TYLER
HILTON
Warner Bro. Records
Hi Tyler!
How are you today?
I’m doing good. I’ve got a bit of a holiday bug and it’s raining in LA, but
that’s exciting actually.
Oh yeah we got a lot of that yesterday, rain then snow, then rain … all in
the same day.
Whooo, that sounds dirty and messy.
I heard you were filming a video today?
Yeah, yeah we do Monday videos on our web thing and so we wouldn’t have to film
‘em on the holidays we kind of filmed three today. So, we can kind of have them
to put up til the end of the year.
That’s exciting, I so watch them.
Oh you do?
I do watch them, I love the videos.
Oh that’s great. Yeah, we had a good time today. It’s kind of our first time
filming all day, but it was really fun.
Yeah, one of my favorites is the elevator one.
Oh nice! [Laughs] Yeah that’s cool.
Well you know in addition to Fanvasion, we also do OneTreeHillWeb.net and we
miss you on One Tree Hill. It has been way too long without ‘Chris Keller’, way
too long without you. Everybody emails us constantly wondering if you’re going
to come back, so have you talked with Mark [Schwahn] at all about it?
Aww, that’s nice to hear. You know, Mark and I always end of up talking about
it, because he and I both love that character. I think that’s why the character
lasted so long, because he and I just got such a kick out of it. It’s great
because the one think Mark and I have in common is kind of like, you know,
desire to be that … you know I don’t know. I think there’s that small part of
every guy that wishes he’s as care free as 'Chris Keller'. As much as girls say
they don’t like the assholes, so many people come up to you on the road that are
girls and ‘Oh we miss Chris Keller, we love to hate him’ this and that. I was
like man; it’s so funny that like people really kind of are attracted to those
kind of people. So anyway, just plain and simple … whose that free and whose
just that … I don’t know self indulgent is just like so fun. So we always talk
about it, but it’s just a timing thing. I just got to … really want to work on
the record. You know if I went to film an episode I’d have to fly out there and
kind of take some time off the music and I just haven’t been ready to do that
yet. I would love to as soon as we get a chance, I’d love to come back.
I’m sure there’s hope. Apparently, he’s in talks to do the spin-off for
Melrose Place and The CW is so happy with the direction of One Tree Hill that
they may be picking it up for two more seasons.
That’s just crazy!
Yeah,
but you know I don’t just love to hate ‘Chris Keller’. I just love him, when he
came between Nathan and Haley, that you’re able to stir things up with the other
actors. All the characters are different when ‘Chris Keller’ is around.
Yeah, you know I got to hand that to Mark, I mean he just…that’s just something
he created. I always marveled every time I got the new scripts at how ‘Chris
Keller’ would just come in at the most inopportune moments and it was just
always so uncomfortable, but made the characters so fun to play. Everyone on set
always had fun with those ‘Chris Keller’ episodes too because their characters
were put in such uncomfortable situations. It’s a fun character to play, I
really dug it.
You know I think you should have your own show. There should be like a ‘Chris
Keller’ spin-off.
Pshh, now that I would be all about. I don’t know if people could take just an
hour of ‘Chris Keller’ a week though.
I could! That is quality television. Just for fun, if you did have your own show
… what would it be called?
[Laughs] Oh my God, it would be called … I don’t know. I’ve got to think about
that.
Well you know, other than One Tree Hill we last saw you in Charlie Bartlett,
please tell me you do have plans for another movie.
Oh that’s cool thanks, I don’t actually. I’ve been reading scripts or whatever
and nothing has really worked out. But the main thing has just been the timing
thing, I’m never sure when I’ll be available to make a movie or go back to
One Tree Hill, until the record is done. The record has just kind of dragged on and
on for so long and the more I’m finishing the more I keep seeing that needs to
be finished. Until I see a definite end in sight it’s almost hard to consider
any of those other things. But you know it’s gonna come to an end soon, it has
to in the next couple of months I’ll be finished. I’m actually pretty excited to
finish it up and see what else is out there, maybe other movies or going on the
road for awhile or maybe more One Tree Hill.
I definitely want to talk about the album. But first, I’ve always wondered … was
acting something you sort of fell into or did you seek out to pursue it?
I did, I really loved it. When I was a kid in high school I acted a bunch. I
also put out my first record in high school and was playing a lot of shows then.
It was weird because early on I had to kind of make a decision. I was in a
pretty serious theatre program where commitment was absolutely essential, and so
if I was going to be playing shows out of town I couldn’t always do the plays.
