just eating a box of Nutter Butters,” she continues. “It took like two hours, and by that point I’m sober and slightly hung over, and they got the lights back up.

So I got re-drunk.”

The rest, as they say, is history. “I have no idea what happened,” she concedes. “It was a blast.”

“The next day my manager asked me how it went. And I was just like, ‘I don’t know,” she laughs. “I mean, I do know I was drunk.’”

She hasn’t seen the Drunk History episode yet, but just thinking about it makes her excited. “I get to watch myself drunk,” she laughs. “It’s going to be like Jersey Shore!”

When she isn’t getting drunk and explaining history on Comedy Central or working on Chasing Life, Jessica plans to take advantages of any opportunities presented to her.

“I just want to work. I just want to do all sorts of different things,” she says.

“And the more variety the better.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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// words by jordan melendrez // photos by catherine powell

They were just a group of high school students who wanted to form a band — but they were also one of the few bands of the pop-punk genre in the early 2000s.

People might not have recognized the name Four Year Strong because of the band’s downtime, which coincided with a spike in pop-punk bands, like The Wonder Years and other Warped Tour names.

“Not a lot of people were doing [poppunk] at the time, to the extent that we were doing it,” vocalist and guitarist Alan Day says as he sits near the entrance of Irving Plaza. “We had two very different sides that we smashed together.”

The “we” he refers to is his bandmates: Dan O’Connor (guitar/vocals), Joe Weiss (bass) and Jake Massucco (drums). The guys all went to high school together in their hometown in Massachusetts. Alan started playing the guitar in the third grade, and now, at 27, he’s still playing.

But not without a much-needed break two years ago.

“A lot of bands get weird because of creative issues or differences in that sense.

But it wasn’t that. It was more like, ‘God damn, I don’t wanna see your face tomorrow,’” Alan recalls. “And then at the time off we realized, ‘Holy shit, yeah it was annoying to spend so much time together, but it was way more fun doing that than doing anything else there is to offer in this world, career-wise.’”

In July of 2014, Four Year Strong released the Go Down in History EP, joined the Vans Warped Tour lineup for the summer and started reintroducing themselves to the music scene.

“We wanted to make it sound like it came in between Enemy of the World and In Some Way, Shape or Form, to kind of make the two make sense,” he explains of Go Down In History. “It ended up being pretty fucking awesome, I think. It’s one of my favorite releases that we’ve done to date.”

Alan says they see this EP as the necessary bridge between their full-lengths.

Fans saw a big leap between the sounds on Enemy of the World, arguably their most popular album, and In Some Way, Shape or Form. But with Go Down in

History, he says the positive feedback was almost instantaneous.

“The second we released it, people were asking us to play the songs and would go crazy at the shows,” Alan says, comparing the EP responses to their other music. “Something about it was different. And that feels great. And that’s getting us all excited to write more music.”

During their time off, Four Year Strong observed how people consumed music. The predominant characteristics that they noticed were instant gratification and personalization, especially with platforms such as YouTube, Spotify and iTunes.

“We were looking at people consuming music differently, and that’s why we released an EP versus a full-length,” Alan states.

He and the band saw that with so much information and the use of iPods or playlists, people pick and choose a few of their favorite songs from an album rather than the entire collection. Four Year Strong’s original plan was to release EPs every few months instead of a full-length every few years.

“We kind of abandoned it because the second we released the EP, literally everyone’s response online and in person and stuff was like, ‘Love this EP, can’t wait for the full-length,’” Alan says.

But Four Year Strong isn’t worried about the next album, whether it be full-length or an EP. They were able to use their break to determine how they wanted to function as a band.

In some ways, though, it’s almost as though Four Year Strong must reintroduce themselves into a music scene that they actually helped foster. Rather than find it frustrating, Alan says it’s actually a great sign.

“Whatever anyone can do for the music scene to make it a better thing, it doesn’t matter if it’s me or my peers,” Alan says earnestly. “It is a crazy world we live in now where pop-punk is, I feel like, almost mainstream.”

Achieving mainstream status today has even changed. Some people still acquire a fan base from radio time, but

Four Year Strong have never been one of those bands.

“I’ve never heard myself on the radio, and not that we’re bigger than anyone by any means, but we can go around the country and play good shows,” Alan says.

“And we didn’t have any radio success. I feel like they’re two completely separate worlds.”

Four Year Strong gained their fanbase and accolades from touring, and Alan will never forget their first tour: They were on the road with a Canadian band called The Fully Down, and almost everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

“It was actually the worst tour we’ve ever done because every show was either canceled or somehow never booked in the first place because we showed up and the venue was boarded up,” Alan laughs.

“But it was the best tour at the same time because of all of those things. We kinda went through that together with the other bands and became really close and still talk to them to this day.”

While he was reminiscing, Alan says there are times when he thinks about what would have happened if they had released this EP two years ago.

