Justin Stein
Justin Stein is a rising music star currently on tour with High School Musical's Corbin Bleu. We caught up with the extremely busy singer while he had some down time during the tour.
The Star Scoop:
Tell us about your background, and how you got into music for those who don't know who you are yet.
Justin Stein:
Well, my name is Justin Stein [laughs], check me out on Myspace, myspace.com/justinsteinmusic to hear my music and what I'm all about. My music is kind of a fusion of pop/rock/R&B. I was singing before I could talk, really. My mom says she has some funny home videos to prove it. I started out on stage when I was five years old. I did my first performance at a talent show that my grandmother got me into. I got a standing ovation in the middle and never wanted to get off the stage. I knew right then and there that's exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. When I was 12, I started writing my own music. In between that time, I did a lot of musical theater. That's where most of my training comes from. I did a lot of musical theater around the Chicago area. I recently was in a show in New York, which was a lot of fun. I started writing music when I was 12, and just kept on going, and met my producer about two years ago. He decided to take me on as a side project and develop me as an artist. We started creating my album. Now, two years later, I'm sitting on my tour bus opening for Corbin Bleu, which is pretty cool!
The Star Scoop:
What is it like being on tour with Corbin? What is the whole experience like?
Stein:
Oh, it's awesome. It's the most invigorating experience ever. Being on stage is what I love to do, so I'm absolutely, 100 percent comfortable, and 100 percent happy up there, but what I'm completely overwhelmed [by] is the fan response. All the people I've been meeting on the road are absolutely incredible; so nice, so awesome. I just love meeting people and hearing what they have to say and what they think about my music. It's really an incredible experience.
The Star Scoop:
What have you learned so far from the tour?
Stein:
I've learned a lot of different things. It's a lot of work, so you really have to spend a lot of time relaxing when you're not on stage, which we don't actually get a lot of time to do. I'm on my Myspace all the time responding to fans and talking to people that I've met on the road, which is a lot of fun. You really have to kind of let everything happen because when you're on stage, you have to be 100 percent on, and the only way you can do that is if you're 100 percent prepared to be there. There's not a lot of down time, so when you get that down time, you really have to take advantage of it. I've learned a lot from Corbin as well. Corbin's been a fantastic role model for me, not only on stage - he performs like no other, but personally. He's just one of the most genuine, sincere guys I've ever met. It's really cool that he's the person who let me tour with him.
The Star Scoop:
Before you got this tour, what were your plans?
Stein:
I was gonna go to NYU, and I still plan to go to NYU. Next year I was scheduled to go to NYU and attend the Tisch School of the Arts for musical theater and study the craft. I'm still planning on doing that, but we deferred for a year in order to go on this tour because we thought this was a pretty awesome experience.
The Star Scoop:
Why is important to you to still go NYU?
Stein:
I believe that the education that I'm going to get in college is something that I'm not going to be able to replace anywhere. You learn a lot on the road, but there's something about solid education, a college education that's incredibly valuable because you need those life experiences, especially as an artist and a singer and a writer, the only way you can connect with people and write good music is based of off experiences. All of my songs are really based off of my different life experiences, be it relationships that I've had, simply just learning how to decompress and chill out, hanging with friends, it's all based around life experiences. And college is one of those experiences that you need to have if you can have it. Me personally, also, I'm a businessman as well as an artist, so there's training that I'm going to get in college that I'm not going to be able to get anywhere else that's going to teach me how to run a business as well as perform.
The Star Scoop:
If people go to your Myspace, are there songs they should check out as representative of your sound? If they only click on one, what song should they listen to?
Stein:
Oh, man. Listen to them all! If I could pick one song, my favorite song is "I'll Never Look Away." Really, what I tried to do with my Myspace is I tried to make sure there was something on there for everyone. Some people might connect with "I'll Never Look Away," based on a previous relationship, some people might connect with "Leave It On The Floor" or "Lose Control." "Lose Control" is basically just about letting lose and letting go, and having a good time, so a lot of people can connect with that. It's really personal what's gonna hit the listener at the time...I think people can get a sense of who I am by listening to one song. I make sure there's a lot of me...it's all me really. I make sure that all of me is in every song. I would encourage people to listen to all the songs, because hopefully they'll find something that will connect with them. All of it connects back to me, but not everything I'm doing will connect with everybody else. So hopefully, they'll be able to search through my songs and find that song that really makes them jump, really gets to the heart of what they're feeling. That's what I tried to do.
The Star Scoop:
Who are you musical influences?
Stein:
Stevie Wonder. I think he is the absolute greatest song writer of our time. Absolutely incredible. I also listen to a lot of Ne-Yo. Ne-yo's fantastic. Justin Timberlake. I'm really all over the board. I listen to some country, too. I listen to Rascal Flatts. I think he's fantastic. I really try to listen to a diverse grouping of music.
'The Star Scoop:
How do you think this experience of being on tour, opening up, being with Corbin has changed your life so far?
Stein:
It's definitely changed my life so far. Just the experience of being on tour has done more for me than I could have ever imagined. The response that I'm getting from different people, and the fact that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to perform, it's what I love to do. It's what makes me happy, and being able to do it is just the most incredible experience ever. So, hopefully this will give me a platform to be able to do what I love for the rest of my life.
The Star Scoop:
What do you want to say directly to the fans?
Stein:
Just thank you so much. Thank you so much for all the support. Everything that anybody's ever done for me. I'm sitting in the back of my tour bus looking at a shirt that this girl made for me at my first venue, and it's my name with different song lyrics for each letter of my name. Just things like that, they really touch me, it really makes me feel good. It makes me feel like I'm touching other people, and making other people happy, as well as making myself happy. So, just thank you all so much for making me happy and for letting me make you all happy. I'm the featured artist on Radio Disney's Incubator, at the moment, and I would love if we can get a message out to everybody out there to please request my song on Radio Disney. That'd be wonderful! That would be fantastic!