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Gagachella (with ZEE Machine & DJ John Michael)
323 Plays1 month ago
Pop icon and unofficial Lady Gaga correspondent ZEE MACHINE returns to HOMOPHONIC! Joined together with DJ John Michael, we dive deep into all things Gagachella. ZEE spills the tea on what it was like to experience weekend one firsthand, and we speculate about what Gaga might bring to the upcoming Mayhem Ball. Plus, we take a moment to chat about the rise of Addison Rae’s pop career.
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Transcript
New York Business Trip
00:00:09
Speaker
I know that it's wild. Like, like, like we are all in different. It's so weird to me. know. Although I'll be in New York, uh, tomorrow morning. Wait for how long now? What is, what I will be there for, I get there tomorrow morning and then I leave early on Friday. Wow.
00:00:26
Speaker
Yeah. full week. I really, much I should have planned this better because like, that would have been fun if I went, also went to New York and we could have all met up. That would have been fun. my God. I mean,
00:00:37
Speaker
The what hate is that almost every time I'm in New York, it's like all work. So I want to just I want to just plan a trip where I don't have to fucking worry about getting anything done with career shit.
00:00:48
Speaker
Right. Yeah.
Busy NYC Schedule
00:00:49
Speaker
Being a what is your plan? Yeah. it's like What is your what is your oh I mean this this week? You mean? Yeah. You're here for a reason. Yeah. So I'm getting in tomorrow. We film ah the the visualizer.
00:01:05
Speaker
for the new song at like noon. So I get I fly in thankfully to LaGuardia. um And then we film and then i think we're probably taking it easy that evening and then Tuesday and Wednesday recording pretty much all day ah for the rest of the rest of the tears and gear stuff for basically writing and recording it.
00:01:26
Speaker
um So half of it doesn't exist yet, but it will but it will by Thursday. Wow. That's exciting. That's it. We've worked pretty fast, actually, which is unusual for me. That that is not how my own stuff goes.
00:01:39
Speaker
Right, right. Yeah. um And then Thursday, the song comes out and we're going to do a little.
Song Release Party
00:01:44
Speaker
um Actually, if you're around, you're welcome to come. We're doing a little a little release party. Just it's just sort of like we're doing it at four or five, six in in Brooklyn.
00:01:53
Speaker
OK. we're just like ah fans. Anyone stop by We're just going have a little thing that evening. And then I fly out at like seven in the morning on Friday. Wow.
00:02:04
Speaker
so the same bus club, another club, another club. It's going to
Coachella Audience & Live Stream
00:02:12
Speaker
be rough. And this is like the first day my voice is back from, i don't know if we started recording like officially.
00:02:18
Speaker
Um, but, uh, it's like the first day my voice has not been completely like crunchy from Coachella. ah Oh, wow. I'm sure there's a lot of that going around. It was, it was bad.
00:02:29
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, I can imagine. I mean, i i I have to be honest. I don't know if i would have handled it if i how I would have handled it if I was in that audience for that for that performance. you know yeah You know, what's crazy is that people kept talking about how the audience sucked on the live stream.
00:02:47
Speaker
i think the mics weren't picking shit up. Okay. it was it i mean I don't know. I wasn't getting anything, but people going crazy. and well the The vibes were really, really good.
00:03:00
Speaker
I think that was so I noticed that there was definitely a stark difference between some of the DJ live streams I saw with some of the live performance ones. like And one of the things that I noticed, and I said this to Brian, is that what i ah what also made the live stream of Gaga's Coachella performance really good was that every time they cut away, it was to a gay person.
00:03:20
Speaker
Well, that's because that's the only people who were there. Correct. Yeah. Correct. But that's why like every time they cut away, it was like some queen who was like so super excited to be there. So it I actually thought it kind of kept the energy up, which was great.
00:03:33
Speaker
Because like I actually posted my stories yesterday. I was watching the Tiesto live stream.
Coachella Technical Hiccups
00:03:38
Speaker
And he's got like a whole bunch of people on the stage behind him. And they're all doing the I took too much ketamine head bob.
00:03:45
Speaker
yeah And I'm like, okay. I was like, so you have an actual legend, like that's actually Tiesto in front of you at Coachella. I was like, and you're going forever immortalized on this live stream looking just like chewing your gum like it's your job. And I'm like, i don't said that what that I didn't really like. But yeah, I don't know. I thought Cagas was great.
00:04:02
Speaker
Is this the first year that they live-streamed both weekends? I don't think so. I think they do both. i felt like I thought that in previous years, when they started doing the live stream, I thought that only did weekend one, and then weekend two wasn't live-streamed. But but yeah I mean, i I didn't watch it, but I saw that they were live-streaming all of the second weekend.
