*Introduce yourself:
My name is Justin Drew Lanning. I was born in Los Angeles, California on November 28th, 1985. I am an astute vegetarian and animal lover. I have 3 dogs; Vanilla, Spot & Angel. I am also a big family guy! I love my parents with all my heart. I love to be in nature and I love my fans.
*When did you get started in the music industry?
I started myself out when I saw some older classmates jamming out at a camp type of school retreat. It blew my mind to see all of my friends playing and I thought to myself I can do all of that… and I did. I learned how to play every instrument that I saw that day. Guitar, Bass, Drums, Percussion, Harmonica and Vocals.
*Behind these eyes is your Debut CD which is out and can be purchased on itunes, what was it like recording and how excited were you when it came out?
I was terribly excited when it came out. It was a bad experience with the label that I partnered up with… they didn’t do their part and it made it a lot more challenging for me to pick up their pieces and develop my own label at the same time… that’s when I decided I would be going full force with my own label, Just Love Records. My music is too valuable to put so much trust into someone or some organization to do a poor job promoting and distributing the product. It truly was a blessing in disguise, because now I am developing and constantly refining new ways for musicians and artists to be presented to the world. I am very excited about my next release, we are in the process of preparing and launching the new record cycle. Producing BTE was a huge challenge as well. I battled with the producer constantly and it culminated at the end me screaming at him and telling him to get the F outta my house… he apologized and coerced me into finishing the project… I shoulda been a little more of a hard ass, cuz that producer, Steven Miller is the most egotistical, pig headed person I have ever met!! it started with me drinking a lot of water before I sang… He said it made me sound watered down.. and to not drink any water at all unless he told me to.. at first I agreed because I wanted the relationship to work and then I completely was not okay with that.. I drank away!!! then… I was listening back to a take and I thought it sounded great! and Steven was adamant that it wasnt right and sounded bad… he said that if i didnt listen to his judgement, he would resign. I couldnt take it anymore… I said get the hell out of my house!!! I called him out on it and was unafraid. He convinced me to keep working. Another lesson learned.. ALWAYS FOLLOW MY HEART. it was a hard journey with BTE, my first record.. Not to mention all the people who tried to screw me along the way… I learned sooooo much! Now, i have a new record in the works and will not make the same mistakes twice.
*You started your own label-King George Records, how has it been doing your career on your own from the bottom up?What have you sacrificed in order to make this all happen?
To be where I want to be takes much time, careful planning and strong execution of ideas. I have sacrificed much time to do all of these things. Even when I was a young pup, I went to school all day and then did 3-4 auditions after school and had little time to converse with friends or go to social events. Thats really the story of my life… I have been ULTRA busy. I love it ! its fun to be busy and have things going on.. sometimes its a little much and I do need the well deserved vacation or break. But to be on top takes extreme dedication and sometimes there isn’t time to hang with the guys, or play a video game.
*You’ve turned down many record deals, do you feel strongly on this?
I haven’t turned down that many, LOL! a couple though… yes, they were bad deals and I just didn’t feel comfortable. I’m really happy about where I am now. Things are looking really up and positive. I have been on a fascinating creative journey for almost 2 decades and its not stopping there. There is so much to see and experience. I will probably sign a major deal in the future, but only once I really prove to myself that I can do everything on my own… who knows, maybe I won’t sign with a major… I’ll already have done all of the hard legwork and building… if its the right deal, I may consider… I always like to keep an open mind.
*What was it like working on CSI: Las Vegas with a role as a murderer?
I LOVED IT!!! i love playing the villain !!! waaaaaaay cool. I was a little shocked to see me murder someone after the fact, when I was out of character, I seemed really convincing… even to myself. I can be a pretty harsh critic. I would love to play more bad guys..
*Do you have a tour in the works?
Yes!!! I will be touring for a good part of 09′ across the US. There are some shows being scheduled right now in France, Canada, Japan and parts of Europe.
*You’ve done a lot of commercial work, do you enjoy shooting those or do you prefer TV shows?
I love to film commercials.. There’s always something different and fun about them… One time I was filming a Pop Tarts commercial and we got to fly around in a helicopter, and another commercial I did, Pizza Hut, was so elaborate words can’t begin to describe it! Although, I really do love to do TV shows as well.. anything with a camera is fun. That’s why I decided to write, direct, produce and star in my own show… JUSTIN’S WORLD!!!! its really me just being a big goof… which I am normally… if you haven’t seen it, check it on youtube.
*You’ve recorded a CD, you’ve filmed commercials and been on TV shows, if you had to pick one of the three, which would you pursue?
MUSIC!!! I can’t stop playing music. Its just too much fun!! I will always love to do music more than any other artistic activity. I love music and music is a part of me. I can’t choose not to do music. I have to do it.
*Do you have a message for your fans and the readers?
JUST LOVE! the world is so full of sadness and anger. If we only could just band together with a unified vision and goal, the world would be such a better place. I have hope. Hope for the future generations to come, that one day we all may live in peace.
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