NKD Mag - Issue #96 (June 2019) by NKD Mag

ISSUE #96 - JUNE 2019

JUNE 2019 16 LOOTE

04 QUINN LEWIS

on the success of “no promises” + their upcoming ep, lost

06 CIARA RILEY WILSON

on good trouble + the rise of asian american roles in hollywood

10 BREANNA YDE

on being a band for over a decade + their new album, phantoms

on his time in college + his songwriting style

on what she learned on la’s finest + her role in kim possible

on her nickelodeon days + her new project, malibu rescue

30 FRANCIA RAISA

20 KEN KIRBY

on her struggles as an actress + her current role on grown-ish

22 MARIANAS TRENCH

on growing up with a musical father + his recording process

28 HELEN HIGHFIELD

on highlighting their harmonies + their debut ep, magic

40 BILLY RAFFOUL

44 FAIRGROUND SAINTS

on doing things she’s not supposed to + season 2 of i ship it

CATHERINE POWELL

publisher, editor, photographer, designer, writer

SAMANTHA BAMBINO

ELIZABETH FORREST

VANESSA SALLES

writer

OLEVA BERARD

IAN HAYS

LEXI SHANNON

writer writer

ANNIE CONDODINA writer

writer

OLIVIA SINGH writer

quinn lewis Words by ANNIE CONDODINA Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

2019 has been a big year for rising star Quinn Lewis. From getting signed to a new record label, dropping three singles in four months, and touring North America, this 23-year-old Australian singer-songwriter is more than ready to take the music scene by storm. “I absolutely love being on the road,” Quinn gushes, on route from Montreal to Toronto. “The goal is to always be doing something.” His spring tour with Kevin Garrett kicked off in early May and Quinn is clearly having a blast. His acoustic sets and soulful voice are making their way into the hearts of crowds everywhere. Quinn is barely a stranger to this nomadic lifestyle. He was born and raised in Brisbane, but his teenage years saw a big family move to the U.S. They lived in North Carolina before moving out to Los Angeles for his dad’s job, all the while going back and forth to Australia. It was a time of uncertainty and instability. And arguably, it created the perfect storm for inspiration. In Los Angeles, Quinn found his passion for songwriting in loneliness. “I didn’t know anyone at school, so when I came home all I would do was write,” he recalls. Quinn cites Sam Smith’s album In The Lonely Hour as one of his favorites at the time. “I was listening to it like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m in my lonely hour.’ [Sam Smith is] a massive inspiration,” he says.

While songwriting became an important hobby, heading to school for music was never on Quinn’s agenda. But his friend convinced him to apply Belmont University in Nashville – a school notorious for its competitive and prestigious music programs. Once Quinn fell in love with the music studios, the migration to Nashville began. “I was so intimidated by the other music students who were so much better than me. It was an eye-opener. I would be sitting in a dorm room watching someone play guitar better than anyone I had ever seen,” he says. Quinn quickly realized he was going to have to find his “thing”; something about him that wouldn’t get him lost in the crowd. It was his lyrical talent. “I thought, ‘What can I say that no one else can say?’ When I found that, that’s when people started giving me more credit,” he says. Quinn saw his success grow after dropping out of Belmont two years in. He had opportunities to write with big names in Nashville such as Super Duper, who helped him produce his lovelorn electro-pop single “Slipping” in 2017. This January, he signed with Arista, helping to propel him even further. Quinn cites the release of his three singles already this year: “They helped me make big jumps that I didn’t think I would achieve in the time period that I did.”

His most recent single, “Only Everything”, is a bit different for one big reason: it’s not sad. “It’s one of those songs that I’m not necessarily feeling right now,” he admits. “It’s really lovey-dovey.” Quinn draws most of his inspiration from pain. “It’s easier to capture those feelings. Being single and having all of my friends being in relationships, that’s when it’s easier to write those songs.” He references his early 2019 single “Hanging On” as an example. “I was straight up in that emotion while I wrote it,” Quinn says. When Quinn began songwriting, he divulges that his songs weren’t as honest. “Originally I thought, ‘I’m just going to write a bunch of hits and it’s all just going to happen right away,’” he says. “Writing now for me is the process of figuring out what I’m going through, getting into the room and saying, ‘How can we say this so that everyone can relate?’ It’s more introspective.” That’s evident from his heartfelt March release, “Pushing All My Friends Away”. Quinn begins by talking about how he never got to sit at the cool table when he was younger. “I still don’t feel like I have a spot there. I think every time you hit one cool table, there’s another one in front of you,” he says. But there’s one thing Quinn is sure of: “I feel a lot cooler now than I did in middle school.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

