Tyler Hilton Phone Interview
2-03-06
Pop/Rock/Acoustic Singer, Actor

Check out his myspace here!

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Tracey: Tracey here from Pop Blitz Magazine, with special guest Josh Benett.  We are talking with pop/rock singer, Tyler Hilton.  Tyler, can you please introduce yourself?

Tyler: What’s going on everyone?  This is Tyler Hilton, and I’ve just made some new friends at Pop Blitz.

Tracey: What 3 words would your parents use to describe you?

Tyler: Would my parents use?

Tracey: Yeah.

Tyler: Honest.  Let me ask my dad, my dads here.  What 3 words would you use to describe me?  They would say honest, talented, and well mannered.  That’s what they would say.

Tracey: How did you get into acting and singing?

Tyler: I got into acting, I did a lot of acting in the high school theater department, and then they were looking for some musicians you know, for “Walk The Line” so that’s how I got into it professionally.  But I got into music by playing in open mic coffeehouses, and then finally getting out to do shows in coffeehouses, and just taking it from there.

Tracey: What did it feel like for you to portray such an icon as Elvis in "Walk The Line"?

Tyler:  It feels like there’s a lot of pressure.  But it’s nice because I’m such a big fan of his.  It didn’t feel like a job, like I was portraying Elvis for the role, and I had to do a good job.  I had more pressure on myself then anyone else, you know, because I was such a big fan.  I really wanted to make sure I got it right, you know, so that’s where it was such a great thing to do.  I’ve been such a huge fan of his since I was a little boy, so it’s like the biggest thing.  If I could play anyone in the world, it would be Elvis, so it was such a cool deal.  It was so cool that I almost didn’t do it, because I was too nervous.  ‘No way I’m not going to do it’ but of course I did it. 

Tracey: What is it like working with the “One Tree Hill” Cast?

Tyler: It was a lot of fun.  It reminds me of hanging out with kids in any theater department in high school.  Theater kids are always so much fun.  I went to a lot of theater events and camps and competitions.  Theater kids are cool like that.  They’re just out there already, and they’re weird, and they’re funny.  It’s like hanging out with artists of any kind, be it actors or singers, or painters.  You’re getting extreme versions of normal people.  You know, because artists are extreme people, so it’s a lot of fun hanging out with them.  There was never a dull moment.

Tracey:  Yeah, we’ve actually been doing a handful of interviews.  We’ve had a blast just talking to everybody.

Tyler:  Oh, cool.

Josh:  They’re just like everybody else.

Tracey:  Yep.

Josh:  They’re the same as everybody else, I mean some people will overreact if you know what I’m saying.

Tyler:  Oh yeah, yeah for sure.  But I mean I’m that way too.  I’ll see someone that I’m a big fan of, and I’ll just get so nervous, you know.  It’s totally like no big deal, but you just get so nervous.  You look at people like superhero’s, but that’s so much fun.  It’s like having little heroes.

Josh:  Right.

Tracey: Any plans for Chris Keller returning to One Tree Hill?

Tyler: Plans for Chris Keller to return, Chris Keller has walked off into the distance, never to return.  I think he’s been banned from One Tree Hill.  I wonder what he would do, if he came back.  I just think people would treat him so bad, you know.  But no, I don’t think I’m going to go back.  I had a lot of fun with Chris Keller, a lot more fun then I thought I would, and I hung out with him, a lot more, then I was going to.  It’s just a good time for him to leave, because I’m working on my new album.  And I wanted to get together and do some writing, and jamming with other people.  Not doing the show, as much as I have been doing it this season, has given me a lot more time.

Tracey:  Sounds good.  How has One Tree Hill influenced your career?

Tyler:  There’s a lot of young girls, that have come to my show for sure.  A lot of the people that would come to my show were a bit more of an older crowd, you know.  And the show, “One Tree Hill”, the main group of people that watch that show, are more younger kids, like teenagers.  And so you know, I got a lot of those kids to come to the show, which is fun cos they have so much energy.  Adults tend to listen, and really get into your songwriting, which I love.  That’s so amazing for a songwriter to have that kind of stuff.  But then the energy of teenagers is just undeniable, it’s so much fun.  It’s brought that element to my shows.