“I’ve always kind of looked at that break and wished that we didn’t do it because we were on to something,” Alan recalls. “Every tour was a little better than the last, and each record was a bit better and better and better. And then In Some Way, Shape or Form came out, and that’s kind of when we felt like we plateaued, and things weren’t getting better.”

“Maybe the two years off was a good thing, and becoming a new band to people who have never heard of us will be a great thing,” he continues. “We’re kind of still seeing it happen. So I don’t know how it will turn out.”

While Alan feels the verdict is still out on whether the break was beneficial or not, he is excited about the fans’ reactions and the next wave of music.

“The most important thing for me is to have people keep coming out to shows and keeping an eye out for new music, because we’re definitely going to keep making new music.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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xoxo

Holly Taylor

// words by merissa blitz // photos by catherine powell Holly Taylor sits with me at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, as we hide from the bitter cold and giggle about One Tree Hill. (Holly secretly wants to date James Lafferty’s character Nathan Scott). Wearing cozy pastel winter layers, she looks like someone I know. No one in particular, but she just has that face that seems so familiar, inviting and friendly. Like a lot of girls, Holly started taking dance lessons when she was very young – 2 and a half years old, to be exact. That’s when she fell in love with performing.

“My dream was always to be on Broadway,” 17-year-old Holly says.

Her parents are from Nova Scotia, where Holly was born, so they weren’t very familiar with the world of Broadway and didn’t understand Holly’s

dream. Fortunately, she got to show them what Broadway was like for 22 months when she was cast as Sharon Percy, one of the ballerina girls, in Billy Elliot at the ripe age of 11.

“It was crazy for [my dream] to actually manifest into something real when I was that young,” Holly says.

She remembers how well everyone worked together and how much time and effort was needed to make each live performance the best it could be.

Overall, the experience helped her with work ethic and professionalism.

Holly took these skills along with her on to her next journey: becoming the daughter of Russian spies in the television show The Americans.

The Americans follows two KGB spies, Elizabeth (Keri RusNKDMAG.COM

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sell) and Philip Jennings (Matthew Rhys) acting as a married couple whose children Paige (Holly) and Henry (Keidrich Sellati) have no idea that their parents are leading a second life. The show, created by former CIA officer Joe Weisberg, is set in the 1980s during the Cold War and follows the two spies on their exciting and dangerous missions, leaving the viewers anxious for what’s to come. “[The writers] come up with all of these amazing twists and turns that, even being a part of the show, you don’t expect any of the stuff to happen,” Holly says.

She has a lot of fun on set with her co-stars, even during scenes that are supposed to be serious. One of the more memorable moments Holly had while filming was when she shot a scene with Keidrich and his character smashed a bottle over the head of a man that had kidnapped them.

“When we shot that, he smashed the bottle over the guy’s head and then we both went to run away and he made a smart comment at me, joking around, and then he fell and face planted.” Holly says, barely capable of speaking through muffled giggles. “It was the funniest thing ever, both of us couldn’t stop laughing for the rest of the day.”

Holly has been working on The Americans since the start of her freshman year of high school and has been attending public school throughout her time on the show.

“It’s hard because I usually have to miss a few days a week most of the time,” Holly says.

“I usually email my teachers when I’m not going to be there and they’ll tell me what work I need to do or what I’m going to miss.” She also has an on-set tutor to help her with her studies.

“I love high school, even though it’s a lot of work,” she explains. “But I’d rather be in public school than be home schooled.”

Holly is extremely involved in extracurricular activities, including helping out with spirit week and other activities for student council, attending meetings for the National Honor Society, the French Honor Society and the National Art Honor Society, as well as becoming a volunteer at the animal shelter where her family just adopted a kitten. (Holly almost wasn’t able to volunteer because of her very youthful look. “The lady was like, ‘I’m so sorry, you have to be 15 to work here.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, I’m 17 but thanks though,’” Holly recalls.)

Between school, extracurricular activities and working on a television series, it may seem like Holly would have no time for a social life. That’s not the case. Holly makes time for the group of friends that she’s made over the years.

Her friends know all about her entertainment career, as do most of the kids in her school, but they don’t treat her any differently.

“I was at the beach with [my close friends] over the summer and someone came up to me and recognized me and they were like, ‘Oh my God, honestly I forgot you were even on a TV show,’ which is so great to have

friends like that, who just don’t care about it, you know?” Holly says. “They think it’s cool and everything, but that’s not the reason they’re friends with me.

And so it’s nice to be surrounded by those kinds of people.”

As she’s heading into the second half of her junior year of high school, Holly is starting to think about her future. “I definitely want to go to college,” she states, even though she’s unsure of how that will work with the show. She’s interested in the University of Texas and wants to study psychology.

“I watch a lot of Criminal Minds, so forensic psychology is always interesting to me,” Holly says.

She and her mom love learning how to analyze body movements and how to figure out the motives of criminals and watching how people figure out how a character died. Holly says that her mom secretly wants to “be the person that examines dead bodies after they come in.”

