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With the release of the new film “Desolate” now upon us, we’re taking an extended look at the post-apocalyptic drama by sitting down with those who gave it life. First up we’re chatting with star Will Brittain, who plays Billy Stone, to discuss playing cops and robbers as an adult, revisiting a project months after calling wrap, and what kind of story he’d like to tell if given the keys to the Hollywood investment castle.

TrunkSpace: When you’re starring in a post-apocalyptic action movie like “Desolate,” is there a fantasy fulfillment aspect to it that calls back to your younger self? What would 12-year-old Will think about his future self starring in a film like this?
Brittain: Absolutely. It’s Cops and Robbers on a much larger scale. He’d think it was awesome.

TrunkSpace: The great thing about independent film is that it seems like one of the last places to find a steady flow of original content. As an actor, is that part of the draw in working on a film like “Desolate” and independent cinema in general?
Brittain: Totally. It’s an opportunity to collaborate on some really amazing new stuff.

TrunkSpace: On the production side of things, getting an independent film made can be an adventure in and of itself. When you’re making a film like “Desolate” in this setting, can those schedule and budgetary restraints impact performance, and if so, how do you keep the stuff happening behind the scenes trickle into what you’re doing on-camera?
Brittain: It hasn’t really impacted performance, in my experience. It’s more just a group of people trying to build this puzzle together with limited resources – it makes the going a bit tougher but that’s part of the fun, I think.

TrunkSpace: For the viewer, the most memorable aspect of a project is the end result, but we’d imagine that for those involved it goes much deeper than that. What is something from your time working on “Desolate” that you’ll carry with you through the rest of your life and career?
Brittain: Just getting to film the movie with such a great group of people. We were brothers.

TrunkSpace: You’ve done a number of projects since calling wrap on “Desolate.” Is it odd going back and revisiting a character in a promotional aspect when the film is being released, and does it require having to plug back into the experience internally?
Brittain: Yeah, it’s pretty weird. It’s like looking at an old photo album. There’s some things that strike you with more fondness than you might have anticipated. It’s an emotional experience.

TrunkSpace: If someone came to you tomorrow and said, “Will, here is a blank check… go out and greenlight any project for yourself to star in,” what kind of project would you put into production and why?
Brittain: I’d aim to put one of the films I’ve written into production. I’d love to be able to tell some of the stories I’d like to tell. That’s the dream.

TrunkSpace: Creative people, particularly those who seek perfection from themselves, can be very hard on their own work. Where are you hardest on yourself?
Brittain: I’m pretty hard on myself physically. I like to push my limits.

TrunkSpace: What has been the highlight of your career thus far?
Brittain: Forming friendships that last a lifetime.

TrunkSpace: Time machine question. If you could jump ahead 10 years and get a glimpse of what your career looks like a decade from now, would you take that journey? If not, why?
Brittain: Sure. That would be fun.

“Desolate” arrives in select theaters and on VOD today.

Artist: Wylder

Album: Golden Age Thinking

Reason We’re Cranking It: There’s a lot of noise coming out of DC these days, but if you can look beyond the politics, “Golden Age Thinking” is a sound that’s literally music to our ears. Reminiscent of 90s era indie mainstays Guster and Wilco, Wylder blends sentimentality with substance in a way that both rewinds and fast forwards the genre at the same time.

What The Album Tells Us About Them: Folk and pop influences bubble to the surface in the quartet’s writing and they have the ability to build towards a moment, not only with individual tracks but with the album as a whole. If “Golden Age Thinking” were a balloon, it would become fully inflated by the midway point – “Winter” – and pop with punctuation by completion – “Right to My Head.” Pacing is an art form and Wylder has figured out the formula.

Track Stuck On Repeat: The vibe of “If I Love You” brings us back to our teen years when we contemplated less complicated matters of life in a way that gave them far more weight than they deserved. Young love was high stakes, and “If I Love You” goes all-in on our 90s nostalgia feels.

And that means…

Nels Andrews has always been chasing stories, but it wasn’t until his early 20s that he began to tell those tales through music. Now on the cusp of releasing his latest album, “Pigeon & the Crow,” he’s reflecting on his own journey with us in ways that he never expected.

“Wow, this interview is a therapy session, this is great,” he said in an exclusive interview with TrunkSpace.

We recently sat down with Andrews to discuss releasing a record independently in 2019, the Bruce Springsteen effect, and how his music became married to a comic book.

TrunkSpace: You’ve had an interesting journey as a songwriter, particularly in how you first started traversing your artistic path. Do you feel like music came into your life at the right time for the right reasons? Would you be a different person today if music wasn’t your focus?
Andrews: I’ve always been chasing stories but didn’t have anywhere to put them down. Music had been in my life since elementary school plunking through the Beatles songbook, but creating music started when I was something of an early-20s hermit out in Taos, NM. Moving down to Albuquerque with those songs brought me to interact more with others, pulling on the extrovert in me. As that early 20s guy would point out, I’m a Leo.

If I hadn’t started writing and playing out I probably would’ve gone back to Taos and been a woodworker, which is something else I’d started. Or gone off chasing more stories.

TrunkSpace: How has expressing yourself through songwriting changed you as a person? Did it alter your way of thinking and how you looked at the world?
Andrews: When I was a kid I was diagnosed with all sorts of learning disorders. The stories and words are all floods in me but can be tricky to pull out in clear lines. Songwriting allows me to take the time to do that at my own pace.

I’ve also recently taken up photography, which keeps all the words out of the picture entirely, as it were.

TrunkSpace: You’re set to release your new album “Pigeon & the Crow” on August 9. What type of emotions do you juggle with as you gear up to release new material into the world?
Andrews: Wow, this interview is a therapy session, this is great.

