NKD Mag - Issue #27 (September 2013)

58-67 JIMMY EAT WORLD

“WE WANT TO WANT TO LISTEN TO OUR RECORDS IN 20 YEARS, BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT YOU LIVE WITH.” RICK BURCH, JIMMY EAT WORLD

FEATURES 4 forever the sickest kids

28 maia mitchell

8 blessthefall

34 nolan funk

14 letlive.

40 will poulter

20 never shout never

44 oh honey

68 make believe clothing 70 joel crouse 72 wallpaper.

76 alli simpson

46 karmin

EDITORIAL 26 industry write-in

NKD NAKED MAGAZINE

27 playlist

52 naked eye

PUBLISHERS

SENIOR EDITORS

WRITERS

Ariella Mastroianni Catherine Powell

Amanda Randone Noah Tavlin

MANAGING EDITOR

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Nicola Pring

Elizabeth Goold

PHOTOGRAPHER

COPY CHIEF

Catherine Powell

Nicola Pring

DESIGNER

COPY EDITORS

Ariella Mastroianni

Tatiana Baez Jenna Ross Alexandra Tse

Jackie Bui Susan Cheng Ashleigh D’Mello Tara DeVincenzo Olga Khvan Alex Lane Stacy Magallon Ariella Mastroianni Shina Patel Stephanie Petit Catherine Powell

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FOREVER THE SICKEST KIDS

Words by TARA DEVINCENZO Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

With their latest album, pop-punk band Forever the Sickest Kids have achieved the dream of making a record that’s all their own.

The album, J.A.C.K., released in June of this year, is the record the guys have always wanted to write. Austin Bello (bass/ vocals), Kyle Burns (drums), Jonathan Cook (vocals), Caleb Turman (guitar/vocals) and their former band mates Kent Garrison and Marc Stewart released their first full-length, Underdog Alma Mater (2008), under Universal Motown Records. They didn’t intend to start their career with a record label holding their hands, but they allowed themselves to take some of the label’s guidance as a learning experience.

“It was one of those things you assume that [the record label] knew what was best for us,” Caleb says. “We were kind of going with the flow.” Going with the flow came at the expense of expressing themselves without influence from anyone else, but it also allowed them to earn a living making music. “You want to be successful, you want to be able to eat food and sleep in a bed,” he adds.

In early 2011, the band went through some changes. Kent Garrison, their

keyboardist, announced he would be leaving the band, several months before they released their second full-length, Forever the Sickest Kids (2011). A few months later, lead guitarist Marc Stewart announced he would also be leaving to pursue other opportunities. The band was still going strong until Universal Motown Records split, and FTSK were left without a label.

Losing the label was a huge loss, but it gave them an even bigger opportunity. “[It was] the calm after the storm, we rallied back up and [the band was] like, ‘I miss you, I missed you too, let’s rock,’” Kyle says.

After taking a short break, FTSK regrouped and decided to write a new album. They were down to just four members, and they signed with Fearless Records and revamped their mission. Under their new label they vowed to leave the overused pop melodies of Underdog Alma Mater behind.

The result was J.A.C.K., which is the creative brainchild of the band, made purely of Jonathan, Austin, Caleb and Kyle’s sound.

“Fearless was like, ‘Get in a garage and write a record, we’ll listen to it at the end and if it’s good we’ll put it out.’ And everyone ended up liking it,” Kyle says. Positive reception NKDMAG.COM

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from Fearless motivated them to work harder than they ever had to perfect the next album. “I think it was the first time in a long time we felt like we were in a band,” Caleb says.

J.A.C.K. is the album the band wanted to make. It consists entirely of songs they wrote, recorded and had produced by Mike Green, who has worked with bands like All Time Low, The Wanted and New Found Glory.

With the freedom to write and record anything they wanted, they had to narrow in on some sort of objective. They had already decided to steer clear of the limits of playing pop melodies, but they still needed a direction. Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy came into the studio to help them focus their writing. “[Stump] would say, ‘Are you really saying what you wanna say…’ so we’d stop and we’d think about every little part of the song together, and that was really refreshing,” Caleb says.

The guys say it was difficult to narrow down all the songs they wrote into one album. “J.A.C.K. is a perfect album that we love but even on top of that there’s about 30 other songs that haven’t been released,” Kyle says. “We chose the best and released them.”

Even though they got rid of the less-than-perfect songs, J.A.C.K. contains some secrets of their hard work that they weren’t completely ready to kill off. “We had written the record, we had already produced it, and it was ready to go and Kyle would be like, ‘Yo, they’re about to put out the records, I’m gonna put in a [few secret tracks],’” Caleb says.

Those secret tracks were a way for the FTSK to release more material. And they’re serious about keeping them secret — the guys want fans to find out where and how they’re hidden for themselves. The tracks are what they call the “icing on the cake,” and they say they’re a product of trusting one another to make smart, creative decisions.

FTSK were thrilled with J.A.C.K once they had finished, but they still had to wait for fans’ reaction. This was their fourth summer on Warped Tour, and FTSK tried to ease fans into J.A.C.K. by playing some of their old hits, including “Hey Brittany” and “Whoa Oh (Me vs. Everyone),” before playing songs off J.A.C.K., such as “Chin Up Kid” and “Nice To Meet You.” “Every day you’re just hoping that somebody likes it,” Kyle says of fan reaction the album.

Getting on stage was half the battle for FTSK — the other half was having an audience receive the music well. “If you don’t enjoy playing then it’s just a lot of work,” Kyle says.

J.A.C.K. is their self-proclaimed best project so far, but they’re not going to quit while they’re ahead. “I mean it is really good but it’s a progression, it’s always a progression,” Kyle says. Caleb adds, “Our best music is probably unwritten still.” NKD

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BLESSTHEFALL 8

Words by STEPHANIE PETIT Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

singer beau bokan is no stranger to the chaos of Vans Warped Tour. He has dealt with the extreme heat and massive crowds every summer since he started attending in 1997.

Things are a bit different now — Beau was just a spectator at his first Warped Tour. “I was a kid going to see Blink [182], dying of thirst,” he says. This summer the lead singer of metalcore band Blessthefall is appearing on the main stage.

The thrill of being in front of a crowd continues to overcome and humble Beau.

He smiles as he walks onto the stage and never takes it for granted. He knows the people in the crowd have many options, but choose to see them. “These people still care about us, still give us a chance,” he says. Beau knows that if it wasn’t for the fans, Blessthefall wouldn’t be able to continue making music. “To know that our band has been around for so long, there’s so much new music, and so many other bands, and to walk out and see that many people who are stoked to watch you, it’s overwhelming sometimes,” Beau says.

That is the reason Beau and the rest of Blessthefall take their live shows seriously. They’ve had plenty of practice, having toured all over the world, including in Europe and Australia,

in support of bands including Saosin and Story of the Year.

Although they like to have a good time and “run around like freaking animals,” they try to sound as tight as possible and continuously try to improve the live shows. “I think we owe it to people that come to see us,” Beau says. “We don’t just fuck off onstage.”

The Arizona-bred quintet has the same attitude when it comes to their fourth album, Hollow Bodies, which was released Aug. 20 through their record label Fearless Records. Beau says a lot of songs they worked on ended up in the trash because they felt they were not good enough. “You listen to [a song] and you almost compare it to what you’ve done in the past,” he says. “If this doesn’t compare to what we’ve already done, it’s not good enough. It needs to surpass what we’ve done in the past.”

The band is constantly competing with itself. They are always trying to top what they’ve already done, and make the best music possible.

They have a lot to live up to. Their third full-length album, Awakening (2011), debuted at No. 32 on the Billboard 200, selling more than 11,290 copies in its first week. It outdid their previous record, Witness (2009), charting 25 spots higher.

Beau thinks they have surpassed themselves again with their new record, saying the songs came out just the way they were supposed to and fans will be blown away by the step they’ve taken from the past songs. “I try to paint pictures and stories with this new record which I haven’t really done before,” Beau says. “I feel like I’ve never been too good at it so I really wanted to work hard at it. You’re painting a picture and it makes the song larger than life.”

Beau took inspiration from matters outside his personal experiences for this record, such as the television show The Walking Dead. “I was so invested in that show,” he says. “I was like, ‘Ok, I need to find a metaphor because this is so amazing.’”

Beau says songs he writes come together in a very natural way. He explains that the other members of the band will send him a piece of music and he works with the emotion he feels. “I just kind of start jotting down ideas of what the music is making me feel,” Beau says.

He also uses another technique when he wants to write about a certain subject. He’ll start write down lines that don’t necessarily rhyme or make much sense, just to get his ideas on paper.

Sometimes he is able to combine the music sent to him with musings from his collection, but it can’t be forced. “You have to be able to change and adapt to whatever the song is doing,” he says. “It’s a crazy process. I think everyone does it differently.”

In the past, the band was very strict and regimented during

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the recording process. For Hollow Bodies, they took a much more relaxed approach. Activities like playing Mario Kart and basketball were interspersed with recording, and Beau says they found if they were supposed to work until a scheduled time but were having fun, they’d keep going until into the morning hours.

Part of the reason for the laid-back process was their new producer, Joey Sturgis. The guys are very happy with the results of working with him. “It took a while to sit back and trust a producer and trust life I guess,” Beau says. “You can only plan so much. It’s amazing, better than we could have expected.”

Beau predicts listeners will smile a lot and even cry a little while listening to the new album. He says that the crying

“IF THIS [ALBUM]

DOESN’T COMPARE TO WHAT WE’VE ALREADY DONE, IT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH.” BEAU BOKAN

may come from the last song on the album, a track called “Open Water” that features a very special person in Beau’s life: his wife Valerie Poxleitner, the Canadian electro-rock singer who goes by “Lights.” This is the first time the two wrote and recorded a song together.