ciara riley wilson Words by ELIZABETH FORREST Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Ciara Riley Wilson’s love for acting ignited at an acting camp at the age of 11. While there, she fell in love with the passion of the craft and quickly decided that acting was where she wanted to devote the majority of her time. Shortly after completing the program, Ciara made the transition to Los Angeles from her home state of Oregon with her parents to pursue it professionally. Ciara grew up as a dancer. Because both art forms often cross paths, her background in dancing made the transition into acting smoother than expected. “A lot of people don’t realize how actors have to use their body, have body awareness and that there are a lot of different roles that require dancing or stunt work,” Ciara explains. What really pushed Ciara into acting over dance was the psychological aspect of it. “That’s what I find incredibly interesting,” she says, “So, when I get an audition, I always really dive deep into the character and the journey they go through or the way the character is feeling.” She has a very academic

approach to it. When preparing for a new role, Ciara starts with writing; she has a journal and begins a new page in it for every new character. There, she writes down the basics, like their age, parents and background, as well as things like how they see the world and their favorite food. “With myself, I know my favorite movie and color, so if I were to portray a character, they would know off the top of their head those things about themselves too,” Ciara explains, “It just really helps me envelope myself into this new person that I have to portray.” After her move to Los Angeles and signing with an agency, Ciara booked a few roles on TV shows. One of her first major roles came when she was cast as Athena in Kim Possible. The movie revamped the popular original series, and although that was before Ciara’s time, she knew the movie would be a huge deal and loved the concept. “It was incredible to have these two different fan bases,” Ciara remembers. “The fans of the original series were really curious to see

how the movie would come out, and then it was a really cool thing to also introduce these beloved characters to an entire new generation who have no idea who Kim Possible is.” The movie was filmed in Vancouver, and as soon as Ciara came back home from shooting, she went right back to auditioning. One of the first shows she auditioned for upon her return home was LA’s Finest, a spinoff series of Bad Boys. Ciara was cast as Letti Ramirez, and the show and role were about as different from anything on Disney Channel as can be. “I really wanted to expand my horizons and do a dramatic role,” Ciara explains. The entire process had a different dynamic than anything she had done before. “The vibe is more serious, but I loved having that different world and getting into a different mindset and having a more mature role under my belt,” she says. Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba both star in LA’s Finest. “It’s really cool to see them on set because they have so much expeNKDMAG.COM

breanna yde Words by SAMANTHA BAMBINO Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Glam by MEGAN LANOUX Styling by FRANZY STAEDTER

loote Words by OLEVA BERARD Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

An assignment for a songwriting class at Suny Purchase College brought Emma Lov and Jackson Foote together. With some encouragement from their professor, the pair formed a legitimate songwriting duo and soon signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group under the name Loote, a combination of their surnames. The pair struck gold and have been behind some of the boldest songs on pop radio in recent years. From penning hits like “No Promises” by Cheat Codes and Demi Lovato and Zara Larsson’s “Ruin My Life” to crafting remixes for artists like Mike Posner and Shawn Mendes the pop duo has nailed their formula to crafting pop songs that are heartbreakingly relatable and keep listeners hitting replay. They began by writing constantly. When they were not in class or with friends they were writing new songs. While they had dreams of becoming performers in the back of their mind, they were not afraid to work to become the best at their craft first. “I didn’t even know

that writing for other people was a thing that I wanted to do until I started doing that,” says Emma. “It just really made me a more creative person because I got the opportunity to write things that weren’t necessarily something that I would say, but they were things I could just pretend and be super theatrical and get away with it basically because I didn’t have to be the person singing it in the end.” “I’ve always felt like you see a lot of incredible artists that are lacking the perfect song, never the perfect song that is lacking the artist,” says Jackson. “We wanted to build our resumes as songwriters first because we had to prove to everybody, but more than that, prove to ourselves that we could write stuff that could really do something and gain traction.” Ultimately, their hard work in songwriting sessions paid off. With “No Promises” peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard chart, Loote saw the green light to pursue their passion outside of the writing room. They soon signed with Island Records and just last year released their

debut EP, Single, which includes a handful of tracks that show just what Loote has to offer as artists in their own right. The lead single, “High Without Your Love”, is an EDM-pop crossover that playfully explores the way love can feel like recreational drug usage. Much of their music is based on painfully relatable lyrics with misleadingly upbeat production. One of Loote’s signature methods to creating a relatable song is putting themselves in the situation they are trying to write about. “Being in the environment where people enjoy the music that you’re making, that’s something I always refer to,” says Jackson. “Am I going to want to shout this in a bar and grab my friend’s hand and be like, ‘We both know this part of the song!’ Is it that moment?” Their dedication to crafting songs that people connect with is part of what has helped them draw attention from trending artists such as Joe Jonas and Gnash who would each make appearances on Loote tracks “Longer Than I Thought” and “85%”, respectively. With a NKDMAG.COM

ken kirby Words by LEXI SHANNON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