So, early on I had to make some decisions and prioritize early on what was more
important to me. I always kind of followed my music but any time I could do the
acting I would, and when I got signed to my agency as well I said ‘you know I do
love acting, but you guys sign me on as an actor as well as a musician. Just
know the music takes precedence, so don’t be bummed if I can’t do certain
auditions or this and that.’ So, it’s been great, going in no one has pressured
me to do any kind of acting, it’s always been just whenever I had time. I always
felt one day maybe it would be great to get into some kind of acting, who knows,
but to have had that happen so early on was just pure luck that Walk the Line
and One Tree Hill came along in the same year when they did. Then after that
being able to do Charlie Bartlett was just kind of the icing.
Well since you were more focused on music and that was your main focal point;
were you a little nervous going into the audition for One Tree Hill?
Yeah, on one hand I’m really nervous going into those situations because I am
inexperienced and not the confident pro always goes into these auditions. But on
the flip side when they hear that I’m coming in they always kind of …. I always
feel a little spoiled, in a good way. Because they always treat me like an
idiot, but in a good way, you know they don’t expect much from me because I’m a
musician. That’s always a good thing because it’s easy pretty easy to beat
expectations on auditions, but you know I don’t always get the part. With One
Tree Hill they were looking for a musician and a couple of the guys they were
looking at for ‘Chris Keller’ were musicians as well, so I think going into it
they knew they weren’t going get an actor. They were going for somebody that had
a vibe and a personality of his own they could just kind of work with. The same
thing with Walk the Line, they weren’t looking for actors, they really wanted
musicians who didn’t really act to play those parts like Jerry Lee and Elvis and
everything. So, I got real lucky both times. Charlie Bartlett was the only real
movie role where I was up against other actors for it, so it was a personal
pride thing for me and I got it.
I
guess the cards all fell into place then.
They did and the nice thing about doing a TV show or an episodic like that is …
you know they wrote Chris for I think just two episodes or maybe it was three
and that was it. Then once you write a character like ‘Chris Keller’ you never
know what and actor is going to bring to the table or what my Chris Keller is
going to be like. After he could kind of see what I was doing with it, then it’s
great because he was able to write for me, write for the jokes I’m better at
saying or the situations I’m better in. That’s the great thing about TV; once
they get to know you they can kind of write for your strengths. I think the
character got better and funnier as it went on because he was able to tweak as
he went, which was real nice.
Okay, I want to talk about the new album – so excited. I think we’re all going
through Tyler Hilton withdrawals. What can we expect from the new album this
time around?
Well it’s a bit more … I would say rock n roll on the fast tunes and I think
it’s just a little heavier all around, the slow songs are a bit heavier. You
know when I like a band, I like when they don’t change too much; but they change
enough where it doesn’t sound like the same album with just different songs.
Without even meaning to just probably naturally growing as a writer and just
being around a little longer, I feel like this album is like that. For the
people who liked my music before, I don’t think that they’ll be surprised. But,
I think there are better songs, I think this is the best record I’ve ever done.
I’m really, really excited about it; but that’s why it’s taking so long to make.
Will “Ain’t A Thing’ be on there?
Yeah, absolutely.
Can you talk about any of the new songs, an official first single maybe?
You know I don’t know what the first single is going to be. I decided to record
a few more songs and that’s what is taking a little bit longer, and so one of
those might be the single. I think I would rather just wait and hear everything
recorded and finished before I decide what the single is. Also, I’ve got a lot
of friends in the radio department at Warner Bros. and it’s nice to kind of play
the record for them and hear what they think, because to be honest with you I
don’t know what a single is anymore or what it sounds like. It’s hard for me to
keep up, so it’s nice to kind of go to be people who work in the day to day and
say ‘What do you think? What sounds like it should be on the radio?’.
When you set out to do the album was intentional to take this much time, get it
right, get your vision out?
Well, it didn’t take too long. I went into it thinking it was going to be real
quick. Making an album can be real quick, and should be if all the parts are
there. But, what happened was I recorded a record and scrapped it maybe three or
four times, so that is what took so long. I would be almost done with the record
or half way through and then just scrap everything and start all over again;
with some new producer, new studio, new city. That’s what really took a long
time…years; until found my footing back here in LA with John Malaysia. We made
the whole album with John and it sounded great, that would have been the end of
it except I’d written some new songs I really wanted to record. I asked the
label if I could record them and they gave me the money to do it, and that’s
what I’m in the process of doing now. So, it’s because I started over so many
times that’s what took so long. Normally an album if you get it right the first
time can be really quick. The other thing is Warner was really great about not
getting involved too much; they really said ‘You know we want you to be happy
with this record. We want to see where you can take this record on your own
without us trying to make you something.’ It was really up to me and that’s why
I was so picky and scrapped the album so many times. If I was going to be this
involved with it I really wanted to make sure that I was happy with it, because
if it ended up not being good I would have no one to blame but myself.