00:04:23
Speaker
I watched um this past weekend's ah Gaga performance because... I hadn't seen it yet. Right. Right. Yeah. um And i was dying at your stories because you were freaking out about the microphone malfunction. Oh, my God. um i so that is a nightmare scenario, even even, you know, for someone on a very low level to have like a technical thing go out like that, especially like a headset mic in the like at the very beginning. And Sheila couldn't move.
00:04:59
Speaker
Like she couldn't just like stop and go down. So she just had to like ah power through like a professional. And then there was someone took a video of when she was going down, like one of the tech people like quickly handed her the mic and you see her grab it.
00:05:13
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm just like, oh, I don't know. I might my heart stopped. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my God. Because because it's like you.
Technical Challenges at Festivals
00:05:21
Speaker
There's nothing you can nothing you can do. And what's funny is that like weekend two, people have been telling me, this is the weekend that you know they work out all the ah the tech. well and I'm like, interesting. interesting Interesting. Not with her. Not with her. Somebody's getting fired. and yeah That sucks. How long was how long did she how long was she without audio was it like
00:05:46
Speaker
Like a minute or two. ah know. no So it was like it's so Bloody Mary had audio. Abracadabra started and it started cutting out. And I would say she got.
00:05:57
Speaker
She got her mic back, I think, during and and ah the handheld mic during the second chorus of Abercadabra. So not for super long, but it probably felt like an eternity for her. oh the verse The verse was cutting in and out, and she kept holding the mic like that yeah to keep it in place. And every time she let go, it would cut out.
00:06:17
Speaker
And then aca the chorus came in, and she had backing vocals. So that wasn't too bad, but then it was like, choose the road. other way And nothing. Oh, and I was like, i was like, oh, my God.
00:06:28
Speaker
Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
Essence of Live Performances
00:06:31
Speaker
You're in the audience like pop stars. They're just like us. yeah Oh, and I am like, you know, I'm i'm not here. I'm not going to like assume my own lore, but like I have a bit of a habit of. um happy I like to swing... Oh, my God. i know My best song.
00:06:49
Speaker
oh I have a bit of a habit of with a when I have a corded mic, I like to swing it around kind of like that, like Roger Daltrey style. um I would say 75% the time it falls out and I have to reach down and and put it back.
00:07:07
Speaker
You're like, oops. It's like a thing. it's like a it's like i did it um Actually, it was pretty good this past time because i had um taped it up. i had ah I learned.
00:07:19
Speaker
So i I got like staged tape and I like taped it on there so I could do it a little harder. um But when I was in Canada again, one of the guys who would come to both performance is like, well, that's two for two. i've been to i'm like you know I'm nothing if not consistent. So even even that I'm like, fuck.
00:07:35
Speaker
fuck out, reach it. Right, yeah, you're like, oh I gotta use this. I gotta sing now. Yeah. So when when I do my classes at Peloton, right, when I do my classes at Peloton, I have specifically like a one ear like headphones so it like clips over the top and then i it's just the one side here and it's partly because it's easier than to have both. I also like to have the ear free so I can hear what the coach is saying, blah, blah, blah.
00:07:58
Speaker
And also it keeps the the headset mic in place once the headphone is on, it doesn't move. Mine has been broken. The place that I get them from has been out of stock. So I've been using regular headphones like this. And I forget that I can't actually dance and move as much in class because how so far I think it's been like four for four classes that I've had these types of headphones on where I have just done something and the headphones just come clear off my head. Oh, no. Of course. Trying to make it look right like grand and like grab the the wire and stuff. And I'm like, this is an absolute fail.
00:08:31
Speaker
Oh my god. You're only human. Right. I was like, you just keep going. And i don't have any audio problems because I'm perfect. Because you're perfect. You got this down. you yeah You have to be. You're the host, bitch. You're the host and the tech support.
00:08:46
Speaker
No, completely untrue because the first five episodes of this podcast, my i my microphone, I was recording with it backwards. Right. So, oh, my God. Yeah. So, like with this blue light, that's where that's where I was supposed to be having it come in.
00:09:03
Speaker
And so I yeah, I was like, oh, so OK.
Welcome to Homophonic
00:09:08
Speaker
So audio is crazy. It's like, yeah, it's like we just it's just sound like we up the budget by like 50 percent just by flipping it around, just flipping it around. We flipping it around.