For Vancouver-born actor and comedian Ken Kirby, being an Asian-American man in America’s Hollywood has not come without it’s challenges. Moving between Vancouver, Canada, and Hong Kong during his childhood, Ken ultimately settled in Vancouver at the age of 13. “I got put onto the basketball team because they want to assimilate the immigrant child as fast as possible,” he laughed. “But it’s like I wasn’t that good at basketball.” By eighth grade, Ken had found himself in drama classes, where he first found his passion for acting and comedy. Joining the improv team in high school, he says “really helped create my persona to make friends. That was the purpose. Not survival, but it really shaped who I became friends with and it all went from there.” Throughout the years, Ken has noticed a huge shift in the way Hollywood views non-white actors and actresses - a feat he attributes to younger generations pushing for more diversity. “[In high school], you just tried to do the plays that would be given. As an Asian American boy, I was never going to be Romeo in Romeo and Juliet in 1998. Back then it was a little more old school,” he says, “I’d come in, do these comic relief parts, get a bunch of laughs, then I’d be out. If you get the whole crowd to lose it laughing, it’s always a good time.” During his high school years, Ken was fortunate enough to compete in the Canadian Improv Games, in which his team

was one of over 300 teams to be invited to the national finals in Ottawa. From a young age, Ken’s passions for acting have led him down a path with a dream of making it as an actor - one he fulfilled most recently with his role as Ben on Freeform’s Good Trouble. To make his successes even sweeter, his parents have always been right by his side in his journey. “[My parents] supported it, but I think there is that safety net thing you want your kids to have. Chasing something like acting is such a low percentage rate,” he says, “Now that they see me on TV… You just have to show them that it’s happening. It’s a tough love thing that also pushes you to it, especially in Asian culture, it seems to be heightened.” Since moving to Los Angeles from Vancouver in 2011, Ken has noticed a huge switch in the way Asian American actors are viewed on the big screen. From what was once a predominately white-faced field, roles are popping up left and right for everyone. “These roles are being written for Asian American men and women, and there’s more of them. They’re not just blanketed roles, they’re specific,” Ken says. His role on Good Trouble as Ben tells the story of an immigrant Harvard graduate. “He is a very specific, crafted and written character. He’s written as an immigrant, not just a Harvard graduate. When it was written, they wanted an Asiam American man for that role,” Ken says. Like many shows before, Good Trouble tackles hard, heartfelt

issues, but in a new, modernized way. Ken says “[the writers] write great stories and they aren’t afraid to tackle hard issues.” Whether it be police brutality, the struggles of coming out to a traditional family, workplace harassment or mental health, there aren’t many tough topics that Good Trouble hasn’t covered. The Fosters’ spinoff took on a new cast to continue the story of Callie (Maia Mitchell) and Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) as they navigate their adult lives. For Ken and many other cast members, their new family welcomed them with open arms. “I can’t say enough good things about the team there. Obviously, it was kind of an old family that had come together from The Fosters, but it felt like a new family was born with all the love from the old family,” Ken says. The Fosters and Good Trouble have become known for tackling and talking about tough situations. As the first season wrapped up recently with the heartfelt scene of lead character Alice coming out to her parents, the fans are left waiting for what issues will be tackled in the coming seasons. “The groups that are really appreciative are those groups that [we] are talking about,” Ken says, “The show is important to them because there aren’t many shows out there that are telling those stories in such an out there, unadulterated kind of way. We’re going to talk about the things that are great about those issues and the things that aren’t - we’re going to let the audience learn and grow.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

