If you don’t remember who Kris Allen is… let us refresh your memory.
Since winning Idol, Allen has released three full-length albums, produced platinum-selling single “Live Like We’re Dying”, and has a total of five singles on the Billboard charts. He’s toured with Keith Urban, Maroon 5, Boyce Avenue, and has headlined his own concerts across the country.
In the midst of producing for his next album, which Allen shared on Instagram that he’s “still got some songs to write,” he made a pitstop at our AU PAC! While students filed in for a night of soulful music, singing, and dancing, we were given the opportunity to sit down and talk to Kris about what it’s like working in the music industry.
After entering college, he decided to take a leap of faith and pursue music instead of business, with the first step being that American Idol auditon. For a lot of students, thinking about our future makes us cringe. We will never know for sure if we’re making the right decisions throughout the four-year journey.
1. What advice would you give to college students who want to take a risk?
- I would say don’t be afraid to. If it’s what you love to do, no matter what it is, you should do it. I think that no one wants to go through their life and have regrets. My father was a musician and he kind of gave it all up to support me; I still think he has regrets about it. But obviously he is very super happy for me. Especially now, there are so many different ways to get whatever you are doing out to the world. There’s YouTube, Snapchat…there’s everything. People are becoming famous from those things. We were on a tour opening up for someone who is YouTube famous. It’s a huge thing and anyone can do it from their bedrooms. People want that; people want content.
2. What’s the song writing process like for you and what’s your favorite part about it?
- It kind of comes in spurts for me. I’m always doing it. The good stuff comes in spurts. I think I have a really high standard when it comes to songs. I want it to be personal to me. Not that it has to be really serious or anything… I just want it to mean something to me. Cause I think when something means something to the person who is performing it, I think it means more to everyone else who gets to listen to it. In Nashville I do a lot of cowriting and sitting in my bedroom for hours and hours figuring out how to say something.
@Kris_Allen : Has anyone ever seen one of these before? What do I do with it?
- You can start by writing something down. Take a walk, I hear something in my head, sing it into my phone, and think “how can I keep going with this?” It happens in so many different ways. You have to sit down and do it to actually have something come out.
3. Do you have any pre show rituals?
- Yeah, we do a prayer. We do a weird chant thing. I try to have some quiet time and stretch a little bit.
Do you still get as nervous as you did in the beginning?
- No. Uhm I say that and then I’ll get really nervous. I don’t get nervous very often for shows cause it’s a high. It’s something you look forward to doing.
4. How did you come up with the label name DogBear Records?
- If im being honest, it’s a mixture of two things in my life. It was the 25th name on the list and all the other ones were taken. So there was a place for it; it’s cool though!
…and you have a dog!
- I do have a dog. I don’t have a bear though!
@Kris_Allen: I wouldn’t mess with him right now if I were you. @zorropup #frenchie
Kris wanted his last album, “Horizons” to be stripped back and convey a lot of emotion. One of his favorites, “Beautiful & Wild” was inspired by the birth of his son.
5. What kind of sound can fans expect to hear on the next album?
I think it feels a little bit more “pop” like. It still feels like the songs on the last record but the direction is gonna be a bit bigger. The songs are bigger; the melodies are bigger.
6. Do you have any crazy fan experiences?
- Yes, there’s a lot.
Do you wanna tell us about one?
- Theres a lot! People have thrown stuff on stage, people have come up on stage. Throwing things doesn’t happen so much anymore, which is a good thing. Once in Vegas, someone came up on stage and wanted to dance with me and the band. There’s a million other things that I probably can’t think of right now!
During the show Allen invited a student on stage to sing a song of her choice.
Watch the two belt out Titanium – David Guetta (feat. Sia)
Do you get used to it?
- Yeah, totally. I mean you just do. There’s so many different experiences. You talk to a lot of different people. Some of them really like you, some say really sweet stuff about how your music has changed their life, and some people say they didn’t like it. I feel like I’ve seen it all. One thing I will say about my fans is that they are really awesome. They’re really passionate. They send us cakes. We got a cake today.
How does it feel to have fans and people that listen and appreciate music and say that it’s changed them?
- It freaked me out at first. I was like … hold up…it feels a little too crazy at first. Then you start to really appreciate it because not everybody gets to have that. You love seeing the same faces at shows. I think it’s a really great thing. I never would of thought I would of had fans when I was playing guitar in high school.
This Canadian student spent his 19th birthday on stage being serenated by the man of the hour himself. lol! Don’t you wish that was you?! But, at least we got a shoutout!
@AdelphiUTweets:
Watch Kris give us a shoutout before performing “In Time”
*fangirl sceams inside.*
After the show, Kris stayed and met with students outside the concert hall. His humble demeanor and charisma had the girls swooning (and his smile…). It was refreshing to be in the presence of an artist who is as genuine as can be. His passion truly shined and we can’t wait to head out to one of his shows next time he hits the road!
Juls, junior biology major and HerCampus executive board member
Gabby, junior communications major and campus correspondent
Keep up with Kris and his music on social media :)