00:09:17
Speaker
um down flip it and reverse it who I also saw um okay I saw okay so i saw ah i saw I didn't see the whole set but I saw like bits and pieces of it kind of walking through Let's officially start. Welcome back to Homophonic, everyone. I'm probably going to keep all of that in there for the most part. Please do. I hope you all enjoyed the amazing new theme music.
00:09:37
Speaker
Oh, yes. That's right. Yeah, you like that? Thanks to John Michael. That was a nice surprise when opened that. i was like, attagirl. There we go. We're not we're not just raw dogging it anymore. We're lubing you up a little bit, little
Social Media Dynamics
00:09:50
Speaker
bit. Right, right, right.
00:09:50
Speaker
We're getting this, I mean, we are once again joined by John Michael and the fantastic Z Machine. and Shadow of a man. Resident Lady Gaga correspondent.
00:10:02
Speaker
That's right. Literally. And we are recording on Easter. So he hath risen. Let's celebrate that. Yes. i just i i just I just posted on Threads. and I said, you know, I am risen every morning and I don't see anyone celebrating that.
00:10:16
Speaker
i I love i love that you still that you're using Threads. Honestly, i don't think I've... i've I think love it. I got a new phone like the week after Threads started. And I never redownloaded it.
00:10:28
Speaker
I'm starting to realize that like i I mean, I have a huge following on threads just because of the way that they like integrated it all. yeah yeah And so and I have like no followers on Twitter.
00:10:40
Speaker
So I will once in a while post to threads just because I remember that it's there. And it will get a lot of traction sometimes, not all the time, yeah but like I've like the gay equivalent question that I asked. Yes. I posted that on threads as well.
00:10:55
Speaker
And the hundreds of responses that I got. Oh, wait, what was the question you asked? the the The question is, and this will be great. This will be great. Social media content. Here we go.
Identifying Gay Anthems
00:11:05
Speaker
so oh wait, I think i remember.
00:11:07
Speaker
Yeah. So I asked, the i asked the world, I asked the culture, what is the gay equivalent to don't stop believing? in Oh, yeah. And ah the amount of – John Michael, you responded. You said – I said it was two because like they're both almost the same thing for me where it's ah it's it's Raining Men by The Weather Girls. And No Shade, and I love The Weather Girls.
00:11:26
Speaker
And they are super, super talented. But it's Raining Men and – what was the other one I said? You said I'm Coming Out. I'm Coming Out. Yeah, Diana Ross. They're two sides of the same coin, and I like them. And they're genius, and they're brilliant. And the people that were wrote and produced and did all the things are – Iconic. Nile Rodgers, Paul Jabara, like just all of these guys, like just incredible.
00:11:45
Speaker
But it's just too much and I can't do it anymore. What would the what would the qualifiers have to be? Like like what makes it ah Don't Stop Believing the straight version of that? Right. Yeah, that's a good question because this question was initially presented to me by a straight man at my work.
00:12:01
Speaker
And he was like, what is... And so I was just trying to think of that. I was like, Don't Stop Believing. That's kind of like this like anthemic stadium song. that people just kind of like, feel like it gets played a lot at sporting events and just like big events in general. So was like, what is, what would be this like equivalent?
00:12:19
Speaker
And so I immediately believe, I was going to say either. Well, believe is on the list. I think YMCA is also on the list. Yeah. Well, I would have said... YMCA is straight now, though. Right, right, right. Yeah. They're reclaiming their time. It's a song. Right.
00:12:36
Speaker
My immediate response when he first asked me the question, I think I said, Shares Believe or Robin's Dancing on My Own. Yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah.
00:12:46
Speaker
But then, i mean, but then i as as I started presenting it to the culture, if you will, like I started getting everything from Born This Way to... So Holiday by Madonna. i i You know, I don't think I got any Madonna songs. Oh, I got Vogue. I got Vogue by Madonna. I got Vogue.
00:13:05
Speaker
And then what else? Someone said Bad Romance. Someone said... Now they're just naming popular gay songs. Right, right, right. It's got to be more more specific.
00:13:16
Speaker
Right, yeah. well then that's So then the same person had asked me, what's the gay equivalent to Sweet Caroline? And well that's a tough one. That's a tough one because I think the the qualifier for that, there has to be like a call and response type of thing with it.
00:13:31
Speaker
Which I don't think we have. I don't think the gays do that. and now Yeah, not really. The gays don't really do call and response. I mean, in that case, maybe maybe something like a Vogue where we that everyone knows like the rat the little spoken part.
00:13:43
Speaker
Right. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. and You know what? I don't even know if that like these songs are even the gay equivalent of Don't Stop Believin'. Right. Maybe we don't have one. I was going to say, I think that there's something so specific about like that song yeah that i don't i don't know. I don't even know like what song makes all the gays lose their mind in the same way that straight people do for Don't Stop Believe In.