Excitement, curiosity to see how this longstanding project of mine lands with the people who listen to it, also some panic and overwhelm – the giant set of organized and interlocking tasks which is independently releasing a record in 2019 is way more complicated than writing a baker’s dozen songs. Maybe the Dutch or the German have a word for “fear of unsold units” or its cousin, “dusty boxes of merch in the shed.” Or maybe this millennium’s compound word would have something to do with the professional (rather than the social) fear of not getting enough likes to be competitive in your market. That whole part is pretty awful.

The creative songwriting part feels exhilarating, satisfying, toothy.

TrunkSpace: What would someone learn about you – both as a person and as an artist – in sitting down to listen to “Pigeon & the Crow” in its entirety?
Andrews: That I’m a middle-aged guy who has been watching and listening to the glances I’ve gotten of the world for a while, that maybe in another dimension I’m writing short stories. That I love Bruce Springsteen, that I’ve learned the importance of some sway, some rhythm.

TrunkSpace: From what we read, you’ve been working on the songs for this album over the course of the past few years. That’s a long time for someone in terms of personal growth and change. Is that time and how it impacted you reflective in the songwriting? Can you hear the differences between the Nels at the start of this journey and the Nels nearest to where we are today?
Andrews: Nels at the beginning was feeling a little done with the music business (never the music); we can see that in the ‘mid-careers themes’ in some of the songs. Nels nearest to now is somehow refreshed with wistful resolve.

But also the way I write the songs is very long and interwoven – many of the songs I started five years ago and returned to intermittently and finished one or two years ago, before recording them. So my then-self and my now-self all get to show up in the songs.

TrunkSpace: The album was recorded in a studio originally built for Sam Cooke. Can a space and the creative energy that lives within it impact an artist? Does the history of a studio trickle into what you’re doing in the present day?
Andrews: It certainly felt like it there; I felt like I was sleeping amongst the ghosts who had been there before. The bassist on the album, Sebastian Steinberg, knew a little about forensics and was able to determine that a suspicious stain on the wall was almost definitely not evidence of brutal murder. There were all sorts of groovy and mysterious vibes, hopefully some of which imbued into the rhythm section. And also just the folks who’ve recorded there since (Lord Huron, Soul Coughing)… it was just neat to be there where they’d done their thing.

TrunkSpace: There is a lot of wordplay in your songwriting… lines that stand out and stay with the listener. What is a line off of “Pigeon & the Crow” that you are particularly proud of and why?
Andrews: Well, there’s one that’s a double (triple?) reference, in “Memory Compass,” which is a song that takes place at the slow dawn ending of beach bonfire, there’s the line ‘in a baritone whisper, someone sang thunder road, caught your eye on the chorus, we’re all singing for the lonely alone’ – so that’s a reference to Bruce Springsteen who is referencing Roy Orbison. Not unlike a line earlier in that song, about mirrors in other mirrors.

TrunkSpace: What are you most proud of with the album?
Andrews: The collaborative elements – whether it be with words/song/images that I put together with Mike Bencze (see answer below), or the international words and images ‘libraries and bookshops’ tour I’m looking forward to doing with UK singer-songwriter Jess Morgan, or just all of the collaboration with so many artists from around the world from so many musical backgrounds who played on the album.

TrunkSpace: Can you tell us a little bit about the comic book that you created as a companion piece to the album and how the concept came together?
Andrews: This song is what’s called a supernatural ballad – which is a song that’s telling a specific story involving something magical, a transformation. In this case, of a young girl who fed a crow who brought back small treasures for the girl (this really happened – see the news stories from the early aughts). In the song, the girl shapeshifts, as does the crow; it’s a love story. I was telling the story to my friend Mike, who is an illustrator, and he wanted to draw it. And thus our ‘graphic novella’ became. Also, it was fantastic because the collaboration was supported by the arts council wanting to support local artists, so we were also able to join a new part of the Santa Cruz arts community.

TrunkSpace: Time machine question. If you could jump ahead 10 years and get a glimpse of what your career looks like a decade from now, would you take that journey? If not, why?
Andrews: First I think there’s a difference between looking at where my career will be, and where my music will be. Those could be two different questions.

I wouldn’t want to look ahead because I want to stay curious and be in the moment. I don’t want to write songs for that future place. I want to be finding my way there, artistically, in the next set of things that present themselves. When you only have the answers to the long division problem… you can’t see the work.

“Pigeon & the Crow” is available August 9.

Artist: Ian Ferguson

Album: State Of Gold

Reason We’re Cranking It: With what seems to be a countless number of boutique record labels focused on the quality of their releases and not the quantity, it’s easy for the DIYers to get overlooked in what feels like a modern day songwriting renaissance. But, like all good things, the cream rises to the top, and while “State of Gold” may never reach that status in terms of sales, the antiquated ways of valuing music – and experiencing it as a listener – do very little to stop an individual, in this case Ferguson, from bringing their own quality-over-quantity to the masses.

What The Album Tells Us About Him: Not only did Ferguson play all of the instruments that can be heard on the album, but he also recorded, engineered and mixed the entire collection on his own, capturing his artistic vision in a way that few artists are capable of. And while some songwriters may go this path to control their own destiny, for Ferguson it feels more like the music is in control and he is ushering it where it needs to go as opposed to the other way around.

Track Stuck On Repeat: Beatles fans will feel the Sgt. Pepper’s pop of “Deep Beneath the Waves,” which like the name suggests, flows in on a current of psychedelic movement that picks you up in one place and drops you off in an entirely different one.

And that means…

Artist: Defoe

Socials: Facebook/Instagram/Twitter

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

TrunkSpace: You released your debut album, “Too Soon To Cry,” on July 1. What emotions do you juggle with as you prepare to release songs into the world?
Defoe: I’ve put so much love and care into each millisecond of every song I honestly feel relieved to finally put something out that is mine and while caring for my two year old. I’m super proud of it like an audio art sculpture. I say bring on the positive and negative criticism, it will not change how I feel about this whole wonderful process.

