NKD 100 by Catherine Powell & Ariella Mastroianni
THE FINAL ISSUE
a farewell from the publisher catherine powell
“It’s
the oldest story in the world. One day you’re 17 and planning for someday. And then quietly and without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And that someday is yesterday. And this is your life.”
Nathan Scott said that during the final scene of One Tree Hill, and it’s stuck with me all these years. I started NKD when I was 17, which most people find impressive. Personally, I find it naïve – but only in retrospect. But at the time, I had a plan. Over the course of the last eight and a half years, the plan I made in a fifth floor, Washington Heights walk up apartment at 2:00 a.m. on a Friday night during my junior year of high school has been registered so obsolete I couldn’t even begin to tell you what it was – but I know it was big. This magazine was always supposed to be my stepping stone to bigger and better things – that I know for certain. In many ways, it was. But it has been so much more than that. I’ve dedicated a third of my life to this little publication that could. I’ve given up holidays, relationships and a hell of a lot of sleep to keep NKD afloat. I poured everything I had into it, and if we’re being honest, there were days when none of that felt like enough. Sometimes it felt like we were publishing into the dark void of the internet and all the work I had done would be registered irrelevant by morning. Sometimes I was right about that. But more often than not, I felt like we mattered.
“I HOPE WE GAVE PEOPLE AN ESCAPE”
I knew it meant something that we were giving a platform to people of all ethnicities, genders and sexualities. I knew it meant something that this company was run by a woman – and predominantly staffed by women. I knew it meant something that nearly every country in the world had access to our stories. And most importantly, I knew deep down that even if all we did some days was entertain one person, that was enough. In this very grey world we live in, I think the value of simple entertainment can be lost in the sea of political statements. But there’s nothing wrong with giving people an escape. I hope we gave people an escape.
I’ve known since our six-year anniversary issue came out in 2017 that our 100th issue would be our last. While I had over two years to prepare, it still didn’t feel like enough. I don’t know who I am without NKD – the routine of putting a new issue together for 100 straight months is so engrained in my daily life I’m not sure what my life looks like without it. This magazine has been my one true constant since it began. The first year of issues came out of my parents’ basement in New Jersey, and the next year out of my freshman year dorm room in Manhattan. It was published out of three apartments across the borough after that, and the last three came out of Nashville. I put out an issue from Europe while on tour, and from every form of public transportation you can imagine. Everywhere I went – physically, mentally and emotionally – NKD was there. I could have never imagined it would have the life that it did. I’m really going to miss it, but having the opportunity to bring it to a close fully on my terms is a privilege I’m eternally grateful for. If this is the greatest thing I ever do, well, I crushed it. If I could go back to that wide-eyed, over eager 17-year-old and tell her one thing it would be this: You can plan all you want, but it’s going to turn out a lot different than you thought. It’s going to turn out a lot better than you thought. You won’t notice all the stairs you climbed until you look back, but I promise, you’re going to climb a lot. When you’re 25-years-old, bawling your eyes out while you type up this farewell letter in your Nashville
apartment, you’re going to feel nothing but proud of yourself.
To every single person who has encouraged, celebrated and championed for my vision these last eight plus years, thank you endlessly. You have given me one hell of a yesterday and I’m very excited to begin my next someday.
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100
contents
08 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38
photography by catherine powell design by ariella mastroianni
Ashley Rickards Aubrey Peeples Austin Mahone Bea Miller Brian Dales Caity Lotz Cam Camren Bicondova Candice King Carly Pearce Cassadee Pope Colin O’Donoghue Connor Franta Danielle Rose Russell Daya Dinah Jane
40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 68 60 62 64 66 68 70
Eliza Taylor Elizabeth Lail Ellington Ratliff Francia Raisa Garrett Nickelsen Graham Sierota Holland Roden Jake Miller Jared Monaco Jennette McCurdy Jess Bowen John Gomez John O’Callaghan Jordan Witzigreuter Kendall Schmidt Kennedy Brock
72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98
Kris Allen Laura Marano Liz Mace MAX Megan Mace Neon Hitch Noah Sierota Pat Kirch Rydel Lynch Sammy Adams Stephen Gomez Sydney Sierota Travis Mills Val Chmerkovskiy
NKD
thank you
To every writer and editor who has contributed to NKD in the past eight years... thank you. Your time, your energy, and your commitment never went unnoticed. Whether it was one article, one year, or or multiple years, it was all so, so appreciated.