00:14:07
Speaker
Well, I think it's like kind of generational too, right? Because I think it depends on what you ask. Like if you ask a certain – like if you ask like a Gen Zer, they're going to be like – don't know. They'll be like, hot to go But if you ask – Well, hot to go is this generation's YMCA.
00:14:22
Speaker
Well, and I was going say – Oh, yeah, for I think in five years' time, you're going to come back to this question and we'll be like, it's definitely hot to go. Yeah.
Generational Gay Anthems
00:14:30
Speaker
Yeah. And i my friend Nate said Whitney Houston's I Want to Dance with Somebody.
00:14:36
Speaker
Wait, actually, maybe. Because I feel like I've heard that song in public, I think, more than any other song. Yeah. For some reason, like just out and about. Yeah. Like, yeah I feel like i there's rarely a night that I'm out where there's not some version of that song played at at gay or straight events.
00:14:53
Speaker
Right. And I feel like after she passed away specific, I mean, obviously, that's a huge hit for her in general. But like, I feel like after she passed away, that song kind of took on a new life of its own.
00:15:03
Speaker
Well, I feel like what they end up doing and a lot of maybe it's the label's fault is that they just sort of like, and maybe I see this with Britney with Toxic, you know, they sort of like zero in on like the one song where it's like, this is their best song. And I'm like, but it's hardly not.
00:15:16
Speaker
Like I will. Yeah, I will say I do sort of feel I want to dance with somebody getting like the toxic, the bad romance treatment where it's like, Objectively, yes. Love it. i have not put that i have not hit play on this song in a very long time because I don't need to. Yeah, you don't need to. You'll hear you'll hear it out wherever you go. all that That's how I feel about Believe.
00:15:35
Speaker
Yeah. Any playlist that you see in regards to anything 80s or anything Pride or whatever. Well, and it's funny because I went to go. So Jennifer Beals, this is so random. Jennifer Beals is doing a book tour and it's like a photographic
Stereotypical Gay Playlists
00:15:49
Speaker
journal book of like her time on the L word. And I'm such a lesbian because I love that show so much and I was obsessed with it.
00:15:55
Speaker
They love her character so much that literally one of my closest friends is in my phone as her character name anyway. oh Long story, very, very short. Whoever, like, the the person that was in charge of making the gay playlist before the whole thing started for the room full of lesbians was, like, the most stereotypical, now that's what I call lesbians, like, volume one.
00:16:15
Speaker
And it was, like, everything from, like, Chapel Rhone to Born This Way to, like, just melissa Melissa Etheridge and, like, just the very stereotypical. And I'm like... Why do we do this? Like, we need, we need, we can, we can get better songs for ourselves. Like, it's, it's okay. Like, we can, I don't know. Like, we get so stuck on this. And I'm like, we don't have to live this heteronormative musical lifestyle.
00:16:35
Speaker
Right. Right. Right. Let's, let's stop that.
Curating a Pride Playlist
00:16:39
Speaker
I've been saying. Yeah.
00:16:41
Speaker
You know, i mean, i i've been trying to put together like a Pride playlist of like, you know, this is very on brand for me, like lesser known songs that I feel like often get left out of Pride and like songs like Janet Jackson's Free Zone. Like it's a very clear ah homage to the queer community that it does not ever get played at Pride anymore.
00:17:04
Speaker
I would say a different kind of love song by Cher, another song that is very much ah all about, you know, including everyone. And it just doesn't get played at Pride. And so I mean, she literally has a song called Pride that should that never gets played. by pride Right.
00:17:18
Speaker
Like they literally play believe in strong enough. and then like And then obviously a lot of queer artists don't get played at Pride. like Amen. Thank God. ah it's And so it's just like, yeah, I'm trying to i'm trying to cultivate a ah playlist of sorts to to to start getting that ball.
00:17:38
Speaker
ah i guess i will I guess that is coming up coming up soon. She's coming up so soon. I mean, we are we're less than two weeks away from May, which is insane. I actually did discover quite a few because I've been doing this all even for work stuff, like just looking up like gay artists
New Gay Artists & Diversity
00:17:54
Speaker
and gay people. And I literally have a running playlist called i Heart Gay People on my but work.
00:18:00
Speaker
I want a shirt that says that in the I Heart New York style. Yes. i has Heart Gay People. And I have to say it's been really interesting because what what I'm noticing now and I think it's really cool and it's probably access to technology and all this other stuff that's been happening over the years is that I feel like when I was a kid and growing up, gay artists, specifically gay male artists, all had...