TrunkSpace: As an artist, are you someone who has a hard time letting go of the art that you create? Is it difficult to put so much of yourself into something and then once released, have so much how it finds and connects with an audience be out of your hands?
Defoe: It used to be. I’ve been making songs in private for the past 15 years. I guess I never had the confidence, and at the time I felt exposed and vulnerable. Now that I’m older and a mother, my views on creating and sharing with the world has drastically changed. My husband pushed me for years to go back to working on my own music and I strongly resisted with a lot of shame. Thanks to him pushing me so hard by building back my confidence and the friends and family in my life encouraging me, I dedicated a year to creating and finishing my first album.

TrunkSpace: For first-time listeners, what would they learn about you as a person and as an artist in sitting down to listen to “Too Soon To Cry” in its entirety?
Defoe: That I’m a dreamer. I love creating landscapes and visual moods in all my songs. I treat every song like a different movie set and let the actors (the notes) have the freedom to take over the listeners’ hearts. I’m not out to make cool music or fit into a genre – I’m into making every moment to feel right and vibey. So they will definitely know that by how different every track is on the record.

TrunkSpace: Music has been a part of your life since you were very young. What would 9-year-old Defoe – the girl who stepped into the studio for the first time – think about “Too Soon To Cry” and your journey as an artist to date?
Defoe: I think 9-year-old me would think I was a magical princess from a secret place far away. I don’t think she will focus on the struggle and the pain during my journey, but she will see amazing opportunities I’ve had and be super excited to grow up into a woman who makes such beautiful music.

TrunkSpace: Early in your journey you were being groomed for a career in country music. Was it inevitable that you stray from that genre path? When did you realize that it wasn’t the type of music you were meant to be writing and performing?
Defoe: When I was younger I was taken under the wing of a talented group of people that wanted to create a new young pop/country crossover artist. Though I love all kinds of music, I was not particularly favoring country music at that time, but I was able to sing it. I worked with legendary musicians and amazing people in the industry. At that time I didn’t write any of the songs or give any input creatively – I just didn’t have the confidence or self awareness yet. At the end of the day I felt like I had to fake a whole other identity to become an artist I wasn’t, so I made the painful decision to walk away before releasing. It taught me that I was not into the side of the manufactured music business and taught me the process in which records were made, and I also made life long valuable friendships. So, I think that’s why I insist on working on every track myself. It may be a bit extra work on my part, but at the end of the day I’m happy with all my end products.

TrunkSpace: You grew up with music all around you. Do you think that your passion for music comes from the creative nurturing of your mother and father? Would you be writing, recording and performing today if it weren’t for your upbringing?
Defoe: My parents gave me the most nurturing upbringing for a creative kid by giving me freedom. Freedom to choose my own weird outfits even if they were mismatched. Freedom to act like a weirdo around the house. I was a late talker – didn’t start speaking 3 1/2 to 4 years old. They watched what I gravitated to and saw I liked to sing so they bought me a microphone and a mini piano at 3 years old. My mom surrounded me with movies with amazing movie scores and my father played golden oldies radio. What a perfect storm for what was to come.

TrunkSpace: You have worked behind the scenes with other artists over the years. How has working with other creatives inspired your own creative path?
Defoe: I love giving the artist confidence in themselves by showing them cool things their voice CAN do as opposed to focusing on what their voice cannot. I love working on different genres and working in constraints of each genre. I learn so many skills and new things from each process. I usually can’t wait to try it on my own stuff. I also learn where my weaknesses are. By identifying some of my weak points (usually drums), I’ve learned to let go of my pride in that area and bring other talented people to help me. Why let a song suffer because I insist on doing everything myself?

TrunkSpace: Where are you hardest on yourself as an artist?
Defoe: Knowing when to stop. I tend to be an audio maximalist. (Laughter) Some times knowing when a song is finished can be tough. I want to keep nourishing it.

TrunkSpace: When all is said and done and you hang up your instruments, what do you hope to be remembered for? What do you want your legacy to be?
Defoe: That no matter your age and how low you feel on your luck, you always chance to start over and do what makes you happy. A busy mother can still achieve her dreams and create mind-blowing art. People with anxiety and depression can find a way out and use their experiences to create and inspire others through their story. Feeling so blessed with the gift to create – I intend creating art for as long as I’m alive.

TrunkSpace: Time machine question. If you could jump ahead 10 years and get a glimpse of what your career looks like a decade from now, would you take that journey? If not, why?
Defoe: Easy. No. Definitely not. Life is about the mysteries that are around each corner and facing each challenge. I would lose the awe of life and see my world as bleak. Losing the will to fight for possible achievements sounds like a recipe for disaster. I’ll bore in the journey instead of embracing it. The fight is so important for us as human beings. I know that’s dramatic, but that’s how I feel.

“To Soon To Cry” is available now.

Coming from the daily grind of network soap operas, McKenna Roberts learned what it takes to be a working actress at a very early age. Still only 11, she has since graduated from her “The Young and the Restless” roots to become Dwayne Johnson’s daughter in “Skyscraper” and the 10-year-old version of Zendaya’s character Rue from the new HBO series “Euphoria.” Those are both big roles to fill, and she has gone on to do so with a level of confidence that reaches well beyond her physical age.

We recently sat down with Roberts to discuss on-set lessons, the challenges of taking on characters, and the type of reality show she would one day like to appear on.

TrunkSpace: From Dwayne Johnson’s daughter in “Skyscraper” to the younger version of Zendaya’s Rue in the new HBO series “Euphoria,” you are certainly surrounding yourself with successful talent early in your career. Are you looking at each project you work on as just as much of an education as you are a job?
Roberts: Absolutely! It’s been a tremendous learning experience. Every job I’ve worked on, I’ve taken something from it and put it into other roles and auditions.

