The happy-go-lucky teenage Myspace sensation Stephen Jerzak is finally signed with Republic Records, is in a romantic relationship, and is more relaxed than ever. His “tweenage” fans love him and his Tumblr and Twitter accounts light up with 12-year-old girls in love with his “super adorbs self.” Stephen still has some important work to do though, like deciding on a general genre of music that will keep his fledging career afloat. In the past, Stephen has flipped between tween pop, electro and a more mature acoustic sound. He’ll have to begin to grow a fan base and establish himself as a certain type of singer, but for now, the self-described “ladies man” has a new girlfriend, a new apartment in Nashville, a new tattoo — of an astronaut playing guitar — and a gaggle of screaming tweenage fans. It’s no wonder his recent music is so upbeat. “It’s because my life is really good,” Stephen happily confirms. Constantly fidgeting with his Bieber-esque bangs and jumping through conversation topics, Stephen showed both his joie de vivre and inability to focus when we sat down with him before his performance at the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan. What you see is what you get with Stephen, and his three most popular songs on Myspace convey the same sense of jumpy uncertainty.
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“Cute,” “She Said” and “White Horse” move between the dreadfully sappy like on “Cute” (“You’re so sweet that you / put Hershey’s out of business”) and the relatively more mature. Stephen hones in on the hyper-cute — he knows where his fans’ interests lie. “My pop sound,” Stephen says. “Little kids love it.” Thankfully, the frazzled listener gets a much-needed repose from his high-pitched cutesiness in a few of his songs like “She Said.” Twenty-five year old “Gossip Girl” star and songstress Leighton Meester lends her elder gravitas to this poppy electro piece, providing the chorus’ electro catharsis. Instead of the deep electronic drop that comes in the middle of a normal dub step/electro piece, Stephen stays true to his innocent image when he lets Leighton’s soft voice chime in after a progressive electronic build-up. Stephen has tried to follow a similar path to those of young pop stars like Justin Bieber. He enjoys harping on his innocence and extended adolescence, affording him a rapport with his teenage fans. According to Stephen, the first time he sang was as an eight year-old, singing along with the film “Thumbelina” as it played on his television. “Woah, I like that,” Stephen recalls of the experience. “I want to sing again.”