00:18:25
Speaker
the same voice and it was very much like that sort of like I don't know i don't want to be stereotypical but that stereotypical gay male voice in all of the songs and I was like I don't know there's this sort of like general sameness whatever and now like a Kevin Avianz type of voice I think Kevin Avianz like a sort of um who would I even say like, you know, boom, boom, boom, let's go back to my room so we can do it all night.
00:18:49
Speaker
And you can make like, it's a very sort of like simple, like not singer singers, like not like, sure you know, just sort of very, very thin what I like to call prosciutto voice. It's just very thin. Oh my God.
00:19:02
Speaker
You know what I mean? It's just very sort of when you, when you were saying like the gay man voice, I was kind of like, for some reason, my, my mind immediately went to like, Oh no, no, no My mind immediately went to like, uh, like an Andy Bell or a yeah George. Well, kind of thing. and I'm like, okay, that's not too bad. No, no, no, except that they are really, the ridd they have really talented voices thinner than that.
00:19:22
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. No, no, no, and now I, there's, there's a few different genres of, of, of gay singer voice. I get that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I feel like now, so as I've been going down this rabbit hole recently, i there are so many different gay artists in so many different genres that I have even myself never heard of. And I do this almost every year for work. And I looked for, you know,
00:19:41
Speaker
people or whatever. And I'm just like really, really excited about that. You know, let's celebrate that. Like, I think that's a wonderful thing. Let's celebrate that. It's like, really, and support gay artists. Support your local people because it's there's some really great stuff out there.
00:19:56
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we got one of them right here. I mean, just saying, just saying. Will he be joining us? or In a minute, in a minute. um But speaking of gay people, you know who loves gay people is is Lady Gaga.
Gaga's Coachella Performance
00:20:12
Speaker
And z you got to experience. She's been known to love some gay people once in a while. And z you got to experience her Coachella show in person.
00:20:24
Speaker
The superior weekend, might add. The superior weekend, yeah. And like, I've never been to a music festival ever. So I don't even know what it's like. I have no idea what Coachella is like.
00:20:35
Speaker
What was that like being there for Gaga? It's well, my God, where do where do we start? Well, just straight up, it was the best live show I've seen in my life. Yes.
00:20:52
Speaker
Like hands down by by a lot. I've seen her five times I want to say now um after act one it was already like the best thing I'd ever seen her do live you know I was just like oh my god okay this is this has been worth it I'm not a huge music festival girly myself either especially in this kind of heat right um ah but and and the ones I have been to were never this big you know I'd i'd been to um
00:21:24
Speaker
outside lands in San Francisco, which was a very, very different vibe. um Still, still, still fun. But like, you know, yeah it's I took a bus to to Palm Springs, and that took twice as long.
00:21:38
Speaker
um Because of all the Coachella traffic, it's usually two hours it took me four hours.
Navigating Coachella
00:21:42
Speaker
um I was i was lucky enough to I got to crash with a friend who lived out there who was also going with me. So I saved money on lodging so I didn't have to camp there. And then you take a shuttle into the festival grounds and then they kind of like, oh, they heard you and you have to walk like 15 more minutes down this this thing and then you go through security. But once you're in there, it's just like, oh, wow, it really does look like the pictures. Like, oh there's that little rainbow tower. Oh, there's the. Oh, my God, like a little Ferris wheel thing. It was. um
00:22:12
Speaker
It was a really – Honestly, I had a really good time. I'm glad I only did it for one day. ah huh and then – Honestly, I kind of slayed my my ah whole schedule there. I saved on on lodging.
00:22:24
Speaker
And then the day after Gaga's performance, I sold my wristband for the next two days to somebody I found on Reddit. Work. Let's celebrate that. and then And then I hopped on a bus the next day, two hours back home, and I was good to go. Wow.
00:22:38
Speaker
Perfect. so and I had a really – It's – there there's a Coachella app where it's like it's showing like who's all playing at what time it shows like a map of like the festival grounds because you can get lost really easily there.
00:22:49
Speaker
um It's a very it's a very large area and there's just people fucking everywhere in your phone is the services body because everyone's using it. um So you have to kind of plan out where you're trying to be when, and you can like go through the app and like click on, I want see this at this act, this act, and it will like kind of schedule that out for you. So I kind of had to like loosely stick to that um as best I could.
00:23:12
Speaker
um I caught a few people that day. I mean, i let through I was there. This was my Mayhem Ball tour stop because I didn't get the actual tour tickets. Yeah. um But I saw a few people that day.
