Over the last few years singer, songwriter and actor Tyler Hilton has made great strides in the entertainment industry and the next few years are looking to be even more successful for him. Tyler has a brand new, full length album due out in 2009 and is continuing his work to help put “A book in the hands of every child” with his charity T.H. Books for Kids.
It has been 4 years since your last album was released. Are you glad that you had so much time between albums? Do you think that it was worth the wait or do you wish something could have been released sooner?Umm, I don’t know. It is something I won’t know for sure until the album comes out, like I could be a hero and in a year from now I could be ‘thank god we waited so long’ you know or it could come out and we could be like ‘wow, looking back we should have done something in between’. So I don’t really know. I wish I had done something in between, I hate that it has taken this long but maybe it is one of those cool stories, like whoa, thank god we had so much time. So I am not really sure.
Did you have any expectations going into the new album?Yeah, different ones, like every year that I have been recording I thought I was going to make a different kind of record or I thought I was going to be done sooner. So those expectations. It’s kind of hard now to give myself expectations; I am trying to just make it good. But, man I am kind of numb on the whole thing now. Whatever happens, happens.
How do you think your music has evolved since The Tracks Of?I think probably the biggest thing was growing older and naturally having more things happen. More than that probably playing on the road as much as I did because when I recorded the Tracks Of I hadn’t really been on the road full band ever, really. And so I think the sound has developed a sense from all the touring and stuff. And that has really been the template of the record, trying to keep it as close to the live shows as I can, for that kind of feel.
Is there any specific inspiration behind the new album?You know, I don’t really know. There probably wasn’t one thing, the album was so spread out that it wasn’t about a certain period of time or its hard to have an overall concept about it because it was songs that you know, a couple I wrote when I was nineteen and a couple I have just written in the last year. So it’s kind of runs the camet. This wasn’t one of those records that is about one thing, that was recorded pretty quickly.
Can you give me a preview on what to expect on the new album?I don’t think it is going to be anything where people are like ‘holy nuts, this is like, I did not expect this’, you know. What I am trying to do is get it as close to, if anyone’s ever been to a live show of mine where they have been ‘this is such a great show’, like the energy was there. I just want to capture that and of course there will be some instruments and stuff on there that aren’t in a live show, but that is just to make up for not being able to see me, you know, I can only rely on oral devices to put that energy across. So I just want it to be like man that is Tyler Hilton, to the point where people go, maybe they are making a record or writing a song and being like I want this kind of like a Tyler Hilton vibe, know what I mean? I know there is something that I do live that is different and interesting and I want that to come across in the record, or hope I do.
I noticed that when you moved to Tennessee your songs began to take on a country sound. Are you planning to lean more towards country music in the future?You know the weird thing is that I went to Tennessee because I was starting to write country kind of music in LA and then when I got to Tennessee I just wanted to write rock and roll music. I think it was just wanting to be different or it is just annoying for me to be just another so, it wasn’t even a conscious thing I just realized when I got into Nashville that I got an overload of Country and I really wanted to write lots of rock and roll, I couldn’t stop thinking about rock and roll and I was so excited I moved back to LA for that. But that was the weird thing, I moved to Nashville mostly because I was writing a lot of country and then I did for a while when I was down there but then I got really over it.
You have said that you didn’t really write songs with other people until you moved to Tennessee. Do you prefer writing solo or with others? How does collaboration optimize the song writing process?You know, I don’t love writing with other people, I‘d rather write alone. I would rather everyone be like man the songs that you write alone are way better. But the times that I have written with other people, I end up getting songs I’m like wow, I actually never would have thought of that. Like You’ll Ask For Me, I had been trying to finish that song for so long and I brought it to my friend Wayne, he really helped me finish it in a way I wouldn’t have done on my own, same with I’d Rather be Lonely. Songs like that where I’m like man, you know I probably couldn’t have written that on my own. So even though I hate doing it, it’s working out for me, I feel great afterwards. But while I am doing it, it feels so not like something I would do if I ruled the world.
Do you have one song that you have written that has the most meaning to you or one that you are most proud of?Probably, Hard to Love, just because I started it in High School and I ended it when I was like 20 or something. I don’t know, I really like it, it feels like a song that has been in my head for a long time. It almost feels like the oldest song I have. I remember playing that in high school to some people and there are a lot of unfinished songs I always have in my head and that was one of them forever, so right now it’s probably my favorite.
