WEBVTT - JC Chasez of NSYNC 0:00:00.880 --> 0:00:04.680 Hey guys, welcome to I've never said this before with 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:09.240 me Tommy Di Dario. Today I have pop Music Royalty 0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:11.239 on my show. Yes I Do You are in for 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:14.400 a treat. J C. Chase is widely known as being 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:17.880 a lead vocalist in the multi platinum selling group in Sync. 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:20.400 My fellow millennials, when I say that n SYNC was 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:23.079 a pivotal part in our adolescent years, I know you 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:27.120 get me. InSync has sold over fifty million records, and 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:30.280 Jac was responsible for writing and producing many of the 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:33.040 songs on the n Sync albums. Now. What's amazing about 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:35.360 in Sync is their music is beloved by all age 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:38.159 groups and all generations, and it even popped up in 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:41.680 Deadpool this summer with their song Bye Bye Bye exploding 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:44.200 once again in one of the top films of the year. 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:47.319 JAC is now jumping into the theatrical world and he's 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.319 teaming up with producer and composer Jimmy Harry on their 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:54.960 new musical theater concept album called Playing with Fire, and 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:58.920 it is literally fire. It is inspired by the timeless 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:02.200 novel Frankenstein. Everybody knows that story and Jac is a 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:05.440 feature vocalist on the album and the songs are so sexy, 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:08.280 so dramatic, and oh my god, they're so good. I 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:12.080 need to see this on stage immediately. So between celebrating 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.319 his iconic contributions to pop music and then diving into 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:19.039 this new exciting chapter, Jac and I we cover it all. 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:22.280 So let's see if today we can get Jac to 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:30.440 say something that he has never said before. Jace Shouse, 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:31.680 How you doing, mom? Man? 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:32.920 I'm good. How are you? 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:36.280 I am fantastic. I'm so excited to be chatting with 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:40.640 you today. I am such a big theater and musical 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:43.240 theater fan. I mean, I'm not gonna say I'm an expert, 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:45.959 but I have seen many shows, and I live in 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:48.120 New York and it's a huge part of my life. 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:51.120 So ah, I'm just so excited to dive into playing 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:53.480 with fire. But before we dive into that, we're going 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:56.080 to celebrate you a little bit in some amazing moments 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:57.600 in your life. If you're cool with that. 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:01.320 Yeah, yeah, sure. I was about to say we're on 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:03.840 the same page in terms of being very excited about theater. 0:02:04.160 --> 0:02:06.160 The only difference is I'm in LA and New York. 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:08.280 Everything else you said, I'm like, oh, so we're the 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:09.119 same great. 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:11.080 Yeah, one hundred percent. I think I was looking at 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:13.960 my November December calendar and it's like five shows on 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:16.200 and I'm like, yes, yes, this is what I love. 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:19.120 I love the art of it all. So it's awesome. 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:21.400 I can't wait to dive into that. But I feel like, 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:24.560 here we are. It's beginning of November. The holiday season 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:28.720 has officially kicked off, and for me, it's not quite 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:32.040 the holidays without the Instant Christmas album. 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:34.520 Hey that's a good one, And I'm going to. 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:36.720 Go on record, and this is a pretty bold statement, 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:39.160 but I am going to go on record right now 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:41.360 JC and say that that album is one of the 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:44.680 greatest albums of all time, of all time. 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:47.720 I think it stacks up well as a good Christmas 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:51.800 record of all times. As a wild statement, a music 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:54.920 that's out there, but I will definitely appreciate the sentiment. 0:02:54.960 --> 0:02:57.000 I think it's a I think it's a solid Christmas 0:02:57.000 --> 0:02:57.799 record for sure. 0:02:58.040 --> 0:02:59.720 So you busted out during the holidays. 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:03.799 I so I always go family, family first, So it's always, 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:05.679 you know, as soon as as soon as the holidays 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:07.880 kick in, I go into family mode. 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:10.920 So yeah, yeah, Well, like I said, it's a great one. 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:13.520 It's it's it's something that brings joy, which we all 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:15.679 need in this world more than ever. So I think 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:18.120 that to have a collection of work like that out 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:21.160 there is just so cool and it always keeps a 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:23.160 life of its own. Now, you can't say that about 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:24.720 a lot of art. That's why I'm saying it's one 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:28.480 of the most iconic albums ever, because not all albums 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.240 live up to the years that come, you know what 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:31.560 I mean. 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:34.880 Yeah, no, for sure. Look, it's it's a fun thing, 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:38.760 you know, and it's it's it's always kind of a 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.080 bit of a giggle and a nod to you know, 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:45.160 the moments when you're walking through the grocery store and 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:50.440 you're like, oh okay, or wherever you're walking and you 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:54.160 hear the tune. It's it's flattering, you know, because certainly 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:57.440 people make new Christmas music every year, so for people 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:01.360 to go back to ours is it again, it's a 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:02.200 huge compliment. 