Results tagged “zooey deschanel” from J-14 Magazine

We The Kings second album, Smile Kid, just hit stores last week, so J-14 sat down with lead singer Travis Clark, drummer Danny Duncan, and guitarist Hunter Thomsen to chat about the new record, their collab with Demi Lovato, and why Travis isn't afraid to admit that he's a Twi-hard!

J-14: How would you describe the sound of the new record, Smile Kid?
Travis Clark: Smile Kid is a very dynamic, full-sounding record that makes you smile. We want people to laugh, smile, and be happy listening to it and hope that a song makes them think of a moment in time that brings them happiness. Half the record is like "Check Yes, Juliet, "Secret Valentine," and "Skyway Avenue" 2.0 -- songs that were written shortly after the first record [We The Kings' self-titled debut album] was released. Then as we started touring and having new life experiences, we wrote songs like "She Takes Me High," "Promise the Stars," and "Heaven Can Wait," and all these other ones that are still same energy but have different lyrical content or are hookier and a little more dynamic.

J-14: Which is the most personal Smile Kid track for you?
Hunter Thomsen: "Promise the Stars," the second song on the record. I'm a huge Beatles fan, and we tried to give it a Beatles-esque sound. I think we did a pretty good job. I like the guitar lines in it. It's way different than the rest of the record, just unique.
Travis: I really like the "We'll Be a Dream" track with Demi Lovato. It's a song all about growing up and wondering what you're going to be. The imagery for it is two kids sitting on this hill looking at the New York skyline wondering what they're going to be, or which building they're going to work in, or if they're going to be a firefighter or airplane pilot. I always wanted to be play music, so my dream came true. "We'll Be a Dream" is saying live life and never give up because you can be what you want to be. It takes time and effort. That's a really emotional song for me because it all came true.
Danny: Travis cried so much recording that song.
Hunter: That's the truth. We put buckets underneath the mic stand.

J-14: How did the collab with Demi come about?
Travis: I heard her sing the "National Anthem" for one of the Dallas Cowboys games and I was like, 'Oh my God, she's not just a Disney star. She's got pipes.' I called her and was like, 'Hey I have this song and I really want female vocals. Would you be down?' She got really excited so I sent her the demo of the song. She texted me back saying, 'It literally gave me goose bumps. I can't stop smiling. I would love to sing this song with you.' We went in and recorded it for real. When we first got the first mix of it, we were all sitting in the bus listening to it, and it was incredible. It gave us all goose bumps. It's a super epic song and it came out exactly how I really wanted it to sound. She was just as stoked.

J-14: How did you become friends with Demi, Miley Cyrus, and Taylor Swift?
Travis: When we were first starting out, Demi came out to one of our shows because she was a fan and wanted to see us. Disney is a world apart from what we do -- it's big in its own way and our thing is big in its own way - but she really cool and totally down-to-Earth. We exchanged numbers and kept in contact. We met the Cyrus family a long time ago because we used to tour all the time with Metro Station, and Miley would come out on tour and to shows. We met Taylor Swift at this MTV thing, and she was a sweetheart. She walked up to us and was like, 'Are you Travis and Danny from We the Kings? I just want to let you know "Check Yes, Juliet" is one of my favorite songs.' I was like, 'That rules.'

J-14: Travis, we hear you're a Twilight fan - are you Team Edward or Jacob?
Travis: I am. It's my guilty pleasure. People at shows were bringing me Twilight stuff, and I actually really like it. I don't think it's corny or anything. I've gotten Rob Pattinson dolls -- they get that I'm actually a real fan of Twilight. Most of the people who are team Jacob are people who saw him in the second movie and are like, 'He's got a ripped body,' and I like girls so I don't really appeal to the Team Jacob side. Edward is this dude who's stuck in this tragic world but loves this girl, and I find the romantic side to things.

J-14: Who's your celeb crush?
Hunter: Keri Hilson, 100 percent.
Travis: Mine used to be Zooey Deschanel but she just got married to Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie, so I'm going to go with her "twin" and say my celeb crush is Katy Perry. She's a friend, so it's kind of weird.

Hey J-14ers,

I was lucky enough to not just watch the 2009 mtvU Woodie Awards being taped last night at NYC's Roseland Ballroom, but I got to head out on to the red carpet too! I talked to all the celebs about who they were excited to see at the awards show and, of course, talk about New Moon!

Sparks the Rescue's single is called "We Love Like Vampires," so I had to ask if they were Team Edward or Jacob. "Team Bella!" guitarist Toby McAllister told J-14. But Zooey Deschanel -- her hubby happens to be Death Cab For Cutie's lead singer Ben Gibbard -- told me she hasn't seen the movies! "I just haven't gotten to it, but I'm open to it," Zooey told J-14. "I love the soundtrack!"