Even before Beau and Lights tied the knot in 2012, fans asked when they would collaborate, but Beau says they wanted it to happen naturally. They both agreed they were not going to do something just because other people wanted them to.

Beau admits that working together was a little hard because the two spend so much time apart that when they are together they just want to be a couple. Once they figured out how to balance the work, Beau learned a lot from his wife, who he says is a much better singer than he is. He seems to be pleased with the outcome of their patience and work. “Every time I listen to it I get the chills,” he says. “We really dug down and tried to deliver something amazing.”

Although the Beau’s music differs greatly from Lights’, Beau says their styles influence one another, and they have some mutual fans. “Fans will come up to us and say they saw my wife play and say she was awesome,” he says. “It’s crazy that it works.

I feel like we can reach different ends of the musical spectrum between the both of us.”

Hollow Bodies also features guest vocals from Jesse Barnett of Stick To Your Guns and Jake Luhrs of August Burns Red, with whom Blessthefall have toured with in the past, and will tour with in Europe this fall, along with Counterparts.

Despite the pressure to perform well on tour and surpass past work with the new album, Beau knows there is only so much a person can plan. If something does not work out, he’s ready for the next challenge. “My whole life I’ve just rolled with the punches,” he says. “I work toward a goal, but if it’s not meant to happen, I go with the next thing.”

That mindset has led Beau to where he is today. For example, when his former band Take the Crown fell apart in 2008, another door opened around the same time. Beau filled the void left when former Blessthefall frontman Craig Mabbitt and the rest of the band decided to part ways the same year. Beau sent the band a message on Myspace inquiring about the opening.

After he wrote an original song based on music sent to him by the band and an in-person meeting, Beau was chosen as Blessthefall’s new frontman.

He wasn’t the only lineup change. After Beau joined, guitarist and founding member Mike Frisby left the band to pursue another path and was replaced by Elliott Gruenberg. The new line up seems to have worked out — Hollow Bodies will be the third Blessthefall album with Beau. The frontman couldn’t be more excited to hear what fans think of it. While he sees the album as an accomplishment, he is anxious to hear from the outside perspective.

“It’s a very fresh sound for us,” he says. “I have high expectations and I think that our fans are going to appreciate all the surprises.”

No matter what happens, Beau will continue to enjoy performing and making music. A lot has changed, but inside he is the same person as the boy at Warped Tour 15 years ago. “I’m a kid who was in the crowd who is stoked to be on stage now,” Beau says. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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LETLIVE.

jason aalon butler is at war with himself.

Words by ARIELLA MASTROIANNI Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

On stage, it’s a physical battle — the singer charges from one spot to the next, spitting out fast, shrill screams as he pulls at his hair and smacks himself repeatedly in the face. He shakes violently around his bandmates until he falls to the ground, losing his mic and his timing, but not his energy, which continues to pulse through him as he writhes around the floor. There’s an inspiring madness to him that’s not the least bit alarming, at least not to his bandmates, who bounce back and forth across the stage with him. The audience gets it, too. He screams, they scream. He throws a fist into the air, they throw fists back. Why? Because they need to. Beyond the screaming, the bruises, the pushing and shoving, the band is fighting another battle. It’s a question that lingers at the forefront of Jason’s mind. The question: Who are they doing this for?

Jason struggles with this question on the band’s third studio album, The Blackest Beautiful, which

was released through Epitaph Records in July. In some ways the album is a response to their sophomore release Fake History (2010), where Jason admits to playing the role of an observer, rather than speaking as the subject.

On The Blackest Beautiful, Jason owns his opinions, tackling themes addressed in Fake Problems like social inequality, religion, love and entertainment. A few hours before their set at Nassau Coliseum for the Vans Warped Tour, Jason and guitarist Jeff Sahyoun talk about the album, their relationship to vulnerability and how there’s a fine line between selflessness and selfishness.

on the blackest beautiful jason aalon: In my designated realm of the band, lyrically, [the album’s] moreso introspective as opposed to me being an observer of things. On the last record I sat and I discussed how I felt about things I was observing, as opposed to integrating myself into the problems I was lamenting. I realized that a lot of [my issues] had to do with me.

I was immature. I think I was a bit naïve.

When you’re young, you understand things as they are, and what you see. You’re a little too righteous and the zeal can become poisonous because you’re not understanding that you need to be active. And I thought that maybe writing a song about the way I felt would change the world. I quickly understood that you have to be a part of that change you want to see. And I know that’s really cliché, but it is a mantra that I’ve subscribed to for a few years. jeff sahyoun: You learn different ways to approach the recording realm as you record.

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js: We tried to find different formulas to bring our sonic energies to life and translate that into the analogue realm. We play our instruments every single day. Aside from Jason being able to distribute his emotions and stories and views onto the record, we get to do that instrumentally. Back in the day we were writing songs in a garage, just making noise. So when you grow as an artist you find different ways to bring these songs to life.

on vulnerability ja: My whole life I was taught not to be vulnerable.

I was personally not able to identify with sadness. I likened it to anger. That was my best way. So I was a considerably violent kid growing up. Now that I’m older, I’ve realized I’ve done things I never want to do again, and I’m taking the steps necessary to make sure that I don’t fall back into that routine or into that way of living. It also helps to have people around me that understand, like Jeffrey [Sahyoun, guitar].

Jeffrey is one of my best friends and my guitar player.

It’s a funny thing having someone in your band as your friend, because he tells me to tell him when I’m upset, which I don’t do and I apologize, but it’s very strange ‘cause I’ve never been used to it. So the vulnerability thing is very new. It’s very new. Both platonically and romantically. But I’m trying. [The Blackest Beautiful] was my opus to that — to that new way of being. jf: There’s comfort in knowing you’re not the only person going through a certain situation. So, people get to connect on an emotional level, whether its lyrically or watching [Jason] perform on stage. I remember being a kid and going through a bunch of shit, and [thinking] like dude, I’m the only person going through this right now. So going to a show and finding someone that’s going through the same exact thing makes you feel a little better. You don’t feel so left out. Connection is a beautiful thing, definitely.

It helps people get through whatever they’re going through. ja: It’s interesting to see that people like, give a shit.

That people care. That people want to know. That resonates with me. That’s the best use of vulnerability.

To show people that it’s ok to feel.

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on writing ja: In the beginning I was really self conscious. I never had a diary, I never had journals, I never wanted anyone to know what I was thinking or what I was feeling. I remember the first day when I was in high school putting a pen to paper and starting to write about the way I felt. It’s strange how one form of art can open you up and make you very raw.

So for the past 13 years of my life, from the day I started writing to now, I am still learning things about myself that I never knew. And I’m trying my best to convey them in a way that people can connect. Hopefully connect.

on performing

did for years, we’d just play for ourselves. We were playing to gratify ourselves as artists. But now it’s a different story.

People listen, people connect, they understand… they commiserate, they empathize… they sympathize… I mean those things are beautiful things that I’ve never really allowed people to do for me, ever, in my life. I’ve never been one for sympathy. I’ve never been one for those sort of connections.

Now, somehow strangely, I do that for hundreds of people a day. It’s a really strange thing, but I guess we’re really strange people in the end.

ja: There’s a duality on stage. You’re playing these songs and you’re giving yourself away for whatever the set time is and people are applauding you, thanking you. They’re grateful for the things that you’ve given them, even though it took everything out of you. So there’s this sense of ambivalence.

You’re going back and forth between, “I’m feeling this again.

I’m upset,” but also “You appreciate it, so thank you.” And in the end, ultimately, if people understand then it’s worth it.

That’s the greatest sense of gratification. Otherwise, like we

js: It’s exciting because you know that you’re going to go out on stage and relive a time in your life. There were a lot of dark points in my life that I turned into songs. On stage I close my eyes and live those moments. I might be back in that dark place for 30 minutes but I know that when it’s over, I just open up my eyes. It’s a good reminder. Like, “That’s where you were once, but look at where you are now.” It’s knowing that you tackled and conquered that time. You get to look up, smile and think, “I’m ok. I did good.” NKD

js: I think dark music is the best kind of music. I don’t like writing music when there’s daylight. I don’t like writing music when the sun’s out. So like, literally dark music. It pissed off a lot of people on the last album. Like, “Yo we gotta turn the lights on” and I’m like, “No!” I don’t want to play my guitar. It may be some of my insecurities at the same time.

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NEVER SHOUT NEVER 20

since 2007, indie-pop band never shout never has propelled from a one-man project fronted by Christofer Drew Ingle to a three-piece group on their fifth full-length album release. Today, Never Shout Never includes Christofer as vocalist and guitarist, bassist Taylor Macfee and drummer Hayden Kaiser. The band released their latest record, Sunflower, this past June. NKD talked to the guys about how Never Shout Never has changed over the years. how has your sound evolved since the band started? taylor macfee: When we went to the studio last time we had done a couple records where it was more of an all-encompassing creative process where everyone was bouncing ideas off of each other. When we went into the studio we knew we wanted to do what we sound like live, and something that’s very original and organic and just a raw sound. It’s just very, very raw and real, almost old school how people used to record. what made you want to approach it in this way? christofer drew: We just wanted to go for our live sound. Sunflower sounds like our live set, it sounds very super live. tm: We just plug in and play, we don’t use any tracks. cd: Just bare bones, that’s the songs we wrote. We have big plans for the next one, we got back to our roots on this one, but now is our time to really go for it. why was it important to go back to your roots? cd: It just seemed natural. We made [the record] in like three weeks. We just played what we wanted to play and didn’t worry about it. The last few records have been over thought at times.

