INSIDE COREY HART

INSIDE COREY HART

Jackie Kallen

Not too long ago, Corey Hart was just another good-looking young singer/songwriter struggling to make it. Then, all of a sudden, he hit it big with his first hit, “Sunglasses At Night,” and his career suddenly skyrocketed overnight.

“I’m only 23 years old,” says Hart, “and I have to admit that I’ve been extremely lucky. Stuff has happened very quickly for me in the past two years since 'Sunglasses’ came out.

“I’ve always dreamed of doing what I’m doing now. It was something I wanted to do ever since I was young. When you’re young, you’re very impatient and you want things to happen quickly. So, of course, I’m really happy with the way things are working out for me. I intend to continue working at it and hopefully I’ll just keep getting better and better.”

Though he’s Canadian, it was in the States that Hart got his first real break. When “Sunglasses At Night” was released in Canada, it bombed. It was only after it became a hit in the U.S. that the Canadian stations took notice and started playing it. Now, radio stations on both sides of the border play Corey Hart.

“It really frustrated me at first,” he admits. “I guess it’s frustrating for a lot of Canadian artists...not just me. I’m certainly not the only one who’s gone through it. It was particularly upsetting for me because I’ve always been so proud of being a Canadian. My nationality is very important to me, so it was very disheartening to me that things didn’t work out right away.

“This past year, though, has been pretty unbelievable. My album is Diamond in Canada, which is something that’s very rarely achieved by any artist, regardless of where they’re from. So I feel very fortunate.” Most of the songs on Hart’s debut album, First Offense, were written when Corey was 18 or 19 years old. But he actually started writing songs several years before that.

“I really feel that I’m a much better writer today. At least I’d like to believe that. I think that the subject matter that I’m writing about has evolved. The situations around me and the things that I’m concerned about have changed. I’ve grown up. I know that there has been a marked progression and I’m proud of it. I still write about very personal things and I don’t think that will ever change.”

Corey was only 16 years old when he left home to seek fame and fortune in New York. He struggled for several years, but doesn’t regret the move.

"Would I do it again? I don’t know. That’s tough to answer. I didn’t leave because I was unhappy. I left because I felt I wasn’t going to get where I wanted to go staying there. I don’t regret it, though, despite the fact that I didn’t always have the best time of it.

"It was just one of those things I had to do, so I’d probably do the same thing today if I had to do all over again. I felt very frustrated in Canada and I had to make a break and try somewhere different. Things somehow work out for the best.”

Corey came very close to getting the lead role in the hit film, Back To The Future, but the timing wasn’t right and it just wasn’t meant to be.

"A lot of directors and producers send me scripts. One of the scripts that was sent to me was Back To The Future, with an offer to do a screen test. I loved the script and was excited about the prospect of working with Steven Spielberg. Believe it or not, I never pursued it or went for the screen test. Even though it was a great opportunity, I thought it over and decided that I’m a musician and a songwriter and that’s my first love. That’s why I’m in the business. It’s not that I wouldn’t want to get involved in films, but it’s not something I want to do right now. Michael J. Fox is a much better actor, anyways.

"When I do make a film, I want to get involved with it creatively in terms of possibly collaborating on the screenplay or even writing it myself. Before I started writing songs, I used to write short stories, so the writing end of it is very appealing to me. If I get some free time in the near future I’d like to devote some of my energies to writing a screenplay.”

Hart says he’s not the type to rush into things unprepared, so he’d want to study acting pretty seriously before taking the plunge.

‘‘Oh, definitely. I’d need to study for at least a year or so. I mean I love doing videos and I enjoy being in front of a camera, and I think I’m improving all the time. I really believe, though, that there are certain fundamental things that you should get under your belt before you attempt to make a feature film.”

One of the things that Corey is most proud of is the success of his favorite song, ‘‘Never Surrender.” It has become his theme song.

‘‘That song is very special to me because the phrase ‘Never Surrender’ is something that I’ve been telling myself ever since I was 15 years old. It’s now a part of my personality. I believe very strongly in pursuing your dreams, really fighting for them and having the ability yourself to make them happen. Because of that, the song is very personal. Evidently, it struck a nerve with a lot of people and that means a lot to me.”

Though Corey is a very private guy and doesn’t want to talk much about Erica, his current girlfriend, he does admit that he met her in high school. She was the inspiration for his love ballad, ‘‘Eurasian Eyes.”

“It was kind of weird. She went to the same high school, but I didn’t really know her since she was a couple of years younger. I’d seen her around but I never went out of my way to talk to her. Finally, one day, right before I graduated, I just decided to go up to her and say ‘Hi.’ She just kind of walked away. A few days later, though, she sent me this note that said she thought I was cute and that I looked like Harrison Ford. That’s how it all started. I mean, how could I turn that down?”

Erica may think Corey looks like Harrison Ford, but a lot of other people claim he reminds them of the late actor James Dean. So many people mentioned it, that Corey ended up writing a song about Dean—‘‘Boy In The Box.”

‘‘You know, I wasn‘t a big fan of his prior to a couple of years ago. I really didn’t know very much about him. I mean I knew who he was, but didn’t really know his films or any of his work when people started making the comparisons, it intrigued me and I started reading up on him. Actually, I don’t see a lot of similarities other than the fact that he was also pretty young when he made it and he also believed very strongly in what he did. I guess we were both given that same knit in our brow or something.

‘‘I’ve seen all of his films. I wrote ‘Boy In The Box’ about him. It was written about my perception of him, which is that he felt trapped by his success and he felt very boxed in. For me to have written that song, I had to study his films and get a feeling for what he was all about.”

Does Corey worry about following in James Dean’s footsteps?

‘‘Well, I would hope that it would never happen to me. I think you have to keep a very level head about things and take it all in stride. That’s something that I always try to do. I realize that since I’m getting more recognizable these days, there are things that I did before that I can’t do anymore. I accept that and I’ve learned to get around it. When I can’t, I do my best to cope with it.

‘‘I certainly will never isolate myself. I think once you do that, once you put yourself on a pedestal and remove yourself from the people you have to deal with in life, that’s when the danger really crops up. The key is to always keep yourself somewhat accessible. I don’t think that anyone should ever be afraid to come up to me and say, ‘Hi.’ I like that. I’d hate it if people were uncomfortable around me.”

Corey says the most important thing in his life right now are his fans. He tries to make the audience a major part of every concert.

‘‘The fans are very, very important to me. It’s something that I can’t stress enough, because they’re the ones I’m writing the music for and they’re the ones I’m up there onstage singing for. I enjoy it very much when I’m performing—and the best part is knowing that the audience is enjoying it as much as I am. It’s nice to know that they appreciate my work.

‘‘When people come to see me, I want them to get the feeling that I’m up there doing my show just for them. That’s how I truly feel about it. I wrote a song called ‘Everything In My Heart’ that sums up how I feel about my fans. They mean everything to me.”

What does the future hold in store for Corey Hart? According to him, it’s all up to the fans.

‘‘I would hope that, in the future, I’ll still be producing music that people like and that has progressed from my early albums. I want to always be proud of what I’m doing. If I didn’t enjoy myself anymore, I wouldn’t stick around. I need to know that my music is constantly getting better. If I felt it wasn’t, I’d probably want to stop.”

In that case, I think we can safely assume that Corey Hart and his music will be around for quite awhile.