Interview with Hip Online

So what have you been up to?

I've been doing some press.  I've got a photo shoot today. 
Just doing the thing, man, having a great time.

Are you psyched about the record release?

Yeah, I'm really excited. 

When did you finish the record?

Uh, a while ago. Maybe a month and a half ago. 

How did you get signed to Trans-Continental?

I've known Lou Perlman for a long time, 
and he heard the songs I was writing and 
producing and we just hooked up.

You've been writing for a while. Has it always been pop?

Always the same thing. As a writer, I think 
a good song is a good song no matter how it 
is dressed up, no matter the production or instrumentation.  
As a producer, this is always the way I've heard music. 
You know, real poppy. 

How do you write? I know you play piano.

Always different ways. For the most part 
I'll have an idea that I want to write about 
or something that I'm feeling.  Then I'll sit 
down at the piano and come up with the piano parts 
and the melodies.  Usually I'll do all the music 
first and then I'll come up with the lyrics.

Do you carry a tape recorder with you?

Yeah, all the time. Whenever I forget my 
tape recorder, I'll be anywhere, like a 
restaurant, and I'll come up with an idea and I'll have to sing it 
into my phone on the answering machine. And people look at me like 
I'm a nut. 

I've heard that a lot. Or you have 
to sing it the entire way home so 
you don't forget it.

(laughs) Yep, yep. That is so true.

How does the co-writing work on the album? Do you come 
in with a melody and they write the 
music in the studio? How does that 
work for you? 

Most of the songs I either wrote by myself or 
I co-wrote. It depends.  Sometimes I'll go into 
a room with an idea or they'll have an idea and 
you go from there. The stuff I co-wrote I also 
co-produced, so they would have a certain sound 
that I would like and we would create together 
and I would write the lyrics. It depends. I've 
co-written in so many different situations that 
really vary. It can be weird at first, but you 
get the hang of it.
 
What inspires you? 

Some songs that I write are personal 
experiences, not all are. Sometimes I see what 
a friend will go through and write from their 
point of view. The songs on this album are all a 
part of me.

 Do you ever get frustrated trying to write? 

I try not to schedule myself a time 
to write.  I feel it is such a creative thing 
that I need to just let it flow.  The times that 
I ever tried to force myself it never works.

The spontaneous songs always seem 
to be the best. 

Absolutely. You can't explain where 
creative things come from.

A few of us here write, and when we 
try to sit down and do it, it never works. 

Right. It doesn't. (laughs)

We just struggle. 

(laughs) Yep, yep. Exactly.

Shifting gears, I read you were doing some acting. 
Is that something you did before music? 

I used to be on a show on Nickelodeon called 
Welcome Freshman, so I did that, and now I just 
did a cameo for a movie called Jack Of All Trades.

Isn't LFO in that? 

Yeah, Rich is in that. Britney Spears, NSYNC, 
and tons of music people. I perform. There is 
a big concert scene and that is where I perform. 
It was a lot of fun.

 Is acting something you'd like to pursue? 

Music is definitely my first focus. I mean, 
I'm a musician, I'm more than a singer. I write, 
I play almost all the instruments on my album, so music is first. 
Acting is fun too, so we'll see.

That is a rarity in pop for someone to actually play 
an instrument, let alone write. 

I know. Music is what I love. I've done it since 
I was little. I started piano when I was eleven  
or twelve.

What do you enjoy most about 
being a musician? 

I enjoy all aspects, but I have to say 
performing is probably the most fun because 
you get an immediate response from the fans. 
The fans are so incredible. When they hear 
something they like, you can tell. It is 
really fulfilling. 

What is the misconception that people have 
about being a musician? 

Lots of press. You know, everything looks 
so glamorous and you are going to be a huge 
rock star and be in the movies, but you are 
up at the crack of dawn to get the right 
lights and you have to really work. Like on 
a movie set, you have to sit around forever 
waiting for your scene to come up.

People think 
all you do is show up at MTV and perform and 
that is it. 

(Laughs) I know. There is a lot that goes 
into it. It is a lot of hard work and not 
just on the musician's part. The label and 
the management do lots of work to promote 
you too. There is so much that goes into making 
an artist happen. Of course, you have to have 
the music and the talent, but even when you 
have that you need a lot of other people 
who do jobs getting you promoted and move 
you along.

Who did you grow up listening to? 

I grew up listening to Duran Duran and U2. 
I liked all kinds of music. 
Anything that was on Top 40 radio I 
listened to. 

What would we catch you listening to now? 

I like so much stuff. I listen to so many genres. 
I love rock, and of course I love pop stuff. 
I like Mariah, Jessica Simpson's vocals, 
I like lots of people. I like Lauryn Hill's record. 
It goes on and on. I buy so many different records. 

What's gonna happen with you in 2000? 

I'm gonna do this Elite Model Search tour. 
I'm the headliner. I think the Spice Girls did it, Maxwell's done it. 
It's a twenty-city tour. 
I think it starts in the beginning of March. 
I'm excited about that. Still working on 
the summer. 

+ charlie craine
published: 03.13.00