Ryan Star!

YOUR ALBUM 11:59 DROPS THIS JUNE. WHAT DOES THE NAME STAND FOR?

11:59 is more of an idea. The album has a lot of moments on it, the songs "Brand New Day," "This Could Be the Year," "Right Now," and "Wake Up" are very time-oriented and have an urgent feel to them. So, when I think of 11:59, I think of the time in the day when where you really can focus on the moment. 11:59 is the guy catching a football in the end zone. Everyone has an 11:59, and it’s probably one of his or her greatest moments.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE A GIRL ABOUT ASKING A GUY OUT OR GETTING THEM TO CALL??

I would say — as the guy who was always too shy to call — that the boys want to call but they always assume the girls they want are doing really fun things and don’t want to hear from them. So to the boys, I would say "Man up!" And to the girls, I would say be a little more outgoing. You need to strike up the conversation and get the guy out of his shell. Remember, the nice guys are the ones sitting on the side while the mean dudes are picking up all the girls!

WHAT IS THE MOST EMBARRASSING THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU DURING A PERFORMANCE?

Once I was playing a show in Seattle and at the end of the concert I was like, 'Thank you, Spokane!' The whole crowd went completely quiet — it was one of those totally cliché Spinal Tap moments — I realized it quickly and was like, 'Just kidding!' The other night though, I was doing a rock n' roll kick during a show and my shoe went flying in the air! It landed right on the head of my acoustic guitarist. It couldn’t have been a better hit, but I was really embarrassed.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR FIRST KISS:

I used to have serious issues with kissing. My whole childhood I was stressed about getting married. I thought the first time I was ever going to kiss a girl was when I got married after they say "Kiss the bride." I would always think about it and get really worried that when the time came, I wouldn’t know what to do. I was stressed about this until I was about 13, when I finally kissed a girl. She was very forward, and I was so not ready for it. She kind of just grabbed me and went for it: open mouth, tongue in. I didn’t know what was happening. Afterwards, I remember opening my eyes and checking out the world around me, knowing nothing would ever be the same. I am still recovering.