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:06.080 You probably can't ever escape Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, can you? 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:07.120 It just pops up. 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:09.640 I think it's fun though, I think it served. It's 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:12.640 like when we were writing it, it ended up being 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:15.680 exactly what we wanted. We just knew we wanted something 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:19.200 that was joyful, and we wanted something that had energy, 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:23.680 and we didn't want it to feel like you had 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:27.640 to I don't know, just almost feel overthink it. You 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:30.799 just have a bit of fun. It's a fun Christmas 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:33.960 song and that's what we were trying to make and 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:36.960 when we were writing it, and I think that is 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:41.280 translated in when we were making it, the purpose translated. 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:43.760 And do that video pops up on my YouTube the 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:46.640 other day with like the Big Sled and the cgi Snow, 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:48.279 it's pure camp, it's pure fun. 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:51.600 Well you know, it's also like, hey man, we don't 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:54.040 have a lot of money to make Christmas videos, so 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:56.920 this is gonna be what it is. And we owned 0:04:56.960 --> 0:05:00.320 it right. It was just like again, silliness, fun. You 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:04.279 don't have to make the most elaborate thing to enjoy 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:07.719 yourself when you're watching it or or when you're listening. 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:10.040 So yeah, for sure, for sure. Well I'm going to 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:12.400 go on record again and say it's safe to say 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:14.320 that the world will be ready for a follow up 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:16.520 Christmas album whenever you guys are ready, We're ready. 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:18.479 Okay, that's a wild idea. 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:21.400 Actually, ooh, your interest is peaked. 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:24.360 I've never thought of that. 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:29.040 Wait. Really, Yeah, that's okay. Come on, there's so many 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:31.560 songs to cover and as a writer you can write 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:32.480 so many new ones. 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:34.039 That's wild. Okay. 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:37.720 No, I may need producing credit on it. Nast to 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:38.160 the idea. 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:39.679 It's like I want to be the EP. 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:43.159 Well, we'll talk about that later. We'll talk about that later. Jason, 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:45.360 you had some amazing moments over the last couple of 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:47.480 years with the guys. I mean, twenty twenty three, you 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:49.920 reunited for the VMA's, you did the one night only 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:55.599 showing La for Justin. These moments are are bringing so 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:58.040 much happiness enjoy to people. Like I said earlier, it's 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:00.240 a theme I guess of this conversation given the day 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:02.839 we're on today, which everybody listening. We're recording this on 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:06.919 the election day, which just has the world upside down. 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.240 So for you, what was it like sharing those moments 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:11.320 again with the guys? 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:15.240 It was fun. Look, anytime we get together, it's always 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:20.120 there's always something special, you know, because we had such 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:22.960 a great run and we have such a great history 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:26.480 with one another. Because it really, look, it made our 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:30.600 lives wonderful. The opportunity to create things that you literally 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:33.599 dream about and and for us to be able to 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:36.760 come together and make those things for all those years, 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:41.240 it made everything else in our life moving forward possible. 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:45.200 And so whenever we're with each other, it's like, you 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:47.560 can't It's like, I love those guys, and I can't 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:51.560 thank them enough for you know, for our chemistry and 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:54.679 for the opportunities that we shared together and and and 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:58.359 because those opportunities still provide opportunities for us and so 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:03.120 and and and Yeah, when we're together making things, it's 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:06.440 also very exciting, especially after not doing it for a 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:10.560 long time. You're just curious, and that aspect is very fun. 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:14.240 You know. There's almost like you know, we know, you 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:17.080 know where we each rest in the in the world 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:18.920 of harmony and things like that, because we've done it 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:22.920 so much over time. But you know, given that everyone 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:29.080 has gone in different directions exploring, when you come back together, 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:31.960 you go, hey, what's changed, you know, because everything that 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:35.080 you learn along the way changes your perception and how 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:38.000 you listen to things and how you sing things, and 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:41.880 and so it's fun to get together with those guys 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:45.280 now and just kind of experiment a little bit and 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.520 play a little bit, and uh, and so it was 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:50.240 certainly fun on the two songs that we did. Look, 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:52.600 the troll sing is a blast. You know, we got 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:55.880 to to live out a cartoon, you know, dream and 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:59.480 and and Justin made that possible bringing us into his 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:02.080 Trolls world. But I also think it was a lot 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:06.000 of fun singing the song Paradise for his record. You know, 