MARIANAS TRENCH Words by OLIVIA SINGH Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

helen highfield

Words by SAMANTHA BAMBINO Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

There are a lot of things Helen Highfield wasn’t supposed to do. For starters, the Ithaca, New York native wasn’t supposed to go against the grain of her “small, hippie town” and attend an acting conservatory instead of Cornell University, where the majority of her peers enrolled. She also wasn’t supposed to audition for that new Yulin Kuang series on The CW, which her friend was originally scheduled for. But this ability to march to the beat of her own drum (not to mention her innate acting chops) is what carved Helen’s niche in Hollywood as Ella on The CW’s I Ship It, which premieres its second season later this summer. For Helen, whose passion for performing began at the age of 7 when she attended a Shakespeare camp, landing the role of a female lead on a major network series has been a long time coming. Though Helen admits Ithaca isn’t the largest area, reflecting on how it used to have its own currency, her hometown’s appreciation for the arts is unmatched. Throughout her childhood, Helen was granted opportunities to perform in school musicals, attend vocal lessons and participate in acting classes. Still, the idea of pursuing an arts-focused career was practically unheard of. “Most of my high school just

moved up the hill to go to Cornell. But I just loved acting so much that I decided instead to move to New York and go to the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre,” Helen says. The aspiring actress dove headfirst into building her resume, hiring an agent, landing roles in plays, and going on countless auditions for television shows, including Law & Order. In 2015, the role that would change the trajectory of Helen’s career unexpectedly fell into her lap Ella on the musical comedy I Ship It. “I actually stole that audition from a friend. Well, ‘stole’ makes it sound worse than it is,” Helen says. “She knew the casting director, they had gone to college together and she got called in. She isn’t a singer, so she very generously was like, ‘Hey, I think you should see my friend Helen instead.’” The casting director obliged, and Helen soon after booked the role. “The cool thing about this project was the weird kind of serendipity of it. I had, like a year prior, fallen down a YouTube hole and found the creator Yulin Kuang’s channel, and I had watched all of her stuff, and I loved everything that she had made,” Helen says. “They didn’t give me any details of what this project was. They just said ‘web series’ initially, but it reminded me of this thing I had seen on YouTube and at the callback I met

Yulin and put it all together.” Season 1 of I Ship It premiered digitally on The CW Seed in 2016, with the second set to air on the network later this summer. According to Helen, the seasons take place in alternate universes. “In Season 2, Ella is a fangirl who is a superfan of this show called Superstition. She writes fan fiction and she desperately wants to be a part of that world, and she somehow finagles her way into the writer’s room and gets this dream job of writing for her favorite show,” Helen says. The show is also a romantic comedy, as Ella navigates her relationship with Tim, played by Riley Neldam, and a musical. Basically, it’s a little bit of everything, and Helen is thrilled for viewers to see what’s next for the pair. “Season 2 was just a dream come true because you never know if you’ll get to do it again. You always hope you do,” she says. “Now this is just icing on top of a really wonderful cake that we get to go on The CW.” As Helen awaits the return of I Ship It, she has a number of projects in the works. The short film Diva, in which Helen portrays a pop star whose life turns to shambles, is currently on the festival circuit. Additionally, she can be heard on The AM Archives, a sci-fi narrative podcast created by Lauren Shippen that’s available on the Luminary app. NKD

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FRANCIA RAISA Words by OLIVIA SINGH Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Make-Up by ETIENNE ORTEGA Hair by ASHLEY RUIZ Styling by COURTNEY WELCH

billy raffoul Words by IAN HAYS Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

The world is a hectic place. Modern life means no time for silence. Mania gets its grip on you with a societal encouragement to go, go, go. And all too often we accept this as our new norm for what it means to be a person in pursuit of success. So, when you come across someone cool and collected, patient with their words and feelings, it rings fresh on the ear. Enter in, Billy Raffoul. The Canada-born and currently Nashville-based singer-songwriter has a calming aura. While often manifested in his music, its most notable in not only the way he discusses his music, but the process of making it as well. Music is in his blood - in fact, he lovingly calls it the “family business”. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a typical kid growing up. Doing his country proud, he played hockey for about ten years, into his early teens. When he was little, he had Legos; as he got older, he graduated to comic books for escape. Music was always around. His father is a professional and touring musician, so music saturated the air like a hearty Sunday supper. But while he appreciated music deeply, growing up, Billy had little interest in pursuing the

