Follow Me Page 8
The rest of the boys ended up moving out of the other house, too, right around the same time I did. Not because they wanted alone time, but because apparently some big scary dudes in suits showed up at the front door asking them where the landlord was. They told them they had no idea, and that’s when the men started telling them about all the money the landlord owed them and that they’d better tell him he was in big trouble. It felt way too Mafia, and they cleared out fast.
Someone by your side when creepy guys show up at the front door is just one of the million reasons why having roommates is awesome. Throwing dinner parties and having someone to talk to in the middle of the night when you can’t sleep, not to mention sharing bills, make that first step into adulthood that much easier. Living with other people can lead to some of the best friendships you’ll ever have. I was so lucky to have such a strong support system while I built my career. I don’t regret one second of living with them. It created some of the best memories I think I’ll ever have in my life. Best of all, I can now fully appreciate the pleasure of coming home to a blissfully silent place, knowing I can walk around naked and no one will care.
CHALLENGE
#KNJPRANKFORRICKY
Climb up onto your roof and jump into the pool. KIDDING! Do not do that. I repeat, do not do that. Instead, pull the same prank that Kian and Jc played on me by tying someone’s door shut from the outside. Just be sure to let him or her out pretty quick. Trust me, it sucks if you don’t.
CHALLENGE
#BUNDLEUPFORRICKY
Put on as many layers of clothing as you can and post a selfie.
MUSIC
About a month after I debuted “Midnight Memories,” I followed it up with a cover of “Don’t Say Goodnight” by Hot Chelle Rae, and the response was just as great. When I was a kid, one of my biggest dreams was to be a singer, but I’d kept it a secret. It was just something I’d never thought possible until YouTube came into my life. And while I’d already succeeded at vlogging beyond any of my wildest hopes, I knew I’d probably need a little professional help to make becoming a professional singer a reality.
I’d known Charlie Puth socially from the YouTube circuit for a long time, and we’d been friends for a while, long before I even moved to L.A. He’s such a pro and I knew from the start that he was destined for huge things. (I was right—that song he did with Wiz Khalifa for the Furious 7 soundtrack now has over one BILLION views on YouTube!) He was already working with O2L on a song, and when I casually asked him if he’d be willing to collaborate on a song with me he said yes! The idea of writing an original song was terrifying but I knew I was in great hands. Charlie is a natural genius with music, not to mention patient and kind.
Since I didn’t really know anything about the music industry at the time, I didn’t know what to expect. I had no idea whether he’d be able to understand the idea that I could see so clearly in my head, but didn’t have the know-how to get out. I had nothing to worry about, though—he made the whole process feel natural and seamless. We hung out for a whole day in my bedroom at the Encino house, talking and playing around on my computer with GarageBand. I wanted the song to be really pop-y and fun, something you could just put on and jam to, and I also knew exactly what I wanted it to be about—the fact that you can have fun without drinking or doing drugs. It’s okay to be “Ordinary” and not always feel like you have to be crazy and follow the crowd. Being your own ordinary self is even cooler! The song was pretty much a direct response to my monklike ways in high school and college, but also something I totally still believe. You can be normal and sober and still have a blast. It’s weird how so many songs are about the exact opposite—people getting hammered and name-checking liquor and champagne brands. Not that I’ve got anything against those kinds of songs, it’s just that I’d never heard something that was fun and had the opposite message.
Charlie came up with an amazing melody and words for the chorus, and I wrote a lot of the lyrics in the verses with Charlie’s help. In case anyone’s wondering, the Kia Soul reference was NOT product placement. I genuinely love my old car! They should have paid me for that shout-out. J/K! But not really. Hey, Kia, you’re welcome for all that free promotion!
We recorded the next day, and suddenly I had a song of my very own! Looking back after making so much music since, the entire process was lightning fast. It’s crazy how quickly we made the song—then again, Charlie is a musical genius.
What I needed next was a video, and I really loved all the ones that Joey Graceffa had been putting out. The production values were always out-of-this-world good, and he introduced me to his director, that guy Andrew Vallentine whom I mentioned earlier, the one who helped me with “Midnight Memories.” We met up and I told him I wanted my video to be as light and fun as the song. He came up with the general concept on the spot. We rented this adorable barn with a movie-ready field made for frolicking in, and I recruited a bunch of friends like Kian, Jc, and jennxpenn to dance around and act silly with.
From start to the finished release, the whole thing took us less than two weeks. That time frame ended up setting a bad example for me, and unrealistic expectations for future music projects. I thought all songs and videos would come together just as fast and easily, but I’d soon learn that was hardly the case. I got lucky, big time.
After I posted the video the response from viewers was very supportive and loving, but my favorite memory of the whole experience is that day I had dancing around with my friends in the sun in the middle of a meadow. I think you can see it on our faces, too; nothing about filming it ever felt forced. It was like the song had actually come to life around me! I’m so happy that it’s preserved on film forever. I had no idea at the time that it was only the first step of a massive journey that I’m still on.