Katie Amey, Alex Badura, Tatiana Baez, Samantha Bambino, Mary Barnes, Isaac Bate, Oleva Berard, Merissa Blitz, Joanna Bouras, Vincent Broazzi, Jackie Bui, Carly Bush, Isabelle Chapman, Shelby Chargin, Susan Cheng, Annie Condodina, Tara DeVincenzo, Cody Delistraty, Ashleigh D’Mello, Taylor Dougherty, Selina Falcon, Diana Figueroa, Elizabeth Forrest, Elizabeth Goold, Alyssa Girdwain, Autumn Halle, Ian Hays, Dustin Heveron, Rachel Hill, Katey Howett, Eden Jezierski, Marissa Johnson, Caila Koster, Olga Khvan, Brittany Lambau, Alex Lane, Katie Lockhart,Mike Madden, Stacy Magallon, Hillary Maglin, Megan Marusak, Nicole Mazza, Jordan Melendrez, Nicole Moorefield, Ashlee Morel, Naureen Nashid, Christine O’Dea, Louis Oprisa, KC Orcutt, Shina Patel, Stephanie Petit, Nicola Pring, Amanda Randone, Samantha Rosenthal, Jenna Ross, Vanessa Salles, Hannah Schwartz, Lexi Shannon, Olivia Singh, Ryan Sloan, Alice Smith, Amber Spillman, Riley Stenhejem, Noah Tavlin, Katelyn Thompson, Tanya Traner, Josephine Tse, Kiki Van Son, Louis Vazquez, Liz Zavoyskiy
NKD 100 glam credits: Candice King glam by Lydia Sellers, Danielle Rose Russell hair by Marc Mena makeup by Chelsea Gehr, Dinah Jane hair by Jerrod Roberts make-up by Anthony Nguyen styled by Audrey Brianne, Elizabeth Lail hair by Matthew Monzon make-up by Jamie Dorman, Francia Raisa hair by Ashley Ruiz make-up by Etienne Ortega styled by Courtney Welch, Travis Mills grooming by Emily Dawn styled by Audrey Brianne
FINAL THOUGHTS What was the moment you felt t Co-founders Catherine Powell and Ariella Mastroianni reconnect with their cover stars to explore what it truly means to be NKD.
CATHERINE: I remember the night Ariella and I started NKD with extreme detail. Justin Bieber was playing over the speakers in her room, there was a disgusting amount of junk food spread out between us on the floor, and we were combing through stacks of magazines from CVS. We had this idea to make our own, and the phrase we kept going back to, to describe what the vibe would be was “raw and real”. It was Ariella who had the idea to call it naked. For this last issue, I wanted to bring back that initial idea and really go in on it. So, we attempted to get back as many cover stars as possible and asked them the same question: “What was the moment you felt the most naked?” ARIELLA: Looking back on that night really puts the whole journey into perspective. We had no inhibitions about creating the magazine. We talked about it that night and then we sent out a press release that same week, I think. Or maybe the next day. But that’s what it’s all about - this idea of having no reservations. I remember we talked about how most coverage of our favorite artists felt really stiff and generic, and we wanted to create an intimate platform that allowed for artists to share more personal stories - if they wanted to - and not just the usual talking points. I think navigating this idea was tough. There was a trust we needed to cultivate with the artists, especially as two young women, and I don’t think it ever got easier. Hats off to Catherine, my partner in crime, whose fearlessness shaped the life of this magazine after I left. In the end, I feel like we accomplished what we set out to do, which was to share the moments that make us all feel a bit more human.
the most NKD?
