Thomas Ian Nicholas

There are three sure-fire phrases that will make any rock and roll fan wrinkle up his nose: High School Musical, boy band and actor-turned-musician. The last phrase in particular is among the ugliest terms in music journalism, and for good reason. Just look at the recent track record: From Russell Crowe to Lindsey Lohan ... well, let's just say it hasn't been a very pretty sight. Thanks to those people and others (We're looking at you, Kevin Bacon), any actor who wants an honest shot at a career in music has a long, dark road ahead of him.

Fortunately for all of us, actor-turned-musician Thomas Ian Nicholas has two weapons in his corner. First, he's been playing music for over half his life and can write a pop song like nobody's business. And second, that long road we were talking about Doesn't bother him one bit.

Thom has been, is, and to some degree will always be known as Kevin from the American Pie movies. That's right, he was that nice kid, that wholesome kid ... that kid who got to make out with Tara Reid. Whereas to most young men the idea of living with that identity is not such a bad proposition, Nicholas has the desire, not to mention the talent, to be so much more.

So the idea that people know me from "American Pie" is a positive thing. Any sort of success that I have achieved in my career as an actor, it's a total blessing, he adds, but right now, music is my passion, and I'm putting a lot of hard work into making that a reality.

Which brings us to the present day, mere months away from the release of Nicholas debut album, Without Warning (released nationwide on January 15, 2008). It's an upbeat, O.C.-worthy album of pop-rock filled with more hooks than a bait shop. It features collaborations with rock legends like Bruce Kulick (KISS), Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction) and John Corabi (Motley Crue). And it could melt the hearts of today's TRL-loving teens faster than you can say, John Mayer.

Musically, Thom draws from a solid crop of influences from Switchfoot to Springsteen that have helped him learn the art of writing a pop song while keeping a foot in rock and roll. His music is polished enough to swagger right onto the radio, but raw enough to sound honest and, it's worth mentioning, is much more rock and roll than you'd ever expect from someone who's had the dubious honor of being tagged Seventeen Magazine's It Boy.

When it comes to the lyric side, I aspire to be one-tenth of John Mayer. His lyrics are unbeatable, Thom says. I also side with the Beatles, only in the sense that I'm a big fan of cool melody lines and changes that are unexpected. I know that we broke the mold a couple of times. Nicholas love affair with music began at age 14 when, , he began searching for new ways to express himself.

There was always a guitar sitting in the corner of my house that belonged to my mom. It was always sitting there taunting me, Thom recalls with a laugh. At that point, I'd had my first success in the acting world with "Rookie of the Year". And there is a lot of downtime between jobs in the acting world, so I picked up the guitar, and I was inspired to write. I would play for, like, two hours every day for the first year just to try to be able to play my favorite Nirvana tunes.

Nicholas continued to write and play music both as a solo musician and as part of a band for the next decade until finally, slowly, he realized that it had become much more for him than just a part-time muse. He began to long for a different sort of forum, one that would allow him to communicate more directly with people, without a character, without a script. That longing led him onto the stage as a solo acoustic performer, where for the first time he was able to interact with people with, as Thom puts it, no frills, nothing to hide behind. It's just straight-up and raw. That way, people can decide for themselves whether or not I suck!

Music is more personal than acting, he explains. In acting, I'm portraying a character that someone else has written, whereas in music, I'm expressing something that I've written. So there's a different connection. Not to say that I don't believe what I'm doing when I'm acting, but it just comes from a different part of my soul when I'm singing.

Pop success hasn't exactly been handed to Nicholas on a silver platter. Maybe it's because of his stubborn refusal to get a high-profile DUI, or his inability to forget to wear underwear around the paparazzi. In a way, though, that?s a good thing. Thom's music has actual integrity, and it would be a shame to lose sight of that fact just because he accepted the first major label deal that came his way.

For Nicholas, this time in his life isn't about red carpets. He's not worried about dating the right girl or answering questions about who he's wearing at the Oscars. It's more about connecting with fansno, with people at all costs, even if that means marching into a club with no one by his side but his trusty guitar, playing intimate sets of stripped-down pop classics-to-be and spending the rest of his night interacting with the crowd.

I'm definitely doing the hustle, not the free ride, Thom states proudly. Once you have a finished album and tell people you're releasing it yourself, pretty soon managers are wanting to do conference calls and A&R reps from record labels are taking you out to lunch. But I'm booking all of these shows myself. I'm hustling. I'm playing a show and then afterwards selling my CDs myself. The momentum has been really cool. It's been like a train that kind of starts out with a little bit of coal, and then as you get it moving and you keep putting energy into it, you start to pick up speed, he says. From the standpoint of what makes it all worthwhile at the end of the day, when I'm chilling in a rocking chair and telling my grandkids about my music career, it's to be able to be in a position where I can affect the world in a positive way.

Remember that long, dark road? Bring it on.