The Fault In Our Stars’ leading man Ansel Elgort has joined the ranks of celebrities who cross over into other creative realms. Ansolo, Elgort’s DJ/producer project, officially became part of the Island Records roster Tuesday with the promise of his first single later this month.
Ansolo spent the past year garnering exposure as a DJ by performing at numerous music festivals, such as ULTRA in Miami in March and this past weekend’s Electric Zoo in New York City. He also had his first headlining gig at New York City club Pacha to celebrate his 21st birthday in March and has established a Soundcloud account with some of his latest beats.
Elgort has been working hard to prove himself, saying, “I don’t want to just sell out shows to young girls who like my movie franchise. I want to sell tickets because people respect me.” He continued by saying he receives tweets from people who are surprised that he is Ansolo, but thinks “it shows they would have been fans of [his] music either way.”
Elgort also made it a point to not abuse his status as an actor in order to get prime slots at festivals and shows. “The last thing I want to be is a joke or to not be credible,” he said. “I want to enter the music industry and be respected as a musician, not just as a celebrity trying to become a musician.” Despite this, Elgort makes it clear his acting will not suffer. “I definitely think I can be a successful producer and actor at the same time. That’s why I love my life,” he iterated.
Elgort’s first mainstream acting role was as Chloë Grace Moretz’s love interest in the 2013 Carrie remake. This performance was followed by his portrayal of Shailene Woodley’s brother in the first of many installments in the Divergent series, and then as her love interest in the John Green book-turned-movie The Fault in Our Stars in 2014. He has also starred in Men, Women & Children opposite Adam Sandler and Jennifer Garner, and he made a cameo in Green’s next adaptation, this summer’s Paper Towns. Other than the next two installments of the Divergent series, Allegiant: Part 1 and Part 2, Elgort is slated to appear in the upcoming films November Criminals opposite Moretz, Baby Driver and Code Name Veil.
When it came to choosing Island Records as his label for his next endeavor, Ansolo expained that they were the natural choice, because they didn’t just like what was considered “radio-friendly” and actually preferred the tracks he thought they wouldn’t like at all. He says, “They were like, ‘No, we’ve heard this before. We want the different ones. We want the special records.’”
Ansolo celebrated the news of his signing the same day by performing a set at Island Records’ sold out event Island Life, hosted by Keke Palmer at the Best Buy Theater in New York City. The concert featured performances by fellow DJ Sam Feldt, Shawn Mendes, American Authors, Timeflies, Kiesza and Nick Jonas. Ansolo’s single, “To Life,” will be his first major label release and is slated to premiere within the next two weeks according to the DJ’s twitter.