Words by SHINA PATEL & CATHERINE POWELL

Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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would you say you generally over think your music? tm: Sometimes you sit there for eight hours hearing the same song. cd: And you start hearing things and convincing yourself things. But all it takes is one night’s sleep and you realize, ‘I don’t know why I was thinking that.’ is it just with music or other things in your lives? cd: I think just music. tm: I over think things. cd: I try not to, whatever happens, happens. you’ve mentioned your plans for the next album and how you want to make it very ‘big.’ what inspired that? cd: We’re still going to have that three-piece sound. hayden kaiser: Stylistically, not just production, it’ll be a little more epic. tm: Who knows? We might come out with a reggae album for all we know. how do you keep your fans interested when your sound is constantly changing? cd: We don’t really try to keep them interested. If they’re into it, they are. If they aren’t, they aren’t. We think about the listener in a sense, but we don’t base [our music] on their opinion. hk: The amount of records we put out also helps. We get bored with records really easily.

We want to do this new record and that new record and on and on and on. It’s a giant cycle. how do you take criticism? tm: It’s the wind behind my sails. I need encouragement to get better. I’m not really good yet. I’m pretty good as a musician overall. I let it be my motivation to become really good, but I don’t let it get to me. cd: I’m just a lot more interested that people challenge me. tm: Good criticism, even if it’s not constructive, it makes you think about certain aspects of how you did something, and even if it’s not well put together, it helps you grow as an artist or an individual.

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have you always been able to handle negative criticism? cd: It’s happened over time. It used to just be like, ‘Oh this is so cool.’ tm: Then you’d go on the Internet and be like, ‘This is the worst thing I’ve heard in my life.’ Really? That’s how bad you think it is? You learn how to take criticism and how to use it for whatever it is. hk: Chew it up, digest it, and shit it back in their faces. how much criticism do you take seriously? hk: I only take people seriously if I respect them or their opinion. It really comes down to the person giving me the critique and what they’re critiquing me on. tm: If a 13-year-old comes up to me and thinks I played terribly, I wouldn’t take that seriously. cd: I don’t take any garbage from kids on the Internet because they don’t know how to fucking play music. But there are music critics in magazines who do that for a living, and I can definitely listen to that. how much of yourselves do you put into writing an album? hk: It really comes down to the song and the lyrics, but we put ourselves into all of it. Whenever it comes to music, we’re putting 100 percent of our skills into it. Whenever it comes down to the lyrical aspect, it all depends on the song.

do you generally agree when you’re writing music? cd: Generally, yeah. hk: We go back and forth on ideas, but as far as how we approach a song we’re on a team. cd: We all have different roles we play on the team, we all have different frequencies, but they mesh together. how do your songs come together when you’re not on the same frequency? tm: If there’s a song that Chris comes in with and he’s like ‘Hey I think this would be sweet we should do this,’ and it’s more of a sadder or melancholy kind of song, then we can work around that and make the drums and the bass and the guitar translate that feeling. So even if you took the lyrics away, the song still has that sort of sad feeling to it. cd: You don’t have to feel the way that the song is when you’re in the studio. You don’t have to change your emotions to fit it. tm: But it helps. If you’re feeling sad and you’re writing a happy song and everyone is doing their thing, when it comes time for you to do yours it picks you up. Songs are powerful. how much of writing music is therapeutic? cd: All of it. It’s what makes me happy. tm: It’s the best therapy there is. cd: Doing what you love, you know. For us it’s the best therapy, but for anyone else just doing what you love is the best therapy. NKD

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WRITE-IN | JOHN D’ESPOSITO e

I

I would like to introduce everyone to GameChanger, an artist-to-fan mobile gaming platform. I like to call GameChanger a boardwalk where the mobile games we’ve developed are the rides powered by the artists.

Each mobile game concept is based on the artist’s interests and fans. These games are all connected through the GameChangerWorld mobile app where fans earn “GameChange” each time they play a game. GameChange can be cashed in for exclusive prizes, merchandise, meet and greets and music available only through the platform. These rewards cannot be bought, they can only be earned through engagement in the applications and mobile games.

I first got the idea for GameChanger a few years back john d’esposito is the founder of when I was working on a festival I created called The Bamboozle. In 2010, The Bamboozle partnered with gamechanger, skate and surf CrowdTwist to launch “BoozleTwist”. BoozleTwist offered festival and the bamboozle, where he unique rewards to festival attendees based on their activities still remains as a partner with the on the festival’s website. We would offer meet and greets, festival. guitar lessons, video game experiences and other fun stuff throughout the weekend.

I remember when the founder of CrowdTwist estimated it would take the average fan a month to unlock the prizes and the contest would remain active from launch to day of show. Well, they were wrong. Within a few days, the fans had unlocked almost every prize, leaving us scrambling to call bands for more.

The response was phenomenal, but our execution was not handled as well as it should have been. This left me thinking, what can we do to make this better?

In 2012, after continued creative differences with two high-ranking members at House of Blues Entertainment, I resigned from the festival. From that day on I began to focus my energy to help fix a broken industry. I believed that there would be a way to engage the fans by rewarding them for their loyalty, and at the same time help the artists find a way to earn the money they are losing every day to piracy.

i like to call gamechanger a boardwalk where the mobile games we’ve developed are the rides powered by the artists.

Back when I was a teenager, I would spend $18 on a CD. When I got home from the record store, the first thing I would do is spend an hour reading the cover, learning as much as possible about the artist. Today, that experience has been disconnected. I have a 9-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter who really don’t know what a CD is. Sure they know, but they don’t have that connection. For them it’s a $1.29 download from iTunes. My son loves Jason Derulo, so I held up a picture asking my son whose picture it was. He told me Darrelle Revis (his favorite ex-New York Jet). I told him it was Jason Derulo.

As technology has progressed, we have lost the artist-to-fan connection. What was so valuable to my generation is almost forgotten. The artists who used to get our support from labels because they were getting $18 per CD are now struggling to earn the revenues they need to survive. The $18 has now become much less. The downloading does not include album covers and the disconnect is hurting artist development. More acts break, but few survive in this day and age. The music industry is on life support.

Where is the artists’ missing money and how do we reconnect them with fans? Welcome GameChanger. Through mobile applications, we will be able to create a new experience that I believe will reconnect vital parts of the fan-to-artist relationship. Through mobile gaming, we will be able to once again establish an identity with the artist while engaging and rewarding the fans for their support. The games will replace the CD covers, the music will be safe from piracy and the artists will gain a much needed revenue source. Everyone wins, I hope.

Through my years of artist development and working on many festivals over my career, I have used my relations and friendships to recruit an amazing roster to GameChanger. What I thought would be a hard sell has been a welcomed invitation and partnership. Over the next year, I hope to release over 75 mobile games featuring the best young artists in pop, rock, metal and dance.

GameChanger will continually re-invest in the artist community, signing, promoting and developing every single day.

My goal is to create a virtual festival through our boardwalk that is open 24/7, 365 days a year (even holidays). I hope to build a community that exposes new talent to active gamers on our platform. Our goal is to foster the development of artists, promote engagement and reward fans with exclusive rewards from their favorite artists.

Mobile gaming is the hottest technology, generating billions of dollars every year globally. Right now, none of that properly goes back to the artists and the game needs to change.

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THE PLAYLIST C

debby ryan from disney channel’s jessie takes us through her current top tracks.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

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TRACKS 1. “OVER & OVER” - SMALLPOOLS

6. “INNOCENCE” - PK

2. “SETTING THE HOUSE ON FIRE” - NATIVE RUN

7. “NEON CATHEDRAL” - MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS

3. “SEMI-AUTOMATIC” - TWENTY | ONE | PILOTS

8. “RIVER SONG” - SERYN

4. “THE APPLE TREE” - NINA NESBITT

9. “ZORBING” - STORNOWAY

5. “BRAND NEW KEY” - MELANIE

10. “TOMORROW” - DAUGHTER

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mitchell | nkd magazine

MAIA MITCHELL Words & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

I

’ve seen maia mitchell in two different looks: 1960s inspired beachwear for her role in Disney’s Teen Beach Movie, and an orange jumpsuit on the premiere of ABC Family’s The Fosters. So when she walks into the lobby of the Trump Hotel in SoHo on an especially hot Thursday morning in July wearing a plaid, form-fitting dress and heels, I barely recognize her. She smiles brightly as she greets me, and her Australian accent throws me off a bit since I’ve only seen her in American roles. Maia is being called a “hot, new, young actress” by various magazines and blogs, but as young as she is, acting is hardly new to her.

The 20-year-old actress was born in Sydney, Australia but she moved to the Australian countryside almost immediately after she was born because her parents didn’t want to raise her in a big city. She became interested in the arts at an early age and enrolled in a theater class after acting in a school play when she was five. “Once the play was done I was bawling my eyes out because it would be another year before I could act again,” she says. “So my parents put me in a class.” She worked at her craft and eventually secured a talent agent, who helped her book her first role as Brittany in the Australian television show, Mortified, when she was 11. Her parents didn’t want her to be working all the time, and they were very set on the idea of Maia going to normal high school and becoming a well-rounded person, so she would work for a little while and then return to school.

Maia continued to act in various Australian projects before an American talent agent approached her when she was 17.

He encouraged her to send audition tapes in for American projects, but before that, Maia had no intention of ever moving to the United States, especially to Los Angeles. “I always found L.A. a little bit scary,” she says. But then she was given the

opportunity to audition for a Disney Channel movie, and she flew to L.A. with her fingers crossed. She booked the lead role of McKenzie in Teen Beach Movie and began filming in Puerto Rico in early 2012. After filming wrapped, Maia realized how many opportunities were in L.A. and moved there by herself to further her career. It wasn’t long before she booked another lead role, on ABC Family’s new series, The Fosters.

Maia says the transition from Australian to American entertainment was “weird.” In the U.S., Los Angeles is the place to be for film and television, but in Australia, there’s no place like it. “Sydney is the closest thing we have,” Maia says, “but there’s much less money in it there.” Maia says it’s much harder to earn a living as an actor in Australia, simply because there isn’t enough funding. “You have to work every job you get offered [in Australia], whereas in America there are more opportunities so you can be more selective,” Maia says.