TrunkSpace: You spent a number of years working on “The Young and the Restless.” Soap operas are known for their breakneck production schedules, and in a way, that must be a great boot camp to learn from. What is a lesson that you took from your time on the series that you’ve carried with you through the rest of your career thus far?
Roberts: I learned that you need to be on your game – meaning, making sure you know your lines, paying attention to what camera is taping, and at the same time, you want your performance to be on point because they move very fast.

TrunkSpace: As mentioned, “Euphoria” will air on HBO, which is a network that actors of all ages are vying to do work with. When you step away and look at your career from an outside perspective, do you feel like each opportunity has led to the next opportunity, and if so, where do you hope to go from here?
Roberts: Yes, I do think that each opportunity in my career has and probably will continue to lead me to something even greater! I loved that I can add HBO to my resume.

TrunkSpace: In “Euphoria” you play a young Rue. Did you work with Zendaya to pick up the little details of the character – the physical stuff – so that when the audience sees her at 10-years-old, the who of Rue lines up with the where she came from?
Roberts: No we didn’t do that, and I think it was because the beginning experiences Young Rue went through were on a much different level than the Older Rue. And as she got older, her life went into a much darker place.

TrunkSpace: As a performer, is there more pressure involved bringing a character to life when, within the same series, someone else is also breathing life into the same character? Does it become a bit of a collaboration in that regard?
Roberts: I really didn’t feel any pressure because that’s what I’m used to doing with every character I have played in my career. It was just more of a challenge if anything, but I was happy with my work and I wanted to make sure the director was too.

TrunkSpace: What are you most proud of about your time spent on the series?
Roberts: I felt like my role was challenging and I thought I did a good job with my character, and I was just super happy I got to play a younger character that Zendaya was playing.

TrunkSpace: Aside from your acting work, you’re also a model. Do you view both as two separate careers, or extensions of the same career?
Roberts: I do see them both as separate careers for me. But a lot has changed since I started modeling and there are a lot of opportunities that can be tied into what’s going on in my acting career if the timing is right.

TrunkSpace: From what we understand, you like to bake/cook in your spare time. What is a food-related show that you wouldn’t mind being a contestant on and why?
Roberts: Well, the funny thing is that a few years back, I actually auditioned to be on a food-related show called “Master Chef Junior.” I auditioned for it twice and got really close one of the times. So, being on a show like that, or maybe a celebrity baking challenge show, would be really cool.

TrunkSpace: What has been the highlight of your career thus far?
Roberts: The highlight of my career has definitely been working on “Skyscraper” with some incredible people in the industry like director Rawson Marshall Thurber, Neve Campbell, Dwayne Johnson and many others.

TrunkSpace: Time machine question. If you could jump ahead 10 years and get a glimpse of what your career looks like a decade from now, would you take that journey? If not, why?
Roberts: Even though that sounds super cool, I wouldn’t want to time travel to see what my career looks like because I think it would ruin the fun and excitement of what’s to come for me – and I’m happy with how things are going for me now!

“Euphoria” airs Sundays on HBO.

Artist: Alias Patrick Kelly

Socials: Facebook/Twitter/Instagram

Hometown: Atlanta, GA

TrunkSpace: You recently released your new EP, “An Unclaimed Inheritance.” For you, as an artist, what is the journey like in bringing something like this to life and releasing it out into the world? Does it require a bit of personal unplugging from the music at some point in order to let the universe take control?
Kelly: I’d say that curiosity is the first thing at least as far as the writing goes. In that way it’s a completely selfish act. The first and only person that I’m looking to satisfy is myself. I REALLY enjoy writing songs. I want to know what’s rattling around in my head. I want to see how far a moment of inspiration can go. Can I see it through to becoming a “complete” idea? Will it have a sense of balance? Does it have enough restraint to allow the listener to draw their own conclusion? There’s a lot of “wonder” in the act itself. Ninety-five percent of what I write begins on an acoustic guitar but I’ve got a Logic Pro set up at the house which really helps bring the songs to life. I’ll usually demo the acoustic and the vocal to a click. Then the really exciting part begins. I’ll program drum parts in Ultrabeat and then start finding melodies and electric guitar sounds. It’s about 50/50 as far as knowing what I want and just playing around with sounds and ideas to find out “what the song wants.” I love the accidents and discoveries that happen along the way. If I find something unexpected that gives me goosebumps or just trips me out then that’s usually the part I keep. Again, it goes back to a sense of wonder, curiosity, and play. After demoing I’ll take the songs into an actual studio and cut everything “for real.” Demoing at home as thoroughly as I do saves so much time in the studio. Not just mine but everybody involved in the recording. On this EP I did most of the studio work with a band as opposed to my last album which was done with my drummer Mike Froedge and then me playing 90 percent of all the other stuff. The end result paid off in quality, feel, and time management. My guitarist, Matt Hanson, took my melody sketches and finessed them into something more lyrical especially on songs like “Invisible” and “West.” Bruce Butkovich (also my co-Producer) put his own swagger on the bass parts I had initially sketched. I enjoy both ways of working but it’s always better when you’re in good company.

To answer your second question – yeah, after writing, recording, mixing, and mastering I unplug from the musical aspects of the EP. Time to dream up a title and a cover. Do I just release it on Bandcamp or do I try to push it further out into the world career wise? Does it make sense for a guy at my level to make a music video? Should I make two videos? It’s the unsexy part of the process but it’s been enormously insightful learning about the best ways to get the release into people’s hands, whether it’s to get it reviewed or simply heard. However, while all of this is being planned and arranged I still make time to sit down with my acoustic and write more. It’s what I enjoy the most.

