At the age of 22, Jesse McCartney has done a lot. McCartney began his music career and rose to fame in 1999 as a member of Dream Street. He was only 14 years old when the group’s debut album was certified Gold.

Jesse now has a soaring solo career. The release of his third album, Depature has reached number 14 on the Billboard 200 chart, while it’s first single, “Leavin” has recently been certified Platinum. The album’s second single, “It’s Over” continues to linger around top 10 radio. A little over a year from it's original debut, Departure was re-released in April of 2009. Departure: Recharged features four new tracks and a remix of "How Do You Sleep?" that features Ludacris.

While co-writing most of the music on Departure, Jesse is showing off another side of his talent by establishing himself as a bold songwriter.  In addition to writing his own music, he is writing for other artists including Toni Braxton and Leighton Meester. He also lent a hand to Leona Lewis’ hit song, “Bleeding Love,” which he co-wrote with Ryan Tedder of the band OneRepublic.

To get an idea as to what we would expect when he rolled into Darien Lake Performing Arts Center with New Kids On The Block on Sunday, June 14, I spoke to Jesse prior to his performance in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 11. We talked about his success, how it feels to be on tour with NKOTB, his crazy fans and the Snuggie.

How has the tour been going thus far? Any interesting happenings, favorite stop?

Jesse McCartney: Honestly, we’re finally starting to get into the groove of things and it’s starting to feel like a tour. The first few days have been very chaotic but it’s going very well. All the shows and fans have been great. I’ve met with all the guys in New Kids and they’re a good group of guys. The first couple of shows we didn’t really get to talk or hang out. We were scrambling to put the show together, but everyone has been really cool and it’s already becoming a big family. It’s been great.

You’re on tour with New Kids On The Block, a group you probably never saw yourself ending up on tour with, only because they were huge while we were just kids and we're only in our early 20s. How did you get the opportunity to do this tour?

Jesse: Well, it came together last minute. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be touring this summer. We had a single that was doing really well at radio, “How Do You Sleep” was top 10 and it seemed like a really great opportunity when we found out that the New Kids were going out. Their audience is very different than crowd I’m used to performing in front of. Their audience is a little older, they have that nostalgic crowd. It was also an opportunity to get my music out there to a new group of people and for them to check it out. They asked me to be apart of it, literally three weeks before they were supposed to go out. I got my band together, we all rehearsed and it all gelled together from there.

When you watch their performance, do you ever find yourself reminiscing about your Dream Street days?

Jesse: (Laughs) It does take me back a little bit, it does. There is that sort of boyband dynamic when the guys step on stage and get up there. There is definitely a special place [in me] for boybands. I remember being 13 or 14 years old and having to rely on four other guys. It’s kind of a good, fun feeling. It definitely reminds me of when I was 14. We went on tour and opened for Britney [Spears]. It kind of reminds me of our first tour to tell you the truth.

I caught your performance when you were in Buffalo last summer. The girls were going absolutely crazy over you. Is that an often reoccurrence? Does someone ever get used to that?

Jesse: (Laughs) No, absolutely not. At least for me, I never get used to it and I’ll tell you what, this tour is a little bit different for me. The first song or two, they’re sort of warming up to me and I can see their faces like, “Oh, who is this guy?” The third song in the set is “Leavin’” and then we go right into “Beautiful Soul.” So it’s “Leavin’” and “Beautiful Soul” back to back and that’s when we really get the crowd to pay attention. My goal for this tour is to win that crowd and audience over, who probably haven’t ever seen me live before. If I can do that, I’ve walked offstage goal accomplished.

Your album, Departure is quite different than your prior two releases. What kinds of things were you looking to change or improve upon when looking back on Beautiful Soul and Right Where You Want Me?

Jesse: Well, with the third album I definitely wanted to move more into an R&B, soulful genre. With the release of “Leavin” I think the first single bridged this gap from an old sound to a new Jesse and then with the album and tracks like “It’s Over” is a little more R&B. When I was a kid the music that I always listened to was a little bit more bluesy and a bit more soulful and the kind of album I wanted to make was a reflection of what I grew up listening to and it’s definitely where I’m most comfortable vocally and artistically. I think this album is the first time where I’m excited to play each and every song. 

Looking back on the sessions, what song(s) holds the most memories?

Jesse: There’s a song on the album called, “My Baby” and it’s one of the first songs I had written for the album and it became the template for the rest of the album. Sonically, it was the song that opened the door for the sound. It definitely has some sentimental value. It was a song that I wrote and the song where I knew it was a step in the right direction. It’s still one of my favorite songs on the album. After two years of putting the album together, it made it through all the other obstacles. It’s definitely a special song.

You released Departure a little over a year ago. Have you begun writing for your next album? In what direction do you envision taking your music?

