Interviews (246)

• February 5, 2025
• Colleen Johnson
• 92
• 0

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Editor’s note: Singer/actor Adrian Lyles – who you may know from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series on Disney +, a series that also boosted the career of stars like Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett – stepped out on his own in September with his debut single “Formalize Me” on Hollywood Records. He’s currently working on his debut album and is on the road in a support role for Almost Monday. We recently got to chat with Lyles about everything going on and his plans for this year.

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New England Sounds: To start off, you’ve only played a few shows on this run so far with Almost Monday. But maybe the three things you had to have with you on this run were mandatory for this first tour of your’s?

Adrian Lyles: So yeah, heading into this first run, I’ve been working with a lot of really great people, like tour veterans. Everyone playing with me, my incredible band members, is touring veterans. But for what I needed to have, my speaker! It’s over there (points off-camera); I need music playing all the time. A camcorder, I’ve been making a tour documentary, so need to have this, and I definitely need this (what appears to be a stuffy). I put this on stage, I put him on my piano every night, I put it on there ; every night. Those three things, my speaker, my camcorder, and this thing, his name is Jerry. 

NES: Is he your good luck charm for this tour?

Adrian: He is! My drummer, Trevor, was like, “Dude, I swear, he’s the good luck charm.” A good luck charm on stage; I put him on my keyboard every day. 

NES: Aw, perfect! Then you started releasing music in 2023 for this solo project, but Formalize Me, and King of Everything are the most recent. But how have these first few shows been with Almost Monday? 

Adrian: Oh my gosh, we’ve played three shows so far. And I couldn’t have asked for a better start. I just went into this with no expectations; I’m just really happy to be here. Very grateful that Almost Monday had us. You have no idea; they’re absolutely killing it right now. And so it’s so dope for this first tour that we’re doing. Oh my gosh, I don’t think any of us were expecting such a respective and energetic and excited-to-be-here crowd. Most of the people know the words to the songs; they’re jumping, screaming with us, and waving their hands and flashlights. It’s the kind of stuff that like you see on a band’s third or fourth tour. But it’s been like that since day one. The night before last, in Denver, was insane. It was just so incredible, and people were so into it and so kind. So, we’re just having a good time playing music for people, man! It’s been good. 

NES: And you have a few singles out, but what was your pivotal moment in exploring music? You’ve had experience in entertainment, but this is your first time kind of going out as a solo artist. But when was that pivotal moment for you, like I’m going to go out and do my own thing. 

Adrian: Oh man, I think probably around thirteen. I just turned twenty on January 4th, and when I turned thirteen, I was playing gigs in Texas. I think that’s the moment that I started. Because I played a lot of really great things and had a lot of fun. But back in Texas, I was playing a bunch of really cool gigs, but there were gigs that I was playing that would be like, I would get  hired to play three-hour gigs like at a club. And it would be like three hours, and there would be three or four people there, you know what I’m saying. And I’d play for three hours and love every second of them because I was playing music. I think that’s the moment I knew, but it only gets easier after you’ve played for nobody and had fun. So I kind of had that moment, at the Salt Lake show, where I remember looking out at people going crazy and singing with us, and jumping and screaming. It was like, oh my god, when I was thirteen, this is all I wanted. And now we’re really starting; it is a starting point. Like a regular band, on the first tour that I’ve ever been out on. It was crazy. 

NES: I’m sure you can’t say much, but you know it is kind of that singles market. You’ve released two singles, but maybe with the most recent single, could you tell a little about the story behind the song? How did that song come about, the latest one, King Of Everything. 

Adrian: Absolutely! King Of Everything came out three days ago. It came out the day we played the Salt Lake City show. And that song, it’s  kind of about what I just said. The last seven years of my life, and put into three minutes and thirty seconds. Where it is, just talking about how I have been playing music and have been loving music for so long. Being in a place in Nashville, looking at these people that you idolize and adore, and saying, “Oh my god, I want to be like that.” I’m going to do this, and I’m going to do that. And I’ve always held myself to such high standards. Like I have to do this, and I have to do this, and the whole song to me is about this need to consistently better yourself, but not to the point where it becomes unhealthy. I think chasing self-betterness is very important. I think everyone should always strive to be better than the person that they are. But you can do too much, to the point where it’s not that you’re trying to better yourself. But thinking that you’re not enough. They’re two different things. Can make yourself better or making yourself better because you don’t like who you are. They’re two very different things. And I think it’s always grappling with those two things, like self-consciously fighting. That’s what the song is about, and it’s kind of what I’ve been dealing with and am still dealing with. What I’ve been dealing with over the past ten years is trying to get better, but I also like not being upset about where I am. Do you get what I’m saying? 

NES: No, yeah, that’s perfect! Then, again, you’re only a few days into this tour, so I’m sure you can’t say much about what you’re planning to do for these sets. But you are in that main support slot; it’s just you and Almost Monday on this tour. How have you been kind of curating these sets? Is it like some tracks you’re road-testing that people haven’t heard yet? Are you doing any covers? How are you planning that time? You’re not on that stage for twenty minutes. 

Adrian: Yeah! We’re playing thirty to thirty-five minutes each night. Which is really great. We’re doing a different set every night, which I think is really cool and special. We are playing a cover; it’s one of my favorite parts of the set because it just kinds of lets us musically explore. 

But we’re doing a different set every night, and I think that’s cool. It’s how I’ve always played gigs; I have a list of songs, and I take fifteen every night and do them in this order. It’s funny because I and my incredible band members will be on the bus, and we’ll be like, “, oh my god,, dude, the show’s in three hours; we have to make a set list! And send it to our tour manager. We have songs we gravitate towards, but we prep fourteen or fifteen songs and play seven each night. I want to give everybody their own experience, and I think that’s what we’re trying to do. And it feels lovely, it feels really special. 

NES: And I know you’re probably on a pretty tight schedule; you’re still early on this tour, but maybe hopes or goals for this year? We’re still so early in this year; it’s obviously a bit of a chaotic start to this year, to say the least. But maybe hopes or goals for you as an artist in these next few months? 

Adrian: I got a whole bunch of plans, but hopes or goals that I can say. I want to play a festival this year, that would be so sick like that would be awesome to play a festival this year. I want the rest of this tour to be incredible; it will be lovely, which it definitely will be. We’ve got a lot of really great people on the road with Almost Monday, our crew, and my band. And what we’re doing, I think, is a goal. I’m planning something that I can’t say anything about for the start of next year, because nobody knows about it yet. My own label doesn’t even know about it yet because it’s still brewing in my head. But yeah, I want to play a festival; I want to play as many shows as possible. That’s my goal! I spent all last year making music, and now I want to take it to people and show it to them. So the goal is more music, hopefully, play a festival, play more shows. Just overflooded with things to do; I want to be busy!

Adrian Lyles plays Brighton Music Hall in Boston, MA on February 5th. The show is all ages and Lyles will take the stage at 8pm. Tickets are available HERE.

Featured image: Cole Ferguson