Reportedly, Will.i.Am of the Black Eyed Peas recently spoke out about BEP's new
album and how they hoped to release it this year because it will be the final
year where physical sales are significant. You know, he says Christmas is the
last Christmas that CDs will be in stores due to digital downloads. --- What is
your take on that? Do you agree?
It very well maybe, I think never before have musicians had to keep their finger
on the pulse of technology more than they have to right now. You really have to
be sensitive to what’s going on because it’s moving so fast. I mean I just went
out on tour and I haven’t released a record in awhile and the last thing I had
out was an independent film [Charlie Bartlett], so I haven’t been out there in
the market, the pop world, in maybe two or three years. This tour was one of the
best selling tours that I’ve ever done, and I couldn’t figure it out. It’s
because I’ve been putting these videos up on YouTube so steadily, and to think
that YouTube has that much control over an audience that I have makes me think I
could easily see much and videos being released for free just to get kids in to
fill seats and concert venues. I don’t know, I mean it could go so many
different ways. I honestly couldn’t tell you. I mean everyone thought laser disk
were going to be killer and those didn’t end up going anywhere. But, as long as
I stay up on it hopefully I can uh … at the end of the day good songs make you
money. The reason I want to make money is so I can keep doing this as a living.
So if I keep writing good songs and I keep working hard I can do this and not
end up on some reality show or something. [Laughs]
You’re right about YouTube, and how easy it is to be able to get some much out
there. Like your Kings of Leon cover, that was great, you should definitely
record it. Make an MP3 download.
Aww, I’m glad you like it. That’s a great band, that’s a band that keeps
growing. Every record that they do keeps getting better to me and I think
they’re one of the best bands out there for sure. I really like them.
Another
great artist out there, Taylor Swift, who you’re friends with. We know you two
did a cover of “Missing You” live, and chance for another possible duet?
You know I don’t know; I haven’t even talked to her in awhile. We just lost
touch a bit since I moved back to LA, but I wouldn’t rule it out at all. It’s
kind of just like friends you lose touch with when you move towns; I’m sure
we’ll see each other on the road and start jamming again. We did some writing
when we use to hang, and I’m sure all that will kick back up when we see each
other again. I do miss her, so it would be great to see her once we all get back
together again. She’d be great to sing with, she’s a true talent and there would
be no shame on my end if I’m standing next to her and singing with her.
You have a foundation called "T.H. Books for Kids"; can you tell me more about
that?
Well, the foundation we put together, my friends and I, and the idea is to get
books into the hands of children. Try to promote reading, education, and
literary through ownership of books. Giving kids books to own themselves, and
making them feel like they have books that are available to them. So, we restock
libraries at hospitals and schools, that kind of thing. Every event we do, we
try to get enough money raised or enough books available to give the kids to
take home as well so they can start their own libraries and collection. Just to
get them started, because if they can continue reading books on their own and
not just because they’re told to they’ll be able to find the kinds of books
specific to them. I think what reading has helped me with and everyone I know
who loves reading, has been problem solving and helps you relate to the
situations you deal with in life. There’s a lot of problems that could be
circumvented through I know the kind of ideas and concepts you read about in
books and other peoples experiences. So, just trying to promote that at an early
age, hopefully it will catch on with kids.
I grew up loving to read, and now I see so many kids especially on MySpace where
you have to fill in your favorite books who write ‘I don’t read’ or leave it
blank.
Yeah, you know there’s enough books out there for everyone. No matter how crazy
or bored with the books you’ve read, there is something out there for you. It’s
just about trying to get kids out there to seek it. It’s been really nice to see
the effects of what we’ve done, it kind of gives me confidence that this might
be something that works you know?
Its weird people I know are starting to read more now than they did in recent
years.
Isn’t that amazing? You just can’t really grasp that you know? Will all the
technology and stuff you would think that wouldn’t be the case … people are
reading Twilight and Harry Potter.
Yes, Twilight! I read the books, but I didn’t think it would be that huge. Now
with the movie it’s just blowing up all over the place.
I know, it’s unbelievable. It’s so weird, but great though.
Well, Tyler it’s been great talking with you today … I know you have to get back
to rehearsal.
You too, I’ll talk to you later!
FOR MORE ON TYLER CHECK OUT:
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TylerHilton.com
[official site]
· MySpace -
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