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AE: In addition to producing Rollercoaster, Gabe co-wrote or wrote all of the songs. What makes your working relationship work?
JV: There’s a certain kind of chemistry. He knew from the minute he met me the direction in which he was going to take me. At the time, I wanted to emulate a Norah Jones/Harry Connick, Jr. type of thing. He said, “Maybe we can do that for a song, but I don’t think that’s where we are going to take you.” That falls into that whole safe genre--very ho-hum. It fills a niche, but he saw edge within my voice and I had so much versatility that we took the path of the younger George Michael. Unbeknownst to me, he took me down that route.

[Gabe] and I have always been on the same page. We have a connected kind of relationship. He’s gotten me from day one. We’re very open to each other. You have to be able to listen and to take advice and see things from a different point of view to be a successful artist. Some people are stubborn and they don’ t get it. Gabe has been an intern at Epic Records, so he knows firsthand about demos and what makes them stand out. How packages can be professional as opposed to sloppy. That’s really helped me out to grow as an artist.

AE: Are you prepared for the demands of balancing a music and movie career, especially with your movie Eating Out, about to open in theaters across the country?
JV: I think a lot of kids who are doing the whole double (career) thing, like Hillary Duff, Lindsay Lohan and Jesse McCartney, and even Jennifer Lopez, are all kind of mediocre at what they do. I want to be amazing at what I do. I don’t want to take on anything that I can’t handle or that I can’t do the best of my abilities. I remember watching this interview with Hillary Duff where she said that she didn’t write any songs on her first record because she didn’t have any time. To me, that’s just a lame excuse. How can you be a musician and not want to write your life experiences? She’s only sixteen, but I’ m sure she’s lived through some kind of hell or struggle.

I’m just the type of person who walks away knowing that my name is on it and that I’ve contributed personally somehow. Am I prepared to juggle that? I guess it depends on the project. I’m not just going to take on any script with gay references and I don’t want to be typecast either. It just comes down to what people want me for. If it sends a positive message or if it’s beneficial to me as an actor, well, then great. I will never compromise who I am for an acting role. I need something that I connect to as a person, because for so long on (American Idol), I was known as the boy next door. The record is not what I used to be at all. It’s, in a lot of ways, dangerous. It pushes that edge and it’s very sexual. It’s a different me.

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