One thing she does miss about the Australian entertainment industry is how low-key it is. With Teen Beach Movie and The Fosters both released this summer, Maia is finally feeling the side effects of celebrity in America. “There’s much less focus on public image and gossip in Australia,” she says. She describes herself as a private person, and she hasn’t gotten used to the paparazzi, who are camped outside her hotel as we speak.

“Honestly, I’m still adapting to it all,” she says. “I’m starting to understand it comes with the job and it means people are responding to your work.”

Maia also understands that being in the public eye is a responsibility, especially since most of her fans are young and impressionable. Because she cannot legally drink in America yet, she just doesn’t, and when she goes somewhere where she might be recognized she makes sure she’s dressed appropriately. “I think, ‘Would my mom be ok with this if she NKDMAG.COM

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saw me doing it?’ and that helps me make the best decisions,” she says.

Maia’s family is always on her mind, especially now that they’re halfway around the world. “I haven’t seen them since January,” she says, “but I’ll be visiting them in August!”

Because her family is still in Australia, they don’t completely understand the level of Maia’s fame, but Maia says her Mom “stalks” her on the Internet. “Not only does she stalk me on Facebook, but she follows my Twitter and Googles me,” Maia says with a laugh.

When Maia was growing up, her parents were supportive of her career. Her mother would usually travel with her to Sydney or wherever she was filming, and her father would stay home with her younger brother. “We don’t come from a very wealthy family, so we definitely struggled to make it work,” Maia says.

“I think they’re relieved that it is working out now.” Luckily for Maia, Teen Beach Movie held an Australian premiere and Maia’s family was able to really see the level of her career.

“I ALWAYS FOUND L.A. A LITTLE BIT SCARY.” MAIA MITCHELL Teen Beach Movie was a big deal before it even aired. The movie, which was called this generation’s High School Musical by Zap2It and other entertainment websites, stars Austin & Ally’s Ross Lynch opposite Maia. But when filming, Maia only focused on what she needed to do — not what people were saying about it. “That’s my mentality for every project I do,” she says. “When I’m reading a script or filming a scene I don’t think about what it might be compared to.” Not like Maia had time to worry about those things — in addition to her lines, she had songs and dance numbers to memorize.

Before Teen Beach Movie, Maia wrote songs for no one but herself. “I never thought I would record anything,” she says. She ended up with two solo songs on the movie’s soundtrack. But dancing was another story. She danced when she was growing up, but mostly for fun. Maia spent a lot of her free time in Australia obsessing over So You Think You Can Dance?, so when she walked into a room full of the show’s finalists on her first day of rehearsals for the movie, she freaked out a little. “I watched these people on TV and wished I could dance like them, and then all of a sudden they were teaching me,” Maia says. “I think I pulled it off … I hope I pulled it off … I try not to watch.”

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mitchell | nkd magazine

Maia hates watching herself on TV. When the first episode of Mortified aired, she and her family hyped it up and she couldn’t wait to watch it. “I was so excited to see myself on TV, and a minute in I was like ‘Turn it off!’” she says. After that, she didn’t watch herself in anything. She would go off to film, come back and pretend it never happened. “I saw my job as just going to set,” she says. But that changed when she came to America. At the time of our interview, Teen Beach Movie still hadn’t aired, but Maia has already seen it three times at various premieres and screenings, so she’s getting used to it. “A lot of directors I’ve worked with encourage it,” she says. “It builds up the skills to be objective.”

Maia watches the new episodes of her TV show, The Fosters, every week. ABC Family encourages their stars to live tweet episodes and interact with fans about what’s going on in the show. “I have to watch so I know what’s going on!” she jokes.

She says she’s getting better about not just seeing herself on the screen, partly because she’s playing a character who is very different from herself.

“WHEN I’M READING A SCRIPT OR FILMING A SCENE I DON’T THINK ABOUT WHAT IT MIGHT BE COMPARED TO.” MAIA MITCHELL Maia plays Callie Jacob, a troubled teen who’s fostered into a new family that already has its fair share of issues. “After 12 hours on set I come home and I’m emotionally exhausted,” Maia says of playing Callie, who has dealt with abuse, rape and abandonment. Maia did a lot of research on the foster system in America to prepare for her role. She discovered so much information that she found troubling, that she was able to take the real emotions she felt while reading those facts to her performance. On several occasions, real foster kids were on set watching the takes.

“The entire crew is very supportive and patient because we all want this to be done right and respectfully,” she says.

Being a part of ABC Family has taught Maia the importance of social media.

Prior to moving to America she didn’t have Twitter or Instagram, because they’re not as popular in Australia. But while filming Teen Beach Movie she was encouraged to sign up (after a lot of resisting) to help promote the film. “The filming itself is only 50 percent of the work now, there’s so much that goes into it after,” Maia says of the importance of promotion. With The Fosters, being part of Twitter helps the show gain more attention through hashtags on the screen during new episodes and Q-and-A sessions with cast mates on their profiles. “I’m a very private person so I’m still getting used to it,” she says.

For such a private person, she sure is getting a lot of attention. As we step outside the lobby after our conversation wraps up, Maia is greeted by a group of fans and a few paparazzi. “Mia!” one of them shouts, hoping to get a shot of her. “He said Mia, so I’m not turning around,” she whispers to me. A young girl pronounces Maia’s name correctly, so she greets the fan with a smile. The paparazzi start snapping, all trying to get a shot of the young, beautiful star. NKD

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NOLAN FUNK

Words by STACY MAGALLON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

nolan funk was never the cool kid.

Today, the Canadian actor makes up for that by playing the role of the cool kid on screen.

Nolan and I are sitting at Kava Cafe in Manhattan’s West Village around noon. It’s a warm and humid day, but cooling off in an air-conditioned cafe with an iced coffee in hand isn’t bad. For the past couple of days, Nolan has been on and off airplanes, and he mentions that he didn’t do anything for his birthday yesterday. Today, his schedule is not as heavy as it has been, and Nolan shows excitement in having time for breakfast and a cup of coffee. “This is like a cute first date,” he says. We both laugh, and I take out my iPhone and show him a picture. It’s from four years ago, when Nolan starred as Conrad Birdie in the revival of the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie.

The then-23-year-old actor was running late to his show, but he stopped to take a photo with me before rushing off to have his hair sculpted for his rock ‘n’ roll character.

“I WOULD RATHER WORK WITH SOMEONE WHO IS ECCENTRIC, OR MAYBE EVEN NUTS, OVER SOMEONE WHO IS BORING.” NOLAN FUNK

Nolan’s also played some cool guy roles on TV — he’s been seen on FOX’s hit-show Glee, MTV’s Awkward. and the 2012 psychological thriller House at the End of the Street. Judging by the characters he plays on television, you would never know that Nolan didn’t have many friends growing up. “It’s funny to me,” he says. “I play these popular, slick characters on TV and that’s not the place I came from.”

Nolan always wanted to be a performer, but he grew up in the middle of nowhere, which made things difficult. In his Canadian suburb outside of Vancouver, Nolan always had close relationships with his family, particularly his older sister, Natanya. Nolan was a quiet, shy child, and his boredom in school was only relieved by creative projects where he could think outside the box.

Because of that, Nolan feels more comfortable in character. “Character work is definitely more exciting than just playing yourself,” he says. Nolan is always looking to portray a great character, whether it be through film, theater or television. He still prefers to think creatively and work without limits. “I would rather work with someone who is eccentric, or maybe even nuts, over someone who is boring,” he says. “If someone can surprise me, I’m excited.”

Nolan broke into acting through commercials. He then quickly scored a minor role in the 2003 film, X2: X-Men United. His character, “Captured X-Kid,” didn’t have many lines, or even a name, but the opportunity taught Nolan a lot.

“It was a huge experience for someone who was new to the business,” he says.

Learning how to deal with negative criticism was just as important for Nolan. He used to have an agent who would call him every time someone had something negative to say. “Every time the phone would ring, I would expect the worst,” Nolan says. As time went on, he discovered that bad reviews and words come and go. “I learned how to keep my side of the street clean, and to fuck the rest,” he says.

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“PEOPLE HAVE SAID ‘NO’ TO ME SO MANY TIMES BUT IF I CONTINUED MY CAREER WITH THAT ‘BOOHOO ME’ MENTALITY, I WOULD’VE NEVER WENT TO ANY AUDITIONS.” NOLAN FUNK Reading his bad press also made rejection easier for Nolan.

“People have said ‘no’ to me so many times,” Nolan says. “But if I continued my career with that ‘boo-hoo me’ mentality, I would’ve never went to any auditions.”

Most recently, Nolan starred as Ryan in the 2013 film The Canyons, alongside Lindsay Lohan and James Deen. The film is about the sex, glamour and lifestyles of Los Angeles’ youth. “The film is really relatable to anyone who moves out to Los Angeles and gets lost in its vapid pool of superficiality,” Nolan says. “[It’s] just a more romanticized version of it all.” When I ask him about working with a big star like Lindsay Lohan, Nolan smiles. He wasn’t starstruck, but he was immediately intrigued. “I’m always interested in actually getting to know people versus what their media persona is,” he says. Nolan mentions their chaotic on-screen relationship, and how it took some time for them to form an off-screen friendship.

In addition to The Canyons, Nolan recently filmed Riddick, the third installment of the The Chronicles of Riddick series, which will be released this month. Despite his bigger roles, Nolan still considers himself to be “under the radar.”

He sees this as an opportunity to convince his audience of his characters because he hasn’t been defined by one role.

Although he makes an effort to preserve that by selecting his roles carefully, he’s still realistic about his career. “I really evaluate the offers I get, but at the end of the day, I need to support myself,” he says.

Nolan doesn’t know what’s next for him and his career.

