Shane Harper is celebrating both Valentine’s Day and his 19th Birthday today with the official release of his self-titled debut album. The young star recently unveiled the music video for his latest single, “Rocketship,” which is featured on the new album along with “One Step Closer” and 10 other tracks.
Harper’s debut, which is streaming in full at the exclusive Pop Crush listening party, is out now on Deep Well Records (launched by Glee & Rock of Ages Executive Music Producer, Adam Anders) and is available exclusively at any Target.
For more on Shane and his new album, visit his official site at www.shaneharper.com, as well as his Facebook and Twitter.
Take a peak at our exclusive phone convo we had with Shane.. he talks about the album, his ultimate birthday wish, and his secret hidden talent!
Hey Shane!
“Hey, how are you?”
I’m great! So were here to talk about your new album that hits Target on Valentine’s Day… can you tell me anything about that?
“Yeah, this new record is really really fun and I am very excited about it. We, Target, decided they wanted to put the album out in stores, so we decided to write a bunch of new songs and there going to be some old ones that people are going to be familiar with, plus four brand new ones that I am really excited about and are diverse and fun and I think the fans are going to enjoy it and I worked very hard on it I’m super excited.”
What was the recording process like for this album?
“You know it was interesting because the older songs that are going to be on there, the ones that are going to be good for some people I recorded those, some of those actually, gosh, Just Dance With Me and Just Friends, are actually some of the first ones I ever recorded, they’re actually like three years old and my vocal on them is like two or three years old so it’s really weird, and some of the newer ones I just recorded like last week. I mean it’s really definitely got a range and it’s a very unconventional way of recording the record and a long span, a long period of time, but I think it’s still cool because they’re all still fun pieces as a record because I get to write all of my songs and I think that kind of shows that they can all be kind of one record, even those that were written over a broad span of time it’s been definitely unique. But when Target wanted to do this deal with us we needed to come up with a bunch of new songs so I actually wrote all of those ones in about a week it was a short amount of time for those new ones but it was a really really fun experience you know writing the new tunes knowing it was going to be for this target release it was really cool.”
Great! Your new music video for “Rocketship” premiered just this week! What was it like filming the video?
“You know it was really fun filming the video. We did it in two days, the first day was all about fun motorcycle stuff and then we had this really cool loft that we rented out in LA and all that kind of stuff that was part of the deal and my brother, it was really great, kind of like a first official music video that I’ve gotten to and I think it was one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had. It was so overwhelming to be working on it and then see it finished and everything it was a blast.”
Do you have any special memories from shooting?
“I do, the first time that we got on the motorcycle and drove it around, for the first time, because actually we used the directors bike, which was really nerve wrecking because it was his personal motorcycle and a really nice bike and I was so scared to you know tip it over or mess it up in some way. I remember getting on and taking that first ride and then I remember he got on the back and we just kind of took off and we were like oh were gonna be fine were not going to die I think the motorcycle was a really cool memory when we first got on it and rode it around.”
Cool! In addition to the album release on Valentine’s Day it’s also your birthday! What is your number one birthday wish this year?
“Oh gosh, the number one birthday wish, well my number one birthday wish in my corny wanting to sell the album self, my birthday wish is for everyone to go out and pick up my record from Target that would be definitely one of my top choices. I just really hope that everyone can just go out and pick it up and enjoy it and as much as I enjoyed putting it together and stuff I’m really excited about it.”
Sounds good! Why should our readers check out your album?
“Oh gosh, well the album is really important to me because I wrote and co-wrote all of it and I am very invested in the music. You know people don’t just write songs and come to me and I don’t just spend two hours record them and leave. I really I spend all day in the studio. I am really invested in the music and the main reason I do it so that everyone can hopefully enjoy it you know and it can be for everyone all over to you know help them feel better if their day is going bad or jam out to it if they’re having a great time just any of those things like just being able to effect the listeners in a positive way is my biggest goal. I think it’d be nice if everyone could check it out and you know just hopefully enjoy it.”
Since our website is called Celebsecrets4U can you share one secret or hidden talent about yourself?
“Oh boy, hidden talent, um, let me think, hidden talent, I…This is hard because I’m not very talented so it’s hard for me to… oh well you know! I think a hidden talent maybe people don’t know is I try to do a good moon walk! I don’t know, people tell me I do a decent moon walk, so I don’t think many people know that. But sometimes I try to talk about the moon walk every now and again. I think that’s a talent right?”
That’s definitely a talent you should keep practicing!
“Right? Exactly.”