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NKD COVER STAR #38 AUG 2014
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
ashley rickards the most recent moment i felt naked, i was going through a pretty bad depression. I’d read somewhere online that singing, somehow it actually creates endorphins, so it can really help. So, I just started doing that in the car and discovering new music and that stuff, and straight up being a shower singer for a little while. I’d sang growing up for a little bit but I kind of got to do it without an audience for a while. I felt pretty naked when I decided to take it seriously. I went to a vocal coach who’s amazing and I felt more confident. It’s scary because I think with acting you can hide behind a character a bit more. But with music, you know, that is you. You’re the instrument, you’re the dialogue, you’re the sound, you’re everything. There’s really nowhere to hide. That makes me feel extremely naked.
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NKD COVER STAR #52 OCT 2015
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
aubrey peeples for many years now, i’ve been managing my bipolar disorder diagnosis. I think the time that I’ve felt the most “naked” is when I finally decided to try going on medication in 2014. I had resisted for quite a long time - and to this day, I have a lot of issues with medication, especially as a product of Big Pharma and animal testing - but I decided to ask for help. I’d ben self-harming, and thankfully, I had a great support system that I drew strength from to dig myself out of that hole. Not everyone is so lucky. Far too many also don’t have access to affordable healthcare and therefore medication, a product of living in a politicized world where profit is valued more than compassion. My greatest hope is that we can learn to stop thinking of mental illness as “illness” and instead learn to appreciate and value each other’s differences. Although struggling with these issues brings a lot of pain, I know for myself that my brain chemistry also makes me a deep feeler, something that greatly benefits my work as an artist and allows me to feel a deep sense of compassion for others.
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NKD COVER STAR #19 JAN 2013
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
austin mahone i felt most naked was when i was 5-yearsold, learning to water ski. time. I had my training skis that were attached with a wooden plank between them so that they wouldn’t spread apart, and that’s what I learned on. So, my whole family went out to the beach. I had my whole family line up on the shore and watch me get up on the skis for the first time. So, I’m out there with my grandfather - he’s on the jet ski, I’m on the skis - I get up, finally. I’m about to come past them. And as I look up, I realize my pants are gone and I’m completely naked water skiing. As I’m realizing that I’m naked water skiing, I look up to my fam and they’re waving and going crazy, and I was so embarrassed. That was probably my most embarrassing moment.
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NKD COVER STAR #81 MAR 2018
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
bea miller i think i felt the most naked when i put out my song “yes girl”. I had never written anything that was that intensely true and real before about my own life. Before that, I’d only ever really released music that other people had written because I wasn’t comfortable enough with my own creativity and my own skills at that point to release anything that I had actually made myself. So, it was really the first song that I had written that was an overload of truth all in one place.
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NKD COVER STAR #18 DEC 2012
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
brian dales
of THE SUMMER SET
the time I was the most naked was both physically and metaphorically naked. I did a musical back in the fall of last year for the first time in my entire life. Naked because I had never done anything like that in my entire life and I remember on opening night I was absolutely terrified and during the dress rehearsal before our very first show our director comes up to me and was like, “Hey that boxing scene, how do you feel about doing it with your shirt off?” I’m a scrawny little dude with no muscles whatsoever and I’m pale as hell, so I really didn’t want to do it and I was also just terrified of doing this whole new world for the first time, but Joey convinced me to do it and I remember going out, and I come out from one side of the stage and I take my shirt off and put on boxing gloves and I was quite literally the most physically naked I had ever been in front of people ever, and mentally and emotionally naked. It turned out to be one of the better experiences in my whole life because you sort of throw all caution to the wind and you just do the best job you can.