TrunkSpace: You infuse the songs on the EP with a lot of emotion. Does music act a bit like therapy for you throughout the creative process or are you on the outside looking in and taking more of a storyteller’s approach?
Kelly: There’s definitely both but it’s probably 80 percent therapy. It’s the main reason I pick up my guitar up at all. It doesn’t matter if I’m actively working on a song or simply playing for the enjoyment of it – I do it to feel better. To my wife, it’s probably most noticeable in the morning. If I can wake up before everybody and take my guitar outside and play for an hour or two, my attitude is much more manageable for everyone, including myself. If I wake up to an alarm and just hit the ground running and don’t stop until bedtime then I end up feeling like I wasted my entire day no matter how many chores/errands I got done or how much money I made at the day job. A day without any creative alone time to me is always a bit overcast.

As far as the storyteller approach, there’s always a bit of me and my experience rolling around in there. For example, “Lamb” is a fictional story about a young man who grew up without a father and ends up in jail as a result of no one having been there to help raise him into a man. Even though it’s fiction the song is a result of my own “anxiety” due to the fact that I had just become a step father to a little girl who doesn’t know her bio-dad. That song is probably my sub-conscious telling me, “Don’t screw her up. She needs you. Be there and be present for her.” Creating a fiction loaded with facts is always more interesting than just the plain facts. It has the potential to become something more mythical than simply historical. For entertainment purposes, mythical is always better.

TrunkSpace: You have mentioned that at times the idea for a song more or less drops into your lap and that it can feel a bit like you’re not the one doing the writing. Are you someone who can shut off the creative brain or do you find that you’re always playing around with ideas, even on a subconscious level?
Kelly: I’m always working on things sub-consciously. Tucking away little ideas comes in handy later when the actual “moment” arrives. It leaves them readily available to draw from. It’s like cache memory in a computer. I don’t know if it’s a skill or an instinct but it’s definitely there in me. Songs and ideas seem to have more purpose and depth when they’ve been sitting around in the back of my mind simmering for awhile. Often I don’t even realize that my brain is putting things together and then all of a sudden along comes a trigger – chord progression, melody, conversation, etc – then the next thing I know is I’m having that “eureka” moment of inception. That’s typically what I’m looking for. When I first started to attempt songwriting I didn’t really have moments like that. I didn’t know how to access it or how to nurture it but over time I figured it out and discovered what works for me. It took patience and work, I had to earn it. I respect those “eureka” moments. I don’t have to finish the song right then and there (although I always try to), but as long as I have the foundation of what the song needs to be I can come back and hammer out the details later if necessary. That part is work but I enjoy it as well.

TrunkSpace: For first-time listeners, what would they learn about you as a person and as an artist in sitting down to listen to “An Unclaimed Inheritance” in its entirety?
Kelly: Sincerity – first and foremost. I want the listener to know that I mean it and that I’m invested. I’m a writer not because I want to entertain, I’m a writer because I want to learn and understand my experiences as a human. It’s how I figure out how to proceed with my own life whether I’m doing it through a character or blatantly and out in the open.

TrunkSpace: Our influences always find their way into our work. Sometimes its subtle and unplanned, and other times it’s more obvious and purposeful. As you listen back to the songs that you have created on the EP, where do you hear your musical influences trickling through?
Kelly: For me they usually come out subtly. I’m a big fan of John Frusciante’s work as a solo artist as well as his work with the Chili Peppers. Every now and then I’ll find myself approaching a lead guitar melody the way that he might. It’s probably most evident on the songs “Lamb” and “West.” I played bass on a few songs on the EP and really tried to give them their own melodic space separate from the main melodies that are out in front. I’m pretty sure I picked that up from Eric Avery (Jane’s Addiction) and Simon Gallup (The Cure). “Old Boy” and “Tallest of Trees” would be the best examples. I like how Maynard from Tool will utilize humor to make some sort of cuttingly profound point in a song. There’s a bit of that in the second verse of “Gasoline.” Other than things like that I’d say my influences are more between the lines. I want my songs to be “me” more than obviously influenced by someone else. If the influences start to become too obvious I try my best to hide them. I want to stand on my own.

TrunkSpace: What are you most proud of with “An Unclaimed Inheritance” and how it all came together in the end?
Kelly: I’m proud of all of it but the thing I’m most proud of is when I let go of the wheel and trusted others to execute something that I would’ve normally done myself. As I mentioned earlier, I played almost everything on my previous album “Corruptibility Index” by myself except the drums and a couple of other instruments. My decision to record most of the EP in a band environment was because I wanted to do it quicker than the last album. Recording takes time away from my family and I wanted to minimize that by getting a lot of the basic tracks in one take. We had rehearsed pretty thoroughly beforehand whether it was one-on-one or as a group. My guys nailed it!

TrunkSpace: Can you envision a day when music is not a part of your everyday life? How important is it to who you are as a person, never mind as an artist?
Kelly: Nope. I love it. Totally have to have it in my life. It’s just always been there whether it was watching my parents singing duets at church or “The Partridge Family” coming on TV when I was a kid. My first memories are of me singing in the car with my father. I remember him trying to show me the difference between the different vocal harmonies going on. I still like to just sit around and listen to music alone. Not just songs but entire albums. I’m an album guy for sure. It’s always been soothing or simply fascinating to me.

TrunkSpace: Where are you hardest on yourself as an artist?
Kelly: Time management. I have a family, a full time job, an erratic part time job, and I play bass guitar in another band. I don’t always carve out as much time as I should to write or practice. Sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day. If too much time goes by without actually playing or writing music alone I usually end up feeling pretty low until I get that guitar back in my hands. It’s in those times that I can turn into a grouch and a bit of a prick.