He sang and danced on Glee and in Nickelodeon’s TV movie Spectacular, but he’s not sure if he wants to pursue a career in music. What he does know is that he wants to change opinions, and be creative while doing so. “Growing up, people have a set view of you, and you can’t change their minds,” he says. “As an actor, you can.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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poulter | nkd magazine

WILL POULTER Words by STACY MAGALLON & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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as a child, will poulter never truly felt comfortable in his own skin.

The London-born actor grew up convincing himself he wasn’t good at anything. Acting was the exception. Many on-screen performances and several major films later, the now 20-yearold is proud to say he’s got himself figured out.

With his parents and siblings working in medicine, Will’s career choice was definitely different. It involved being people other than himself. When he began auditioning for acting roles at age 12, he and his family had no idea what they were doing. “Combine what we knew, and it was nothing,” Will says, laughing.

Will graduated from high school but only went to college for one term. “College was my safety net if acting went to shit,” he says. His term went well, though he dropped out because he believed he should take acting opportunities while they were still available. Having acted since he was a young teen, Will can’t envision himself doing anything else. He’s a creative

person who gravitates toward writing, directing and even producing, so he thinks the entertainment industry is a good fit for him. “I was never going to be an academic,” Will says. “I did not want to be seated behind a desk for the rest of my life.”

The film industry in England is different from the industry in the United States. In America, roles often go to actors based on their level of fame. Will says many of the directors and producers he’s worked throughout his career with took a leap of faith when it came to casting roles to kids. “They’ve taken chances on kids who had absolutely no experience,” he says. “I was one of them.”

Will’s big break into the film industry came in 2009, when he landed a role in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in Australia. “When you get a gig in America, you start feeling like you’ve made it, which is not the case,” he says. Will has learned that one needs to shoot a number of films to establish a successful acting career in America.

Now, Will is really starting to establish himself. Most recently, he starred in We’re The Millers, which was released

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last month. The film tells the story of David Clark, (Jason Sudeikis) a drug dealer who attempts to smuggle marijuana into the U.S. He hires a stripper (Jennifer Aniston), a teenage girl (Emma Roberts) and his teenage neighbor, Kenny (Will) to pose as his family, the Millers, so he won’t seem suspicious. Will affectionately calls Kenny, an 18-year-old virgin, an “uber dork.” “I definitely have my Kenny moments for sure,” he says, laughing.

Will says acting alongside Jennifer Aniston was an honor. When growing up in England, Will watched every episode of Friends at least three times. He says it took him two or three attempts to say his own name upon introducing himself to Aniston. “If someone told 12-yearold me that I would be starring with Jennifer Aniston, I would have laughed and said, ‘Yeah, and I’d have Kate 42

Winslet’s baby,’” Will says. “It’s so rewarding to meet someone you admire. She’s genuinely so freaking cool.”

Will’s latest film, The Maze Runner, which is based on a science fiction novel, is set to be released in February of next year. “The directors and producers took the core elements of the book and stayed true to them,” Will says.

He hopes the novel’s fans will get what they’re hoping to see in the film adaptation. “The film, however, has its own flavor that takes it to another level,” Will adds. Working alongside Dylan O’Brien and Kaya Scodelario made Will truly feel like an established actor. Given that the series is a trilogy, his fingers are crossed that he’ll have a set job for the next two films.

Will has spent a lot of his 20 years in character. There was a time when he wasn’t completely confident in his

“IF SOMEONE TOLD 12-YEAR-OLD ME THAT I WOULD BE STARRING WITH JENNIFER ANISTON, I WOULD HAVE LAUGHED AND SAID, ‘YEAH, AND I’D HAVE KATE WINSLET’S BABY.’” WILL POULTER

own skin, but that is no longer the case. He believes character work teaches important lessons and helps an actor learn what kind of person he or she wants to be.

“I don’t think you truly know yourself without any life experience,” Will says. “But acting definitely helped me discover different parts of myself and explore my own personality.”

Versatility is in acting is important to Will. He hopes never to be defined by some sort of genre or style, but to bridge the gap between many different styles. Above all, he’s proven to be confident about his acting. “You shouldn’t have to wake up on Monday wishing it were Friday,” Will says, explaining how work influences every other aspect of his life. “You should always do what you love.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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OH HONEY Words by ASHLEIGH D’MELLO & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

oh honey is the music lovechild of industry veterans Mitchy Collins and Danielle Bouchard, two talents stemming from very different musical backgrounds. Mitchy and Danielle want to do something with music that they’ve never done before, and with the acoustic sounds they are creating with Oh Honey, they believe they are on their way to doing so.

Danielle began her musical journey in elementary school, performing in plays and musical theater productions. She picked up her first guitar in high school where she began to write her own songs and started playing in local cafes. Mitchy grew up listening to punk rock and was in and out of bands from age of 13. Later, he immersed himself in songwriting and producing, which didn’t leave him much time for live performances.

Mitchy and Danielle met through mutual friends at a bar in Brooklyn and instead of discussing a musical future together, they started planning a business venture — a bee and honey farm. “We got to talking and basically got on the subject of the bee and honey farms that are popping up everywhere in Brooklyn,” Mitchy says. “[We thought] it would be pretty funny if we started a honey company.” After giving the idea some serious thought, their discussions took a musical turn, with Mitchy drawing upon the idea he had for a band and some songs he had been playing around with. The pair, who knew of each other’s musical talents, decided to team up, and Oh Honey was born. The name, a play on words from their original partnership idea with a little inspiration from CBS’ How I Met Your Mother, represents the band’s acoustic romantic vibe.

Oh Honey is not only a new project for the pair — it also involves writing music that’s very different from what they have done in the past. Danielle has transitioned back to her acoustic roots and Mitchy is now writing music that is more mature and has more heart than what he had become accustomed to writing. “There’s more substance to it, there’s a lot more heart in it, and I think people are really going to be able to wrap their heads around it and grasp onto it,” Mitchy says.

As compared with his writing for other musicians and bands, Mitchy says writing for himself and Danielle is more personal, and it’s a process that follows a more formulaic approach. “[For Oh Honey] we are drawing from our lives, we’re pouring our hearts out on the table … it’s a lot more personal, it’s a lot more real and a lot more honest, and I say things I wouldn’t necessarily say otherwise,” he says.

Mitchy and Danielle believe they have something good, and something real, in Oh Honey. “The song is what people 44

“WE’RE POURING OUR HEARTS OUT ON THE TABLE.” MITCHY COLLINS

are listening to. You’ve got to make it good,” Mitchy says of a perceived lack of substance in the punk rock music scene he was previously a part of. “There was definitely a period of time I think people were more concerned about how it looked and how cool you were as opposed to what was really important, which was the songs and the message and what you are trying to get across,” he says. Mitchy and Danielle believe music is getting back to being more substantial, something they hope to contribute to with Oh Honey. “I think it’s getting back to it, I’m starting to see new bands pop up and then [I] think I can get behind it,” Mitchy says.

Mitchy and Danielle hope their acoustic, lyrical style will grab the attention of a wide audience. Mitchy describes Oh Honey’s music as a conversation between people, and he says the ability for people to relate to their lyrical conversations is what makes Oh Honey’s music special. “We like to think we have a vibe,” he says. “What I think is cool about our music

“THE SONGS ARE VERY HONEST.” DANIELLE BOUCHARD

is the lyrics … we play back and forth off each other, they are very conversational, very in the moment.”

Oh Honey will release their first single on September 4th and will play their first show in October. The pair hopes to jump on tour with friends before the end of the year and put out a record in 2014.

Mitchy and Danielle are shooting for a big future. They hope to reach a wide audience and take their music to a place they have never been before. “The songs are very honest and truthful … it would be amazing to make something that people can connect with and get something from,” Danielle says. Mitchy, who believes that at the core he has something very special and different in this musical endeavour, is excited about what Oh Honey can offer the industry. “We want it to mean something to people, first and foremost,” he says. “That’s my favorite part about writing songs, that someone can latch onto our ramblings.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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| nkd magazine

Words by ALEX LANE & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

there’s a love story behind pop hip-hop duo karmin. amy heidemann and nick noonan got their start on youtube, but they were a pair long before their hit single “brokenhearted” made it to the top of the billboard charts.

AMY On the outside, she’s a bad ass with 1940s pin-up model style, the object of all girls’ envy and the girl all the guys want to date. But beneath all that, 27-year-old Amy Heidemann is a sincere, down-home, Midwest American sweetheart.

Amy grew up in a small town called Seward in Nebraska in a conservative Christian family. Though she was sheltered and taught traditional ideals, her mother, a teacher, and her father, a salesman, gave Amy a healthy appreciation for music. When her mother found Amy on the family piano playing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” by ear without any instruction, she signed Amy up for piano lessons, which Amy says she hated. “I did that for eight years. I suffered through it,” she says.

It wasn’t until Amy got assigned a vocal solo in her middle school choir that she discovered her passion for singing. “People were giving me compliments, and I thought, ‘This might be my thing, I think this is what I should be doing instead of piano,’” Amy says.

“So my mom let me quit piano and take voice lessons.”

Amy didn’t like voice lessons either. She

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began to teach herself to sing by studying and imitating some of her idols. “I got a little boombox for my birthday, and I used to pull out all the treble from the tracks so it was like there was no singer, and I would imitate Brandi, Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera, any diva at the time that I could get my hands on,” Amy says.

Her favorite genre quickly became R&B, and she would listen to different artists and styles. “I always loved rap, but I was not allowed to listen to it because of the parental advisory sticker,” Amy says. But the attitude of the genre appealed to her, and when she was in sixth grade, Amy’s boyfriend burned her a copy of Dr. Dre’s 2001. She was hooked. “I was like, ‘I don’t know what bitches and hoes are, but I’m really into this,’” Amy says.

After that, Amy devoured any new artist or genre she could. She began singing in contests and talent shows, and eventually ended up with a scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston. “Coming from a really small town to a big city, that’s where I was immersed into all the other genres of music,” Amy says. (Cont’d on page 49)

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karmin | nkd magazine *

NICK Nick Noonan is a native New Englander. He was raised in a town where everyone knows his name, and he revels in taking a walk down memory lane.

