Exclusive Interview: Blake McIver Discusses Being A Child Star, Music and More

Blake McIver grew up in the spotlight and was well-known for his roles on the TV show Full House and Little Rascals. Today, you can find the actor on Bravo's The People's Couch alongside checking out his new album entitled The Time Manipulator which is out now. BGG After Dark recently had the chance to chat with Blake about his days as a child star, his music career and more. Read on.

AMANDA DYAR: You first rose to fame with roles on the hit television show Full House and the film The Little Rascals. What was your life like while growing up as a child star and what are some of the pressures that faces young actors in Hollywood that not everyone talks about?

BLAKE MCIVER: My life as a child actor was mildly schizophrenic. Any given month I was going back and forth between regular elementary school and some of the biggest sets in Hollywood. It was often hard to decipher what was real and what wasn’t. I think the unspoken pressure that faces young actors is the expectation of perfection. You are expected to be an adult in a child’s body, which can be exhausting.

AMANDA: It seems your success at a young age influenced various outcomes in life. Would you do anything differently, knowing what you know now, if you had a chance to go back in time? Also, what would you say is your one favorite moment that sticks out in your mind while growing up as a young actor?

BLAKE: I wouldn’t change anything about my young career. It shaped me into the man I am today. I was blessed because show business was something I wanted to do; not something my parents forced me into. If I had to pick out one moment it would be my first table read for Full House. I had been a huge fan of the show so it was a truly surreal moment to be suddenly sitting around a conference table with all the people I had been watching on TV for years.

AMANDA: You currently star in Bravo's The People's Couch. Can you tell us a bit about the time you've spent on the show and how you first became involved in the project in the first place?

BLAKE: It has been such a blast to be on The People’s Couch and especially because I get to be there with my two dear friends Scott Nevins and Emerson Collins. It came about because Scott knew someone in production who casually asked him if he had a group of friends he watched TV with. As it so happened, Emerson and I were on our way over to his house to watch the Real Housewives! (laughter) The rest as they say is history.

AMANDA: You're a man of many talents and have been deeply involved in the music industry over your career as well. How would you say your musical aspirations and influences have changed over the years beginning with your big break on Star Search up until now?

BLAKE: Music has always been a part of my life and career. As a child I was exposed to the great singers of standards like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and Rosemary Clooney because my mom had been a dancer on the Dean Martin Show. I got the opportunity to bring some of those standards to my generation on Star Search, Full House, and even for a brief moment in The Little Rascals. As I began to develop as my own artist and songwriter, my influences and inspirations settled around the music of the sixties: everything from Motown to British Invasion to Memphis Soul to Brazilian and everything in between. I want to write the kind of music that people can still identify with in 50 years, the way I still identify with mid-century music.

AMANDA: The Time Manipulator is out now. Can you tell us a bit about the new release, some of your favorite tracks on it and some of the different types of genres present on the album?

BLAKE: “The Time Manipulator” is an extremely personal album. Each song represents a moment or a period of my life. The overarching theme of the album is empowerment. It took me quite awhile to reconcile my unusual past and make way for my future. My hope is that the listener will be inspired to move forward on their own personal empowerment journey. My favorite track is “Screaming @ the Opéra.” The song is about an event that took place in the 1st grade. One recess, I was swinging on the swings minding my own business and singing “The Phantom of the Opera” to myself. A group of bullies yanked me off the swing and bashed my head into the metal railing of the swing set and told me to shut up. It was a moment I’ll never forget and this song is my adult and slightly anarchistic response to that day.

AMANDA: Your new song It Gets Better reminds us of singing in church on Sundays. What were some of the inspirations for the song and what is the overall message you hope fans will take away from listening to your new single?

BLAKE: I sat down to write that song a few years ago, just as the Trevor Project was launching their “It Gets Better” campaign. I was so heartbroken by the string of suicides in the young LGBT community that I couldn’t even speak about it. I had nothing to say, but I had quite a bit to sing. I had hoped that by the time the album came out, the song would be so outdated that I wouldn’t need to include it. Sadly, that’s not the case. If it touches or encourages one heart away from self-loathing, then I’ve done my job. And yes, it is definitely a gospel song! I grew up singing in the church and some of those styles of music I will never leave behind.