Seventeen-year-old Mandy Moore hasn't wasted any time. As her third album, Mandy Moore, hits stores this week, she has the album's debut video ("Pennies in My Pocket) in the top ten of the all-important teen-tastemaking Total Request Live, two new films under her belt (The Princess Diaries and A Walk to Remember), her own daily show on MTV (The Mandy Show), a DVD (The Real Story) and plenty of exposure as a Neutrogena spokesperson.
Admist all of her face time, Moore has managed to evolve musically. Her new album, on which she participated in the songwriting, features a more worldly, grown-up sound. "It's me, it's who I am now," she says. "I mean, I'm seventeen -- not that that's such a difference from fourteen -- but in a way it really is."
What are you most proud of about the new album?
The cool thing about the album is that I feel it is a true reflection of me this go round. I recorded the first album -- basically the first two albums, [1999's So Real] and the special-edition album [last year's I Wanna Be With You] when I was fourteen -- so I was excited to be in the studio with music that was mine for the first time. I've been to so many different places around the world and exposed to so many different types of music, so I was excited to let my own taste in music come through on this album. It's definitely a pop record, but it's got organic elements: live guitar, bass, percussion, string quartet, anything and everything that I could do where it would be easy to take the album straight from the studio to the stage and have a live band perform it and not necessarily have to dance around and choreograph to every song. That was definitely my main goal.
What was it like to be part of the songwriting process?
It's weird to be in the company of people who have written on this album -- Emilio Estefan, Diane Warren and lots of really talented up-and-coming producers -- and here's Mandy Moore at the end with an acoustic song ["When I Talk With You"]. I wrote it with one of my guitarists on the road, and it was fun the way it all came together. The song is cool because in a sense it isn't like a really sappy pop ballad. It's definitely got a slow edge to it, but it is actually written about my friends and how your circle of friends gets smaller once you get into the business. It was good therapy in a sense to write the song and sort of get it off my chest, like, "Whew, that's out and its over and done with." I've kind of dealt with that and taken everything that I was feeling and putting it to words and had a positive come out of a situation I wasn't feeling very good about. I think people are gonna connect with this song because I definitely connect with this song more than I have on previous albums or on this album.
Do you play an instrument?
I was learning to play the guitar, but I'm just lazy. And I know I'll probably lose the guitar case or something on the road, and that's not good [laughs]. But I'm going to pick that up. That's one of my goals to at least know how to strum it and pick it enough to write my own songs without having someone actually on the piano each time to help me. I would love to learn how to accompany myself on the stage and just come out and sit on a stool and be able to play a song, even if it's just acoustic. I'll get there one day, I promise.
Talk about the album's sound.
A couple of songs were produced by Emilio Estefan and his camp down in Miami. And the great thing was that they were pop songs but with a great rock edge, great guitars, great bass line. And there was this Middle Eastern vibe to a couple of the songs we did with him, and it was really cool, like nothing I've ever really heard before. I thought that that would be a great sound, especially for the first single. When I heard "In My Pocket" for the first time, I just said, "That is a cool song!" It has just the right amount of aggression and a great vibe. It also sounded like such a great song [for] a video. It's so colorful, and to kind of bring on stage and to incorporate with a live band. It's a really a fun song to perform.
What is the concept behind the
video?
I knew I wanted a very colorful video, because I think the song really lends itself to a video like that, really bright. It has a Middle Eastern concept and edge to that so I really wanted to incorporate that into the video and [director] Matthew [Rolston] came up with this great concept of being in this club, and it could be anywhere in the world: lots of bright neon signs and people in these crazy costumes and dancing around and having a ball. We had a fire-breather and this random acrobatic troupe from Peking that just randomly happened to be in L.A. around the time we were shooting the video and they spun these plates on these sticks -- they had three sticks in each hand and were twirling plates on top of them. And we had this other guy who was actually a native and he had this jug that he would toss around and catch on his head and flip it around and it would still stay centered -- just weird, crazy, kooky tricks that we could use in the video. It was fun, a big free-for-all.
The Mandy Show is going on its second year on MTV. Does it offer you something that your music career doesn't?
It's fun to let your personality come through on TV. You want to have your music showcase as much as your personality as possible, but, let's face it, it's music and you'll never get that across as you are when your actually talking.
How was the experience of filming your first starring movie role, in A Walk to Remember?
One of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. I know that people my age are also going to see it and walk out having learned something. Its not a teen movie -- it's not about hair and makeup and who's wearing what clothes and how they're gonna start a trend by it. It's not a beauty movie where I'm being myself -- I'm the daughter of a southern Baptist minister. The character is so far away from me. It was quite a challenge . . . very taxing!