Never Shout Never's Christopher Drew -- one of the night's big winners who told me, "I wish I was a vampire!" -- was psyched to see Death Cab perform, while singer Kenna loves Alicia Keys. In fact, he wanted her to win the Good Woodie award for charity work -- over himself! But would he pull a Kanye West if Alicia didn't win? "Yes," he told me. "I'll take the award from whoever - like if I win it, I'll take it from myself. Is [Taylor Swift] here? I want to give her a hug."

He wasn't the only one -- the Kanye incident was mentioned by rapper Asher Roth when he presented an award. But the biggest surprises of the night? Matt & Kim's back-up dancers stripping down during the band's opening number (they still had some clothes on -- don't worry!), 3OH!3 dressed up in two of Lady Gaga's craziest outfits, and Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester presented with the legendary Cydni Lauper!

My fave parts of the night overall were just watching Death Cab perform their hit off the Twilight soundtrack, "Meet Me On The Equinox," and one of my all-time fave songs of theirs, "The Sound of Settling." P.O.S. rapping through the crowd was pretty cool too, as was mega rock band The Dead Weather performing three songs to close out the night -- after all, they're an awesome group who hardly ever take the stage!

You can check out all the madness when the 2009 mtvU Woodie Awards when it premieres on Friday, December 4 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

There were tons of up-and-coming bands and indie groups there that I think you guys would love. So tell me -- what new bands are you interested in hearing about? Do you guys like finding out about new music?

<3,
Emily, J-14 editor

J-14 hung out with (500) Days of Summer's Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, at the SLS Hotel in L.A. The stars clearly had chemistry on and off screen, as they dished about their (500) Days characters, Tom and Summer, their fave scenes, and their real life friendship!

J-14: How are you similar and different to your characters in (500) Days of Summer?
Joseph: You gave me the hard one! How am I alike and different from Tom? Well...
Zooey: Why don't you just tell her how you're alike and different from Summer?
Joesph: Well, what I like about this movie is I think at different times I've been both like Summer and like Tom.
Zooey: Nicely done! That's what I keep saying.
Joseph: But I'm not lying! It's true. In that, like it or not, relationships tend to have some sort of power equation to them, and I wish they didn't. My favorite relationships that I've ever been in don't really have so much of that, but they tend to. Tom, in this case, is the one that kind of likes the girl more than she likes him. I've been there, and I've been on the opposite side. What else can I say? Movies and music and are really important to Tom, and I feel a lot in common with him in that regard. I think he defines himself a lot by these things, and I do, too.
Zooey: As far as Summer, I totally agree with [Joseph] -- I've definitely been in both positions, the Tom and the Summer, but one thing I liked about playing Summer was a way she's different than me -- she has an ability to like effortlessly succeed at things, and I think that I'm somebody, fortunately or unfortunately, who has always worked really hard for everything, which I like, and I think I enjoy my life a lot more because I work hard for things and because I will struggle with things. But she is sort of a person who is pretty effortless.

J-14: What do you want viewers to take away from the movie?
Zooey: I don't like to impose too much. I hope they are entertained for one. Two, I hope they like the color blue. Three, I hope they want to see it again.

J-14: What's your fave scene from the movie?
Zooey: They kept the dance sequence a secret from me -- they wouldn't show it to me until after they did it. They were like, 'No, you have to wait until you see the movie,' and of course, I grew up watching movie musicals, and it was just like absolute candy. I loved it, so that was a pure audience moment for me, which was nice. I'm so lucky to have been a part of this movie. It was just so fun, and Joe and [director] Marc [Webb] and all the people involved were so fantastic, and I would work with them again in a second. The whole thing was amazing. I loved it.
Joesph: You know what scene I really liked last night when we were watching it? It was the scene after the karaoke bar. When they both kind of want to make moves, but they don't, and he's pissed at himself, and she looks so cute, and he doesn't go for it. I like that.

J-14: Did you guys have a friendship before this movie?
Zooey: Yes. We've known each other for 10 years. We did a movie together [called Manic]. It's a good film, and we've been friends forever. It definitely helped.

J-14: How would you describe each other?
Joseph: Zooey's pretty level headed.
Zooey: Thank you. I turn to me [too]! My mom's pretty cool.
Joseph: Her mom is cool. I was just talking to your mom.
Zooey: Joe's pretty cool. I talk to him about things.

Photo: Courtesy of Chuck Zlotnick/Fox Searchlight