So moving on to acting, you have acted in movies and on TV, do you have a preference between the two?Um, I don’t know, I guess it would depend on the thing, I loved doing One Tree Hill. That was fun because I never got bored there, it was so much fun. But I would probably say movies are probably better. I enjoy it more because I know there is a start and end to it, there is no question are you going to come back or anything like that, it just happens. Yeah and plus you have more control over what you are going to do, on a TV show you kind of sign on and you only get like the first script and after that you hope the rest are as good. With a movie you know it is going to be good. So I think a movie is better.
Tyler portrayed Chris Keller on the CW show ‘One Tree Hill’ for various episodes during Seasons 2, 3, & 4.
Tyler portrayed at young Elvis Presley in the Oscar winning movie ‘Walk the Line’ in 2005 and Murphey Bivens in ‘Charlie Bartlett’ in 2008.
With your acting you tend to portray characters that are completely opposite from your actual personality. Why is that? Do you think you will ever play someone more like yourself?Or are they?? Yeah I think it is just a coincidence, I think since I have only done a few things I think it can be tacked up to maybe coincidence. But also, there wouldn’t really be a reason for me to do anything that didn’t excite me acting wise because I am not trying to cultivate an acting career necessarily. So I feel like those kinds of parts are the ones that sound like fun. I think that with Chris Keller too, Walk the Line wasn’t that bad, but with One Tree Hill I really developed into being a dick on that show. Just because what I thought was funny or what I was doing with the character, and then they played off of that and wrote more stuff and I would be more that way and they just kept playing off that. So I just really realized how much I enjoyed being that character and then it was just fun and easy to do. And Charlie Bartlett was just a fluke; I still can’t believe I got that still. It seems like I could more easily play like, you know the skinny rock star, dweeb, jerk then I could the guy who beats people up. I don’t know how that happened in Charlie Bartlett.
Do you have any acting opportunities right now? Are you looking for anything or focusing on music?You know I am mostly focusing on the music. But I did tell my agents if there is any scripts send them over and they sent one over recently, I really liked it. I was distracted, it was kind of one of those things I went into and it was like I wish I had waited until I really had some time to put into it. So right now it is one of those things that I don’t mind doing, but the time it takes to get prepared for the audition, go in and do all these things, I don’t really have that kind of time now. So I don’t mind reading scripts, and I wouldn’t mind doing something later on, we just have to play it by ear I guess.
What do you feel your most important accomplishment to date is?Well, I could say TH Books for Kids, but I think the most important thing I have done, as a tool that has justified other things and stirred the pot was Walk the Line. That is probably the thing that has rooted everything in what it is and justified all the other moves I have been able to make.
T.H. Books for Kids is a 501(c)(3) non-profit public benefit corporation organized for the charitable purpose of providing books for children who may not otherwise have access to a wide variety of appropriate reading material. For more information about this wonderful charity go here: www.thbooksforkids.org/
“A book in the hands of every child.” – Tyler Hilton Do you think that the importance of reading has dwindled over the years due to the internet and the digital age?It might have become an asset to research and learning. I have never been that internet savvy. There are a lot of people I know where I am like ‘man what is this dot on my skin’ and they will go Google it and come back and say actually what that is, is a Sythatitalous or whatever. So I am sure there are good ways to do that. I don’t think that a concept like books or putting books in the hands of kids is outdated yet. But I don’t know if the internet has dwindled it, I’m almost not that savvy in it to really understand. I have a feeling that it has helped a lot of people research in their owns ways and kept up with peoples quickness of thought, not ADD, but people want information really fast and books you have to look through the chapters and then the index and with the internet you can go to Google and just have it. So maybe it has helped people, I don’t know. But still there is something about the patience it takes to read books and the way it winds you down. The amount of time you invest into it, it’s all something you don’t have a lot of in other areas. I think books will always be important, I don’t think the internet is hurting it.
Have you ever thought about doing any literary writing yourself?I have always wanted to write a book but I can never finish them. I start them and then can’t finish them.
What type of book would it be?I don’t know, all the ones I wrote were fictions so far, the ones I’ve started. It’s just like, there different and longer than songs and they take so much talent, it is so hard to do. The stories are the hard part. I kept trying to come up with the stories, I’ll only get the rough outline of the book and then I get snagged on a concept. So, maybe one day.
Do you ever feel burned out with music and need to take a break?Yeah, that is why I think I have to change it up. I don’t like doing much of the same thing over and over. When I am on the road too much I feel like going back into the studio, or if I am in the studio too much I feel like performing, so I will book some kind of residency or do a little tour. Or like when the movies have come up when I have not wanted to do music anymore. Music is such a special thing, if I get burned out on that I will be really bummed. I want to protect that so much, so I have to be really careful.