“I always think it’s so cool when you watch crime shows and they’re like, ‘he twitched the 51st hair on his right eyebrow so obviously he’s lying,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I want to know how to do that!”

Holly exclaims.

Learning psychology would also benefit Holly’s acting career; she would learn how how to read into small details and dissect the facts of a situation.

“You know how someone will react to something and what kind of movement they would show,” Holly explains. “Things like that really help you dive into the character more, which is awesome.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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BEAN words by stacy magallon // photos by catherine powell

When Noelle Bean was younger, watching MTV was forbidden. If you look her up on MTV’s website now, she has her very own artist page.

“I wasn’t even allowed to watch Spice Girls,” Bean says, reflecting on her early childhood years.

She was born in Dallas before moving to Nashville. Her father, a pastor, was adamant on raising his daughter within Christian standards, as well as homeschooling her. He was part of what was referred to as The Power Team — a group of preachers who spoke about Jesus to the youth around America. Bean, however, managed to fit in a small dose of Spice Girls on MTV, but only when her parents left to run errands. They often found her face inches towards the television screen. “I would get spanked for watching secular music,” Bean recalls. But the music didn’t enthrall her. It was the idea of fulfillment that couldn’t keep her away.

Watching five girls achieve their dreams made her wonder — What am I passionate about? What am I going to do?

When her father passed away, Bean began to zero in on her passion. “He passed away from a cocaine overdose,” she says. “After he stopped preaching to kids, he would do a line of coke.” It was one of the hardest things she ever had to handle. But coping with the loss of her father inspired her to figure out her life.

Bean was tossed into the depths of her teenage years; the discomfited homeschooled student was sent to a public middle school. “I was awkward and didn’t know how to interact with other human beings,” Bean laughs. “I was surrounded by people who didn’t understand what it was like to have been sheltered for so long.”

By the end of ninth grade, Bean’s mother and stepfather chose to move back to Dallas. Her mother believed she was partying too much, so Bean began attending a private school.

At this point, Bean just made the

cheerleading team and began dating a football player. “It was bittersweet,” she says. “And I say that because, if we didn’t move back to Dallas, I wouldn’t have pursued music.”

On the first day at her private school, Bean walked into the wrong classroom. She was looking for her science class, but she went the wrong direction. She ended up in the high school’s music wing, surrounded by guitarists and bassists practicing worship songs for Wednesday chapel.

Before she could turn around and find her scheduled class, the music teacher, Mr Dee, put her on the spot.

“He was like, ‘Are you Noelle Bean?

I heard you can sing, but you’re kind of shy. Is that right?’” she recalls.

“He handed me a microphone and demanded to hear me sing.” That was the foundation of her musical career.

And from then on, Mr. Dee referred to her as “Bean.”

During her senior year of high school, Bean wrote her first song called “Cinderella Smile.” She also received her first guitar, which was donated by a woman who was looking to give away a Yamaha. “I remember her telling me, ‘I can tell you’re going to do some cool things with it,’” Bean recalls. That was the first and last time she saw that woman.

Bean began posting Adele and Coldplay covers on YouTube when she graduated from high school. But she was eager to put out her own music and book her own shows. “I needed to start making money,” Bean says. “I started calling pubs around the Dallas area, hoping to book some open-mic nights.” She would perform a few songs a night and kept a tip jar in front of her — that was her income for a while. Eventually, upscale restaurants started booking her for fourhour sessions, and she performed over 100 covers a night. “It made me realize that you’re going to get back what you put into your work,” Bean says. Strz Enterprises took notice of her passion and ethic.

The label flew Bean out to Los Angeles in August of 2013. After co-writing a song with the head of the label and another producer, Strz gave her the opportunity of a lifetime.

They offered her a record deal and a place to live in the city. She moved to L.A. in January of 2014, where she has been living on her own ever since.

“Why was I living anywhere else?” she asks, laughing.

From Dallas to Nashville, back to Dallas, and eventually settling in Los Angeles. Now, Bean can’t call any other place home. “There are so many different souls trying to figure out where they belong,” she says. “They’re all so different, and we fit in and don’t fit in at the same time. And that’s the magic of Los Angeles.”

Later this year, Bean hopes to release a follow up EP and to start directing her music videos again. She filmed and edited one of her past videos, “Cops And Robbers,” with a good friend in Dallas. “I called up a bunch of my friends and found a hole-inthe-wall hot dog shop,” she explains.

“I bribed my friends with pizza and ice cream, and it cost us 200 dollars to make the video.” She believes it can’t get any better than writing your own music and providing the aesthetic perspective for how it’s filmed.

Bean’s upcoming EP is an embodiment of her year in Los Angeles — all that she’s learned and all that she’s experienced. Compared to her Rollercoaster EP, Bean’s next EP is more acoustic-meets-indie with an old-school sense of production. “A lot of the work is really retro but not to the point where it couldn’t be current again,” she explains.

