Having this new record be so personal, and really writing it and living it and having all these experiences, and then now being able to listen to it all put together and all finished... I mean, people that want to hear it are going to hear it now and I think learn so much about me and where I'm at in my life right now. It's just a really honest record, and I feel just excited. I can't wait to get out there. I haven't traveled and toured in a while, and I'm just ready to get back into it again and show everybody this kind of like new side of me that I feel really comfortable with. I hope people love this record and relate to it and understand. And something that I have to look forward to is just really being myself and having people, you know, learn new things about me, because I feel like there's a little bit of a preconceived image that I'm just this really nice, normal girl. And I am, but there's stuff behind all that as well, you know. And I want to share that with people because I think they'll relate to it and understand.
Well, I was born in Houston, and when I was about four, we moved to San Antonio. My sister started getting involved in ballet and school plays and singing in the choir at school. And I'm like two and a half years younger than her, so everything that she wanted to do, I wanted to do as well. And it basically was just kind of like that, you know. She wanted to get involved in acting, and there was an acting workshop not too far away from our house. And I was the tomboy, you know, like I just always wanted to be outside and always active and doing sports and stuff like that. And Haylie was a little bit different, you know, she was more like creative and really girly. And she was having like so much fun during these acting classes, and she would come home and teach me what she'd learned. And I was like, "I want to do it too. I want to do it, too." And cuz I wanted to be just like her. It really happened like that.
We would see little things like posted on the bulletin board at the workshop, you know, like random cat— And after about a couple months of us going to this class, my mom started noticing how much more talkative I would be and not and start a conversation and just really like opened both of us up a lot. And she was like so impressed by it. And we would start bugging her like, "Mom, will you take us to this thing? It's this weekend," you know, and she's like, "Okay." And we just kept—we were very persistent with making making it known that we wanted to do do this. That's when we started coming out to LA.
It's quite funny because when we first got out here, it was kind of like this whole scam thing, you know. Like we met this woman and pay her, you know, $2,000 and everything's going to be set up for you out here. And we have no idea how any of this stuff works, you know. And of course, we get out here and nothing is set up for us. We don't have an agent, we don't have a manager, we don't have auditions. We just have a place to stay. So she did this to like a couple families, and most of them just packed up and went home and was like bummed out. And we're like, "Well, we have this place and we have our homeschooling set up for, you know, two months." So we stayed and we were going on auditions. And my mom found this bookstore, how to get all this information on the business and meet people and get an agent. And Haylie actually booked a commercial, and I booked a commercial, and we were like, "Ah, this is easy. Like we're good at this. We got it down." You know, I think I booked a couple more commercials, but then nothing else. Nothing for a long time, you know. And we were like, "I guess it's not as easy as we thought," you know. And we went back to Texas, and then we would come back, and it was like nothing for a couple years. And then finally we started to both kind of book guest spots on TV shows, and I booked this movie that was a made-for-TV movie called Casper Meets Wendy. It was such a great experience because it was just a really quick lesson in how it's all done, you know. And after that, things just started getting more and more permanent living in Los Angeles because we were working more and had to be here more, and it just kind of never stopped since then.
When I booked Lizzie McGuire, a couple months before that, I had booked a TV show that I did the pilot for, and it was called Daddio. After the pilot, I got replaced by like two kids instead of one. I don't know if they were twins or what the story was, but I was just like, "Oh my god, I got fired. They hate me." I was so kind of like embarrassed, I guess, that I felt like I did a bad job. So, I was like, "I want to go home. I want to go see my friends and I want to like start going to school again." And my sister wanted to stay out here. So, my mom stayed out here with her, and I went back with my dad in Texas and started going to school, just for a couple months, you know, and we were going to figure out something else.