TrunkSpace: The video for your single “Invisible” is racking up the views. Is bringing a visual element to a piece of music something you enjoy? Are you able to appease a different part of your creative brain in expanding on the narrative like that?
Kelly: As long as there is a purpose to the visual then ‘yes.’ “Invisible” is a song that was just begging for a video. I felt that something visual to accompany that song would make the message clearer. I’d never made one before so I was definitely nervous. My friend Jim Johnson directed it. He’d done some work on commercials, short films but I think this was the first thing he ever really led. It was great though, you could tell he was ready to “level up.” He had that confidence and enthusiasm. He really believed in the song. Originally, he was going to charge me for the video which I had agreed to but after I sent him the song and the lyric sheet he called me back and said that he’d do it for nothing. There are people in his life dealing with post combat PTSD. I think that he really wanted to do it for them. He and the producer, Jaime Spaar, found the lead actor, Adam Bresler. I’m good enough in the video whenever I show up but Bresler is the one that really ‘sells’ it. It’s his show. He was an Army Medic for a long time who saw combat. He’s lived everything that “Invisible” is about. It’s very generous of him to go on camera and ‘re-open’ that place inside of him where he keeps all of those memories. He’s very proactive in his recovery and I think that making this video has been cathartic for him. Not just for his own sake but because he can share the video with others who are going thru it. In fact, he’s more responsible for the views it’s getting than I am. He’s really proud of it.

TrunkSpace: Time machine question. If you could jump ahead 10 years and get a glimpse of what your career looks like a decade from now, would you take that journey? If not, why?
Kelly: Absolutely. Forward is the only way. I always want to know what comes next.

“An Unclaimed Inheritance” is available now.

If Burl Moseley ever wants to explore a career beyond acting, motivational speaking may be a seamless transition. The “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” star is confident in both himself and his abilities, projecting that self-assurance onto others in a way that helps to build them up as opposed to knock them down. And unlike many creatives, he doesn’t put unnecessary pressure on himself, especially in the casting room, preferring to go in with a clear head and deliver an audition that is tension-free.

“A great teacher of mine once said that the world will beat you up plenty so you must not do it to yourself,” he said in an exclusive interview with TrunkSpace. “So, I don’t.”

We recently sat down with Moseley to discuss the impact of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” performing at Radio City Music Hall, and the correlation between martial arts and acting.

TrunkSpace: You have been working on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” since 2015. Where has your life and career been impacted the most by joining the series?
Moseley: Oh, wow… on the life side, the cast, we all became a total family. I can’t tell you how much joy has been a direct result of just knowing each and every single one of these uber-talented people! We get together for dinners and go to amusement parks… it’s just wonderful. On the career side, the show has opened up quite a few doors that were previously closed to me. This past pilot season was my best one yet!

TrunkSpace: You have spent nearly 20 episodes portraying Jim Kittsworth on the show. As an actor, what are some of the benefits of getting to spend such a long time with one character?
Moseley: I really got to know the character inside and out. The timing of Jim’s reactions and responses was something that I always had fun exploring, within the framework of any given scene. Another benefit is that memorization is a breeze because I’d often read a script and go, “Of course Jim would say that! Haha!”

TrunkSpace: How has the character grown and developed since you first read for him all of those years ago? What has surprised you the most about your journey getting to play Jim given what you knew then and what you know now?
Moseley: Jim initially started as an antagonist on the series and grew to be much more of a friend. Given his beginnings, I was quite surprised to see him go from teasing Rebecca and Paula in say the first season, to employing Rebecca and being a sometime co-conspirator with Paula by Season 4. Watching earlier seasons is such a blast because I forgot what a jerk he used to be!

TrunkSpace: Fans of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” are very passionate about the show and its characters. In your opinion, what is it about the series that has turned viewers into long-lasting fans? Is it the writing? The tone? The characters? Something else entirely?
Moseley: I think it’s all of the above. The “something else” being how candidly the show talks about mental illness. The show does a fantastic job of discussing the topic without shame or prejudice, and really helps remove the stigma that’s usually associated with talking about mental health.

TrunkSpace: What are you most proud of about your time spent on the series?
Moseley: (Laughter) Definitely the song “Don’t Be A Lawyer.” It was a beast and I feel like the entire team just knocked it out of the park. Also, after the series wrapped, I got to perform the song live in front of 6,000 screaming fans each night at Radio City Music Hall this past spring – a banner moment that I’ll never forget.

TrunkSpace: You’ve been training in martial arts for years. What are some of the lessons you learned in the dojo that can be applied to a career as an actor? Are there any parallels to the two journeys?
Moseley: Ooh… that’s an interesting question that I wasn’t expecting! I see you, TrunkSpace!! Well, I think the best lesson is also the first lesson that you learn in any martial art – diffuse the situation. The most direct parallel I feel starts in the casting room. Some actors I’ve spoken to feel great pressure in these rooms. Pressure to impress and so forth. But, I feel if one can sort of release that feeling and understand that casting usually only wants the best for you and the project, the tension leaves the room.

TrunkSpace: Beyond the dojo, what is a piece of advice that you have received over the course of your career that you have carried with you moving forward, and possibly, passed along to others at some point?
Moseley: Know your worth. Give yourself a raise. I once ran into the actor Mykelti Williamson at the Parker Hotel in New York City and that was the advice that he gave to me. I’ve been passing it along ever since. Also, something that I personally espouse is to have a hobby! Don’t let acting (or any job in the entertainment sector) be the sole focus. Take a break and recharge by doing something enjoyable that has nothing to do with the business.

TrunkSpace: Creative people, particularly those who seek perfection from themselves, can be very hard on their own work. Where are you hardest on yourself?
Moseley: I’m not. A great teacher of mine once said that the world will beat you up plenty so you must not do it to yourself. So, I don’t.

