Tyler Hilton is a famous singer and songwriter, who also has a passion for acting. Tyler has been in “Walk the Line” and “Charlie Bartlett“, as well as playing crucial characters on the CW’s “One Tree Hill” and VH1’s “Single Ladies“. In 2004 Tyler released his first full length album entitled “The Tracks of Tyler Hilton“. Since then he also released two EPs, been on three One Tree Hill Soundtrack CDs, and has been working on his second full length album “Forget the Storm“, which was released in April of 2012. You can purchase “Forget the Storm” on iTunes here. Check out our interview with Tyler below. We talk about Chris Keller, “Forget the Storm”, and “Fifty Shades of Grey”. Follow Tyler on twitter and be sure to check him out in concert. Tyler is currently on tour with Dion Roy. For tour dates go here.
What made you want to become a musician?
“I guess I wanted to be like my family. They were all musicians and played a lot of music. For me, being a musician kind of felt like the family business. It helped me have things in common with my uncles and my dad. I took to it really well and I really enjoyed. I had a natural inclination to sing when I was young. So when I found out I could be a musician for a job/living it was really cool.”
What is your favorite song of “Forget the Storm”?
“It changes. Right now it’s probably ‘Loaded Gun’.”
What is your favorite song to perform live?
“I really love playing ‘Leave Him’. I only get to perform it when there’s a piano at the venue. I don’t travel with a keyboard, so when there is a live piano and I can play it I love that. I don’t get to do that enough.”
What is your favorite acting role?
“Playing Elvis in “Walk the Line” was my favorite acting role. It was the most daunting and rewarding.”
How did you land the lead in Taylor Swift’s ‘Tear Drops on My Guitar’ music video?
“Taylor had contacted me, because she was fan. She was playing LA and invited me to her show. She had me join her on stage. We sang ‘Missing You’ at this little bar in southern California. On stage she asked me to be in her next music video. I thought she was really talented. She was so nice. It was really fun.”
Besides both being musicians do you and Chris Keller have anything else in common?
“Our wardrobes are sometimes similar. I ended up buying all the clothes that I wore in the last season. Besides that and our sense of humors we don’t have a lot in common. We are actually pretty different people. Playing him was fun and not embarrassing, because I felt like I was making fun of a type of person, instead of expressing myself.”
Any plans to perform with Michael May again?
“Definitely. He actually just came to my show in Athens. I think he is so cool and talented. Any time he’s around I will get him on stage to sing. He’s amazing at guitar now!”
How did you and Megan meet?
“We met doing “Charlie Bartlett” six years ago. Our first scene was my character picking hers up for a date. That was actually the first day of filming the movie. I just met her that afternoon and then we filmed that scene. That night I asked her and some friends if they wanted to go out to dinner. I have been chasing her down since that day.”
Any desire to play Christian Grey in the movie adaptation?
“Yup! You know I do! The funny thing is when the book first came out I was like “if they make of movie of this I want to play this guy”, now I’m half way through the book and “I’m like OMG. This is pretty crazy”. I just have to get on board with the soft core porn.”
What is the craziest thing that has happened to you while touring on the road?
“My hotel has caught on fire. I’ve had some crazy fan moments where they showed up at the hotel door. Nothing crazier than that though thankfully!”
If you could collaborate with any musician dead or alive who would you choose?
“I would love to collaborate with Jack White. My dream would be to do a band with some of my favorite musicians. John Mayer and Jack White could guitar and I’ll sing.”
What’s your favorite tour that you’ve been on?
“All the tours have been really cool and different kinds of fun. One of my favorites would be an early tour I did called the Virgin College Tour, because it was a new experience and so exciting. I was only playing the B stages outside of the venue every night. Inside the venue were musicians like Michelle Branch, Gavin DeGraw, and Rooney. I knew all the musicians playing on the inside and we traveled together. We became really good friends. I was only 19 and it was such a cool experience to see their tour buses and travel with such rock stars. It was like going to Disney Land for the first time as a kid.”
If you could describe yourself in one word what word would you choose?
“Talkative.”