Dallin McKay, who has been in multiple music videos, TV shows and movies, including “Ford vs. Ferrari,” said he is able to express his thoughts and feelings through writing his own music.
One night, he said he sang a song he had written, but not recorded, at a karaoke night he attended with his friends. He said his friend Kodi Lee, who was autistic and blind and later won the 14th season of “America’s Got Talent,” rocked back and forth to the song.
Afterwards, he said Lee’s mom said she feels like McKay understands Lee because they both feel music in the same way. He said his mother said, “If [Lee] could write a song … I know what [McKay] said in that song is exactly what [Lee] would say to people.”
McKay said he later recorded the song and sent it to Lee’s family because he felt the song would be better if Lee sang it. Lee’s family paid for half of the song and may release it, he said.
“There’s a lot of people who understand music, but there’s not a lot of people who understand the music’s feeling,” he added. He said music can change people, bring out different feelings and even bring the Spirit.
Finding his muse
McKay, a sophomore from Los Angeles majoring in music and theatre, said he has experienced certain moments throughout his life that pushed him to become a musician and actor and assured him it was something he really wanted to do. He recalled a time when he was 12 years old when he was worried about what he was going to do during his summer break.
He said he received an impression while listening to his sister play the piano. “She almost never practices, and I don’t know why she decided to play right then, but as soon as she did that, I immediately felt tons of peace,” McKay recalled. “I honestly heard a voice tell me that was what [I was] going to do for the next three months.”
McKay said he competed in a talent show that summer and earned second place. It was then he considered he could be a good musician, he explained. However, it was when he went to Mexico on a foreign exchange program that he realized he might be able to make a living as a musician.
While in Mexico, he said he wrote a song about the country in Spanish. After the song was recorded and a music video was posted on YouTube, he said it became very popular throughout Mexico. Eventually, he was being flown out to different places in Mexico to perform the song for large groups of people. He said, “That was the moment where I was like, ‘This is what I want to do.’”
Before his song went viral in Mexico, he said he had finished the Book of Mormon for the first time and promised to serve a full-time mission. He said he asked God to help him with his music and acting career when he returned home.
Los Angeles living
After returning home from his mission, McKay said he was ready to get back into the industry and work again in Los Angeles, which he said is a fast-paced environment. “You’ll look back and say a lot happened, but at the same time, you don’t really get to enjoy it as much,” he explained.
The people in Los Angeles, he said, are caught up in the music and film industry and focus on what they can gain from the relationships they make. He said everything happens quickly and people are always working.
“It’s a lifestyle and an outlook that helps you to do well in the industry, but it’s also really hard to have that mindset and care for people,” he explained. “I try not to have that mindset as much.”
According to him, one of the most impactful productions he was in was the movie “Ford vs. Ferrari” because the film had a huge budget, was directed by one of the top directors in Los Angeles, and he was able to see the different personalities of actors like Christian Bale and Matt Damon.
He said he was recently cast in a lead role in a mystery thriller film based on the Bear Lake monster and will be taking Fall Semester off to train for the movie. According to the Salt Lake Magazine, the Bear Lake monster is a serpent, “anywhere from 40 to 200 feet long,” with big eyes and “an indeterminate number of legs” rumored to live in Utah’s Bear Lake.
Spreading happiness
Looking back on his experiences in the industry, McKay said, “You have to love it. You have to put in a lot of work.” He added finding people who need and believe in his work is worth it, but it requires money, time, sacrifice and knowing he might be rejected.
He said his desire to keep working in the industry, despite being turned down, stems from his ability to change his mindset and goals. “If anyone’s main goal is just to get the role or make money, then when that doesn’t happen, they’ll most likely feel like they’ve failed,” he explained. “After enough times, they’d probably give up altogether.”
However, he said if the person’s motive is to make people happy by finding ways to share their talents, then the rejection and sacrifice will make them grateful for the opportunity.•