Go Behind the Scenes of Kiefer Sutherland’s ‘Down In a Hole’ Album

During his decade-long stint starring on the FOX drama, 24, actor Kiefer Sutherland kept a guitar in his trailer on the set. Yet, at the same time he was signing musicians to Ironworks Music, the label he co-founded with songwriter Jude Cole, he was initially reluctant to play in front of other musicians.

In the first of a series of behind-the-scenes videos, Sutherland, Cole and others involved in the making of Down in a Hole, Sutherland’s rootsy, visceral debut LP, discuss the genesis of the project that really began with the actor-musician’s love of music from an early age.

“[Music] defined the relationship with my older brother when I was six years old,” Sutherland explains. “I was the only kid in my class listening to Boston and Aerosmith.”

Having started Ironworks Music as more of a production house, Sutherland and Cole made records for artists and released them, but the goal was to get those acts to a bigger label that could propel their careers further. When it came to his own music, the goal was simply to apply the same love of storytelling that he had when choosing acting roles.

“I never picked a script because, ‘Ooh, that’s a character I want to play,'” he tells Rolling Stone Country. “It’s always been because I thought there was an interesting story to tell. Country music to me is like that.”

The first single and video from Down in a Hole, which is due out this summer, are for the deeply personal tune, “Not Enough Whiskey,” of which he says, “I’ve certainly been there, where something will happen in life, and one, two, three bottles of whiskey are not going to fix it,” he says. “In the context of the song, those moments are important to realize so you have to find another way to deal with them. I’m sure a lot of people have felt that way.”

“Not Enough Whiskey” is available now at iTunes.