Jesse: I haven’t started writing for a new album yet, but the original album for Departure came out a year ago and about two months ago we put out a re-release of it called Depature: Recharged. It has four new tracks on it that I wrote, one of which will be the new single. It’s called, “Body Language.” I’m trying my best to do as much writing as I can when I have free time, whether if it’s for me because I am writing for other artists as well. As far as a new album goes, one won’t be out this year but maybe next year.

I’ve noticed that a lot of the videos that you put out are simple and well but, however don’t have a lot of color or depth in them. Do you find that to be more capturing to your audience? Or is it more of a personal view of your music?

Jesse: To me, music videos are still very, very relevant and important. I think with all of the internet coverage you get and with things like YouTube, which is such a phenomenon and with everyone, at least for me, when I hear a song I wonder what that song looks like. If I hear a really great song, I’ll go home and check out YouTube to see what the video looks like. To me, putting a great visual to make the song go to another level is really important. One of my favorite videos to do was on the second single, “It’s Over.” Rich Lee directed it and it’s a really cool video. There are a lot of interesting special effects and it’s very appealing to the eye. I think it’s a really well produced video. Every time we’re like, “What single are we going for next?”, I always think about what it will look like in a video.

As you’ve mentioned, you write songs for other artists. In the fall of 2007, you and Ryan from OneRepublic co-wrote the song, “Bleeding Love,” for singer Leona Lewis. Apparently, that gave you a bit more writing credibility. The song became a huge hit and you had people like Simon Cowell and Jordan Sparks asking you to help write songs for them. How did that make you feel?

Jesse: It feels amazing! Like you said, as far as credibility it definitely brings you up. I think people appreciate when a singer sings a song and find out that they wrote it and it brings it to a whole other level. Because of “Bleeding Love” it’s definitely opened a door as far as a writer goes. Jive Records just reached out to me last week and they want me to write for David Archuleta’s new album. I’ve been writing with Toni Braxton and Leighton Meester (from Gossip Girl) who’s been working on a record. It’s opened a lot of people’s eyes in the industry, too. It’s definitely a great feeling to be recognized and to be asked to work with their artists.

Not only do you have your music career, but you’ve also got your acting career. You starred as Bradin in the WB series Summerland and appeared in a few episodes of the ABC Family series Greek as Andy, the athletic frat boy. How do the two roles compare?

Jesse: Well, Summerland is definitely a drama which has kind of been my forte over the years. I’ve always been drawn towards drama and specifically, darker roles. What was fun about Greek is that it’s a straight up comedy and something I’ve never really dove into until now. I’m glad that I did because it’s a fun role and the writing is great. I think that it’s an underrated show and that the acting and writing of that show is some of the best that’s on TV right now. It was really great to work with all of those actors. Scott Michael Foster, Jacob and all of those guys. It was really fun and this gave me a chance to stretch my comedic jobs.

You have also done voices for characters Theodore in Alvin and The Chipmunks, JoJo in Horton Hears a Who and Terrence in Tinker Bell. How does doing voice overs compare to acting? Which was your favorite character to play?

Jesse: It’s still acting, but with voice overs you’re not in front of the camera. In some ways it can be difficult because you’re trying to get your point across with just your voice. The good news is, is that it’s fun and that you can just role up to the studio in your pajamas and not have to worry about hair and makeup! We just finished recording Alvin II, which was a lot of fun and possibly my favorite. It will be out this Christmas and I think it’s going to be another big success for the Alvin franchise and Fox. Coming into play, there’s going to be three new chipmunks. (Laughs) Doing voice overs is a lot of fun and I’m glad that I got started in that arena early because I’m getting a lot of calls to do voice overs and they’re great gigs.

What’s next on your agenda when this tour wraps?

Jesse: I’m going to be flying to Brooklyn to film a new independent movie. It's a very well-written script. It’s with the same writer of "Basketball Diaries,” from about 15-20 years ago. It’s got a lot of really great actors and actresses. I’m really looking forward to it. As far as other projects go, I have some other films lined up. After the run of this record, my next major goal is to build up my film repertoire a little more.

If you were to create an infomercial about buying your record, what would you tell your listeners?

Jesse: Oh my goodness, an infomercial. (Laughs) I would probably be jamming out to my own album in the infomercial, but I would have to have the Snuggie!  I don’t know if you’ve ever seen those Snuggie commercials, but I die every time I see them.

Oh, I know all about the Snuggie. It’s actually kind of ridiculous. (Laughs)

Jesse: (Laughs) Exactly. I would definitely have to have one of those in my infomercial. You would see me first with a blanket on and listening to the record but it’s not as comfortable but then with the Snuggie on, the album sounds so much better!

(For those of you who are unaware of what the Snuggie is, see for yourselves in the video below)