Josh:  It definitely got you a lot of publicity.

Tyler:  What’s that?

Josh: It definitely got you a lot of fans.

Tyler:  It did, it did.  That’s true.

Tracey: What do you do to unwind?

Tyler:  What do I what?

Tracey: What do you do to unwind?

Tyler:  Oh to unwind.  Wow.  I play music.  It’s not like it’s the music or the acting is the stressful stuff.  It’s the stuff involved, so I get so much stress release by actually singing or writing, or being in the studio.  It’s so much fun to work out so many great things.  I also like, I’ve been jogging a lot too.  That too, has been helping me out a lot.  Wait, I might lose you guys for a second, because I’m getting into an elevator.  So if you can’t hear me for a second, that’s why.

Tracey:  Alright.

Tyler: So.

Tracey: What's your strangest fan experience?

Tyler: Strangest, I don’t know if this is the strangest, but it’s pretty funny.  I’m down in Nashville right now, and yesterday I was going up to my friends house to jam with him in Franklin, just outside of Nashville, and we stopped for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel.  They were doing this article on me in the local Nashville paper.  So these waitresses were like ‘are you the hottie hunk Tyler Hilton who’s in the Tennessean?’ and I’m like Yeah and they’re like ‘Wow, we never get celebrities here at the Cracker Barrel’ *laughs* So I signed copies of their newspaper, and then they took a picture with me so they could put it in their Cracker Barrel newsletter.  I was like oh man, that was so funny.  It was a cute moment.

Josh:  That’s a good place to eat at.

Tyler: What’s that?

Josh: That’s a good place to eat at.

Tyler: Yeah, yeah Cracker Barrel rocks.

Josh:  That’ll get you some good Southern Food, that’s for sure.

Tyler: That’s true.

Tracey: What is your favorite part of touring?

Tyler:  I don’t know, I like moving and leaving.  I like being in a town, and then leaving it, and going somewhere else.  I like the constant motion a lot, the adventure in the new cities.  There’s so much possibilities in a new city.  I like it.

Tracey: Who would you like to go on tour with?

Tyler:  Teddy Griffin.  I would love to go.  Actually, I would love to go on tour with Nickel Creek.  I think that would be great.  I like touring with Gavin Degraw a lot too.  He’s always a good one to tour with.  And yeah, that’s cool.  Probably the first two, Nickel Creek and Gavin Degraw is the main one’s that I would like touring with.

Tracey:  I just saw Gavin like a few months ago.

Tyler:  He’s great live, isn’t he?

Tracey: Yeah, he put on a pretty good show.  It was for an annual Jingle Ball. 

Tyler:  He’s good.

Tracey:  He’s crazy.

Tyler:  He just commands the stage, killer.

Tracey:  He left, he like went off the stage and leapt over the railing, and went up into the aisles, and these seats.  And all these girls ran after him, and security ran after them.

Tyler:  Nobody does that anymore.  That is so cool, you know.

Tracey:  It was.

Tyler: He’s a good performer.

Josh:  Gavin Degraw is really good.  I like some of his songs, especially “Chariot”.  I know you and Jesse were jamming it to “Chariot” one time.

Tyler:  Oh yeah, we did.

Josh: *laughs* I know.

Tyler:  That’s funny.

Josh:  I heard about it.

Tyler:  Yep.

Tracey: What is your biggest fear?

Tyler: Heights.  Having different opinions on my music, then everyone else does.  That’s two things.

Tracey:  Who inspires you?

Tyler: Working musicians, artists that are out for the sake of their art, you know.  Those kind of people inspire me.  Robert Johnson really inspires me.  People who do it for the love of it, Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Jackson Brown.  People that are really great artists, that do it, that seem to do it for that reason.  Those are the main people that I look up to.

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