Breaking The Hollywood Mold

People You Should Know — By Buddy Sampson on May 23, 2010 at 6:14 pm

Chantelle is the Anti-Hollywood. By that, we mean that for all the thousands of personalities that come into Hollywood with huge expectations and big dreams, there’s one out of crowd that you sense is different- one that stands head and shoulders over the bunch. Barry is the personification of that ideal- unassuming, beautiful and grounded. The term “just folks” comes to mind.

However, although “just folks” sums up her character, there’s a lot more to Barry than meets the eye. The immensely multi-talented actor, singer and songwriter will garner wide spread attention with a big role in a movie that will be released soon, “The House That Jack Built ” and a soon to be critically acclaimed CD, “Simple Things.” “I’ve always wanted to do my own album, to be doing my own thing and be a solo artist,” said Barry. Her single, “Simple Things,” the title track of the CD, was written as a product of adversity. “I was literally sitting in my car and I said, ‘Shoot, I’m so broke right now, rent is due in like three days, I don’t know what I’m going to do,'” she reflected. “I started writing this song and it turned out to be ‘Simple Things.'” Simple Things is a song about returning to basics, a song about humanity, humility and helping others, while helping yourself. The track firmly illustrates that the best songs in entertainment come from the trials and tribulations that life offer-personal experience- “That was the catalyst for the entire album and I kept writing from personal experience and not trying to be anything,” she said. “I just did it, because I loved it and I liked the sound and I started playing out more and people were just really responding to it.”

Barry has the looks and persona that record executives love. However, executives often make a huge mistake-signing true artists with the intent of mass marketing them, using a  pop cookie cutter. The industry made that mistake with Jewel, a true artist, able to captivate an audience with vocal and guitar only. Chantelle Barry is an artist, like Jewel, that shouldn’t be placed in the “cookie cutter.” She’s an original with a splendid voice in addition to being an excellent composer and songwriter. She destined for stardom.

Born in Australia, Chantelle Barry came to Los Angeles eight years ago. She started singing at the tender age of six, the product of music as a mainstay of her family. Her father and older sister are both musically inclined, so music is ingrained in her spirit. “We grew up just singing and performing all the time,” she said. “It was great, my mom would make our costumes and every single weekend, without a doubt, since I was maybe ten, we’d have somewhere to perform.” Her parents sent her to singing and dancing classes, which helped to mold her performance chops. She loves and has been influenced by many artists, including The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Justin Nozuka, Fleetwood Mac and Lionel Richie among others. “One of Michael Jackson’s records was one of the first records that my mom bought for me,” said Barry. “She’d buy me a record every Saturday, it was like a treat after singing and dancing class.” Her first Jackson record was the album “Bad.”

Along the way, she attended a performance arts high school in Australia. “The next five years of high school were awesome,” she said. “All I did was theater, music and dance, everything I loved. It got me through high school, since I wasn’t a popular kid or anything. I was a theater kid and it was great.” She attended the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, doing musical theater. She landed her first role, after she arrived in Los Angeles in a film, “The Company You Keep,” that shot in South Africa. That experience taught her about the rigors and trials of Hollywood. “It was a character building experience,” she says diplomatically. “It made me really strong.” She did a recurring role in the television series Beverly Hills 90210 and has a leading role, playing the part of Madison in the film “The House That Jack Built.” “That was fun, because it’s the first time I’d ever seen my face that big on the screen and at times it looks pretty big,” she laughed. But she doesn’t have a big face. “Some would beg to differ. My dad used to call me Moon Face.”

Chantelle Barry recently appeared at the Hotel Café in Hollywood,  Saturday, August 8th, 2009. She is a terrific talent and you’d better see her now, because in the future, tickets will be hard to come by. Chantelle Barry’s grace, beauty, humility, sense of humor and being the “Anti-Hollywood” make her one of the People You Should Know.

Visit Chantelle Barry’s website: www.chantellebarrymusic.com

Her My Space Page: www.myspace.com/chantellebarry