Nick grew up in Old Town, Maine as the second oldest of four children. His parents adopted his two younger siblings from Vietnam when Nick was about seven years old. He says Old Town’s claim to fame is the Old Town Canoe Factory, which employs a number of the town’s residents.

At one point, Nick worked for Old Town Canoe. The summer after his freshman year of college, during an experience he says was hilarious, Nick worked nights at the factory, from 5 a.m. until 1 p.m. He recalls many hangovers that summer.

“You say you’re going to stop drinking and go home at 11, but that never happens. Then you wake up and 4 a.m. and you’re like, ‘Fuck!’” Nick says of his odd hours.

Before college, Nick had planned to become a chiropractor

like his father. He had always enjoyed music and sports, but he was the self-proclaimed “weird kid.” That might be why, in fourth grade, when students in Old Town public schools are required to pick an instrument to play, Nick was the only student in his class to chose the trombone. When he started to get good at it around sixth grade, he won awards for his talent and was recognized at the state level.

Nick attended the Berklee College of Music summer program during high school, where he was named lead chair for his skills on trombone. Growing up, music had been a hobby rather than a potential career, but with his talents affirmed by a prestigious institution, he began to reevaluate his plans. “I was like, ‘Oh shit, maybe I should actually try to do this,’” Nick says. He applied to Berklee for college. “I actually got a solid scholarship there because there weren’t a lot of trombone players,” he says. (Cont’d on page 50)

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KARMIN nick and amy were nick and amy before they were karmin.

The duo entered Berklee College of Music, both on scholarship, in the fall of 2004.

While they knew of each other from the start, Nick and Amy didn’t meet until the last day of freshman year, and were not reunited again until a house part at the beginning of their sophomore year.

“We ended up at the refrigerator joking about cheese,” says Amy, who wasn’t much of a partier in college. “We realized that we actually had the same sense of humor. And it was a great night. I had a blast. I left the party, and he didn’t call me for like two weeks.”

After a month of friends trying to set them up, and running into each other around campus, Nick and Amy went on their first date. “We went on a walk,” Nick says. “I think I spent like $5.

It’s college, dude,” From there, they say, the rest is history. They graduated in 2008 and stayed together in Boston, working odd jobs.

It wasn’t until a few years later, at a train station in Lowell, Mass. on Thanksgiving, that Nick and Amy had an idea. “We were just kind of frustrated. I was working at a boxing club. She was working at Berklee Music online and being a wedding singer on the weekends. I was playing salsa gigs and also, like weddings and stuff on the weekends,” Nick says. “We were like, ‘Screw this, man. Let’s do our own thing and start our own group.’”

Amy learned guitar and sang, and Nick learned piano and cajon — a box-like drum — and also started singing. For a year, they practiced and wrote, building up their confidence to play as a duo in front of an audience. They called their act Karmin, a play on the word “karma” and the Latin word “carmen,” which means song.

Nick and Amy started playing live on Newbury Street in Boston, a busy shopping street in the city’s Back Bay. “We would

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focus on making eye contact with [the audience] and seeing what songs they would react to and which songs they wouldn’t react to. We would clog the streets,” Nick says.

When they weren’t playing outside or working at other jobs, Nick and Amy began covering songs on YouTube to attract a larger fan base. “Everything was really singer-songwriter-y at first,” Nick says. “We slowly wanted to make it more hip-hop, but we were scared people wouldn’t listen.” It was tough for Karmin to build up the confidence to put out something edgier than what their YouTube subscribers were used to, but when they released their cover of “Look at Me Now” by Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes on April 12, 2011, Nick says, “that went ape shit.” Today, the video has over 85 million views.

“It was like overnight, everything changed,” Amy says. The morning after they uploaded the cover, their inbox had been flooded with over 1400 emails from fans, labels and record executives who all wanted to know who this white girl rapping like Busta Rhymes was.

“We were on [The Ellen DeGeneres Show] like five days later. It was trial by fire, man,” Nick says. Their appearance on Ellen was their first major performance as Karmin. Not long after that, they signed with Epic Records, a step that they were initially hesitant to take. “We weren’t sure if we wanted to get signed because you hear all these nightmares about it. Even if you have all these eyeballs from YouTube, you can easily get put on a shelf.” Nick says. “But then we were sitting down with [Epic Records CEO] L.A. Reid. He was the one that kind of had the same energy as us. So we seemed to vibe really well.”

The beginning of 2012 brought new excitement and challenges. In February Karmin were asked to play Saturday Night Live, and by May they had dropped their seven-song, debut, an EP called Hello. In September, Amy was awarded the flip-cover of Rolling Stone for their “Women Who Rock” issue.

This summer, Karmin went on a national tour with The Jonas Brothers, which both Amy and Nick agree was an awesome experience. “They are just so humble and they’re just nice guys. We’re lucky,” Amy says. They’re dropping their debut full-length, Pulses, later this month, and they want to get married by the end of the year.

Amy says planning a wedding, touring, press and maintaining a relationship all at the same time is a lot to handle. “I don’t know if we will be able to pull it off. So we’ll see,” Amy says of their wedding plans. As for the immediate future, the couple does want to add to their family. “We want to get a dog!” Amy says. “We are going totally backwards,” Nick replies. “House, puppy, wedding, No. 1 album, babies,” Amy says with a laugh. “We are not going to have babies until we have a number one album.” NKD

“WE SLOWLY WANTED TO MAKE [OUR MUSIC] MORE HIP-HOP, BUT WE WERE SCARED PEOPLE WOULDN’T LISTEN.” NICK NOONAN

NAKED EYE PHOTO: CATHERINE POWELL

ONEREPUBLIC Aug. 10, Pier 26 (New York, N.Y.)

THE NEIGHBOURHOOD Aug. 24, Webster Hall (New York, N.Y.)

NAKED EYE PHOTO: CATHERINE POWELL

WIZ KHALIFA August 2, PNC Bank Arts Center (Holmdel, N.J.)

NAKED EYE PHOTO: CATHERINE POWELL

JIMMYEATWORLD

Words & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

J

immy eat world have been a band for 20 years, and just a few weeks ago they played one of their biggest u.s. headlining shows yet to roughly 5,000 people in central park. as if that fact wasn’t exciting enough for the rock band, the predicted rain held out until after their performance. it’s things like that, that keep jimmy eat world going — it fuels their confidence.

I meet up with the band, comprised of Jim Adkins (vocals/guitar), Tom Linton (guitars/vocals), Rick Burch (bass) and Zach Lind (drums), a few hours before their set in their makeshift dressing room. There’s a tower of cupcakes on their catering table and Jim offers me one. I decline, mainly because I’m already nervous and sugar would just turn me into a babbling idiot. If everyone has “that band,” Jimmy Eat World is mine. I heard their song “Work” when I was 11 and quickly downloaded the rest of their album Futures (2004) onto my iPod. From there I dove head first into the alternative rock music scene and let it take up the majority of my angst-driven, early teen years. So when the band’s tour manager asks if I’m ready to start the interview I hold in a laugh. I’ve been ready for eight years.

It’s been about two months since Jimmy Eat World released their eighth studio album, Damage (2013), and though the distinguishable simple-rock Jimmy Eat World sound is obvious, there’s something different about this record: it’s the first one the band recorded without the help of a label since Bleed American (2001). The band paid for all the production, artwork and other elements, so they own the rights to all of it. “There’s really no rules 60

anymore,” Jim says of the current state of the music industry. “When we started the band labels were signing bands for multi-record contracts and based on how they felt they could market the band.” With Damage, they brought the record to labels completely mixed and mastered, and eventually signed with RCA Records.

ing, distribution and shipping go over their heads, so they still benefit from the resources major labels have. “There may come a time where we don’t need those things on our own,” Zach says. “Our structure with [RCA] is album by album, so we’ll see what happens.”

Recording without the expectations of a major label had little to no effect

“If you’re always honest with what you like and what you think sounds good, then I think your fans come along for the ride anyway.” - jim adkins

Though the band doesn’t need any financial or creative assistance from a label to record, putting the album out is a completely different game. “For us, there isn’t a clear-cut benefit in not working with a label,” Zach says. But 20 years into the game they knew what they wanted from a label. The kind of relationship they have with RCA Records is different from past experiences in the sense that they aren’t dependent on them for things like money. “We’re kind of our own label and RCA just fills in the gaps of what we can’t do,” Zach says. Things like packag-

on the outcome of Damage. Jimmy Eat World have never been a band to write with a third party in mind. “If you’re always honest with what you like and what you think sounds good, then I think your fans come along for the ride anyway,” Jim says. The guys think basing their sound or their decisions on what a label executive or a radio station will like can only lead to regrets. “The approval of others is sort of fleeting,” Rick says.

“We want to want to listen to our records in 20 years, because that’s what you live with.”

Jimmy Eat World are no strangers to the trendy vs. honest conflict many musicians battle. “On one hand, you don’t want to repeat yourself, but you always want to be pushing forward,” Zach says. He admits that while Jimmy Eat World are constantly trying to challenge themselves, there is always an awareness that branching out could mean embracing a trend, and if that trend goes away, their work will go with it. “I think we’ve been good about avoiding that … Maybe to a fault,” Jim jokes. It has never been a conscious effort for the band to steer clear of whatever is popular — it comes with the confidence they have in their music.

“We’re comfortable with the fact that [musicians] rip off what they like,” Jim says, “If you hear something that’s cool, you’re going to rip it off.” He notes that being surrounded by music that is constantly changing will result in pulling from popular trends. But Jimmy Eat World never set out to be something they’re not. “I think being the band that we are with a sort of democracy established, there’s checks and balances,” Zach says.

