Drew Seeley
You might have seen his song and video, "Dance With Me" on the Disney Channel, or you might have even seen him perform. Introducing Drew Seeley, the music man who can be seen on tour with the High School Musical cast. Regardless of where you saw him first, you can bet you'll be seeing much more of multi-talented Drew.
Photo from www.drewseeley.net.
The Star Scoop:
Can you give us some background of where you're coming from?
Drew Seeley:
Of course. Well, I started acting and singing when I was twelve. I did a show called "Showboat" for a year, right before it went to Broadway in Toronto, I'd do four, five performances a week, in between school, and you know, sing and dance. I did that for an entire year, so that was a great way to kind of jump in head first. After that I kept on acting, did some guest spots on Dawson's Creek, One Tree Hill, and picked up the guitar, started working on that, and I started a rock band, joined a school choir, was in a pop group for a while, an R&B group for a while, sort of got my feet wet in every genre, trying to figure out [where] I fit in. I moved out to L.A. [and] luckily I got the chance to hook up with Ray Chan, he's the guy that co-wrote and produced "Getcha Head In The Game" with me from High School Musical. Through that I got to meet, Kenny, Kenny Ortega, the director [of High School Musical], and all the cast members, and that's how the seeds of this all kind of started.
The Star Scoop:
A lot of people have seen you on your video on the Disney Channel. Tell us about [it].
Seeley:
They started airing "Dance With Me," my song from the Cheetah Girls 2 album with Belinda probably a couple weeks before the Cheetah Girls 2 DVD came out. It was perfect timing for me, because with me, going on this High School Musical national tour, it's a hard place to just jump into a pre-made cast. They're such a tight cast, and everyone is so familiar with them. It's hard to come in as somebody that nobody has ever seen before. So, it was nice to have a three-week lead time of at least people seeing my music video, some people being familiar with who I was. The last couple weeks on the road, I get to perform "Dance With Me," in the actual show, and it's gotten a great response every night. We've kind of amped it up from the TV version. I don't want to give too much away, but I get to dance with Monique. It's really incredible.
The Star Scoop:
Is doing this kind of tour different from anything you've done this far?
Seeley:
The biggest tour I'd ever done was the House of Blues level, three thousand seaters or so. This has been ten to fourteen thousand seaters every night. So, it's bigger than anything I've ever done, but it doesn't feel unnatural. It feels like home. I feel like I'm supposed to be there, and we're just having so much fun every night, and the audience is too, I think.
The Star Scoop:
How has your life changed [since you've been on tour?] and since the video started airing?
Seeley:
My myspace account was a great indicator that people actually watched the video, because I have a couple friend requests every couple of days. Then I signed on one day and had 500. So, it was insane, and I couldn't believe it. It's kind of weird getting used to it. I got recognized randomly in Quinzo's, eating lunch the other day, and that's never happened to me before. I'm just starting to kind of feel how it is, you know? And it's a thrill, like, who am I?
The Star Scoop:
What's the best part about being on stage?
Seeley:
I love the fact that the audience is coming to the show, kind of knowing what to expect, but not really. You take that layer of stress off, like, what if they don't like the music. You already know your audience is going to respond to the music, because that's what they're coming to see, so it frees you up, [to] just have fun.
The Star Scoop:
How do you go about writing a song? What's your process?
Seeley:
I'm primarily like a lyricist, and arranger. I love to collaborate. If somebody has a great piece of music, that's what I love doing most. I put them on my I-pod, just play it in my car, drive around. That's the best way for me to write things. I just drive around, just sing, just kind of hum melodies with a tape recorder on my seat. When I'm not thinking about it too hard, I'll come across something that I really like.
The Star Scoop:
Is it important for you to have that involvement in [the] creative process?
Seeley:
If you had asked me that question a year ago, I would have said that legitimate artists write their own stuff, that makes a more credible artist. A lot of the classic artists, that have been around forever, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, my influences, didn't write a lot of their music. I think as long as you have your own definitive style and you bring something to a piece of music, it doesn't make you less if you don't write it. There are some artists that just write, and there are some that don't. Personally, I like to have a part of the creative process because it helps me express myself more, get my piece across. I actually love it. I love writing.
The Star Scoop:
What are you looking forward to, in terms of your future? What's next?
Seeley:
I'm looking forward to skiing up in Big Bear. That's number one on my list. I can't afford to break my legs right now, as soon as the tour is over, you know? It's a tradition, I go skiing every year up there. That's the first thing I'm going to do. As soon as I come back from that, I want to start working on a solo album that I've had in the works for quite a while, and finally get a chance to actually do it. I'm gonna be in the studio a lot, coming up with something that I'm really proud of, late next year.
The Star Scoop:
You can visit Drew's official website at www.drewseeley.net and check out his Myspace at www.myspace.com/drewseeley.