The idea of seriously pursuing a music career was scary, but I listened to my fear and tried to examine what it was really about. Genetically, I think we experience fear as a survival mechanism, a big red flag that something dangerous is happening. But since we’re not being chased by woolly mammoths anymore, I think fear has evolved into many different things. Conquering a fear when it comes to reaching out for what you want out of life equals emotional growth, which is just as important to survival as not getting eaten.
CHALLENGE
#ORDINARYFORRICKY
Make a music video to “Ordinary.” No rules here—you can lip-sync it or sing it yourself, just show me your vision for the song.
CHALLENGE
#STRANGERDANCEFORRICKY
Convince a stranger to slow-dance with you.
RANDOM
Now let’s take fear to a very literal place—scary movies! It’s weird that my first serious leap into acting was for my first original short film, The Storybook Killer, because I’m actually terrified of certain types of horror flicks.
For years I’d wanted to shoot a big Halloween video for my channel, but I’d always remember that plan about three days before October 31, so I’d never have time. This past year I remembered a little bit earlier, but only by, like, two weeks. I met up with Andrew Vallentine and we volleyed some ideas around and decided we should make an actual movie instead of just some sort of themed-prank video.
We got my friend Whitney Milam to write the script for us, and I knew I wanted to cast YouTubers, so I brought on Meg DeAngelis and Josh Leyva, but I also wanted seasoned actors in it to give it a little more cred, and we landed Ashley Argota, who has been all over Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel, and more recently a show I personally adore called The Fosters. We also got Cody Saintgnue, who’s best known for his recent role in another show I love, Teen Wolf.
The story centers on two brothers, one of whom disappears at a creepy theme park based on fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. On the tenth anniversary of the brother’s disappearance, a mysterious note shows up that leads the surviving brother and his friends to the park, where they get slaughtered one by one.
I can deal with serial ki
ller movies. In fact, the Halloween series is one of my favorite franchises ever. Even the lamer sequels like the one where a reality TV company run by Busta Rhymes and Tyra Banks locks a bunch of kids up in Michael Myers’s house totally does it for me. My thinking is that if you’re dealing with a crazy killer on the loose, you can make decisions based on real life to get out of the situation.
But if you’ve got a demon or a ghost on your hands, forget it. Movies like The Exorcist, The Ring, Evil Dead, and Paranormal Activity are on my permanent banned list. There’s just something deeply unsettling and unnerving to me about creatures that are otherworldly.
Look, I know we’re just talking about movies here, but they seriously scare me! The few times I’ve managed to sit through an entire ghost movie, I wasn’t able to sleep for days. Give me Jason Voorhees any day and I know I’d stand a chance as long as there was a machete nearby. The one exception to my rule about paranormal subjects is the show Supernatural. If there’s comedy involved, it helps take away the creepiness of demon possession.
Anyway, back to The Storybook Killer. Luckily Whitney’s script didn’t call for any ghost stuff. We filmed it at an actual theme park called Enchanted Forest in Oregon, a cool little tourist trap filled with plaster castles and doorways that look like you’re walking into a witch’s mouth. It’s a pretty eerie place, and felt even more so because it was closed for the winter at the time—perfect for our plot about the place being abandoned.
Getting to see everything that goes on behind the scenes of a horror movie makes it seem anything but scary, though. Watching the makeup and special effects people work their magic took away any element of fear. There are some majorly gory things that happen, but we were all laughing and joking as our brilliant makeup artist Monique Paredes applied tons of fake blood. Seeing how it was done took away any power the moment might have had over me if I were simply a viewer. It’s a good thing to remember if you’re watching a horror movie and get scared. If you see any blood, just remember that there’s probably a production assistant desperate for a lunch break holding a bucket of the sticky red dye just offscreen, ready to apply more gore if needed.
I came away from the whole experience with a couple of thoughts. One: I want to act in more films! Man, it was fun! But more important, there are a lot more things in this world to be scared of than a fictional movie. Acne and red carpet wardrobe malfunctions—these are worthy of my fear. A computer-generated poltergeist is not.
CHALLENGE
#SCREAMFORRICKY
Let’s hear your best horror movie scream!
CHAPTER 5
Fun
CHALLENGE
#WRONGSHOESFORRICKY
Wear a different shoe on each foot and tally up how many people actually point it out to you during an entire day.
MUSIC
I kept on working with Andrew Vallentine on almost all of the music videos I put out. The most involved one we did for the songs on the EP I put out after recording “Ordinary” was for “Stars.” I wanted to film it at some sort of barren, alien landscape, and after he did some research he came up with the idea of shooting in Iceland! He showed me photos of all these eerie black beaches, which were perfect. Normally our crew on a video could run as high as sixty people, but since Iceland was so far away (er, expensive), there were only five of us on location. Normally I’ll spare no cost when it comes to music videos. I’ll take on extra brand deals so I make sure that the final picture matches my initial inspiration. But we’re talking about Iceland . . . there was no way I could hustle up enough extra cash to get a giant team there.