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NKD COVER STAR #76 OCT 2017
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
caity lotz i felt the most naked when i went skinny dipping in the ocean.
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NKD COVER STAR #54 DEC 2015
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
cam the first time i did a professional “fitting” is a time i felt super naked. I’m not a big shopper or clothes-person normally, so it wasn’t a fun movie montage for me. Getting dressed and undressed repeatedly around new people, trying to fit into sample sizes, feeling like my body was inadequate because I didn’t look like a model, while feeling so much pressure about choosing clothes that say the right thing about me and my music. It’s something I’ve had to learn how to handle and mentally fit into my life the way I want it to, so I don’t have to feel that way anymore.
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NKD COVER STAR #53 NOV 2015
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
camren bicondova i was freshly 18 and i was living in an apartment by myself. I had moved out of my previous household a lot quicker than I had anticipated and I was in New York City and as far as surface-level stuff went, I had my own apartment, I had a steady job. My life was great, but I literally had nothing. I wasn’t talking to anybody about the struggles that I was going through, I was literally just spending every day on the floor crying and even though I had a lot more than other people did, I felt like I had absolutely nothing because everything was just ripped from me and I was having to navigate it all on my own. Even though it was the moment that I felt the most naked, it was the spot that taught me how to make my own clothes, where I really had to make up strength and I really had to figure out what strength was for me. I feel like the moments that you feel the most naked can be the most devastating, especially spiritually and emotionally. But I feel like the moments that you feel the most naked are the most profound moments of your life because it’s in those moments that you figure out what it really means to have clothes.
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NKD COVER STAR #82 APR 2018
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
candice king naked. having to write this makes me feel naked. I’ve been avoiding this like a middle school girl embarrassed to disrobe for the first time in a gym locker room. Maybe it’s because of that word. Naked. It doesn’t represent moments for me as much as it does feelings. I wish naked was a refreshing word. I wish it felt like the cool coastal waters of Positano. Instead it feels like heat. Insufferable, dry, unbearable heat. The idea of being naked makes me incredibly uncomfortable. Not the physical representation, but the emotional. Before I sat down to write this I didn’t realize how emotional that word is for me. It makes me feel shame. It makes me feel vulnerable. It makes me feel out of control. When, in actuality, the word itself is what makes me human. Nakedness is something everyone will be and everyone will feel. It’s inevitable. It’s also authentic. Which is a beautiful thing. So the best we can do is make friends with this word. Invite it over for a glass of wine and a good talk. Otherwise...what’s the fucking point? So here I am... naked.
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NKD COVER STAR #78 DEC 2017
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
carly pearce i think i felt the most naked when “every little thing” was released. It was the first time I was expressing something super honest, raw and painful for me — and I was doing it on a national level. That experience has allowed me to continue to embrace feeling “naked” as I continue to use my platform to show that we all struggle with different life experiences and that vulnerability is beautiful.
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NKD COVER STAR #29 NOV 2013
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
cassadee pope definitely when i started recording my record in 2017. I had a brand new kind of start: no label, no publishing, no boyfriend and no team at all except for my producer, Corey Crowder. I felt naked because I didn’t have a lot of other opinions really swaying me or changing my mind about hte song or the lyrics or what I wanted to put on the record, and it was so vulnerable in a really good way and I was really putting my self out there and trusting myself.
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NKD COVER STAR #71 MAY 2017
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
colin o’donoghue the most naked that i’ve felt was doing a play in ireland called outlying islands. I had to strip down to a tiny little pair of white y-fronts. And the play was an immersive play, so the audience thought that they were facing the stage but in actual fact, where the audience came in was going to be the playing area. And so, my parents sat at the very back, wanting to sort of, you know, freak me out and have me see them in the audience. But in actual fact, it turned out that they were sitting right at the very, very front. And my mum in particular was sitting right where I had to crouch down in my tiny little y-fronts, soaking wet, right in front of my mum! That’s probably the most naked I’ve felt.