And my mom calls me one day and she's like, "Hilary, there's this audition that Disney Channel's called for." And they knew me because I'd auditioned for many things for them before. And my mom was like, "Hilary, they really, really want to see you." And I was like, "No, I'm done. I don't want to. I'm already in Texas. I don't want to do it." She's like, "Okay." You know, and she calls back later on that day. She's like, "Susan called them and told them that you weren't in town anymore and you weren't acting anymore." And they were like, "What? But she's perfect for this. We really, really want to see her." And they're like, "We'll send a ticket." And I was like, "Send a ticket. Awesome. I get a free trip to LA to go see all my friends just for like a couple days." And I thought it was great. So, I went and I didn't really go over my lines at all, and I just showed up and read. And then the casting director was like, "You are terribly unprepared, aren't you?" And I was like, "Mhm." You know, and then it kind of like put that back in me, like that challenge that I always had, you know, that drive to want to go in and like nail an audition and do a really good job and convince someone that I could be someone else. And when she said that to me, I was like, "It's on," you know. And I went over my lines and did everything I could to be really good. And I came back the next day and she's like, "Okay, get a callback. You're going to come and see producers." And it was a process of like five or six auditions and then I got it. And I just stayed in LA and started filming the pilot. And I tried to not let myself get too excited because of what had happened in the past about the TV show I'd worked on. And then when we started filming, it was just like nonstop.
When I decided to be a singer, it was right when Lizzie McGuire was finished. So, I had filmed the TV show for two years and we worked really hard. We didn't work like a normal TV show; we did like something crazy like 35 episodes in one season. There was a ton of young artists at the time, like singers and stuff that I would be around when I would do signings, you know, with the cast for Lizzie McGuire, and people that I listened to and knew and heard on the radio, you know, and would be around sometimes if we were at like a work thing together. And I was watching some of them perform one day and I was like, "If they can do that, I can do that," you know. "And I don't know if I can sing, but I could try." And I remember I took a couple voice classes when I was younger just because I was taking acting classes and stuff. And I told my mom and she was like, "Oh, great. Here we go again," you know. She had no idea about anything about the music business, and neither did I, and we didn't know anybody. And I met my manager just randomly one day and I told him, I was like, "I want to be a singer." And he was like, "Can you sing?" I was like, "I can try." And I just sang for him. You know, he's a German guy. He's really funny. He's like, "I want to work with you." And then we started shopping around to different record labels and I got signed and I started making a record. So it was really exciting and just a whole new experience that I never knew that I could do or really wanted to do. But once I kind of got in the studio and then a year later started performing in front of people, I was like hooked.
My first album we called Metamorphosis. It's so funny when I look back at my records at the time. I thought it was the coolest thing to have a record, and we named it Metamorphosis because it was like a big change for me. And it was interesting being an actress and having everyone know who you are from your TV show and then putting out a record. From my experiences, I feel like it's almost more accepted to be a singer and then turn into an actress. It seems like it's easier or something, because I had the hardest time really trying to get people to pay attention that I wanted to be a singer. And I think it was really just like my fans from my TV show, because it was such a huge success, you know, that they all went out and bought my record. And then people couldn't really deny that my record was successful and that people liked my music, you know. And then they started like playing me a little bit on the radio here and there, and it was number one on the Billboard charts the second week it was out. When it was told to me, I was like, "That's cool, but what does it mean?" I didn't know anything about the Billboard 200 chart and about how sales work and about everything, you know? And I learned it pretty quick after Metamorphosis came out.
We had three singles. And the first one was "Why Not," which was on the soundtrack for The Lizzie McGuire Movie. And then the first single that I released on my own was "So Yesterday" and then "Come Clean." It all happened really fast. But I remember just picking a single and we did it with the label. And then I was shooting a video and leaving for tour and going to all these radio stations and giving them my single to play on the radio, and it was just really exciting. And then the same thing happened with "Come Clean," and we shot this cool video, and I got to hear my songs on the radio and sing it for all these people that knew it, and it was cool. And I was really lucky because I wasn't writing any back then cuz I didn't really even know to, you know. I was just like, "I want to sing." And my manager, my label, you know, they made it to where I got to work with really great people who wrote great songs and helped me a lot in the studio. And of course, you know, I listened to the songs and said, "No, I don't like that one. Yes, I like this one. Maybe we could—" You know, I got to be a part of it, just not as much as I am now, which I like. It was all like a pretty slow learning process. Kara DioGuardi and John Shanks wrote "Come Clean" and did the music to it.