TrunkSpace: What has been the highlight of your career thus far?
Moseley: Radio City Music Hall, without a doubt.

TrunkSpace: Time machine question. If you could jump ahead 10 years and get a glimpse of what your career looks like a decade from now, would you take that journey? If not, why?
Moseley: To quote Doc Brown from the movie “Back to the Future,” “Please, Marty! Nobody should know too much about their own destiny!!” So, nah, I’ll take a pass on that time machine. Buuut, then again, Doc DOES end up reading the note in the end and it saves his life, so… maybe just a quick little peek.

For Richie Arthur, who grew up on a steady musical diet of everything from John Mayer to Guns N’ Roses, maintaining a sound that was distinct to his own while paying homage to his influences was very important. For his new project States & Capitals, which is set to drop its debut album “The Feelings LP” on August 2, he labored over what that meant sonically until he had an artistic epiphany.

“At first I thought it was something you had to work on, but I definitely found, over time, you’ve just got to make music,” he said in an exclusive interview with TrunkSpace. “Just go out and do it and it’ll all come as you go.”

We recently sat down with Arthur to discuss wearing multiple hats in the studio, tinkering with songs, and why he hopes listeners will feel everything he felt when writing “The Feelings LP.”

TrunkSpace: Your debut album, “The Feelings LP,” is due out August 2. What kind of emotions are you juggling with as you lead up to its release, especially knowing that this might be the first impression that people have of the music and the band in general?
Arthur: A lot of different ones. Very exciting. It’s the first album that I’ve done that’s full length and as well as producing myself. So, it’s very exciting… very scary. It’s been a lot of different emotions. There’s very, very low moments and very high moments. We’re on tour right now and we’re playing the two new songs that are out (and one that’s not out yet) on that record, and the reaction has been great. So, it’s slowly but surely becoming more exciting than scary. And I’m thinking, as we get closer, it’ll be a lot more exciting.

TrunkSpace: Did musician Richie and producer Richie ever butt heads? Did you ever have moments where you wanted something creatively but maybe you knew you couldn’t pull it off production wise?
Arthur: For sure. There was because, like I said, I’m fairly new to production and there was a lot of… I heard a lot of a live feel too it, and I kind of had to reel it back in and just remember that it’s all about the song on the record. When you go live, you can do all of that stuff. You can show it off live. But on the record I had to channel the very simple and just simplify everything to get the song across and make sure the words are pinpoint. There was definitely moments like that, but I found myself, towards the end, enjoying the production side a lot more because, like I said, the live thing is so much fun, but I’d never actually sat there and did the studio thing all by myself.

So, I learned a lot by going through that process and trying to figure out how to keep that live feel and show it off as much as you can without taking anything away from the song.

TrunkSpace: Did you get bitten by the bug in terms of wanting to be on the production side more, perhaps even for other artists?
Arthur: Oh, yeah. Definitely. Definitely. That’s something I’ve always wanted to get into. I think that’s something that I will definitely get into down the road. I’ve talked to a few buddies about doing it. It’s nothing I ever actually set in stone. I’m very focused on my project and making this go, but it opened up a whole new world for me, and the ideas that it gave for the future, I’m very excited for. So, I’m thinking within the next year or two, once I kind of settle with the project, I could try to get in with some other guys and try to produce other music and write other music for other people. It’s definitely something I’m looking forward to.

TrunkSpace: You mentioned trying to find the balance between the live sound and that crispness of making sure every word hits when you’re recording. Now that you’ve wrapped production and there’s some separation with it, do you feel like you’ve accomplished everything that you wanted to when you set out to make the album?
Arthur: Yeah, I do. With this one it was cool because I wrote a couple of the songs, like two years ago when I was living in LA… three years ago when I was there… and then, towards the end, some of the songs I wrote right before the album, so it was cool to kind of just take that and really get them to where they needed to be without making it so bandy. It was cool to just kind of take the time and really figure that out.

TrunkSpace: Is it difficult to sort of put a stamp on a song and call it a wrap? Does it get to the point where you can almost tinker too much with them?
Arthur: Yeah, definitely. I’ve done that too. I forget what song it was… I’d have to really go back because like I said, they’ve been going through the process… but there’s been tunes that were completely different because I went so far with them. And it was just to the point where it was so just not a song anymore. I literally stripped them down and redid them. So, you can definitely go too far. I think I finally found the balance of knowing when the song was done. You kind of listen back and nothing really stands out. You kind of just listen to it and jam, which I did with the other ones, but then I’m like, “Oh…” after a couple minutes, “…what if I do this?” You just watch yourself go up that mountain. You definitely need to try to find that balance of, yes, it could use something else but it doesn’t need it. But then there are times where it needs it. You’ve got to try things. And again, if you push it too far, you just go back and try again.

TrunkSpace: Well, and the songs have to live with you for a long time. You’re going to be performing them, so you have to be invested in them. You still have to feel that drive to want spend time with those songs.
Arthur: Exactly. You need that feeling. Every song, for me at least, with this album, is like you need to feel where I was coming from when writing them, rather than when I went in and actually recorded the song. I definitely made sure I kept that ground of, “All right, this is a song that I wrote, it needs to get across, have some cool sounds here, has some cool sounds there, show the melody off a little bit here, but don’t take away from that this is the song that I wrote and this is from me and within me, and this is something that’s always going to be a part of me.” You’ve got to keep that and show that and make it you. You don’t want to push something too hard and then a year from now just feel like you never even did it.