Jim acts as the starting point for most of the band’s musical direction, and the rest of the guys agree there was only one time when something he wrote was too close to another musician’s work. It was an accident. It happened back when the band was writing Futures, and it was a family member who told them a song called “Janet” sounded too much like “Pop Goes The World” (Men Without Hats, 1987). They sent the song out to be professionally compared and were told they would need to split the royalties of the song in half. After hearing that, the band took another listen and realized that despite the sound similarities, “Janet” just did not fit the vibe of the record. “None of us were to convinced that the two songs were that similar, but as an artist you want to have integrity and set that aside,” Zach says. “I think if you do it intentionally and you give credit where credit is due, it’s fine,” Jim adds.

It comes back to the band being conscious of the music they’re writing.

With the exception of “Janet,” the band notices when something is a little too close to something they’ve heard. But

“On one hand, you don’t want to repeat yourself, but you always want to be pushing forward.”

- zach lind they also understand that they’re a rock band among many other rock bands, and there are chord progressions and drum beats that everyone uses in rock music.

“There’s leeway in the sense that we are relying on traditional rock and roll conventions that everyone relies on to some degree,” Zach says. He knows a lot of his drumming is heavily influenced by U2’s drummer, Larry Mullen Jr., but nothing he does is intentional mimicking.

For a band that’s made eight full-length records, six EPs and seven split singles, it’s hard to believe that conventions still play such a key role in Jimmy Eat World’s songwriting, especially when each record has its own tone and sound. “It’s like trying to decide if you can pull off a certain haircut,” Jim says, noting that he has had the same one for the band’s entire career. “It depends on how you put it out there.” The band does not go into writing with the mood of the record in mind. They write the best songs they can, and from there they

look at each song individually and figure out how they can make it the best while still being themselves, but they never say they can’t do something simply because they never have before. Whether they can accomplish that or not is ultimately up to the fans once the record is out.

“Whenever we’ve put something out, we’ve never had this overwhelming sense that we fucked up,” Zach says. Fans have always been receptive of whatever Jimmy Eat World have put out, and constantly argue over which record they like more, which Zach sees as a positive thing because it means fans are equally accepting of everything the band has tried over the years.

But the fuel from fans is part of the reason Jimmy Eat World are so confident. “We’re comfortable with what’s important to us, and there’s nothing to prove,” Jim says. The guys have never put on a persona or ever felt any expectations, and that is a key contributor to their longevity. “It’s makes our relationship more stable, and it makes our relationship with our fans more stable,” Zach says. “What you see is what you get with us.” They’ve never tried to stylize themselves in any way, whether it be what they wear or the music they play.

Being themselves has made things easier over the years. “It all comes back to being proud of your work,” Jim says.

There was confidence behind every record they’ve put out, and they have no regrets looking back on their catalog.

“There’s never been a drastic shift in NKDMAG.COM

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what we’re putting out… I think,” Jim says. Though each record is different in the sense of production or lyrical themes, they’ve never put out something that didn’t sound like them. “When we’re making a record, it’s not finished until we’re satisfied,” Zach says. “And it is hard to know when you’re done,” Rick adds. They could spend forever writing if they really wanted to, but after going through the process so many times they know when it’s time to stop.

“Being in a band for 20 years helps you realize that the shit you did when you were 18 sticks around, whether you like it or not,” Zach jokes. With all members currently in their late ’30s or early ’40s, there’s a sense of awareness that the music they make is going to be heard by their great grandchildren one day. The guys release every album with the mindset that it was the best they could do at that moment in time. “It’s important to not be overly critical of things you’ve done in the past,” Zach says. He admits that he’s gone back and wished he could record things differently, but at the time he did his best. They all did. “It’s better than saying, ‘Oh man, I wish I could play like that still!’” Jim jokes.

When the guys started this band 20 years ago, they didn’t think once about the fact that what they were doing would stick around forever, and they really didn’t think they’d still be playing with the same group of people so many years later. Even after such a long career there are still things they want to do, like play countries they haven’t played yet. They set the bar extremely low when they formed, and have consistently raised it higher as they’ve grown.

“There’s short-term and mid-term things we’d like to see happen, but we mostly focus on the day-to-day,” Jim says. They understand that not everything is in their control — like selling out stadiums. “We put out music and people are going to like it to a certain degree, or they’re not going to like it to a certain degree. We can’t control that,” Zach says.

After 20 years in the business, Jimmy Eat World have figured it out. They just release music they’re are confident in. The rest just works itself out. NKD

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Q&A

David Blaise, bassist for alt-rock band This Providence, turned his interest in graphic and apparel design into a modern, fun clothing line that has been worn by celebrities including Justin Bieber and Debby Ryan. NKD talked to David about his new collection, Forever Onward. by stephanie petit

* make

believe clothing | nkd magazine

Make Believe has been around for a few years now. How has the clothing evolved over that time?

DAVID BLAISE: Make Believe has primarily focused on graphic tees. This is the first year we’ve been branching out and moving into woven shirts, hats and jackets.

Your mission is to make strong clothing that stands out, yet complements a person’s wardrobe. How do you achieve that balance?

DB: Our goal has always been to keep our graphics simple and easy to layer. We never want our shirts to take away from your outfit.

Several celebrities are fans of the brand.

How do you feel when you find out celebrities are wearing Make Believe?

DB: We’re extremely grateful of the response and the amount of people seen wearing the brand. Each case is different though.

Sometimes it’s a surprise and we find out over Twitter or Facebook and sometimes I send the shirts directly.

What music inspires your clothing?

DB: My music taste is all over the place! However, while I designing the last collection, I was listening to Chvrches, Sir Sly, Grizzly Bear, Two Door Cinema Club and The Neighbourhood. Coming from a background in music, I’ll always involve music somehow into our brand.

What are your long-term goals for the brand?

DB: We’re just starting to branch into retail and do some more custom pieces. Expect frequent releases and custom and limited items like our button-downs, jackets and hats.

Where can Forever Onward be found?

DB: Our Forever Onward collection is available now on our site and in select stores. And keep checking in for our Fall/Winter collection out later this year! NKD

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JOEL CROUSE Words by JACKIE BUI » Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

COUNTRY SINGER JOEL CROUSE WILL NEVER FORGET THE FIRST TIME HE OPENED FOR TAYLOR SWIFT. “The first night of the Taylor tour, the lights went down and it’s pitch black and we walk on stage and the crowd just freaks out and I’ll never forget that,” Joel says.

Before breaking into the music scene and before the arena shows, the bright lights and the loud crowds, the Massachusetts native was just a boy who loved music. “I listened to everything growing up,” he says. “For the longest time, my dad, he was a Pastor, he only let us listen to country and Christian … It was funny, I would even go in the bathroom of restaurants if I heard a song on pop radio and I’d stand on the toilet just so I could hear the song because I was always obsessed with music.”

At 10 years old, Joel discovered his love for country music during a family vacation to Nashville, where he was fully immersed in Southern culture. Following his return home, he became infatuated with music, wanting desperately to have the opportunity to write and play songs. After begging every adult in his life, Joel convinced his grandfather to buy him a guitar and set up lessons when he was 12. In the years that followed, Joel dedicated his time to learning how to play guitar, perfecting his craft, writing his own music and performing in front of his first crowd at church before even entering high school.

Joel put his dreams into motion when he started a band with his friend at 15. The pair used their free time to write songs and book gigs. Joel’s passion for music landed him the opportunity to play shows up and down the East Coast throughout high school.

Joel graduated early and began traveling to and from Nashville frequently to become more involved in the country music scene. During one of his trips, he met the man who would later change his life — his current producer, Jamie Houston. It didn’t take long before the two realized the chemistry they had when they wrote music together. Joel’s relationship with Houston gave him the motivation and confirmation he needed to move to Nashville as soon as he turned 18.

Joel left home with $200 his parents gave him to spend on a bed, but he used the money for something he found to be far more important — sound equipment. Music was more

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important to him than having a bed to sleep on, and he spent a year and a half sleeping on floors, while playing open mic nights and writing music. With Houston’s help and guidance, Joel was able to compile an entire album he was proud of even before signing to record label Show Dog-Universal Music.

Joel’s career has really taken off in the past year — he’s had spots opening for Darius Rucker and The Band Perry, and he’s been featured at the Grand Ole Opry. “Definitely playing the Grand Ole Opry was one of the most magical, spiritual moments that I’ve had so far playing music,” he says.

More recently, Joel has opened for Taylor Swift on her Red Tour. He recalls the night his manager told him he was going to be an opener on the Red Tour as one of the highlights of his life.

Joel says he’s used to playing smaller shows of 1,000 to 2,000 people, and nothing compares to playing for a sold-out arena. “It’s intense, it really is, in a really good way, because when the lights go down, people start screaming,” he says.

“When we walk on stage, they don’t even know who we are.

They don’t care. You’re on that stage and they’re just freaking out.”

Playing arena shows has helped Joel with his stage presence and finding a way to connect with every person in the audience. “I’m not just entertaining the pit or the first few rows, I’m entertaining all the way to the back,” he says.

Joel says one of the coolest things he’s experienced while on tour is being able to meet with fans and gain new ones.

But for Joel, it’s never been about the fame — it’s always been just about the music. He hopes to stay true to his songwriting roots and continue to write music that his fans can relate to. “It was always about [how] I love going on stage, [how] I love performing musically,” he says. “I’ve always had that desire to make great music, to write great songs. Songs [can] emotionally move me. I can go from happy to sad or sad to happy just depending on that song and if I’m relating to it. What I want to do is just maintain writing some cool music that I think people will relate to and just kind of staying true to that because it’s the most important part.” NKD

“I’VE ALWAYS HAD THAT DESIRE TO MAKE GREAT MUSIC.” JOEL CROUSE

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* wallpaper

| nkd magazine

WALLPAP 72

PER.

