ShockHound

Interview by Nadine Cheung

Christofer Drew Ingle’s generation has never known a world without the Internet. But while the now 18-year-old’s peers spent their time surfing the Web, this Joplin, MO native figured out how to manipulate it to jump start his career.
    At age 14, Ingle learned how to play guitar while soaking in the influences of the Beatles and the Beach Boys to help craft his own songs. Then, using MySpace — and the moniker NeverShoutNever! — Drew posted his demos and attracted an online fanbase that was enraptured by the mop-haired teen’s music and musings, enough so that by the time he released the Yipee EP, MTV’s TRL was knocking on his door. He performed his single “Bigcitydreams” on the live countdown show, and has since garnered 45 million MySpace plays and sold over 125,000 tracks on iTunes without the help of a record label.
    Now, the vegan teen is on the brink of releasing the Summer EP, which was recorded and co-produced by Hellogoodbye’s Forrest Kline. However, much to the dismay of major labels that are chomping at the bit to sign him (and get a piece of the action), Drew is still putting his new tunes out on his own.
    In this exclusive ShockHound interview, the young singer-songwriter talks about his positive songs, the power of the Internet, and why dropping out of high school was the best decision he ever made.

SHOCKHOUND: How did you come up with the name NeverShoutNever!?

CHRISTOFER DREW: I don’t even know. I just remember I was trying to figure out what I wanted the name to be — I had, like, ten names. I was going to go with Never Say Never, but that was too plain for me, so I just put “shout” in there and thought it worked. I was young when we made it up, but we’re working with it now.

SHOCKHOUND: Why did you decide to use a stage moniker instead of just using your name?

DREW: I always saw NeverShoutNever! being more of a band than a singer-songwriter kind of deal, but I just wanted to have those options in front of me for the future. If you just go by your name, you can’t really have a band, you know?

SHOCKHOUND: “Bigcitydreams” was your breakout single. Were you surprised at the success of the song?

DREW: Yeah, I was, because I never saw it as my best song. We never really had a “single” off the EP, we just picked one, and I guess we picked well. People really like it, which is awesome. It’s really flattering.


WATCH: "Bigcitydreams" by NeverShoutNever!

SHOCKHOUND: You dropped out of high school to pursue your music career. Do you regret that decision at all?

DREW: No. I didn’t really fit in at school and every day was kind of hell for me. I skipped a lot. Once I got my driver’s license, it was all downhill from there because I stopped going to school and just wrote songs, whether it be in my car or at home behind my parents’ back. After a while it just didn’t make sense for me to be in school anymore because I was skipping too much and I was touring a lot.

SHOCKHOUND: Did your parents back you up on your decision?

DREW: At first they were a little iffy about it, but after a while they started to understand that things were actually starting to work a little bit and they were totally supportive after that.

SHOCKHOUND: Why have you chosen to release the Summer EP on your own rather than with a label?

DREW: That was our first intention. We were going to release it independently, and now we have some insane label offers, but we’re just going to do it independently and see what happens. We’ll probably go through someone with the full-length, whether it's with distribution or a label, I don’t know. We’re still figuring that out.

SHOCKHOUND: When are we going to see the full-length album from you?

DREW: Probably late fall. I think we’re going to start recording it in June.

SHOCKHOUND: Do you have a producer picked out?

DREW: We’re still deciding. We’re thinking maybe Butch Walker, but we’re not exactly sure yet.

SHOCKHOUND: You’ve received a great amount of recognition at such a young age. Do you feel a sense of responsibility to be a good role model for other teens?

DREW: I do. I feel the need to be a positive influence, but at the same time, I live my life a certain way and I have for a really long time, so I like to keep my personal life separate from my music. I like to always have happy, positive music, but I feel like my personal life and my musician life can be a little separate. But I definitely would never want to influence kids to do anything that I don’t feel they should be doing. A lot of my fans are 14, 15, so I try to be positive. I feel somewhat responsible in the sense that I need to just tell them what I think is right, but at the same time you have to understand that they’re four years younger than me, so we’re at different ends of life right now.

SHOCKHOUND: The Internet has played a huge role in getting your music out to the public. Do you think it’s easier for artists today to get noticed because of sites like MySpace, or do you think it’s harder because so many musicians can post their work online?

DREW: I think it’s both. It all depends on the music and the artist. I mean, if you’re going with what’s trendy and what’s in or whatever right now, then it’s definitely harder because so many people are trying to do the exact same thing. There are just so many options because a new band is just a click away. It’s a really competitive thing, but if you’re doing something different, it’s a lot easier because they can’t just click a button and find the same kind of band. But I think it can be both, it all just depends.

SHOCKHOUND: What are your tips or suggestions for artists that are thinking of marketing themselves the way you did?

DREW: The only advice I give out is just always put up new things. Always keep people interested. It’s the only way to do it — if you have something new up almost every day, then kids are going to keep coming back to your site and telling their friends about it.

SHOCKHOUND: Do you ever think about how different things would be if you didn’t have the help of the Internet?

DREW: Yeah, it’d be a lot different. I’d still be in high school!

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