It worked out better that way. Having fewer people around gave me a much better feel for the sense of isolation there, and I think it shows. With such a small team, we were able to travel all over instead of being confined to one place.
Andrew had flown there a week early to scout locations, and when the rest of us arrived we hopped in a rental car and drove along the southern coast to all the different spots he’d found, and we stayed in a different motel each night.
Everywhere we went, locals told us that we should have come to visit in the summer, that it was much more beautiful then. I felt their point—it was freezing! We filmed at a hot spring that was anything but and was surrounded by snow. When we shot a scene at a waterfall, the splashback felt like a million tiny needles on my skin. The coldest moment of my life was having to strip out of my costume behind a wall to change back into normal clothes. I swear I had hypothermia! Sometimes there were fifty-mile-an-hour winds that you could literally lean into and they would keep you standing. But it was all so worth it—I’ll do anything and go anywhere for the perfect shot, and I don’t think we could have gotten the same sort of incredible landscape scenes if it had been nice out. All of the spooky weather enhanced the exact atmosphere we were going for. (Still, I’d love to go back sometime and experience those hot springs the way they’re meant to be!)
At the time it was the biggest project I’d ever taken on, and it’s definitely one of the best trips I’ve ever been on.
When it came time to shoot the video for my next song, I wanted something completely different, and as usual Andrew was down.
I really love videos that are filmed in one long, continuous shot, like “Start All Over” by Miley Cyrus and “Hideaway” by Kiesza, and I wanted to try something like that for “BEAT,” the first single I released after putting out my EP, RPD. The song is inspired by my time in marching band, so it made sense to me to have the movements keep on going and going, just like we used to have to do at games. Instead of a football field, the vision I had was people dancing with me in a dark alleyway in a mysterious city at night. The only problem: I wasn’t that great a dancer. So we hired a choreographer named Mike Munich who has worked with Lady Gaga, and he was brilliant. He created a bunch of moves that I could learn easily and look good doing. We practiced together for a week before the actual shoot, which took place on a Disney back lot where things like Pirates of the Caribbean and episodes of Grey’s Anatomy had been shot.
We booked an all-night shoot, from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., and filming it was more like being in a play than being in a video, since we kept going in a single shot for so long. In truth it’s three continuous shots edited together to look like one. Our choreographer hired all of these incredible backup dancers—one of them had been in three Beyoncé videos and toured with her! These people were professionals, and I most definitely was not. I was completely nervous and freaked out. I thought they’d be like, Who is this kid? They couldn’t have been nicer or more supportive, though, and we’d laugh and joke around between takes, even when the sun started to rise and we were all exhausted.
I’m really happy with how it came out. I keep pushing myself harder and harder when it comes to making videos, but it never feels like work. At the time I’m writing this I just finished shooting with Trevor Moran for the song I did with him, “Steal the Show,” from my album Gold. My plan is to make a video for every single song on there (and spread them out over time, of course). Since I rented a freaking rain machine for the video with Trevor, I’m starting to feel like I need to either keep outdoing myself (shoot something at the bottom of the ocean!) or take it down a few notches (Ricky Unplugged?). Whatever I decide, I promise to make it fun for you.
CHALLENGE
#CHOREOFORRICKY
Create your own choreographed dance routine to “BEAT.” It doesn’t have to be to the entire song. I just want to see you move!
CHALLENGE
#BENICEFORRICKY
Make someone’s day and give a stranger a genuine compliment.
HEALTH
I hope I haven’t been sounding too preachy every time I write about fitness. I don’t mean to, it’s just that staying in shape changed my attitude and the way I feel about myself so much that I want everyone in the world to get the same kind of benefits out of it that I do. The last thing I want, though, is to come across as some sort of barking gym teacher when all you reall
y want to be doing is binge-watching Scream Queens for the fourth time.
But. BUT! You can do both!
What I’m about to suggest here is hardly revolutionary, I don’t even think they make treadmills without TVs on them anymore. If you don’t want to leave the house, then don’t! As much time as I spend running and working out at the gym, I think I get some of my most important and consistent work done in the privacy of my own home zoning out to the soothing sounds of the Kardashian/Jenner sisters.
Sit-ups. Push-ups. Crunches. Squats. Leg lifts. Planking. Lunges. Calf lifts. Floor humps.
Okay, I made that last one up, but these are all really easy exercises to do while hanging out alone in your living room. They don’t require any equipment, they’re free, and they’re relatively hard to screw up. If it’s tough for you to complete a push-up, turn on Fox News and scream your way through a couple.
Still too much exertion for you? Pick up one of those little hand squeezy thingies. (Googling those words will get you to what I’m talking about—apparently the technical term is “handgrips.”) Invest in an inflatable yoga ball and watch TV upside down while stretching your back, or sit on it and bounce gently up and down to strengthen your core. Heck, buy a Hula Hoop and shimmy your hips while watching Ellen! It’s low-impact cardio that helps slim your waistline. Just watch out for vases on nearby end tables.