Her favorite song off the upcoming EP is “Junkyard Kids,” an anthem that sheds light on the misfits and underdogs, much like herself. “I was such an awkward kid,” Bean says. “But that’s OK. Some awkward kids end up becoming successful.” If the past few years are any indication of Bean’s future success, she’ll be just fine. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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disney ’s next graduate, laura marano, is ready to play a new character: herself, the musician.

words & photos by catherine powell hair by briana cisneros make-up by kristina goldberg styled by nikki fife & kelley fox

for laura marano, austin and ally has kind of been like high school. the disney channel sitcom will wrap up shooting its fourth and final season this spring, and laura will be packing up her dressing room and moving on to the next chapter of her life. while the transition is most definitely a sad one, the 19-year-old is eager to face new challenges — especially those surrounding her music career.

When Laura was 2 years old, she fell down two flights of stairs while visiting family in Italy. But she got right back up and was completely fine. Since then, her life has been all about fighting obstacles and bouncing back. She began singing almost immediately after she learned to talk and hasn’t stopped since.

Her acting career began at age 5 — the same year she started kindergarten. Thus began the 13-year-long juggling act that is Laura’s life.

Laura was 6 for her first theatrical role. She and her older sister, Vanessa, booked roles on Without a Trace, where they played sisters. “I know, it’s like shocking, like how could we play sisters?” Laura jokes. Once she entered middle school, she was beginning to book more prominent roles. But she was

also becoming more serious about singing, and she began taking vocal lessons to improve her skills.

Laura’s life took a turn during her freshman year of high school. She was involved in speech and debate, drama club and various art classes when she had to choose between participating in the school musical or going out for a pilot season.

She opted to do a pilot season, like she had done every year prior. But this was the year she auditioned for Austin and Ally.

“The casting director did not think I was right for the part [of Ally Dawson],” Laura recalls.

“They said I was too outgoing and Ally is supposed to be shy and timid.” On the contrary, Laura felt like she could relate to Ally a lot when she read the

character breakdown. She was described as a goodie-two-shoes who loved school and music and was a songwriter. “Even though I was outgoing, I don’t think I was that comfortable musically,” Laura says. “So I definitely related to her in that way as well.”

So she begged for an audition, and after a bit of struggling to find their Ally, the network agreed to let Laura give it a try.

She impressed the casting directors and was called back for a screen test. Having previously known Raini Rodriguez (who plays Trish) from their work on Showtime’s Huff in 2006, Laura already felt comfortable. This was also the day Laura met Ross Lynch — aka, Austin Moon — for the first time. “Ross was classic Ross,” she laughs. “He had a guitar with him.”

At the end of the testing sesNKDMAG.COM

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sion there was one Austin, one Trish, but two Allys. “So I was having a bit of a heart attack,” Laura says. “I waited for like, three days before I found out.

Which was, like, the longest three days of my life.”

At the time, the network had only ordered a pilot, so the show could have easily been scrapped. But Laura and her costars clicked instantly and had a blast filming the pilot regardless of the potential outcome. “I had done pilots before, I had done shows before, but there was something so special about that first week,” Laura recalls.

Laura found out the show was picked up when her mom showed up to her honors biology class with balloons and a chocolate milkshake. “I was so happy because it was picked up, but I was also like, ‘MOM!’” Laura laughs. “It was funny because no one really knows what that term means. When I was gone for two weeks from school kids were like, ‘Where were you?’ and I was like, ‘Oh, I shot a pilot,’ and everyone was like, ‘Are you going to jail?’” Season one began filming that summer.

As Ally started to gain more confidence in her music and her voice on the show, Laura’s life seemed to parallel her character’s. She began co-writing with various songwriters. “It’s kind of like you have to find your courage in a room,” Laura explains.

“You have to be like, ‘I know I don’t have that much experience but this is what I feel really connected to.’” As the recording artist, Laura felt that she needed to lead the room and be vocal about her ideas and the sound of her songs.

40

This past year and a half has been the busiest of Laura’s life.

In addition to filming and focusing on her music more than ever, Laura also graduated high school in June. Leading up to that, she was taking three Advanced Placement courses and filling out college applications.

She also filmed two movies: the Disney Channel Original Movie Bad Hair Day and the independent film A Sort of Homecoming.

Luckily, her last two months of high school were almost entirely work free and she really got to enjoy the best parts of her senior year. “Now I’m living my senior year of Austin and Ally,” she says.

This is the first year since the show started that all the kids are done with school and actually have time to just enjoy one another’s company on set. “We actually have time off in between scenes, and we’re hanging out,” she says. “It’s like bonding to the max.”

While filming season three, the cast and crew were unsure if they would be continuing for a fourth season, but once they did, they knew far in advance that it would be the last one.

The last day of filming for season three was emotional for everyone, partially because of the episode’s subject matter, but also because there was a high possibility that they may not come back. “It’s so much better having that knowledge that it’s the last season,” Laura says.

“We’re all like, ‘Let’s enjoy every single moment.’”