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NKD COVER STAR #48 JUN 2015
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
connor franta four years ago, when i uploaded my coming out video to YouTube. I remember pressing the upload button and preparing myself to tell the world a secret I was prepared to tell, but as soon as I hit that upload button, I remember definitively thinking, “I feel naked. I feel exposed. I feel vulnerable in a way that I have never felt before.” I continued to feel that way for days and even weeks afterwards. And it was the most liberating, terrifying feeling I’ve ever felt in my entire life.
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NKD COVER STAR #90 DEC 2018
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
danielle rose russell the time i felt the most naked was the first time i fell in love.
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NKD COVER STAR #65 NOV 2016
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
daya probably when i was doing this show in minneapolis. Right before I went on stage I went to the bathroom, and I got up and I couldn’t get the zipper up. I tried really hard and just kept yanking it, and eventually it just ripped the entire back of my pants, so my ass was just out. I didn’t have anything else with me except for a leather jacket to tie around my waist and try to cover it. I had to perform for like, 30 minutes! So that’s when I felt physically most naked, but also very vulnerable in that state on stage in front of so many people.
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NKD COVER STAR #98 AUG 2019
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
dinah jane i’m very protective and private with my personal life. Throughout my career, I felt like I had exposed so much of myself to the public, and that airing out my dirty laundry was the last thing I would do in this lifetime. Until one day, I stepped into the studio and wrote this song called ‘Fix It” that I eventually released earlier this year. For some reason I finally felt like I needed to be vocal on this certain topic that has been heavy on my chest ever since I could remember. The moment I got on the mic, I felt so naked – like everything I’ve been holding in all these years was slowly but surely slipping out of my system. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family with everything in me, but it wasn’t always so pretty and perfect like we painted the picture to be. Just like any relationship, communication is an important element to keeping a healthy relationship, and writing this song was my way of doing so. I actually wrote this for myself – I didn’t want anyone to get ahold of it. It was truly a form of therapy and I can honestly testify that stripping down to the real raw and deep issues we are afraid to bring to light can be a positive to saving you or your situation.
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NKD COVER STAR #84 JUN 2018
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
eliza taylor the moment that i felt the most naked, i am interpreting as vulnerable, was recently. I started the Warner Brothers directing workshop directing’s something that I’ve never done and always wanted to do and I realized as soon as I got into that class that I hadn’t been in a classroom since I was 11 because I was always acting so I never went to high school, I never had to like take tests or exams so going into a classroom as an adult was terrifying for me and actually just standing up in front of a class, doing something I’d never done before gave me a crazy amount of anxiety but once it was done it gave me... there was actually some power in that vulnerability and it made me feel really empowered.
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NKD COVER STAR #93 MAR 2019
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
elizabeth lail i feel the most naked at night, right before bed. I’m confronted with my image in the mirror in its raw, worn form. Confronted with my choices from that day, my desires, and fears. As an actress, I seek to bare my heart to others over and over again quite happily. It’s in still, quiet moments, alone with my own thoughts where I feel the most naked.
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NKD COVER STAR #37 JUL 2014
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
ellington ratliff of R5
when i was 13, i was doing a stage production of thirteen. It was pajama day and people started pantsing people. I got pantsed in front of my entire cast of 13-16-year-olds, and not only did my pants go down - everything went down.
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NKD COVER STAR #96 JUN 2019
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
francia raisa when i taught my first yoga sculpt class. It was a new environment and I actually had to reach a part of myself that I didn’t know – or had ever done – before and it was in room full of friends and people I didn’t know.
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NKD COVER STAR #06 DEC 2011
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
garrett nickelsen of THE MAINE
one time i cried in front of the whole 6th grade. life of an emo kid.
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NKD COVER STAR #42 DEC 2014
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
graham sierota of ECHOSMITH
when we went out on our first tour, and i was only fourteen. It was so crazy to play for so many people - I was so young.