Having this new record be so personal, and really writing it and living it and having all these experiences, and then now being able to listen to it all put together and all finished... I mean, people that want to hear it are going to hear it now and I think learn so much about me and where I'm at in my life right now. It's just a really honest record, and I feel just excited. I can't wait to get out there. I haven't traveled and toured in a while, and I'm just ready to get back into it again and show everybody this kind of like new side of me that I feel really comfortable with. I hope people love this record and relate to it and understand. And something that I have to look forward to is just really being myself and having people, you know, learn new things about me, because I feel like there's a little bit of a preconceived image that I'm just this really nice, normal girl. And I am, but there's stuff behind all that as well, you know. And I want to share that with people because I think they'll relate to it and understand.
Born in Houston, and when I was about four, we moved to San Antonio. My sister started getting involved in like ballet and school plays and singing in the choir at school, and I'm like two and a half years younger than her. So everything that she wanted to do, I wanted to do as well. And it basically was just kind of like that, you know. She wanted to get involved in acting, and there was an acting workshop not too far away from our house. And I was the tomboy, you know, like I just always wanted to be outside and always active and doing sports and stuff like that. And Haylie was a little bit different, you know, she was more like creative and really girly. And she was having like so much fun during these acting classes, and she would come home and teach me what she'd learned. And I was like, "I want to do it, too. I want to do it, too." And because I wanted to be just like her, it really happened like that. We would see little things like posted on the bulletin board at the workshop, you know, like random casting call, "Come here, come there, modeling job, like show up, audition," you know. And after about a couple months of us going to this class, my mom started noticing how much more talkative I would be and not as shy, and I would, you know, go up to anybody and start a conversation, and just really like opened both of us up a lot. And she was like so impressed by it, and we would start bugging her like, "Mom, will you take us to this thing? It's this weekend," you know, and she's like, "Okay." And we just kept—we were very persistent with making making it known that we wanted to do this. That's when we started coming out to LA. It's quite funny because when we first got out here, it was kind of like this whole scam thing, you know, like we met them.
I get a free trip to LA to go see all my friends just for like a couple days. And I thought it was great. So, I went and I didn't really go over my lines at all, and I just showed up and read, and then the casting director was like, "You are terribly unprepared, aren't you?" And I was like, "Mhm," you know. And then it kind of like put that back in me, like that challenge that I always had, you know, that drive to want to go in and like nail an audition and do a really good job and convince someone that I could be someone else. And when she said that to me, I was like, "It's on," you know? And I went over my lines and did everything I could to be really good. And I came back the next day and she's like, "Okay, get a callback. You're going to come and see producers." And it was a process of like five or six auditions and then I got it. And I just stayed in LA and started filming the pilot. And I tried to not let myself get too excited because of what had happened in the past about the TV show I'd worked on. And then when we started filming, it was just like nonstop.