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:08.320 it was it was kind of like it was something 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:10.120 that he had written and you know, and he had 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:12.960 an idea for and all of a sudden, you know, 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:15.000 he heard it in a different way one day because 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:17.960 when we were originally talking about doing something after we 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:21.040 did the Trolls song, Justin and I were talking about 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:22.640 it and we were kind of going back and forth 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:25.840 between two songs. Actually he played me two records and 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:27.680 then and then all of a sudden, it was like 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:30.640 I was like, all right, well, you know, I was 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:33.040 listening to them, and it was just like, let's figure 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:34.720 it out, you know. And then all of a sudden, 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:36.720 it was like, you know, down down the road when 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:38.679 we started talking, he was no, no, no, it's this, this 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:40.720 is us. This is like, this is the love letter 0:08:41.040 --> 0:08:45.120 that we you know, this is our appreciation and love 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:47.880 letter to the fans that have been kind enough all 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:50.800 the years. So that was the purpose of that and 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:52.320 it was totally fun to do. 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:55.760 Yeah. Yeah. Are you a sentimental man? Like do you 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:58.679 get nostalgic and have these moments where you're like, oh 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:00.640 my god, I can't believe I get to this still 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:02.880 with my best buddies and here I am, and there's 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:05.240 an appetite for it, Like, do you feel that. 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:08.800 I I'll say, there are others in the band that 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:13.600 are probably more sentimental than me. But I'm appreciative, I 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:17.160 think because I always like, you know, I certainly love 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:20.319 you know what we've done, but I always get excited 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:22.320 about the future. You know, even when you say the 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:25.120 election and so on, I'm I'm positive about the future. 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:29.040 Whatever happens, you know, today, the goal will be that 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:31.240 every day that I step forward, I'm going to be 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:34.720 trying to be my best self and have the best 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:36.920 effect that I can on others around me. And so 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:39.600 I look at every day as an opportunity to do that. 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:43.920 And so I think, while I'm I can be slightly sentimental, 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:45.640 I'm always excited about the future. 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:48.240 Yeah. Well, it's a good way to live, right. You 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:52.280 appreciate the present, but you live in the past. No, 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:53.960 you can't live in the past. You can't. You have 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:57.079 to celebrate. Like you said, you celebrate the unexpected things. 0:09:57.480 --> 0:09:59.760 Celebrate the past, but you know, you live in the 0:09:59.840 --> 0:10:04.440 next out and you try and create the best now 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:08.000 you can by looking forward and doing doing the right 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:09.000 things moving forwards. 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:12.040 Yeah. Yeah, well it's evident you have the mentality because 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:13.839 you created something brilliant, which we're going to get to 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:15.640 in a minute. But I do want to celebrate the 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:18.640 past one more time because this summer, y'all were in 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:21.120 one of the hottest movies of the year, Deadpool, and 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:24.320 that song Bye Bye Bye had a life of its 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:27.360 own again. I remember driving in an uber in New 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:29.600 York and hearing that on the radio again, and I'm like, 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:32.079 wait a minute, I'm a millennial, Like this is on 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:34.640 the radio. Why this is so cool? 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:38.160 Like for you, we never like, we never saw it coming, man. 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:41.160 You know, we just thought it was really really cool 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:44.800 that somebody wanted to use or not somebody, but obviously 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:48.000 Ryan wanted to use the song in the film. And 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:50.720 when we first you know, got to look at us like, hey, 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:53.839 you know, the Deadpool film wants to put your song 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:55.640 in the movie. You're like, Oh, that's cool. I wonder 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:57.840 how they're going to use it, like what you know, 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:01.920 but look, they're create over there, and they they like 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:06.679 to have fun. And that worked out perfect because you know, 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:10.000 we're like that as well. We'd like to have fun. 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:12.679 And so when we first got wind of it, and 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:14.600 when we first signed off, it was only for X 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:17.240 amount of time. And then down the road in the project, 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:19.160 they reached out again. They were like, we need to 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:21.240 use more of the song. You guys good and we 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:23.880 were like, yeah, have fun, do your thing. And then 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:28.320 and then ultimately Ryan reached out and texted all of 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:32.719 us and he was just like, so it's taking on 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:35.920 a life of its own and we think you guys 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:38.880 are going to love it. And and that's when he 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:41.400 invited us to come to the premiere and things like 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:44.360 that to see it, because he was genuinely, really really 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:47.520 sweet and he expressed some wonderful enthusiasm about it. And 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:50.680 we love the way it turned out. I mean, like again, 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:52.040 funny wins. 