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NKD COVER STAR #77 NOV 2017
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
holland roden i’d say probably when i had to switch high schools growing up. I went to this all-girls school from 5 until 16. It was a really small school — there were like, a hundred girls in my grade. So, I was really comfortable with my friends and my world. When I switched to this public co-ed school with like, 2,000 kids a grade, it’s where you learn to like, cheat. No one cheated at the school that I was at for years. We were all incredibly academically inclined and so it was a new environment for me. It was a dog-eat-dog kind of world. The drugs were rampant, the cheating was rampant, the sex was rampant, and the meanness would be off the charts. I had never been in that kind of environment before, so it was really hard to jump in with the piranhas and swim. I remember just feeling the most vulnerable going to school, day in and day out.
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NKD COVER STAR #73 JUL 2017
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
jake miller a few years ago when i was going through a lot of personal changes. I had just moved to L.A., so all my friends and family were on the other side of the country. I was going through a breakup with both an ex-girlfriend and my old record label. I felt like my life had reset and I was starting over. But I soon realized that meant a chance to reinvent myself. Even though I felt naked and pretty discouraged, it was because of that time frame that I was able to become the person and musician I am now.
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NKD COVER STAR #06 DEC 2011
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
jared monaco of THE MAINE
the first time i left home to play shows on the road. None of us had ever done anything like that and everything felt so unfamiliar. 12 years later, I think it’s important to look back and think about how much our music has shaped me into the person I am now.
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NKD COVER STAR #32 FEB 2014
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
jennette mccurdy to me, honest creative expression is what feels the most naked. So following that - I’d have to say when I put out a project I wrote/directed for the first time. I had always just acted in projects, which - as frustrating as the lack of creative control was - also allowed me to feel less accountability toward whatever I was working on. It’s way more vulnerable putting out my own creative expression, but ultimately way more rewarding too.
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NKD COVER STAR #18 DEC 2012
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
jess bowen
of THE SUMMER SET
the moment i felt the most naked was when i was coming out to my friends and family. I was 22-years-old, and it took me a while to even fully accept myself. The thought of having to tell the people closest to me was the most overwhelming and frightening feeling. Although I have always ahd the most supportive and loving friends and family, there was this thought in the back of my mind that they wouldn’t be able to accept me, would treat me differently, or that I would just lose them completely.
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NKD COVER STAR #18 DEC 2012
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
john gomez
of THE SUMMER SET
i felt the most naked the year i came out to my friends and family. Naturally, I have always been an open person, whether it be with friends, or fans I have met on the road. Coming out was this cloud hanging over my personal life and my family life. When it finally felt right I took the leap of faith, and was so grateful to be welcomed with open arms.
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NKD COVER STAR #06 DEC 2011
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
john o’callaghan of THE MAINE
i felt most naked when i couldn’t bring myself to say “i love you” back.
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NKD COVER STAR #07 JAN 2012
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
jordan witzigreuter of THE READY SET
i think i felt the most naked during the first the ready set show i ever played. I set it up at a coffee shop I worked at on the floor, and it was just myself and a keyboard player. It was the first time I was really venturing out on my own musically and as a frontman, so getting through that initial first show really boosted my confidence in a huge way. It was awkward but important to me.
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NKD COVER STAR #31 JAN 2014
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
kendall schmidt the moment i feel the most naked is every time i write a new song. We were just talking about writing solo music and trying to discover what that sounds like, which is extremely vulnerable. And writing songs that are painful in a way – not like it’s some traumatic experience – but being able to admit through music and sort of take responsibility of what you’re saying. I could write fun songs about love and whatever and that’s easy, but to write something that’s vulnerable and playing that stuff for people, where you’re like, ‘Hey, this is what I’ve been up to’ and then you’re like, ‘Check this song out’ and it’s really vulnerable and they’re like, ‘My god.’ But I think artists inherently feel naked all the time because it’s a huge risk to be an artist, but that’s sort of one of the glorious moments of it, is taking a big risk like that. And even if nobody else hears it, writing something that means something to you is the most fulfilling part.