While they haven’t filmed it yet, the executive producers sat down with the cast and discussed their ideas for the series

“i had done pilots before, i had done shows before, but there was something so special about that fisrt week (on austin and ally).�

finale. Laura promises it’s really great. They’re a little more than halfway finished with filming the final season, and it’s really starting to hit everyone that the end is near. “Everything is like the last something,” Laura explains. “It’s sad, but it’s exciting.”

While Laura related to her character from the beginning, as time went on and Laura got to know the show’s writers better, and more of her own characteristics began coming out in her on-screen persona. “I feel like I definitely made Ally a lot quirkier than she was supposed to be,” Laura laughs. “I also feel like my musical genre, that I love, has kind of influenced Al-

have [in common] is in their lyrics. They’re just so honest,” she says. “That’s kind of what I hope to do with my music.” She notes that even though Ally’s songs on the show were able to connect with people, even the song she wrote for Ally (“Finally Me”) is not a song she would describe as her own music.

In terms of releasing music, it looks like Laura’s debut album will be released this year, but nothing in set in stone yet.

She is currently working with 19 Entertainment and has “big news,” but it’s still a secret.

Like many Disney Channel actors that came before her, Laura’s authenticity as a musician will be questioned, but

turning to school as a college freshman in the fall. She’s already decided she will not be going for anything actingrelated but she may enroll in some music-related classes during her four years. She’s especially interested in classes that can teach her how to use some of the various music production systems and programs.

Her general plan is to major in something unrelated to entertainment. “I think right now I’m in political science, so we’ll see,” she says.

Laura will also continue working as an ambassador with UNICEF, which she has been doing since she was 16. She was the trick-or-treat ambassador

“i also feel like my musical genre, that i love, has kind of influenced ally’s genre as well.” ly’s genre as well.” In the beginning of the series, Ally was very piano-pop, which is how Laura describes her own music.

As Laura switches her primary focus from acting to music, the biggest challenge will be shifting people’s perspective of her; seeing her as an individual artist and not a spinoff of the character she’s played for four years. She’s aware of the comparisons that will inevitably follow her in the early stages of her music career, but she’s more concerned about being true to herself as an artist.

“Two of my favorite artists are Sara Bareilles and P!NK, and I think, although their genres are not similar at all, what they do 44

she knows that comes with the territory. “For me, I think it definitely helps [that I] can accompany [myself ] musically,” she says. Laura has been playing piano since age 9. To this day, it is still her favorite sound and the instrument she uses when writing music. Last year while playing a showcase for various industry folk, Laura was accompanied by a band for the first time and completely fed off the group energy. When she eventually tours, she definitely wants to bring out a band, but she also wants to be able to perform part of her set with just her and a piano.

On top of her already busy career year, Laura will be re-

for 2013 and part of her duties was to help bring UNICEF trick-or-treating to the West Coast. “It’s not only helping children around the world, but it’s encouraging kids here, which I think is equally important, that they can make a change no matter how old you are or where you come from,” Laura explains. “I think that’s a message that gets thrown around a lot but isn’t fully enforced as much as it should be.”

Actress, singer, student, humanitarian — Laura Marano truly has her hands full. But if she gets knocked down while facing new challenges, she’ll get back up. She has since she was 2 years old. NKD

DILLON LANE Words by SHELBY CHARGIN Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Extraordinarily dedicated and hard-working, Dillon Lane is the kind of actor who knows exactly how lucky he is. After spending the first 15 years of his life in Phoenix, Arizona, the Bucket and Skinner’s Epic Adventures star has no plans of turning back now.

With the best of his career ahead of him, he’s just getting started.

“At 15 I started acting professionally. Somebody paid me to be in a commercial… And then I started to get actually interested in it,” Dillon says. “You know the more research you do, just reading books and watching movies, kind of like, I developed 46

this obsession watching film. It was just kind of this spark that ignited, something I wasn’t even aware that was inside of me.”

From a young age, Dillon didn’t understand the world of acting or what it meant to actually get the jobs you auditioned for until he moved to Los Angeles. “The last six years I’ve been in L.A. have been kind of a blur. Everything happens so quickly, and also so slow at the same time. It’s like a time vortex here,” he explains. “It doesn’t seem like anybody ages or any time passes at all. But I feel like I’ve been here 30 years. It’s really interesting.”

His transition from average, everyday teenager into TV star was not a quick or easy one though.

With a couple hundred of miles between the Lanes and L.A., Dillon and his brothers had to commute for auditions.“Being from Arizona, we’re only a couple hundred miles away,” he says. “My mom took us, and my brother’s got like this modeling gig.

I kind of just tagged along, and then they kind of fell out of it, and the same thing happened to me as I got a little older.”

Auditions weren’t easy to come by for the teenager while he still lived in

Arizona. “You either like live in L.A. and hear about auditions, or you hear about it like on the radio or at the mall or something,” Dillon explains about his own experience. “It was like standing in line waiting to meet Santa Claus and somebody hands you a flyer saying ‘We need kids for a Got Milk? commercial, and that was my first job.

