Ashley
Tisdale's
"Guilty Pleasure"
by Lynn Barker
 Miss
Sharpay is on a roll! Ashley Tisdale just won the MTV Movie Award for
Breakthrough Female Performance in the last High School Musical
(Senior Year) film beating her co-star Vanessa Hudgens. Having wrapped
her long stint as the blonde diva we love to hate, the actress/singer/dancer
has re-invented herself as a hot brunette (her natural color).
The news Ashley
would really like you to know is that her "edgy" pop/rock (emphasis
on rock) album called "Guilty Pleasure" is coming out On July
28th. We chatted about the new CD, some specific songs on the album, Ashley's
feelings about her HSM years, dating advice, who she would love to collaborate
with musically and her new film Aliens in the Attic. And, hey,
the star admits "I've definitely been cheated on" so what must
a potential boyfriend never do if he doesn't want to tick her off?
AGW: Talk
about the great new reddish brown hair? I think it looks great on you.
Are you going to keep that color?
Ashley: Yeah,
for sure. It's really close to my original hair color. I'm really happy
to be back to being brunette. It's nice.
AGW: Is that
to break with Sharpay's sort of blonde mean girl vibe?
Ashley: I
just kind of wanted to go back to the original. I was blonde for a good
amount of years and I just wanted to give my hair and rest and do something
different to show another side of me that people hadn't really seen. But
I'd definitely go back to blonde for a character, a role if I have to.
But, I love being brunette.
AGW: Speaking
of hair, the song "Hair" on your new album is really cute..
more of a hip hop vibe on that one and it's more light-hearted. Where
does that one come from?
Ashley: It
is lighthearted but there's a sense of edginess because it's an innuendo
but it's something that I thought was a great, catchy song. Oak produced
it and he also produced "Hot Mess" and, when I heard the track,
I was l like 'man, this song is so good and different and nobody's done
anything like this'. I'm all about my hair for sure. It's all about the
hair [we laugh] so I fell in love with it. A lot of people were second
guessing it but I was like 'no, this song has to go on the album'. Maybe
even that will be a single some day. Everybody's really enjoyed that song.
AGW: Most
of the sounds on "Guilty Pleasure" are much harder-edged than
your Sharpay songs of course but also those on your first solo album "Headstrong".
Were you determined to bring out an album that was a more edgy departure
but still please all your HSM fans?
Ashley: Yeah,
I really wanted something that is a reflection of where I am in my life
right now and I feel I am growing up. I'm turning 24 so it is more guitar-driven,
more pop-rock and I think that my fans are growing with me as well. The
first album, for me, was a learning experience where, with the second
album, I knew exactly what I wanted out of it so I recorded over 25 songs
until I got exactly what I wanted.
 AGW:
And did you co-write some of those?
Ashley: I
did. I co-wrote four songs on the album; "Acting Out", "Without
You", "Overrated" and "What If".
AGW: "It's
All Right, It's Okay' with lyrics like "I'm so much better without
you" will strike a personal chord with a lot of your teen fans suffering
from break-ups and "How do you Love Someone" asks how can we
move on without getting hurt and destroyed? What advice would you give
to teen girls who are staying in abusive relationships because they just
feel they can't move on?
Ashley: The
song "How Do You Love Someone" talks about a mom and dad and
coming from a broken family. My family is great so I don't relate to that
song in that way but I do relate to it, when you have been cheated on
or you're in a relationship where you just don't know how to get past
that. You bring the baggage along. "It's All Right, It's Okay"
is just a really strong, empowering song that kind of helps you move on.
I have definitely been cheated on and with someone you really like, if
they are cheating on you, you don't want to believe it. But, unfortunately,
you either stay in the relationship and keep getting hurt because it keeps
happening or you get up and you move on. You don't look back. That's something
that's very empowering and I think that you should [move on] because you'll
be much happier in the long run.
AGW: Good
advice. Speaking of guys, what must a guy never do if he doesn't want
to tick you off?
Ashley: [laughs]
Never be dishonest.
AGW: Amen
to that one. We hear that you really like the tune "Masquerade"
from the record. That one seems more rock-ish. Might it be in a music
video? Which songs will be music videos?