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NKD COVER STAR #06 DEC 2011
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
kennedy brock
of THE MAINE
When I speak to individuals after a show and they open up. They tell me how they really are, what’s really bothering them. It is in those moments where I open myself up to them too. That’s when I feel the most comfortable sharing my vulnerabilities. It’s when I feel connected and unafraid.
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NKD COVER STAR #17 NOV 2012
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
kris allen i felt the most naked during my son’s birth. The year started off really interesting, and the hardest trials and tribulations that I’ve ever gone through just as a human being. I kind of put up some walls and put on my brave face to kind of deal with all those things were happening. I got in a car wreck, and I had a bunch of surgeries, and I didn’t know if I was going to be able use my hands the same ever since that happened. But I was like, I’ve still got a job to do, and I still need to do these things. And my wife was pregnant. And July of that year, 2013, my son was born on July 30. And it was just like, all the braveness, all of the blinders, all of this courage was gone. It was just this overflow of emotions. For myself, but also like, I was experiencing this crazy love that I had never felt before. And I just wept. I remember the moment that he came into the world I just wept. I think I wept for so many reasons. I think it was an overflow of emotions from everything that had gone on that year, that I was going to be a dad, that I could actually hold my son.
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NKD COVER STAR #45 MAR 2015
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
laura marano i have always had a complex relationship with expressing emotions. On one hand, I always hated feeling vulnerable in the presence of someone else; on the other hand, I found myself in two different industries that were dependent on being able to showcase emotions to anyone and everyone. It wasn’t until 2017 when I realized that vulnerability with others is the key to truly beautiful, authentic art. As I explored (and continue to explore) this realization in my music, there’s a specific moment I think of when it comes to being vulnerable in my acting: I was filming a pivotal scene for a movie, and I knew I had to completely let myself go to an incredibly low place in order to get the scene right. As I sobbed for fifteen straight minutes in front of a crew of mostly strangers, I had never felt so naked and through that, I had never felt so fulfilled.
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NKD COVER STAR #14 AUG 2012
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
liz mace
of MEGAN & LIZ
i will never forget moving back to nashville after living in l.a. Laying on the floor of my new bedroom and just thinking, “Wow I am starting over.� I had to make new friends, make new connections, make new music, even get all new furniture - I had to actually leave everything behind. I remember envisioning who I would marry, what I wanted my bedroom furniture to look like, the goals I would achieve. I think back to that extract moment so much, just to remember how truly vulnerable and excited I was.
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NKD COVER STAR #16 OCT 2012
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
max probably five minutes before i got wheeled into my surgery for my vocal chords. I didn’t know if I’d ever sing or speak again after let alone how I would potentially sound. I felt both the most vulnerable I had ever felt and yet strangely at peace with accepting the fate of the universe and being comfortable with where I was at.
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NKD COVER STAR #14 AUG 2012
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
megan mace
of MEGAN & LIZ
the moment i felt most naked was after a month of lying in bed every single day. I finally admitted to my mom and my sister that I needed help. My anxiety had taken over me. I couldn’t function like the woman I knew I grew into; I couldn’t figure out where she went. In retrospect I’m so happy that happened because it didn’t get rid of the strong woman I once knew. No, it made her stronger.
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NKD COVER STAR #13 JUL 2012
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
neon hitch my stepdad said, “hey, you started your period today, didn’t you?” I was like, whatever age, and I felt the most naked I’ve ever felt. I just felt, ‘My whole life is exposed!’ I was so embarrassed, but you know what? Nature has its form, it’s a beautiful thing. You should be okay with it. But it was my first time feeling some real, realness like that.