It was literally a Got Milk? commercial. It was so weird I actually haven’t even really thought about since until now.”

Although it seems like a bit whirlwind and a bit crazy, Dillon realizes exactly how fortuitous his chances have been. “I guess I just kind of fell into it, I got really lucky. I got really really lucky. Not for a lack of hard work, but I got really lucky that I’m even here right now. One thing truly does lead to another in this business.

There’s no corporate ladder,” Dillon says. “You can’t show up to work and impress your boss and get a promotion. If you’re at the right place, and you’re what they’re looking for, you’ll get something.”

His honesty and true dedication to what started out as something he fell into has perpetuated the drive he uses to keep pushing for more jobs and bigger projects. “I’ve been on probably a couple thousand auditions and booked 20 of them. It’s not a very good batting average,” he says. “But that’s just kind of how it works. The statistics, it’s not something I like to look at.”

This refusal to quit was often sparked by seeing people around him growing up, especially Arizona based bands like This Century, The Maine and The Summer Set. “It’s cool to see somebody like John Gomez for instance, from The Summer Set, because I grew up with some of those guys in Arizona,” he recalls. “I used to go to the shows and sell merch for This Century and watch all of them play. And this is when I was in high school, or maybe even younger. And I remember thinking, ‘How did they

do it?’ But it’s really simple, they just made a band and played one show, just one show.”

His own life often reflects this outlook and policy — constant effort and work can get you to amazing places. “I have friends from back home who are like ‘Dude, how are you on TV?’ ‘How did you do this?’ ‘How do you know so and so?’” Dillon says. “It’s been the culmination of just six or seven years of trudging through it.”

Through the process of many auditions — and the assistance of a supportive mom — Dillon was able to obtain an agent and transition from commercial acting into television. “I probably went to 150 or 200 auditions and didn’t book anything. And then this one day, a Nickelodeon audition came up, but I had tickets to Warped Tour in like 2005 or 2006 or something. And I was like ‘Mom, I can’t, I can’t go. I have to go to Warped Tour’ like in Phoenix, there’s no way I’m missing Warped Tour for this Nickelodeon audition.”

Dillon’s outlook on life reflects how insane he thinks it all is, and how the smallest decision can change everything. “I easily could have just gone to Warped Tour and not that audition and not booked that show,” he recollects. “I really don’t believe in luck, but I guess it’s luck, I don’t know what else it would be. Or maybe is it fate, I have no idea.”

After two years, though, Bucket and Skinner was canceled. Dillon already committed to living in L.A., and it’s a decision he doesn’t regret. “There was no, ‘Do I do this?’” he says. “I realized that just to be given that opportunity is an incredible experience that a lot of people aren’t fortunate enough to have, and I need to use that as, I don’t know, ammunition to just keep going.”

Dillon’s experiences, and his letdowns, have given him perspective on his situation. “I’ve learned more from all of my mistakes,” he states. “I feel like better things have come from the show being canceled then had it not.”

He’s moving forward and applying his knowledge to more projects, such as a western for The History Channel called Texas Rising. “It’s about the Alamo and the formation of the Texas Rangers, which were like the first kind of like individual law enforcement around Texas circa 1830,” he explains.

“I sent my agency an email, and I would really love to read for this, what’s going on? They said, ‘We submitted your headshot. They don’t want to see you.’”

Appearances mean a lot in the entertainment business, so Dillon decided to take matters into his own hands; he cut his hair. “I didn’t tell anyone, I just emailed my agency and said, ‘Resubmit my headshot. See if they’ll see me,’” Dillon recalls. “And they did.”

The filming process brought him to Durango, Mexico for three months.

Almost immediately after his stint in Mexico, Dillon filmed a guest spot on a television show called Secrets & Lies, with one of his favorite actors, Ryan Phillippe.

With everything starting to pick up, Dillon’s goals are pretty apparent in his work ethic, but like many actors, his resolutions are only a fraction of the goals they have for themselves in life. “I’ve made it a point to want to book a couple more things each year. Unfortunately the place I’m at in my career, I still have to prove myself, which I find pretty fun,” he says. “I still have to talk to directors and producers and writers and convince them that I’m the guy they want to hire.”

While he’s had a taste of the world where people know who you are, he strives to be innovative, whether it’s his acting career or some of his other hobbies. “I have a passion for writing and photography I want to explore, too,” he says. “I just wanna like make new things because I think that’s ultimately what it is, to just keep creating new things.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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Veronica Dunne Words by TARA DEVINCENZO Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

When you want to grow up to be a star, there is no more ideal place to grow up than Southern California — in theory.

Born and raised in Malibu, California, Veronica was secluded on a shelf 2,000 feet above the rest of the city. “We had 10 acres, and there wasn’t a neighbor for 2 miles. And that neighbor was the park ranger,” she explains of her home. “I was very isolated.”

Living in such isolation, Veronica developed a strong imagination. Being an only child forced her to create imaginary friends to play with, as she made up her own stories and games to occupy her time.