Coachella Artist Highlights
00:23:28
Speaker
I saw um ah the guy from Stranger Things, Joe, DJO. I love his stuff. I think he is so he's like unnecessarily good at music.
00:23:40
Speaker
Love that. I saw Lisa from Blackpink. so I loved your story. You're like, let's go, Mook. Oh, yeah. Honestly, I was kind of like, but it it was probably, honestly, it was White Lotus that made me want to like check her out.
00:23:56
Speaker
love that. was very impressed. I feel like people were like coming for her and Jenny or whatever on online, and I'm like, Oh my God. Like whatever. it's like she put on, it was such a, her production value was really high. i felt like she, she moved like a star. She's gorgeous.
00:24:12
Speaker
Like, just like let it go. That born again song fucking goes off. Yeah, it does. Um, I had a, I, that was like, I had a really, really good time watching her. They went from her. Um, so after that we made our way over to the main stage. Missy Elliott was still doing her thing. And in that moment I was like,
00:24:31
Speaker
okay, I need to decide right now if I want to commit my body to finding a spot closer to the stage and holding that space.
00:24:43
Speaker
yeah And, or if, or if I am cool, just kind of being there. And so i told my friend, it's like, all right, let's go.
00:24:54
Speaker
you know, pee stock up on water, maybe get a little something to eat right now. So, so unfortunately I was, I didn't catch all of Missy Elliott because she was on right before Gaga, but, but I, I heard most of her set like from nearby.
00:25:08
Speaker
um Amazing visuals, you know, all the hits um excellent choice for the festival. But um so I, we we did that we we just fucking plowed through as far as we could without until it got to a point where just the barricade of people was just too hard to get through. And I'm like, I I'm I'm I'm not a person who likes confrontation. Right. So the fact that I pushed myself like that far through was was very hard for me.
00:25:34
Speaker
But we we got there. We made friends with like
Unique Gaga Performance
00:25:37
Speaker
the people around us. We we like, you know, stood there for like a little over an hour. um So the the stage was like, there's the the main stage there, there's the walkway, and then there's like the B stage out front.
00:25:49
Speaker
We were sort of in between the B stage and the main stage. So was like pretty close. i was I was quite close to like one of the screens. Wow. um And it was, I kind of got a similar feeling there as I did when I was at the filming of the season 11 drag race finale. It was like, where it was like, oh, I'm like,
00:26:13
Speaker
no one can spoil this for me, you know? Like, right this is the first time this is happening. Like, like I'm experiencing this with my own eyes in real time. It was kind of out of body in a weird way like that.
00:26:27
Speaker
ah That's amazing. Yeah. it was Because like she hadn't performed almost any of these songs live before. Right. No. and so she She's only performed in at least their kind of original versions. Only Abracadabra and... And Killa.
00:26:43
Speaker
Killa. Yeah. Because she's done the Acoustic Disease and she's done an Acoustic Perfect Celebrity yeah on Howard Stern. Yes. So I was like, oh, this is about to like change my life.
00:26:56
Speaker
And I was right. And did. But and i don't know. It was not not to be like corny, but also I'm wearing my Gagachella overpriced merch. Yes. Come on, Mayhem. How much did they charge you for that?
00:27:10
Speaker
ah This is like $70. was hoodies were $100. I believe it. spent $150 on three t-shirts the Minogue show. i spent i believe and a ah hundred and fifty dollars on three t-shirts at the kylie minoak show Oh, well well, I mean, right. That's actually not bad for three T-shirts.
00:27:24
Speaker
I know. up It's a 50 bucks a T-shirt. I was like, that oh, Jesus Christ. Okay. Oh, well, I mean, yes right like all right i mean Right. I mean, after the amount I charged for my vinyl shipping, I'm not. Right.
00:27:37
Speaker
Yeah. Right.
Gaga Merchandise Experience
00:27:39
Speaker
Well, that's why like, I don't feel bad. Like sometimes when I'm leaving the place, I'm like, you know what? I'm going to get the the parking lot t-shirt and it's just the $10 one. I was like, this fine. Oh, and sometimes they're better.
00:27:48
Speaker
Right. Right. They're more fun. I was in a say, i what I was considering maybe a Kylie shirt. And when I like, I saw the, like the material, like the way that it's like kind of screen printed, I was like, I think I'm good.
00:28:00
Speaker
It's like Gildeen shirt. Like, okay, I can make that at home. Wait, so then I get the Kylie shirt and I'm like, we'll go crazy to like three different merch shops because they had a specific one that said iHeartKM and then on the back it said Madison Square Garden and had like the two the dates on it. And I was like, oh, I said, you know what? I'll spend the money on a location specific shirt. I was like, if it's regular tour merch that I can get on the website, I don't really care.