Words by OLGA KHVAN Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

RICKY REED IS A FUNNY GUY. Quite often, his sense of humor translates into his music — a silly lyric here or there, always paired with a dance-heavy, feel-good beat. But he’s trying to make it about more than just that.

“I think we’re funny people and we don’t try to stifle it. If there’s a lyric in a song that makes people laugh, that’s cool,” he says of Wallpaper., his five-piece hip-hop and pop music project. “But at the same time, we’re really not trying to be on that Weird Al, Lonely Island side. I think with some of our older material, people could think that was the goal, to be that kitschy. That’s not what we’re here to do.”

Over about five years, what started out as a solo project satirizing goings-on in popular culture eventually led to a five-piece band — with the addition of Novena Carmel, Arjun Singh, Tom Peyton and Derek G. Taylor — and a hit single, “#STUPiDFACEDD,” which generated hype when it was featured on an episode of MTV’s Jersey Shore.

But with the newly released full-length album Ricky Reed Is Real, Ricky has a much bigger vision. “In college I wanted to meet girls, so I started making the beats heavier and playing house parties,” Ricky says. “But with this record, I wanted to make this generation’s great blue-collar pop record.”

The new album is still beat-heavy and dance-friendly, but also full of lyrics about working hard and “trying to get through your 9 to 5 grind,” harking back to early Bruce Springsteen, Prince and Michael Jackson, Ricky says.

“There’s a lot of pop music now that’s based on escapism and bullshit and things that people don’t deal with in their real lives,” he says. “I wanted to make a pop record that you could dance to, that had beats and drums and bass, but also dealt with the shit that the 99 percent deals with.”

For most, the “99 percent” may conjure up images of the Occupy movement, but for Ricky, it’s not as heavily related to politics. “I guess I’m politically minded in the way that people use ‘political’ in an art sense, which is just that you have an idea or a message that you want to get out,” he says. As it turns out, it’s a message that people respond well to.

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* wallpaper

| nkd magazine

When we catch up with Ricky and Novena in Holmdel, N.J. in early July during one of their stops on Van’s Warped Tour, they seem pleasantly surprised about their popularity with a crowd usually associated with punk-rock bands.

“I feel like I just started a new school and I was the new kid and kind of apprehensive, like ‘Are people going to like me? Am I going to make friends?’ That’s kind of how we felt coming into this,” Novena says. “This tour mostly features punk rock bands, so we didn’t know if people were going to like us and then we came and people are saying to check us out and it’s awesome. We’re different, but it’s been welcoming and fun.”

Novena, with her quirky, bright pink hair, considers herself a funny person, like Ricky. “I tend to be on the humorous side to help someone get out of a funk. Like if there’s someone who’s down, I’m the friend or family member who’s going to try and make you laugh to get out of it,” she says.

Her humor can be heard in the way she performs, Ricky says, which is one of the reasons he was drawn to her as an audience member at one of her shows with another band and decided to court her to join his band instead. “I was performing with a different band and he was in the audience and he was like, ‘I must have that girl,’” Novena jokes, prompting laughter from Ricky.

But the two have more in common than just humor. They both agree that their music walks a fine line between encouraging people to just have fun and at the same time putting out a meaningful message. “On the surface level, our music is just immediate and light and fun and enjoyable, but what really turns me on is when you have that twofold situation. It hits people on the surface, but they can also listen deeper and dig into it,” Ricky says.

But Novena says the message can’t be too complicated.

“Sometimes, just being simple is meaningful also,” she says.

“Sometimes people try too hard to achieve something, like just being too detailed and heavy about it. Having fun is the essence of life, which is meaningful in itself.”

Ricky says there’s a fine line between surface-level simplicity and deeper meaning, which creates the risk of misinterpretation by the audience.

“It’s something that we wrestle with because we do have songs that are about partying and when they walk that satirical line, people aren’t sure if we’re actually endorsing underage kids getting blackout drunk every day,” he says. “I think at the end of the day, our responsibility to people is to remind them basically to just be yourself, be smart about what you do, but really, really, really, really put your enjoyment of life first, whether that be on the surface level of partying or chasing dreams or getting bad people out of your life.

Whatever that thing is, you’ve got to enjoy it.”

For Novena, the responsibility of an artist extends beyond the meaning of his or her music, thanks to the prevalence of social media, which allows for personal interaction with fans.

This responsibility, she says, makes her conscious of what she posts on her Twitter.

“Sometimes I’ll think about whether there’s a 10-year-old girl somewhere following what I’m saying,” she says. “I’m still going to be myself, but I do keep that in mind and try to stand 74

for certain things that I think are important. With someone who’s my age, I’m not going to necessarily shape them or tell them what to do as easily, but if someone is really young, even the smallest things can affect how they see themselves or see the world and if you’re a fan of me, then I would rather say something that’s going to affect them in a positive way or no way at all than negatively.”

But when it comes down to Wallpaper.’s music, there’s less conscious thought involved.

“At the end of the day in the studio, it’s all visceral. It’s never like, ‘Is this too much?’ or ‘Is that too little?’” Ricky says. “The thing that feels good and makes sense, that’s what comes out.” NKD

“I THINK AT THE END OF THE DAY, OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO PEOPLE IS TO REMIND THEM BASICALLY TO JUST BE YOURSELF.” RICKY REED NKDMAG.COM

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ALLI SIMPSON

Words by SUSAN CHENG Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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lli Simpson’s rise to stardom still feels pretty surreal to her, though it’s been nearly three years since her career took off.

The 15-year-old, who was born and raised on the Gold Coast of Australia, never planned on pursuing a career in singing. She was just another girl with big dreams and a family who supported her. “I was a really competitive swimmer,” she says. “I wasn’t into acting, singing, modeling or anything. I was kind of just all into going to the beach and competitive swimming.”

Everything changed when Alli’s older brother Cody began uploading videos of himself singing onto YouTube.

“Seventh grade came around, and Cody

started getting into singing,” Alli says. “Once he started putting things on YouTube, someone messaged him … and it all kind of went from there.”

That someone was Grammy-nominated music producer Shawn Campbell, who has worked with A-list artists like Jay Z, Missy Elliot and Chris Brown. After Campbell signed Cody to Atlantic Records, Alli and her younger brother Tommy decided to move to Los Angeles with Cody so he could pursue his music career.

“From living there and swimming to moving here and changing our whole lives in just over two years, it’s crazy how it all happened so quickly,” Alli says.

“PEOPLE LOOK AT MY PHOTOS AND MY TWEETS AND TELL ME THAT I’M THEIR ROLE MODEL. YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU POST BECAUSE THEY’RE OBVIOUSLY GOING TO LOOK FOR IT AND LEARN FROM IT.” ALLI SIMPSON

The move to L.A. wasn’t easy, especially in the beginning.

“It was really, really tough,” Alli says. “And it still is because I’ve grown up with all my friends back home, so all of my friends and all of my family are back in Australia … I left them when I was 12.”

For Alli, moving to L.A. meant transferring schools and adjusting to a new home. “That first year was really tough for not just me, but everyone in the family,” she says. “We just kind of moved countries, and we didn’t know where to start, where to live, where the good places are to get a house. We didn’t know if we wanted to go to a normal school.”

Now, the three siblings are homeschooled and have begun adjusting to their new lives. “It’s all worth it now because things are coming together, and things are working out,” Alli says. “So it’s like it all kind of happened for a reason.”

While in L.A., Alli was inspired by her brother’s career and decided to try singing. “I was here chilling out,” she says. “And then I decided, ‘Well, I’m here. I’m not swimming, I might as well do something for myself as well.’”

Alli now models for Pastry, a juniors’ shoe company. She also has her own line of press-on nails with Kiss Products and Broadway Nails. In June of this year, she released her own song called, “Why I’m Single,” a catchy, volatile, electro-pop track about teenage heartbreak.

“That first song was just for a bit of fun,” she says. “I do sing, but I get nervous when I sing. So Cody and my manager got me in the studio and were like, ‘Why don’t you just do a song for fun, and we’ll just put it on YouTube or on iTunes?’”

While Alli says her debut song did well on iTunes, the young songstress currently has no plans to tour or release an album. Instead, she will be hosting a show called Awesomeness TV, a gig she recently landed with YouTube comedian Sam Pepper. The show will spotlight popular music and feature artists as guests, much like MTV’s TRL did.

“It’s going to be like a music countdown show, and we’re going to have musical guests to interview and to play games with,” Alli says. “It’s just going to be a fun talk show for teens.

And we’re going to do skits and just have bunch of fun.”

Alli is just starting to adapt to her recent fame. “It’s really, really strange, going places and seeing my face on things and in stores. I try and hide myself when I go into the stores,” she says, laughing. “I put my shades on because I get embarrassed ‘cause people are like, ‘That’s her! Look, that’s her!’ … It’s crazy, and I still haven’t gotten used to it, and I don’t think Cody has either.”

Alli’s success also comes with the unfamiliar pressure of playing role model to thousands of admiring fans. Alli is meticulous about what she posts on social media sites. “People look at my photos and my tweets and tell me that I’m their role model,” she says. “You always have to be careful what you post because they’re obviously going to look for it and learn from it.”

Alli and Cody both support and promote an anti-bullying campaign called Defeat the Label. As someone who faces criticism in the media and on the Internet, Alli can relate to bullied teens.

“I feel like everybody probably is [bullied] at school, it’s just what happens, and especially online,” she says. “Cody and I get a lot of hate ... We don’t like seeing it, so we don’t want it to happen to other people too.”

Alli has already impacted her fans. “This past week, I’ve had about three girls tell me that I’ve saved their lives,” Alli says.

“They [told] me, ‘You helped me pull through a really hard time. You literally saved my life.’ And I started crying when they tell me things like that. To have that effect on people is crazy. The fact that someone like me could help these girls through hard times at home, that’s so surreal, and I’m so glad that I can do that for people.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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