Heffron Drive's Kendall Schmidt Talks 'Happy Mistakes,' Crushes and Missing BTR

It's been a busy fall for Heffron Drive. They released their debut album Happy Mistakes this September and just wrapped up their Happy Mistakes Tour. We sat down with band members Kendall Schmidt and Dustin Belt at one of the tour's final dates in Los Angeles, Calif. to talk all about their new music, touring and what Kendall misses most about Big Time Rush, plus if it's finally the right time for him to get together with his celebrity crush.

"Playing the new songs has been the best part [of the tour] for sure, not that I was tired of the older songs, but it was just nice to have something new to play that had been written recently, so it was feeling modern and cool to play it. And then the fan response to the new music, because in the beginning they didn't know it, so the response to it now has been great and I think we realize that they actually really do love it," said Kendall. "They're spreading it and telling their friends about it, which is all you can ask for."

Kendall and Dustin agree that their favorite song to perform on stage is the album's title track, "Happy Mistakes," because it resonates with such a large audience.

"It's one of those songs where if you don't know the band, and we've seen a lot adults, parents and stuff like that, watching it and when they hear that song you always end up kind of seeing them getting into it. So it's just full energy, full on rock and roll for sure. It's about empowerment. It's not like, 'Go get it.' It's like you know, 'S**t happens, carry on.' That kind of thing. And just keep working hard and you'll get there. That's what the message is and that goes along with love, as well," said Kendall. "The story could also be like, 'Hey, we had a happy mistake in our relationship that led to whatever.'"


Kendall first gained a large following for being a member of the boy band Big Time Rush, as well as a cast member on the band's Nickelodeon TV show. We had to ask, what does he miss most about BTR?

"Hanging with the guys of course, we were together every night, so that's a big deal. Playing amphitheaters is awfully fun, so I miss that a lot and the TV show was cool, but I think the TV show was starting to drain us toward the end," said Kendall. "It was staring to irritate us towards each other, so it was better for us to play music, but the shows...I miss playing Big Time Rush shows most."

Kendall also opened up about the transition from playing huge amphitheaters with BTR to smaller, more intimate venues with Heffron Drive.

"It's a bit of a mind game, because all I can think about it is like, 'Aw man why aren't there 15,000 people here?' Even though it's not Big Time Rush, so you know we've had to realize quickly, especially me personally coming from Big Time Rush to Heffron Drive. I'm expecting myself to bring something, too. So you know when it wasn't as big and we started with these small shows, it was like, 'Well, check your ego at the door, first show,' and after that it's been all uphill I think," said Kendall. "Well, all downhill in a good way."

Back in August, Kendall told us his celebrity crush is Jordin Sparks when we interviewed him on the red carpet at the MTV Video Music Awards. He even called her "one of the most beautiful women on the planet." So now that Jordin and Jason Derulo have split up, is this finally Kendall's chance to get together with Jordin?

"Don't think I didn't hear about that. Uh...I guess maybe it's our chance to maybe hang out?" said Kendall. "I'm not gonna say he's the jealous type, but I kinda get the vibe that he could be."

We also asked Kendall and Dustin a couple of fan-submitted questions.

Cambio: Describe your album Happy Mistakes in one word.
Dustin: "Egg-cellent."
Kendall: "Depth."

C: What's the happiest mistake you've made?
K: "I like building things and I don't usually measure when I end up building things, so I tend to make a lot of happy mistakes when I do stuff like that. What it really came from, to be honest, was making some weird thing like musically and it ended up being in a song or becoming a song, and that's why it's called happy mistakes, because the the whole record was like a whole bunch of that."

Get Heffron Drive's album Happy Mistakes on iTunes. They'll be on tour in the UK this winter.