Armed with determination, a solid acting foundation and a musical talent that can only be described as destiny, Jeff D’Agostino is being pinned by the entertainment industry as the next Jared Leto (My So Called Life, 30 Seconds to Mars and much more).
Between acting in shows like CSI, Weeds, Phil of the Future, Without a Trace or his new movie from the makers of Napoleon Dynamite entitled The Sasquatch Gang and trying to get his band The Perfect Victim to become a household name, D’Agostino is extremely busy. We recently spoke with D’Agostino via telephone to find out how he tackles duel careers in both film and music.
D’Agostino’s love for entertainment began at age eight. He had gone to see a play that his sister was in and never had seen anything like that before. He was immediately intrigued. “I made my own movies with a video camera,” explains D’Agostino. “I would dress in different costumes and have my cat as my cohort and we’d go on adventures.”
Interestingly enough, at first D’Agostino never really liked music. He was focused on acting, and theater wasn’t really his cup of tea. At 13 years old his parents took him to Hollywood where he landed the lead in the Nickelodeon show Skwids. Living in Colorado made it difficult when everything was being filmed in Los Angeles, D’Agostino explains. His parents were not in a position to move to California, so he had to drop out of the show.
At 17, D’Agostino made the decision to move to California along with his sister Sarah Faith D’Agostino. It was then that Jeff began landing guest star roles shows like CSI: Miami, Nancy Drew and Malcom in the Middle. He landed another lead role in the CBS series The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire, but like everything in Hollywood, timing is everything. “It was under advertised,” explains D’Agostino. “When they started the show it was in competition with the World Series. It was cancelled after six shows. It was my favorite show to date.”
D’Agostino obviously strives for perfection. He felt at home on shows like CSI. “It was such a well oiled machine,” he says. “I was working with a really great group of professionals and I was never really starstruck.”
“I look for cutting edge films,” says D’Agostino. Thus bringing him to The Sasquatch Gang, which was released in select markets across the nation in November. “The Sasquatch Gang has a Napoleon Dynamite type of humor,” explains D’Agostino. “I read a ton of scripts and nothing caught my eye, but I read [the script for TSG] and laughed out loud.” He worked hard on his character, “Dagan,” because as D’Agostino says, the movie has a “weird, quirky feel to it.” “It keeps you guessing the whole time,” he explains. “It’s almost better than Napoleon Dynamite.”
The Sasquatch Gang was filmed two years ago and has cameos by Jon Heder (Napoleon) and Jon Gries who played Uncle Rico in Napoleon. The film was picked up by Sony BMG Feature Films, who had just started a film company, but Sony held onto the film and then closed its doors to the film industry. Finally, the movie was picked up by Screen Media Films and released sporadically just like Napoleon Dynamite was. Anything is possible for the film. “We’ll see what happens from here,” says D’Agostino.
Even though music was not a huge part of D’Agostino’s life, he did play drums in high school and it was only about three years ago that he really began getting into music. “I was making a good living as an actor,” says D’Agostino. When his uncle passed away, D’Agostino’s father sent him his uncle’s guitar. “I tried to learn covers, but every time I picked up the guitar I’d start writing my own songs,” he explains. “My friends were like, ‘Holy shit! Those are really catchy!’” From there D’Agostino would begin to write some serious and emotion-filled songs, like one about a friend who committed suicide at a very young age. Eventually, D’Agostino’s music would find its way to the ears of a producer who had been working with “Aly & AJ” and really liked what he was hearing. From there, D’Agostino began looking for bandmates on Myspace Classifieds. He would find what he now calls a “super group of musicians.” That “supergroup” is called The Perfect Victim.
For D’Agostino acting and being in a band was like splitting his focus. “I wanted to put all my energy into the band,” he explains. So D’Agostino began pursuing The Perfect Victim full time. Was it a gamble? Says D’Agostino, “It was more of a gamble for everyone around me. Everyone was shocked when I made the decision.”
“I would never do it if I didn’t think it would pan out,” he says. “When I was an actor, I didn’t have a backup plan. Music is my backup plan,” explains D’Agostino. Even though D’Agostino has endured a tough relationship breakup due to the time spent with The Perfect Victim, he says he has no regrets. He had taken the gamble to live off of residual checks and even got a steady day job and things were hard financially and emotionally. “You have to hit rock bottom and go back up again,” he says with conviction.
The Perfect Victim emits a rock intensity that will surly be compared to 30 Seconds to Mars, but isn’t that comparison just a copout since critics have already pinned D’Agostino as the next Leto? Musically, TPV combines the addictive nature of pop punk with the rough musical edge of hard rock and D’Agostino’s vocals are crisp, clean and powerful. There is far more surface energy with TPV than 30 Seconds to Mars so let’s stop comparing the two.
One thing is guaranteed with TPV and that’s intensity. “Our live show is really powerful,” says D’Agostino. “We really get into the music. The songs were written from an emotional place about struggle, strife and overcoming obstacles.” D’Agostino says when he plays live he tries to get to the same place he was when he wrote the songs. “Acting helps hit the emotional place,” he says. That’s not to say the emotion is fake, D’Agostino is just able to use his acting skills to highlight where he really was when he penned the music. “I’m not playing a character.” He says, he’s not just a singer; he’s a performer and after seeing pictures and videos of The Perfect Victim we’d have to agree that the band is quite intense. “We’re creating a spectacle,” says D’Agostino.
We asked D’Agostino, “If someone came up to you and said we want to set you up for the rest of your life. You’ll always have a lead in a movie or you’ll be able to put out a record every 18 months, but you can’t do both. Which would you choose?” After a little hesitation D’Agostino concludes that he would go the music route.
“I’ve done acting for five or six years and there’s just something about music because I get to create the full product,” he explains. “I have the freedom to sit down with a guitar and impact thousands of kids.”
So what’s next for D’Agostino? Well, as far as acting goes, he says he has no immediate plans. “I picked a good year to do music,” he says confidently. Because of the writer’s strike, a lot of his actor friends are out of work. D’Agostino mentions that the writer’s strike could cause a Producer’s Guild strike and even an Actor’s Guild strike. If D’Agostino is seen on the silver screen it’s going to be related to the band. He says that some movie producers are working on getting The Perfect Victim involved in a movie that would be a rock version of High School Musical. “I hope to do a movie with the band,” he says.
The Perfect Victim is at the center of D’Agostino’s focus. The band is currently shopping labels ranging from Epic Records to Epitaph Records. Fall Out Boy’s own Pete Wentz even has his eye on TPV. Overall, D’Agostino wants to see how independent his band can be. “We’re talking to a couple of bands about getting [a tour] together,” he notes. TPV is also hoping to record more songs and perhaps even get their album sold in Hot Topic stores.
In talking to D’Agostino, one would think that he is a workaholic. When asked what he does for fun, he kept it all business, saying he doesn’t watch much TV or go to the movies. He likes to go out for dinner and can sometimes be seen out and about. “I’ve met Paris Hilton,” he says plainly. “I feel like I never stop. I feel like all my fun is 100 percent focused on the band,” he explains. “Our fun is working on the band.”
There’s no doubt that D’Agostino is ready to break out with The Perfect Victim. He has already done a solid job in Hollywood and is now seeing some success with TPV, so much so that the band is slated to make some Warped Tour appearances this summer and labels are obviously taking note. “It wasn’t a gamble in my mind,” says D’Agostino in regard to tackling the band full time.
By: Adam K. Zakroczymski III - Senior Editor / Founder