00:28:21
Speaker
Right. i was like Yeah, exactly. You know? Yeah. So I'm like, ah if it's location specific, that's cool. I buy it. And that was my justification for this. And then how about this bitch puts it on her fucking website?
00:28:32
Speaker
oh What a cunt. Right. I was like, Miss Minogue. I'm like, what are you doing? I was like, I literally held onto this shirt all night long because I thought it was... Oh Was it the same price?
00:28:42
Speaker
ah Yes. Okay. Well, at least... Okay. Well, you know. They probably had leftovers. At least it wasn't like discounted on this website. If it was cheaper, oh my God. ah Yeah. $15. Yeah. Send this bitch back to Australia. my God. So was that the only like Gaga-chella specific merch?
00:29:00
Speaker
Oh, no, there was a bunch of things. There was a few different shirts. um But this is the one i don't know. I liked this this specific design. Yeah. the best Oh, I love that. yeah yeah um There was one that said like mayhem in the desert. And I'm like, I don't.
00:29:15
Speaker
Unpopular opinion. I don't always love shirts with big text. Oh, and i I am. i am not. of i if you ever look at my outfits, like I don't have any text on anything. Yeah.
00:29:26
Speaker
I love an image, but but I don't. I don't love. But if it's for the longest time, I've wanted just like the shirt with the Born This Way single cover art. but she's like Oh, yeah shoulder yeah. One of my favorite photos of her. But it always says, Born This Way. And I'm like, right.
00:29:43
Speaker
right Can we not with that? um That's like my dream piece of merch right there. But I do not believe it exists. um So but yeah, I was like, you know what? I got she. Oh, so she had like a whole like like tent of like merch tent like her. She had one post Malone had one.
00:30:02
Speaker
ah they they They were all there were like one section in a row along like one end of the festival grounds. And I so I stopped in there. There was like a big line to to get in um I was like, okay, i guess I'll have to wear it. Honestly, this is not even that comfortable. I'll be totally honest.
00:30:22
Speaker
It's like itchy. You're breaking out into a rash. I may just need to wash it because it's still kind of – because it's a very like – tough material. And I think that's by design because like this is a medium and it's like kind of big on me. I think it's supposed to be like oversized and like thick.
00:30:37
Speaker
I think once I wear it in, it'll it'll like soften up a bit. um And like the neck kind of like is tight and like goes up a little bit. So it's an interesting kind of design. little bit of a mock neck detail. yeah Gaga's like, I'm a brutalist now.
00:30:49
Speaker
I mean, if if it's very bad, especially uless especially looking at that stage, it was very it was kind of giving a Born This Way ball Castle vibes It was Opera house Yeah yeah well i was blown away At the The set Everything from the set To the costumes Like When I was When I saw The live stream Mm-hmm I mean, when I think of like a festival, I'm like, okay, this is like, you know, it's not a tour.
Stage Production & Costumes
00:31:19
Speaker
It's you think that it would be a little bit more bare bones in a sense, just because like, there's, all you're not the only one performing in that stage. Yeah. i was blown away at what they did with that stage and her costumes, the, the giant dress that she starts in. Right.
00:31:36
Speaker
Like so good. Oh my God. That when, when they started to do that pan down of, of like all the people under the dress in the cage, yeah that's when I started losing my mind.
00:31:49
Speaker
Cause I was like, Oh, this bitch is spending the budget. Well, yeah. And also, I feel like right off the top, we have to acknowledge that this was ah Paris Goebel, like, putting this all together with her. Because, I mean, like... Yes. It is the staging, the dancers, the choreography. But, like, the choreography... And what I love about Paris specifically is that if you're looking...
00:32:11
Speaker
Sorry, I don't get too far away from the microphone. If you're looking at the stage and it's like you see like Gaga's in the middle and there's like all this activity and dancers and things happening around her. But then there's also like choreographed moments where it's like there's three dancers that are doing something specific on this side of the stage. And then there's three other ones that are doing something else very specific to what they're doing over here. And everything is so like there's so many things to look at and your eye goes so many different places. And no matter where it lands, it's just interesting. Like Paris just has a way of doing that. And it's just brilliant to me. Yeah, it was. it was.
00:32:43
Speaker
That's something that's kind of interesting, like being in the audience versus like watching the live stream and being in different places in the audience. Is that what you're seeing on the screen? Like, obviously, it's happening there. But like, i would I would look up there and then I'd try to find where it was happening on the stage.