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:55.120 So yeah, and the guy who danced in that suit 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:56.760 was great. But I do have to say I'm a 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:58.960 little disappointed you didn't pop out of the suit after 0:11:59.040 --> 0:11:59.840 that dance number. 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:04.520 Oh no, man, Look, he got stunted. I don't know 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:06.319 what I'm gonna do with like a sword, and I 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:09.280 don't know if I have the comornation at this at 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:12.120 this stage in life, I'm gonna leave that, like the 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:16.120 swords and the fighting choreo to the experts. And yeah, 0:12:16.160 --> 0:12:19.280 I'm happy to share the dance and we'll keep it 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:19.560 at that. 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:23.320 And to put a button on this instinct portion of 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:26.200 this interview, you know, knowing the impact that all of 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:28.640 these amazing moments have had, and you know, from the 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:31.760 VMA's to the show in La it's a deadpool, its 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:33.640 a trolls and so on and so on, how do 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:36.080 you see the momentum continuing with the guys. 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:40.720 Look, the fun thing is we're always talking to one another, 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:44.080 you know, and so you never know what idea could pop. 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:48.800 Right now, everybody's focused on projects, you know. Justin's literally 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:51.840 on tour and you know, and I'm gearing up this 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:55.120 project right now, so my focus is playing with fire. 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:58.240 But we're always talking in the background, and it only 0:12:58.320 --> 0:13:03.120 takes like one idea, so anything's possible, you know. And 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:06.360 that's the fun part about us. It's just we're one text, 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:08.080 one phone call, from something. 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:18.960 Anything is possible, including perhaps one day watching your show 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:23.160 on the Broadway stage, which I certainly certainly hope is 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:26.880 the case. Playing with Fire is your musical theater concept album. 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:29.680 I was listening to it in the gym and I 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:33.280 was like, oh my god, these songs are brilliant, they 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:35.719 are so good, and you can't listen to everything, every 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:39.880 musical theater album in the gym, but this, oh my god, 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:41.120 it maybe the ballad. 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:42.600 Maybe the ballads. You might you're allowed to skip the 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:44.360 bout in the gym, but then you know you have 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:46.040 If you want to listen to the baut later at 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:47.760 home while you're stipping a glass of wine or something, 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:48.240 you can do that. 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:50.280 But I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. The 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:53.640 ballads have so much heart and like soul that you 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:55.280 you do want to hear them, you don't want to 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:58.720 skip it. So let's start with share with everybody what 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:00.320 exactly is Playing with Fire. 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:07.120 So Playing with Fire is a remake of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:10.400 It was inspired by my writing partner, My writing partner, 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:13.080 Jimmy Harry. His mother was a playwright and she wrote 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:17.439 a play call Playing with Fire, and she framed Mary 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:21.640 Shelley's story in a way that was unique to other 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:25.600 versions of Frankenstein that I had read or seen, and 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:30.960 that she made the focus really about a conversation between 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:36.360 the creature and the creator, Victor Frankenstein, and everything pops 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:40.760 from that conversation. Everything happens because of that conversation between 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:47.720 these two characters. And by framing things that way, I 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:51.480 was emotionally affected in a way that I wasn't, you know, 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:56.840 maybe reading the original, because I felt like the original 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:58.760 I was always like a third party, just reading an 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:03.080 adventure in a way. And the way that this is framed, 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:08.120 every time you hear the Creature or Frankenstein speak, you're 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:13.520 hearing it from their perspective, the character's perspective, so you're 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:17.680 living through an experience through their emotion and their feeling. 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:22.600 And that excited me. And so after reading that, you know, 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:26.080 Jimmy and I started talking. You know, Hey, let's just 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:28.760 start with one song and see what happens. If there's 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:31.920 magic there, we'll we'll continue to walk down that road. 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:34.800 And if there's not, hey, you know, we tried to 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:37.880 do something totally different because I don't know if anybody 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:41.520 would think about a musical for Frankenstein, and that also 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:44.080 excited me, is you know, I just thought it was 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:49.880 a different, fun, exciting thing to do. And we we 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:53.600 wrote music for it, not all the music, but some 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:58.240 of the music, and then we did a thing where 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:01.200 we went up to the Playwright Center and Anneapolis and 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:05.000 a guy named Jeremy Cohen opened the doors to the 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:09.600 Playwright Center so graciously for us and brought in some 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:12.400 actors and we got to hear some of Barbara's book, 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:16.320 Jimmy's mother, Barbara's book against the music, because we didn't 0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:18.360 know if it was going to work, and what we 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:23.520 learned was there's something there right. The music is doing 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:27.400 something to the material. And that's when we got really excited. 