Ashley: I'm
hoping that's going to be the second single for sure. I do love that song
and hopefully, a lot of people will like it. We're not over-thinking [on
the music videos]. It's just what the next single will be but I always
have visions for the music video and I'm always coming up with treatments
and I work really well with my director and I brainstorm on that stuff.
I do have a great idea for "Masquerade" and I'm so hoping that's
the next single.
AGW: How do
you look back on your High School Musical years now?
Ashley: I'm
so grateful for what "High School Musical" has brought to me.
I think, for all of us, we've always been so grateful for it and I wouldn't
be here today if it wasn't for them and we're all gonna do separate projects
and move on and we're all growing up. I cherish what we did and everything
that happened with "High School Musical". It's something I'll
always keep in my heart.
AGW: What
is the most important lesson you learned from doing all the HSM films?
Ashley: I
guess to expect the unexpected. I never did expect anything from it. Just
have fun and sometimes the unexpected happens which is pretty amazing
and it's very exciting. That's something I've learned.
AGW: On your
website, you mention twitter wars with your guitarist Jacob. Wazzup with
that? Is it still going on?
Ashley: Oh,
no. Me and Jacob work every day with each other so we like to twitter
about each other while we're in the same room. They're such a great group
of people (her band). I'm so lucky to have them but this new twittering
thing I'm addicted to of course. It's gotten out of hand. But it's fun.
I love it.
AGW: What
artist or band do you find yourself listening to more and more now?
Ashley: I
listen to a wide group of people. I listen to Pink, Katy Perry, My Chemical
Romance, The Rocket Summer, Boys Like Girls, Lady GaGa.
AGW: What
musical artist or band would you just love to collaborate with in future?
Ashley: I
would like to collaborate with Boys Like Girls, actually. I think they're
fun and I've always been a big fan of theirs so I definitely would love
to do something with them. [hey guys, listen up!].
 AGW:
Any make-up or designers you have recently discovered or just love?
Ashley: I
love Chanel make-up and Laura Mercier. In clothes I love Alternative Apparel
t-shirts. I love J-Brand jeans, Pace jeans, Christian Louboutin shoes,
anything from Barney's Shoes is amazing too. Top Shop is great too.
AGW: You have
a new film Aliens in the Attic (formerly They Came From Upstairs).
Can you talk about who you play and the storyline?
Ashley: That
comes out July 31st. I play the oldest sister Bethany. It's not a character
that's a big stretch. She's the sister who is kind of bratty and then
is really involved with her boyfriend played by Robert Hoffman of Step
Up 2. It's a cool action comedy. We get invaded by aliens. We're
on a family vacation and we have Andy Richter, Tim Meadows, Doris Roberts.
We had a blast filming. The producer Barry Josephson produced Enchanted
and Men in Black. It was a fun character in a fun movie.
AGW: Would
you do a TV series again?
Ashley: Maybe.
I really want to get more into feature films because I've just started
in feature film work. I come from but I do love TV shows. Comedy sitcoms
are my favorite so I was someone who loved "Friends" and "Will
and Grace". If anything like that came back out, I'd love to do it.
AGW: Are these
rumored projects Teen Witch and a Mall-based film still in the
works for you?
Ashley: Well
Teen Witch is something I want to do a re-make of so they are
just doing the writing right now. It's a movie I loved growing up and
the mall show was a show I was producing through my production company
called Blondie Girl Productions for the Disney Channel but we're back
to the stages of just trying to figure out a show. Nothing to talk about
there.
AGW: Any message
for your fans and for potential fans of your music who haven't heard your
post-Sharpay sound?
Ashley: I
think this album is fun, a lot more rock, edgier. I really wanted to make
an album that you can rock out to and have fun to and that had a strong
sense of survival. I think that's what this album is about. You can just
listen to it as you're getting ready with your girlfriends to go out or
in your car. It's just something that makes you feel good. Even the break-up
songs are kind of more the angsty, pop/rock songs rather than sad love
songs in a way.
Pictures courtesy
of and copyright AshleyTisdale.com, 2009
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