She was home schooled in her early years, and when she finally started middle school, it was not much of NKDMAG.COM

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a leap from her shelf-life. “I went to a really private middle school,” she says. “[My parents] just wanted to keep me in this box.”

She knew what she wanted from life, and it was not to be preserved in this box. She wanted to be able to express her creativity, so she turned to musical theater as a way to break out. “Hearing the reaction from the audience stirred something inside of me,” Veronica says.

At age 11, Veronica signed with her first manager and started auditioning, especially for the Disney Channel. For years, she would go in and continue to get call backs, but she never ended up being the right match for the part. “I almost wanted to give up,” she says. “It was just so exhausting.”

By coming up short for so many years, Veronica thought she might have to reroute. She decided to go back to school and was accepted to the legendary Carnegie Mellon University, when she experienced a slight twist of fate. “I ended up booking another show that rehearsed in New York and would keep me here,” she recalls. “I had a gut-feeling to stay [in New York].”

Veronica didn’t necessarily feel the show was a big deal at the time, but she was sure that it was a step in the right direction. She deferred her enrollment at Carnegie Mellon for a year and auditioned for her first Broadway audition, Mama Mia. “I thought I did horribly,” she admits. “I had no time to prepare, it was just a fluke. I didn’t think anything of it.”

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Veronica’s auditioning became somewhat second nature.

After her Mama Mia audition, she flew back to California to audition for Disney Channel’s K.C. Undercover. With years of auditions and very little payoff, Veronica finally got her retribution by being offered both a role in Mama Mia and a role in K.C. Undercover (on the same day, no less).“Two incredible things happened at once after years of me pounding the pavement,” she explains.

Veronica finally received her casting feast after years of famine, but she had to decide which route was the one she always wanted to follow. “That was a difficult decision because my heart growing up was in the theater … but I always really wanted to do TV,” she says. “I made the decision because I felt like I could always go back and go to New York.”

It was not easy turning down something she considered a dream. “Luckily, I had good representation, and they knew what was best for me,” Veronica states.

Turning down the opportunity was difficult, but she allowed her heart and total honesty to guide her conversation as she turned down Broadway to focus on Disney.

On K.C. Undercover, Veronica works alongside triple-threat and Disney alumni, Zendaya, which played a huge factor in choosing between the show and Broadway. “I had a gut feelings that the show would go well because of her fan base, and I knew everything she does she puts her full heart into it,” Veronica says.

The show, which had its premiere on Jan. 18, follows the story of a teenage girl who uncovers that her parents are spies, and she begins working on missions. Veronica’s character, Marissa, is the one who craves the limelight. A lot like Veronica in real life, Marissa is bubbly and outgoing, but there certainly is a level of acting that Veronica still has to implement.

“I think there is a lot of Marissa inside of me, but I have to heighten to play a character that broad,” she says.

Marissa is the opposite of her best friend, Zendaya’s title character K.C., which creates an interesting dynamic for young girls to watch.

“What I love about the show is I think it’s real,” Veronica says. “All young girls have conflicts with their friends. It really shows them the right way to work it out.”

The show, for Veronica, demonstrates how to work through conflicts — especially internal and friendship based. The less secure K.C. is the one who becomes the heroine, as she becomes a member of the worldtraveling, undercover spies.

“I think that shows to young girls that even though you have these insecurities and flaws, it doesn’t mean you can’t do anything [you want to do],” Veronica explains.

“I’ve heard these jokes done so many times in front of me, and I’m still laughing the 100th time I hear it,” she says about some of the dialogue. “I really think the jokes are smart, witty and more mature.”

While the show has only been on air for less than two

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months, Veronica was fully immersed into the idea of Disney stardom well before the premiere date. “I’ve prepared myself for being a role model,” she says. “I don’t know if there’s anything I want to do before that, but there’s definitely some things I want to do when that starts happening.”

She knows whom she admired, and she wanted to break the perfect mold that girls always want to squeeze themselves into. “I think it’s important to portray a real person in real life. I’m definitely not perfect,” she says. “I just want to send the message that your flaws are beautiful, too.”

Unlike when she was growing up, Veronica now has a consider amount of control, especially over what she wants to show her audience. But there’s a flipside, and Veronica is prepared it. In the golden age of media, she knows that there will be the full spectrum of feedback about her online presence.

“I’m aware that there’s gonna be some horrible things said and some amazing things said,” Veronica mentions. “I’m just gonna ignore it and look at the positive things and use social media as a tool in my life to promote things that are important.”

The year just started, as did Veronica’s on-screen career.

But she already has her goals in view. She knows that there are books to read and movies to see, but her plan is to continue working toward music, reading more scripts and committing to each one of her ambitions fullthrottle. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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Words by RILEY STENEHJEM Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Smashing Satellites, a three-piece band hailing from Toronto, Canada, doesn’t just create music. They use it as a platform to promote their movement to “bring people back to humanity.” The movement was started and inspired by lead singer, Salvatore Costa.