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:30.720 And then we noticed some flaws in what we were doing, obviously, 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:33.720 but that's the exciting thing, you know. We go, oh, 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:37.440 this gives me an idea. This makes me believe that 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:40.280 we can do this. But this also gives me another idea. 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:42.120 And that's when Jimmy and I went back in and 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:45.240 started rewriting our version of the book because the music 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:48.280 had changed the material as well, and so now all 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:51.960 of a sudden, we're developing something where we can really 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:55.520 make our mark and feel like we have something valuable 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:59.840 to offer the story in the theater community by musicalizing 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:02.440 a classic tale like Frankenstein. 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:06.040 And there really is so much depth and soul to 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:08.800 the lyrics and the music and all of the singers 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:11.280 who are on this, including yourself of course, and you 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:13.879 feel everything that you guys are trying to convey in 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:18.199 the story. What about this made you so invested? Like 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:21.360 why did you connect with this work in the way 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:22.680 that you did? Well? 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:27.920 The initial thought was even just hearing that, you know Frankenstein, 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:30.720 you automatically, at least I automatically went Wow, we're living 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:33.159 in a day and age now where the story is 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:36.199 more relevant than ever we're up. You know, humanity and 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:40.880 technology are really you know, at this crossroads where it's like, hey, 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:43.919 the thought of AI and how we have to be 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:47.840 responsible for this thing that we've created, and we're having 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:51.879 these conversations now about that. That's really interesting to me. 0:17:52.160 --> 0:17:55.760 And the more we started writing, as much as it's 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:57.919 a part of the story, it's not the heart of 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:01.880 the story. The heart of the story that we've developed 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:06.919 is humanity. It's like, it doesn't matter what happens, it 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:10.760 doesn't matter how much technology is developed, It doesn't matter 0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:15.840 all of these What matters is that nothing can take 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:21.280 you know, the humanity from anyone and so we focused 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:25.199 on that aspect and what we ended up with was 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:29.720 not just you know, a humanity and technology story, but 0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:33.800 a story about a father and a son working through 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:40.919 some very difficult, heart wrenching, serious issues. And that was 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:43.720 beautiful to me. It was like, oh, we've tapped into 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:46.600 something special. You know, you go into it thinking you know, 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:50.160 people in robots, and then you come out the other 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:52.639 side you go, oh, this is all This is a 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:55.800 story about humanity, and it's all about humanity, and it's 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:59.679 being in the The center stage is you know, a 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:03.359 father and a son and someone's great love and so 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:08.879 having a perspective that felt like it was fresh. I 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:10.520 got really excited about that as well. 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:13.800 So innovative, it's so creative, which I think is probably 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:15.879 as an artist, one of the most exciting things for you. 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:18.119 The songs. I feel like the songs could be on 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:20.920 the radio some of them. They're so good. What was 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:22.560 the one I loved? Oh you used to touch me. 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:23.760 Yeah. 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:28.320 I was like, damn, Jayson, this is fiery. Oh my God. 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:32.840 The surprising thing about that record is, look, we wrote 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:35.560 it as an up tempo and because we wanted to 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:39.159 have energy and really to drive it. It's a taunt, you know. 0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:44.160 It's the creature kind of poking at his creator, like, Hey, 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:47.160 you're calling me hideous, you're calling me a monster, you're 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:49.919 calling me all of these things. Guess what. And it's 0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:52.600 almost like an you're talking to an ex. It's like, yeah, 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:54.920 you know what, you used to put your hands all 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:58.960 over me. Think about that for a second. I'm so ugly. Huh, 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:01.640 you used to love me, you know, think about that 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:04.680 when you say all these horrible things. And and so it's 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:07.320 it's a great way for the creature to kind of 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:10.960 kind of put it in the scientist Frank Stien's face. 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:15.159 The thing that really surprised us was, you know, we 0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:16.960 wrote it as an up tempo, and we sang it 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:20.199 as an up tempo. But one day we were just 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:24.440 kind of messing around and we decided to just kind 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:26.119 of play it in the air, like you know, on 0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:28.000 the piano over here and on the guitar o we're here, 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:32.240 And we realized how interesting the song was. Stripped bear 0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:36.239 as well. So that's when you know that, you know 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:39.360 there's a little bit more there. You know, you go, okay, 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:43.679 this could literally be you know, a big, you know, 0:20:43.760 --> 0:20:47.280 bounce around, you know, energetic piece, but it can also 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:52.080