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NKD COVER STAR #42 DEC 2014
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
noah sierota of ECHOSMITH
the moments i felt the most naked in my life have been over the past few years. We dealt with the classic record label hurdles and blocks. Now we’re past that, in a new era with a new team and new people. And it’s because of that we’ve felt a need to write and to break free and to write music that’s felt more personal than ever before. And realize how impactful it can be for us to be letting our story out as people, as fellow human beings. We’re super stoked and it feels good to open ourselves up that way and to show people who we are. We’re glad for that.
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NKD COVER STAR #06 DEC 2011
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
pat kirch
of THE MAINE
when in the studio working on music before anyone else has heard it. There is something so pure about that stage because you aren’t thinking about what anyone will think just what sounds exciting to you.
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NKD COVER STAR #37 JUL 2014
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
rydel lynch
of R5
i think i felt most naked the first time i walked on stage to perform. There’s nothing quite like that feeling, and to be able to do it over and over again with the people I love, for the fans I love is pretty surreal. I think the trick is to not get used to that feeling. That super excited, little bit anxious, nervousness, keeps me going. It’s a crazy ride of emotions and there’s definitely times on stage where I feel extra butt ass naked, but I love it.
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NKD COVER STAR #24 JUN 2013
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
sammy adams i’d say the moment that i was, or am, the most vulnerable is right now. Because in my position, you’ve had a huge kind of invert of success. And then once it slows down, it starts to get a little scary and you really have to kind of play everything right and figure out a lot of stuff on your own. With managers and labels being a little bit more corrupt than they’ve been in a long time, you realize that you have to really be the one to actually make your shit happen. So, I’d say, right now in this state that I’m in, unsigned, indie again, about to get out of my publishing deal, very exciting. But also, I kind of look forward to being this vulnerable and having the vulnerability of what the next step is, instead of looking at it as like, ‘Oh my god, what the fuck am I gonna do?’ This is a big moment where you either do it or you don’t and I think music will be a part of my life forever. So, I think it’s really right now. So, it’s kind of the next steps and that’s the most vulnerable I felt in my position.
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NKD COVER STAR #18 DEC 2012
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
stephen gomez
of THE SUMMER SET
i felt the most naked when my first band broke up. I’d been in a band since I was 13-years-old, so for the first time in my life, I felt like my identity was gone. Of course it wasn’t - what you do doesn’t define you - but I needed that experience to realize that and to grow. Oh, and then I started another band.
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NKD COVER STAR #42 DEC 2014
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
sydney sierota of ECHOSMITH
I would say I felt the most vulnerable once I got married. When you’re with somebody that you care about that much, so much, now, that you’re living together and doing life together, you are so vulnerable automatically. It’s actually a beautiful thing because then you get to really help each other out and see the good and the bad in each other and really just help each other go through it together. I think that is really helpful, and I think everybody needs that, whether it’s a friend or romantic partner. But, yeah, I felt very vulnerable, but in the best way, because I feel like I’m allowed to be vulnerable and I think that’s so important, to have a safe space like that.
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NKD COVER STAR #99 SEP 2019
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
travis mills i felt the most naked right before i got my first tattoo. I had my pants down in somebody’s kitchen.
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NKD COVER STAR #75 SEP 2017
Q: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THE MOST NAKED?
val chmerkovskiy part of me wants to say the first time i performed in front of a live audience. But when I think of “naked,” I think of vulnerable. I think of helpless, almost. Last year, we had a puppy that passed away — and very suddenly, out of nowhere. I didn’t grow up with dogs, and this was like my first baby, and it was a girl, and I found this whole new connection with raising a little girl. I became a total, like, one of those dog dads. And when she passed away, that moment of being in a hospital and getting that, “Well, we’ve tried everything, there’s nothing we can do,” that really killed me, honestly, because I live life with such positivity and optimism. It’s not like I’m a control freak, but to some degree, I feel really empowered by the fact that I have control over my life, and that’s the way it should be. Right there, I felt helpless and naked and completely not in control.
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