When I decided to be a singer, it was right when Lizzie McGuire was finished. So, I had filmed a TV show for two years and we worked really hard. We didn't work like a normal TV show; we did like something crazy like 35 episodes in one season. There was a ton of young artists at the time, like singers and stuff that I would be around when I would do signings, you know, with the cast for Lizzie McGuire, and people that I listened to and knew and heard on the radio, you know, and would be around sometimes if we were at like a work thing together. And I was watching some of them perform one day and I was like, "If they can do that, I can do that," you know. "And I don't know if I can sing, but I could try." And I remember I took a couple voice classes when I was younger just because I was taking acting classes and stuff. And I told my mom and she was like, "Oh, great. Here we go again," you know. She had no idea about anything about the music business, and neither did I, and we didn't know anybody. And I met my manager just randomly one day and I told him, I was like, "I want to be a singer." And he was like, "Can you sing?" I was like, "I can try." And I just sang for him. You know, he's a German guy. He's really funny. He's like, "I want to work with you." And then we started shopping around to different record labels and I got signed and I started making a record. So it was really exciting and just a whole new experience that I never knew that I could do or really wanted to do. But once I kind of got in the studio and then a year later started performing in front of people, I was like hooked.
My first album we called Metamorphosis. It's so funny when I look back at my records at the time. I thought it was the coolest thing to have a record, and we named it Metamorphosis because it was like a big change for me. And it was interesting being an actress and having everyone know who you are from your TV show and then putting out a record. From my experiences, I feel like it's almost more accepted to be a singer and then turn into an actress. It seems like it's easier or something, because I had the hardest time really trying to get people to pay attention that I wanted to be a singer. And I think it was really just like my fans from my TV show, because it was such a huge success, you know, that they all went out and bought my record. And then people couldn't really deny that my record was successful and that people liked my music, you know. And then they started like playing me a little bit on the radio here and there, and it was number one on the Billboard charts the second week it was out. When it was told to me, I was like, "That's cool, but what does it mean?" I didn't know anything about the Billboard 200 chart and about how sales work and about everything, you know? And I learned it pretty quick after Metamorphosis came out.
We had three singles. And the first one was "Why Not," which was on the soundtrack for The Lizzie McGuire Movie. And then the first single that I released on my own was "So Yesterday" and then "Come Clean." It all happened really fast. But I remember just picking a single and we did it with the label. And then I was shooting a video and leaving for tour and going to all these radio stations and giving them my single to play on the radio, and it was just really exciting. And then the same thing happened with "Come Clean," and we shot this cool video, and I got to hear my songs on the radio and sing it for all these people that knew it, and it was cool. And I was really lucky because I wasn't writing any back then cuz I didn't really even know to, you know. I was just like, "I want to sing." And my manager and my label, you know, they made it to where I got to work with really great people who wrote great songs and helped me a lot in the studio. And of course, you know, I listened to the songs and said, "No, I don't like that one. Yes, I like this one. Maybe we could—" You know, I got to be a part of it, just not as much as I am now, which I like. It was all like a pretty slow learning process. Kara DioGuardi and John Shanks wrote "Come Clean" and did the music to it so well together and were like a big team. So, the next single that I released was "Our Lips Are Sealed," which was with my sister Haylie.
Because I ended up finding out that I can do it, you know, and it's easy and exhilarating, you know. It's so freeing to be able to look inside yourself and see things that affect you so much that you've held on to them for long enough to write about them.
We had some songs done and then I got this call from my agent that said, "Okay, I'm sending a script over. I don't know if you're going to like it because you have to play a pop star, but read it." And I was like, "Pop star? I don't want to play a pop star," you know. He's like, "I want you to talk to these people." And so I read the script. I talked to John Cusack who wrote it and starred in the movie. And he's like, "Do you want to do this, because we'd really love to have you come down here to Bulgaria and do this movie." And I was like, "I really, really want to do it," you know. And the movie's called War, Inc. And I was up there for about two months. So then I came back home, had some time off for Christmas, and then got back full into making the record. I wasn't doing anything else but writing and being in the studio and listening to tracks and working with people on the record and figuring out exactly what these songs are going to be about. I'm so happy that I took that break to make the movie because lots of personal things and experiences happened in my life that if I hadn't have experienced wouldn't have made my record the same. A lot of the record is really, really serious, but a lot of it's done very tongue-in-cheek too, like some of the songs. It's just so my personality and so me and so everything. All of those things really helped me be who I am throughout my life and my career.