life of a musician. “Everyone around town knew my father and knew what he did. It was really cool growing up, seeing that admiration. People loved his music. We got to see him perform all the time. It’s definitely instrumental know with my music, but at the time, I just didn’t have much interest,” Billy admits. There wasn’t a demystification. But they did see every side of it; it didn’t begin and end with shows. Touring means being away from home often. While Billy loved his father’s job, to him, that’s just what it was: a cool job that also took a lot of dedication. The saving grace of course being that when he did decide to pursue music, he knew what to expect. Then, as a young teen, a family friend gifted him some recording equipment. His father always had gear around the house, but this was Billy’s. He had begun experimenting with songwriting and this solidified his desire to write and record his own music. “I started not going to bed at night, staying up, work on concepts and lyrics; trying to work on singing. I was always intimidated by learning other people’s music,” he says, “Even

if it’s perfect, the imperfect way that they play it is what makes them, them. So, I shied away from learning covers and when I started playing in public, I played my own songs.” The recording equipment made the music tangible. It provided instant feedback and alerted Billy that this was what he wanted to do. For Billy, his biggest self-critique was and still is his voice. His robust baritone is making waves now, but it takes confidence to be different. While finding a voice that is your own is a goal for singers, when you’re young, trying to find your voice when there aren’t many like it on pop radio stations is challenging. Luckily for Billy, he had his father’s voice he could turn to. While unique, he heard all the various influences his father picked up along the way. Billy was able to apply this to his own voice. He looked to the lyrics, compositions, and songwriters that stood out to him. It’s an ongoing process for Billy to this day. Needing to adapt, see what more your voice can do as you progress as a singer and songwriter. But nothing is forced. Even when a lilt appears in his voice as he discusses this, there’s still his placid acceptance of taking it NKDMAG.COM

fairground saints Words by VANESSA SALLES Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Having already made quite the impression on the country music scene, Fairground Saints are on the rise to the top. With the release of their recent EP, Magic, the trio – consisting of Meg, Mason and Elijah – have proven that their unique style and sound are worthy of topping everyone’s favorite summer playlists. “The writing and 44

recording process of our Magic EP is something we’ll never forget,” Megan says. “We had an absolute blast making it. The most memorable moments we have are singing and recording together around one microphone; we really wanted to capture the synergy in our harmonies so that the record would feel and sound similar to what fans would

experience at one of our live shows.” Recalling their time in the studio, Meg describes their creative process as incredibly collaborative. “The songwriting process is a pretty organic process for us,” she says. “Most times we’ll all throw musical riffs out until one sticks. From there, we all craft it together. Typically, we start

EP that holds a little more significance than others. “’Somewhere Down the Line’ holds a very special place in our hearts,” Meg explains. “It was one of the first songs we wrote after selling almost everything we owned and moving from California to Nashville. We didn’t really know what was going to happen when we got here but we had faith that it would all work out somehow. ‘Somewhere Down the Line’ is about getting up and going. It’s about following your heart and chasing your dream and it captures a really special part of our story.” Describing their on-stage presence, Meg reveals that a lot of their inspiration comes from their former tour-mate, Kip Moore. “We were out on the road with him and his incredible band last year and we found ourselves in awe of his honesty and energy, both on and off stage,” she says. “He’s always so present in the moment, giving everything he has to his fans and that was truwith music and then the ly inspiring to witness. We lyrics follow. For a year or always want to connect with two, most of our time was our fans and have our show dedicated to songwriting and performance be a sort so we’ve been able to learn of an escape for them; we where each of us is strongest definitely think about that and we know when to lean and try to make it the best on each other. I think that’s experience for everyone made the process a very fun that’s a part of it.” one.” As for how Magic has Though the five-track been received, country release is special in its enmusic fans have welcomed tirety, there’s a track on the it with open arms. “We

couldn’t be happier about the way fans have reacted to our new EP,” she gushes. “Ultimately, for us, music is about community; we want to create a strong sense of community with our fans and continue to share our love of music with them. It’s been so fun to see people line dancing to it, blasting it on their road trips and sharing it with all their friends. During the time that it was released, we were performing in the UK at the C2C Country Music Festival and it debuted in the Top 10 on their UK Country Music chart! It’s been incredible to release the project and just watch it take off more than we could have even imagined it would.” When it comes to dream collaborations, Fairground Saints have a few ideas up their sleeves that they would love to make a reality. “It would be such a dream to collaborate with Brothers Osborne,” Meg says. “We’ve opened for them a few times and they are just so much fun to be around. We love their sound and are huge fans of the music that they write. It would be really fun to see what we could all come up with together.” As for what’s up next, the country trio’s been hard at work in the studio. “Fans can expect some new releases very soon,” Meg says. “We’re so excited to share even more of what we’ve been working on!” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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