Salvatore was introduced to the music world by one of his older sisters. “I remember being a little kid, like five years old, and she was kind of like a ‘goth,’”he recalls. “I would walk into her room whenever she was gone out of the house. She would hide all of her records and tapes underneath her bed, and I would check them out.

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But it didn’t stop there. His sister guided him. “I remember finding a Nirvana record, a Placebo record and The Doors, and I kinda just fell in love with music,” he says. “She bought me my first guitar, because she wanted me to learn to play songs from her favorite artists, and then it was kinda like an addiction.”

This addiction to playing music followed Salvatore into his adult life, where he joined a band and founded his own singing and songwriting projects. After leaving a band to seek out his own musical style about a year and a half ago, Salvatore started the

project. “It was just me in the studio,” he says. “I wasn’t really even sure if I was going to be the singer for the project.”

He began the search process for finding a vocalist for the record he had written, but in the end discovered that he should sing.

“This record is a pretty emotional record and captures a really high point in my life and a really low point all at the same time,” he explains. “I didn’t feel like there was anybody singing the songs the way that I would sing them.”

Shortly thereafter, Salvatore came up with the name Smashing Satellites, and his solo project

became a band. “After I recorded the record, I put together some of the other players and we started rehearsing,” he says.

Salvatore and the band’s mission to return people to humanity is based on the world’s technology obsession. “Since the early 2000s, or maybe even the ’90s, I feel like with the serious cell phone craze people aren’t as in touch with one another,” Salvatore explains.

“Nobody really calls me anymore, it’s text message or email. Usually when I try to call people back, even my close friends, I’ll get a text back right away.”

To combat this disconnect, Salvatore lives what he calls “an alternative lifestyle.”

“I have one phone in my house, it’s a rotary phone. I don’t have WiFi. I use a push lawnmower, and I’m trying to make an effort to engage with the world and my surroundings,” he explains. “I find that when you do, you just find a deeper meaning to life.”

He practices what he preaches in the project, despite what others may think about his actions.

“Not to sound like a hippie or an elitist or anything like that, but I just find that when you engage in conversations, whether I’m going to grab some food and spending an extra 30 seconds to talk to the waiter and ask them how their day was and what they’ve been up to, I just feel like it brings back a certain amount of humanity that’s almost missing nowadays,” he says.

Maintaining a lifestyle like this probably sounds impossible, and Salvatore admits there are some challenges.

“There’s no way I can get around not having an email and a cell phone, but I try to limit it,”he

explains. I’ll be like, ‘After this time I’m just not answering it, everyone can reach me tomorrow.’”

But this type of commitment is easier said than done. “It’s kind of hard sometimes because my bandmates will call me or text me wanting to know what time we’re rehearsing,” he says. “But I feel like I’m not as consumed by this device. I’m more consumed by the people that I care about.”

This mindset was in part inspired by some wisdom passed down from Salvatore’s parents. “[They] always told me ‘look a person in the eyes, you’ll always know their true intention,’” Salvatore recalls. “I found that through many relationships I’ve had, I might get a text message from somebody saying, ‘Oh, great,’ and not really knowing what the intention behind that text message is. I felt like over a long time that I was losing that kind of relationship with a lot of people I care about, just knowing how they feel about certain topics.”

This old-school motto Salvatore lives by is prevalent in the band’s music, as well. It’s not just the songs that carry out the message, but the roots of the music’s creation.

“A lot of bands now just pick up a laptop, plug in and everything’s done like that,” Salvatore says. “You can make a record in a month and half and hear it on the radio a few months later.”

So you can bet Smashing Satellites chose an alternative method.

“We spent seven months in an actual studio, with old keyboards, so all the keyboard sounds that you hear on the record aren’t from a computer, we generated them from these old ’60s and ’70s analog keyboards. We would sit

there for maybe a whole day just to get a sound, where I could’ve done that on a computer in 10 minutes,” Salvatore explains. “I specifically picked up a guitar from the early ’60s, it was just old as hell and it looked like it went through three world wars.”

If the album sounds slightly antiquated to listeners, it’s intentional. “We kind of just did everything in an old-school way,” he says. “I think from the building of the record to the sounds to some of the songs, it almost tells a message on its own.”

The band just released an EP titled SonicAluzion, which is actually the first half of a full-length record, and the second half will be coming out this summer.

Since Salvatore recently left a more hard-rock, metal band, he wanted his first release with Smashing Satellites to distinguish himself from his former genre.

“I felt like these five songs on the EP were the most obscure songs on the entire record, and I kind of wanted to just show my cards right away, and be like this is what I’m doing, this is who I am,” he explains. “I didn’t want to put out songs that were resembling what I’ve done in the past. I wanted to make a point.”

“I wanted to have my old fans right from the beginning see that this was going to be absolutely, completely different,” Salvatore says.

While they await the fulllength record release, Smashing Satellites will be off on a West Coast tour this March, and hopefully playing more shows in the United States and Europe. One thing is for sure: they’re on a mission to return people to humanity. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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