Drake Bell
Drake Bell first appeared on international television screens alongside Josh Peck in Nickelodeon’s phenomenon ‘Drake and Josh’ in 2004. The 31-year-old, who wrote and performed the hit theme song for that series, has made quite the transformation from his teenage song writing days. Segueing his musical talents from pop, rock, rockabilly and now back to his roots, he is back in the studio and giving fans deeply personal singles on his latest EP, Honest.
The actor-turned-musician said being a performer has always been innate for him. “It’s something I've always been into, I love entertainment. My dad would put me in front of the TV screen and we'd watch all the classics Dean Martin, The Marx Brothers. I just love making people laugh, I've always been fascinated by Hollywood. I got into it at a really young age and fell in love with it, it became a crazy passion.”
Bell said some of his muses in the industry include the legendary Beatles and the Beach Boys. But it’s hard for him to determine which songs would be his favorite. “Oh my god, that’s so hard. I'd say The Beatles something like, oh my god this is really hard! Maybe ‘Can't buy me love?’ As for the Beach Boys I’d have to say ‘Heroes and villains.’”
Clearly The Beatles played a huge role in his musical career so it wasn’t surprising when he said Paul McCartney would be his dream performer to sing alongside. However, when speaking about who he is most like in the band Bell said he’s more like John Lennon.
When asked if he’d be keen to do a reboot of his beloved show ‘Drake and Josh’ he said, “I constantly have fans talking to me about it all the time. Like I said I'm the John Lennon and I think that clearly states he's [Josh Peck] the Paul McCartney of this situation. John always wanted to get the Beatles back together but Paul never did. I'm down just let me know when the rehearsal is!”
After 20 years of knowing each other, Drake and Josh still keep in regular touch. “I mean we talk and text but we're so busy doing our own things, I'm on the road constantly! I guess we'd talk and hang out more if we were in the same city. I'm always touring though. We may as well live in LA and NY,” Bell explains. “Before I went on tour I went to dinner with him and his wife, so when we're around each other we love to hang.”
Bell has been busy gearing up for his tour Drake Bell Stripped, which he is currently on the road for. “It's really dope, we're going around to all these different spots in the states, some are little pop up shows, some are big shows. It's like Drake Bell unplugged, I love it.”
Fans will be excited to know that he is dropping several songs and videos in the coming weeks. “I have new records coming out and I have a music video dropping. On Valentine's Day the video for 'Rewind' will be dropping. I'm excited for everyone to see that one, it's a little pushing the envelope for people who are familiar with my work with Drake and Josh, things like that. The comments on my preview for it on Instagram have been pretty cool so I'm excited about that.”
Apparently Bell has no intentions of slowing down any time soon. “Keep looking out for new stuff, I have a new song dropping next month too, as soon as we finish production on that. I'm just constantly trying to push out content you know, keep records coming, keep videos coming, something new. Always hustling!”
He hasn’t forgotten his roots in the acting world so fans will be stoked to see him play a more dangerous role for his upcoming movie Cover Versions. The film follows four band members who all tell their own varying accounts of a night of sex, drugs and murder before their first big show at Coachella. “I have a film coming out in April with Debby Ryan, Jerry Trainor and Katie Cassidy. It's a really cool movie about a band that play at Coachella, it’s a crazy drug fueled murder mystery. It takes some wild twists and turns, it's a lot of fun.”
Photography by Vince Trupsin
Grooming by Mara Capozzi
Written by Michelle Ganney
