Kendall Schmidt of Heffron Drive: Writing for a Universal Audience and Why He May Not Be Done with Acting

Brianne Nemiroff

Just six years ago, Kendall Schmidt and Dustin Belt were simply best friends who loved to make music together. In 2008, Schmidt began to put music covers on YouTube, and releasing original music with Belt on their MySpace page. Not even a year later, Nickelodeon knocked and Schmidt signed on to be a member of Big Time Rush.

Belt signed on to be a touring guitarist with the group and they put their project, Heffron Drive, on hold temporarily. After four seasons and multiple world tours, Big Time Rush disbanded in 2013. That is when Heffron Drive was able to start up again, but this time around, millions of people are aware of the name Kendall Schmidt (and the name “Heffron Drive” as it is Kendall’s personal Twitter handle).

After about a year of touring, Heffron Drive’s debut album, “Happy Mistakes,” was released on Sept. 9. Now on a small U.S. tour to promote the album, they will be performing at the House of Blues Sunset Strip on September 28. Even though their professional roots lie in pop music, the music of Heffron Drive is an effortless mix of pop, rock, and dance. However, their passion for electronic dance music and pop never clash, and the album flows in its entirety. While on tour, Kendall took the time to talk to Entertainment Voice about the new album, the stories behind his songs, and and how he handles himself in the public eye.

You’ve been touring as Heffron Drive for almost a year. While a lot of fans were originally just Big Time Rush fans who were following you to your next career move, are you starting to see an influx of new fans coming in?

There’s a lot of fans who’s been waiting since 2008, when we first put music out, who are showing up to the shows. We’ve been asking the audience during the shows if they’ve never been to a [Heffron Drive] show before, and [now] it’s been pretty much half the audience. There’s been a really great response so far. And ironically, not only boyfriends [of female fans], but guys have been showing up as well to [hear] the music.

The songs of Big Time Rush were all linked in to the show, so most of them were about love. But the majority of Heffron Drive’s songs are also about love. Is it a preferred topic of yours or are you most easily drawn to writing about love?

I think it seems to be what comes out. The first thing I think about is a love song, or a song about a girl. [I want] to write a song that’s universally for everybody. If you noticed on “Happy Mistakes,” it’s either love songs or universal songs. That’s pretty much it.

On “Happy Mistakes,” you go in and out of multiple genres effortlessly, creating a mix of pop, rock and dance tracks. Is there a go-to song for when you want to portray a particular emotion or is there a genre or style that you struggle to write naturally?

The goal is always to try to write a ballad, have one or two on every record. When you’re in the process of completing an album, you [ask yourself] what am I missing? On “Happy Mistakes” in particular, it got to a point where there was a lot of mid-tempo songs. So I needed to finish up with a couple up-tempo songs. “One Track Mind”, “Position of the Heart”, and “Passing Time” is my [The] Postal Service homage.

Now that “Happy Mistakes” is available, what are you and Dustin looking forward to the most?

I’m curious to see what its natural spreading progression is. You can do as much promotion as you want, but word of mouth is the number one way to promote. I hope the music is original enough and cool enough that they tell their friends about it and their friends go pick it up or download it. That’s all you can really hope for.

“Parallel” is a beautiful song about soulmates. What was the inspiration behind the song and why was it chosen to be your first single off “Happy Mistakes”?

The soulmates debate is something we all think about it. It was a universal topic, not only that, but something that I think about a lot. I constantly consider if [my soulmate] is someone that I have already met, or a good friend. I wanted that to be conveyed.

The reason I picked it as my first single is because it showed off my love for electronic [music] but it also had the acoustic elements in it that I thought were necessary to keep in the band element that I want “Happy Mistakes” to have.

“Had to Be Panama” is another track that stands out for its underlying electronic beats and almost even a reggae feel at times. As you’ve been touring the world with BTR and with Heffron Drive, did your world travel influence the style or lyrics of the song?

I’ve been to Panama once before. I went for a Big Time Rush show one time. There was a girl that I liked there that was really cute. I had that in mind when I was writing it but it was more just about the fact that love can happen anywhere, and of all places, it had to Panama. It’s not really up for debate of why it’’s Panama; it just had to be Panama. It could have been any country, but from my experience it was Panama.

“One Track Mind” is a song about taking a stand and doing what you want. It is one of the most sonically powerful tracks on the record. What inspired the track and what made you decide to go the dubstep route?

I’m a huge EDM fan. It was a no-brainer to have a dubstep element song. But [in terms of the lyrics], I’m extremely stubborn. I’m accused of it all the time. I thought it was a funny thing to write. [During the writing process], I sang [the dubstep beats] to get the idea as I had never made an electronic song before. I had to mouth out the parts and try to find the instruments with the producers to really lock it in and get the sound correct. It’s definitely a fan favorite because it goes off really well live. It has the most EDM elements to it.

You started in BTR when you were 17. You’re about to turn 24. What has made you mature the most throughout your career?

The thing that’s made me mature the most is having to do this experience by myself (with Dustin, but not with BTR), realizing that not everything lasts, and not everything goes the way you want it to. You have to grow and change. It’s a necessary part of getting older, and turning 24 [in November], I’m barely into my young adult life. There’s plenty of time to do the things I’m trying to do and I’m trying to stay focused through it.

Is there anything else besides Heffron Drive that you’d like to squeeze into your busy schedule? Is there something you feel that you haven’t had time to do yet?

Occasionally I think about doing a movie part, but it has to be the right one. I’ve had some meetings, but I haven’t confirmed anything yet. Other than that, I would like to produce music and write songs for people. It would be really cool to sign some other artists one day.

Do you handle yourself in the public eye, and therefore Heffron Drive, differently than you first did when you started out?

Regardless of what project I [associated with], I try to handle myself with poise and professionalism. Music is an artistic avenue. I think you have to be a bit of a quirky person to be involved in the business. But, it’s all I ever think about. I live and breathe the music I make and perform. I wouldn’t want any public image that I have to taint that passion that I have for it. I try to stay pretty focused But I like to party like anyone else. I’m just not an idiot. I don’t want to jeopardize everything that I’ve worked hard for.

Heffron Drive will be performing at the House of Blues Sunset Strip on September 28. Tickets are available here.