TrunkSpace: What can someone learn about you both as a musician and as a person in listening to the album in its entirety?
Arthur: Well, I think a big thing for me is I have such a love for all different music – stuff that my parents grew up on, and stuff that I grew up on. I try to keep every song influence that I’ve ever had in my life within my music. So, I think that you can kind of learn just the amount of music that I’ve tried throughout my career. I’m only 22 now, but I’ve been making music since I was like seven, seriously too… professionally. And so, I’ve gone through a lot of different trials and error. I’ve been in straight up rock bands. I’ve been in straight up pop punk bands. I’ve been in straight up cover bands. And I’ve done all the old covers, ’80s to today’s music, like Bieber. All that stuff. So, I think you can kind of learn all the music that I’ve kind of channeled throughout the years to get me to this project. And I’m really proud of where I brought this project now. I think it’s definitely the furthest that I’ve ever gone. And I just think it’s so cool that I hear where my John Mayer influence is, and I hear where my Guns N’ Roses influence is, and I hear where my Boys Like Girls influence is. I just try to keep it all in. I don’t try to just put everything to bed. I try to keep a little bit of everything throughout my life within my music.

TrunkSpace: And you’re right, you can’t hear those influences, but at the same time, your sound is unique to you. Was that overall vibe something you set out to create or did it just come natural?
Arthur: Well, at first it was something I thought you had to work on really hard and I kept failing. I took like two or three years there where I just didn’t put out anything because I was trying to, like I said, keep all my influences but make my own sound. And I kind of learned within time, it’s natural. Even this album, I wasn’t intending on it being an album, I was just making songs. And then I was like, “Well, it all fits. It’s all my own thing.” And every time I listen to it it’s like, I can tell it’s States & Capitals. It came naturally for sure. At first I thought it was something you had to work on, but I definitely found, over time, you’ve just got to make music. Just go out and do it and it’ll all come as you go.

“The Feelings LP” is due August 2 via JIRNY. Tour dates are available here.

Being funny for a living is no laughing matter, especially when you can back it up with some serious dramatic chops. For young multi-hyphenate Dash Williams, who can currently be seen starring in the new Epix series “Perpetual Grace LTD,” acting may be his calling, but comedy is the ultimate tool in his performance toolbox.

“When I act it’s helpful to be able to think quickly and comedy helps me do that,” he said in an exclusive interview with TrunkSpace.

We recently sat down with Williams to discuss establishing himself in the industry at such a young age, why the Epix ensemble is so epic, and the reason its best not to overthink the jobs he takes on.

TrunkSpace: You’re a comedian. You’re an actor. Are they the same road on your journey or are they two separate paths that lead in different directions? How do you view the two facets of your career?
Williams: I think they definitely service each other. The skills that I use when I act transfer over. When I act it’s helpful to be able to think quickly and comedy helps me do that.

TrunkSpace: You’ve been acting since you were three years old. At what point in your journey as an actor do you think you understood that this creative avenue was one that you’d stick with and make a career out of?
Williams: I’ve been acting my whole life and I’ve always known that I would make a career out of acting. Acting has always been my go-to creative avenue to express myself.

TrunkSpace: You’ve also been doing improv since you were seven years old. Which of your interests – acting and comedy – do you think has been more difficult to gain respect in based on your age at the time of entry? Was one been more difficult than the other in terms of establishing yourself?
Williams: I think comedy has developed a lot since I started doing it. I started to feel established when I became a part of the first teen class at UCB. Age is less of a factor in other areas of performance because they’ve been around for longer.

TrunkSpace: As someone who is used to working in front of both an audience and a camera, does the method in which you work differ based on the environment you’re performing in? Would we see a different Dash on the set of a series than we would in a comedy club?
Williams: Performing in front of an audience is different in that I get a reaction immediately and can tune what I’m doing based on that reaction. When I am on set I have to trust that what I’m doing is good because there isn’t an audience there to give me that type of reaction.

TrunkSpace: You’re working alongside an amazing cast in your new series “Perpetual Grace LTD.” Do you view your time on a project like this as much of a learning experience as you do a job, especially when you’re surrounded by so many accomplished performers?
Williams: I take every chance that I get to perform as a learning experience but especially when I’m working with great actors like Jimmi Simpson. Being in scenes with Jimmi and the rest of our ensemble was an amazing experience.

TrunkSpace: As a performer, it’s always important to live in the moment, but when you’re working on such a big show like “Perpetual Grace LTD” or your other series “Fresh Off the Boat,” is it hard not to see them as career game changers? How do you stay grounded in the moment and not think, “This is a job that will lead to bigger and better things in the future?”
Williams: As an actor you learn to stop thinking of jobs in terms of what they will do for your career because you never really know. When I first booked “Fresh Off the Boat” I was only supposed to be on it for one episode. This one episode part turned into a multi-season part, and there was no way to predict that.

TrunkSpace: For the audience the final product is always the most memorable, but for those involved in a project we’d imagine that it goes much further than that. What is something from your time working on “Perpetual Grace LTD” that you’ll take with you through the rest of your life and career?
Williams: I will always remember how supportive our set was. The creator of the show, Steve Conrad, is full of trust and respect, not just for the cast and crew but for the audience as well. He’s a genius and such an interesting new voice in television.

TrunkSpace: What has been the highlight of your career thus far… a total “pinch me” moment?
Williams: The most recent highlight was after the “Perpetual Grace LTD” premiere when I got to talk to Sir Ben Kingsley about the show. It was also just incredible to sit in the theatre and watch the audience’s reaction.

TrunkSpace: If someone came to you and said, “Dash, here is a blank check… go out and greenlight anything you want for yourself,” what kind of project would you put into production and why?
Williams: I would probably greenlight a sketch show in America with some of my favorite British comedians that I feel are under appreciated here.

TrunkSpace: Time machine question. If you could jump ahead 10 years and get a glimpse of what your career looks like a decade from now, would you take that journey? If not, why?
Williams: I don’t think I would because I enjoy watching my career unfold.

“Perpetual Grace LTD” airs Sundays on Epix.