There has been a lot of controversy lately over digital media. A lot of independent CD stores have closed because people aren’t buying CD’s anymore, but instead opting to purchasing digital media on sites such as iTunes, how do you feel about this?I prefer the CD’s, because I still think in terms that people are going to listen to my album the whole way through. But I have to switch gears sometimes. I haven’t really thought much about it, I just kind of go with it because I don’t really feel like changing the way things are or that I even could, that is just the direction things are going.
A lot of artists won’t allow their stuff on iTunes or other outlets.Yeah, I don’t think anyone would hear my music otherwise. I think it would be different if I was the Beatles or something. I want people to hear it. There is that question of whether you put your songs on MySpace so that people can get them for free and just stream them. I don’t’ really know much about that stuff, which is why I think I have to hook up with people who have great ideas for those kinds of things. I didn’t get into music thinking ‘you know what, I think I will be good at this because I know how to sell good songs in a digital era’. You know what I mean, I just never thought that far ahead. I just write songs. As far as that goes, I just have to rely on other people for that.
In your opinion, what are the most common mistakes aspiring musicians seem to make?I don’t think they play enough shows or write enough songs. I think that is the main thing. I would be curious to hear what someone much more successful than I would say about people at my level too because I would love to hear that. Maybe I am doing some of those things I shouldn’t be, I don’t know. Those two things I think are the main thing or I think a lot of people focus on being famous and I think that is hard thing to attain if that is just what you are going for.
Is there any advice you can pass on to young musicians?I think people should get as good as possible. I have always said, and maybe this is naive, but I think that if you are really good you can’t be ignored. It’s the people who are mediocre who have to rely on luck and I think if you are really good at something you will always land on your feet. If you have a skill that someone can’t take away from you, like being a great singer, or great guitar player or great songwriter you will always be able to do something. You just have to get good first. It is people that are kind of good at singing, kind of good at guitar playing, kind of good looking that get lucky or something that makes everyone else think they can do it too. That is a path to go down but I think if you want to ensure that you will at least have a career in music you have to be good. I think people need to get better and always be getting better. There are so many careers in music if you are good.
What can we expect next from you?It is weird because I feel like things are changing so fast I don’t actually know what I will be doing next. I keep thinking the obvious thing would be to finish the record and tour. I don’t really know. I don’t even know if that will work. The main thing I want to do is get the record finished. And my next big priority is I want to tour the rest of the world acoustically and just meet a lot of people there. Do the same thing I have done in America for a while in Europe, and really put the time in. I would love to tour the US again, for sure. I guess I just have to finish the album first, that is what I keep thinking. I keep making plans to do things but I keep canceling plans because the album isn’t done. I just need to give myself time to finish it, I guess. Oh and grow a beard!
Upcoming Shows
Wed Nov 19 - Western Illinois University
Murray Street Cafe
1 University Circle Macomb IL 61455
All Ages / Free / Open to the public
Wed Dec 3 - Philadelphia PA
Tin Angel
20 South Second Street Philadelphia PA 19106
All Ages / $15 / 8:00PM
Tickets now on sale
Thurs Dec 4 - York College of Pennsylvania
Sparts Den
441 Country Club Road York PA 17405
All Ages / Free / Open to the public
Dec 6 - Vienna VA
Jammin Java
227 Maple Avenue East Vienna VA 22180
All Ages / $15 / 7:30PM
Tickets now on sale
Mon Dec 8 - Virginia Tech Univ
Haymarket Theater
Doors: 7:00 pm
VT students: $3 Non students: $4
Tickets available at the door
Tues Dec 9 - Charlotte NC
Visulite Theater
1615 Elizabeth Avenue Charlotte NC 28204
All Ages / $12 / 8:00PM
704-358-9200
Tickets now on sale
Wed Dec 10 - Decatur GA
Eddies Attic
515-B North McDonough Street Decatur GA 30030
18+ / $15 / 8:00PM
404-377-4976
Tickets now on sale
Sun Dec 21 - Los Angeles CA
Troubadour
9081 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90069
All Ages / $14 / 7:00PM
310-276-1158
Tickets now on sale
Enjoy a picnic with Tyler Hilton!
Tyler Hilton will host the 4th Annual T.H. Books for Kids Fundraiser/Concert on December 14, 2008, from 1-5 p.m. in Palm Desert, California. Featured performances include Tyler Hilton, Keaton Simons and Curtis Peoples.
If you can't attend the event there are other great items to win in a silent auction, check out more details here:
jitsites.com/thbooks/forum/index.php?topic=22.0www.jitzul.com/otherStuff/proConnection/tyler_hilton/charityevent.jpg
