Tyler Shamy
Teen Pop Star in the Making
by Jen Cray
As long as there are pre-teen girls with developing hormones, there will be a definitive market for cute boy pop singers. Reaching back to the days of Elvis, all the way up to the Jonas Brothers days of now, the teen pin-up stars can always be counted on to usher a new generation of girls into teenage-dom. It happened to me, I won't deny it, and even though G-rated pop music is no longer in my listening library, I jumped at the opportunity to pry into the mind of a pop star in the making.
I met up with 16-year-old Tyler Shamy, an up-and-coming singer/songwriter and actor, at the same Orlando recording studio where *N SYNC and Backstreet Boys recorded their record-breaking albums.
Jen Cray
Tyler Shamy
The school year has started and you're hundreds of miles away from home. Do you still go to school?
I do home schooling, ever since we moved out to L.A. I'm really trying to graduate as soon as I can so I can focus on my career. I used to go to private school until 5th grade and then I went to public, so home schooling is new to me, but it's much more efficient and -- obviously -- I've become a lot busier (laughs) so it helps with my schedule to be flexible.
Does your mom teach you?
No, it's a program online where you have tutors that you can call whenever you have questions. I basically learn from online presentations and textbooks and stuff.
Do you miss the normal school experience?
I miss the social part, but I didn't love the whole school thing 'cause I knew that I could be doing what I love to do, and that there was an easier way to do it. Especially in math and science I was, like, "I know that this isn't what I want to do, it's not gonna help me in my career." Overall I'm happier now.
Jen Cray
Tyler Shamy in the studio
You got involved in musical theater at age five. Did you always know that you wanted to be some kind of performer?
Mm-hmm. My dad's a singer/songwriter/pianist and so there was always music around the house. I saw my first Broadway show when I was six or seven and I was just astounded, I was so intrigued. I kept asking my mom questions about behind-the-scenes, like "Where are they going? How'd they do that? What's backstage?" (laughs). As entertained as I was, I wanted to be the person on the stage entertaining the audience because I saw how much they got from it -- how happy it made them. That's when I really got into theater and was, like, "I wanna do this." I went to camps and my school had a really good theater program. I was also in chorus, so I was learning a lot... My first show was The King & I, I played one of the King's children. From then on, I was hooked.
Your parents are both very musical. What kind of music was playing around the house as you were growing up?
My dad was always playing his original stuff which is a little more old school, like Elton John, Billy Joel kind of thing. He was the piano man. Actually that's how he and my mom met. He was playing at a piano bar where she was a hostess. Other times it [the music] would be Top 40 stuff, whatever was popular in the '90s. I always had show tunes playing, too, that was my first love. Then around 12 or 13 I thought "My dad writes, I wanna write too," so I started. We did some writing together, and I'd jot down lyrics on my own in my room or at school.
Whose career would you aspire to emulate? Would you like to enjoy the sort of mass popularity of The Jonas Brothers, or are you thinking more in terms of singer/songwriters who may have a better shot at longevity?
I think someone's career that I would desire to have, or emulate, would be Justin Timberlake. Though my style is a little bit different, I just think he has a great career and a lot of multi-media potential... Jonas Brothers, too, but who knows how long they're gonna last.
Jen Cray
Tyler Shamy
But Justin Timberlake managed the impossible, he made the transition from teen pop star to respected artist.
Exactly... it's proven that he's probably gonna be around forever. That's someone I definitely look up to and hope that I can have the longevity that he's had. Also, my other influences are Gavin DeGraw, Jason Mraz, Jesse McCartney, The Rocket Summer -- which is basically Bryce Avery, he does the whole thing. I also like Hawk Nelson and Ben Jelen.
You play a bit of piano, and you said that you'd like to learn guitar. You really want to get your hands into every aspect of your music?
I do. Guitar and piano never came as naturally to me as the singing, acting, and dancing did. I write lyrics and melody to my songs, but I think it'd be helpful [to play piano and guitar]. I think it'd be cool to switch things up and be able to sit down with the guitar and have the performance be all intimate.
What do you do when you're not working on your career, or does this pretty much take up most of your time these days?
Besides acting, singing, writing, and dancing I just like to hang out with friends. I love roller coasters, so we go to amusement parks a lot. We've got annual passes to Universal, Disneyland, and everything. I love the adrenaline rush! I went on my first roller coaster when I was five or six. (laughs) I love going to movies -- I see a movie at least once a week. I like swimming, tennis, mini golf, bowling....
Do you sleep once in awhile?
When I have the time, yes. (laughs)
What about when you travel, do you ever get to sight-see and do your own thing, or is it all business?
The traveling is just starting out. Just being in California I've seen a lot of stuff that I had never experienced before, growing up in New Jersey. It's a whole different lifestyle. I'm really looking forward to going on tour and hopefully I'll get to see some of the cities while I'm there, and not just the venues. (laughs)