00:33:02
Speaker
So it's kind of like. Different parts of where you are where you are are directed at different parts of the audience in a way. Because like whenever like the whole like chess sequence for Poker Face, like I had to like turn around and look behind me at that.
00:33:18
Speaker
because that because Because that was on the the other stage that like down the walkway. So I would have to kind of like check that. And so i was like, okay, i'm just gonna look at the screen for this one. Yeah. Yeah. yeah But like the opening sequence, I could just kind of look to the side and I was like, oh, there she is.
Gaga's Coachella Videography
00:33:32
Speaker
Yeah. she but it was so It was so crazy because it was so tiny. But when you're on the screen and it's right up in your face, it looks so epic and bigger than life. Yeah. um So I mean, ah soography the videography that they did for the live stream was immaculate.
00:33:46
Speaker
Like, oh yeah royal I was like, this feels like a like a Jonas Ockerland produced. Right. Films like a music video. Right. Yeah. The choreography of that alone is so impressive.
00:33:57
Speaker
It was absolutely insane. i yeah. I mean, that opening sequence alone was just mind-blowing to me. I just, I couldn't, I'm still speechless. I know. Like, I'm sorry like that. Just that I really hope that when she goes on tour with this, that we somehow keep that abracadabra into Judas transition.
00:34:21
Speaker
I feel like, I think this is going to be like the the template for for the tour. I feel like I remember her saying that she's like not going to completely break the bank like she did on something like the Monster Ball because she was like, I spent like way too much money.
00:34:40
Speaker
But then she was like, but you know, for Coachella, I might, you know. make Make a few exceptions. I was like, okay, good. Right,
Gaga's Performance Evolution
00:34:46
Speaker
right, right. So i'm kind i'm I'm curious to see what elements of this she does retain for the um for the tour. Because the opera house setup would be so incredible. It would read so well in an arena. Right. I feel like.
00:35:02
Speaker
I feel like it would be so hard to rehearse for something like Coachella while simultaneously rehearsing for a tour and have them be so different. Different, right. Mm-hmm. Like I would be kind of like, how, like, how would I know what? like Well, but I, and I also, but I also think that now she's at that point and I noticed it during Judas and I, I kind of felt that way because like when you go see Janet Jackson, when you go see Beyonce, when you go see Madonna, like almost every tour is somewhat a greatest hits tour at this point.
00:35:30
Speaker
You know, there are songs that are in, there are songs that are out, but it's, it's, it's, you're getting the, you know, the, the big ones. And, when Judas was happening and I'm like, she's been doing this choreography for like 15 years, 16 years. Like, I feel like there are just things that are like in them at this point.
00:35:45
Speaker
So it's like, she just really needs to figure out the other parts of the, Sure. You know what I mean? like Yeah. Well, I mean, what I loved so much about this performance, though, too, is that there was definitely the familiar choreography for the songs, but there was also a lot of new choreography. Wasn't there some new Judas choreography?
00:36:06
Speaker
What's that? I thought I thought i saw that like on TikTok that there was like some new Judas choreography. Yeah. And I just think that, that's a huge again, that's a huge... like shout out to Paris because she was able to retain some of the iconic choreography while freshening it up yeah a lot.
00:36:22
Speaker
Because I think for me, um Z, cover your ears, but like my biggest gripe, I think with Gaga is how much she kind of stayed the same for like, she would not change choreography and she would not change like choreographers.
Choreography & Song Arrangements
00:36:36
Speaker
And,
00:36:37
Speaker
cory i well that and and so the fact that we got, Fresh choreography, fresh arrangements of songs that we've heard, you know, for the last 15 years, like it was, it felt so good and everything felt just familiar yet elevated. Right.
00:36:57
Speaker
It was excellent. Like, no oh my God. I feel like that's that's that's your new Grindr bio. Familiar, yet which Which I just deleted Grindr again for the millionth time. so I love that. Good job. maybe i'm I'm sure it'll stick this time. I'm sure it will stick. It will totally stick.
00:37:15
Speaker
um Did you have a favorite section of the show? yeah um yes i
00:37:25
Speaker
I mean, I think that, I mean, maybe it was just because my, my adrenaline was the highest, but That poker face sequence. Oh, it was so good. It when she was like face to face with like that old version of her. And then just like the the movement of how it was being filmed and the when them going back. Here's the thing. I'm someone who is very um pro poker face no longer being in the set list.
00:37:54
Speaker
Sure. You know? Right. Yeah. i am I am over that song and she made it feel fresh for me again. yeah I was like, oh i should I should have trusted this bitch. you know I was very surprised because as soon as it started, I was like, oh, okay. I was like, I wasn't expecting this. And then as it unfolded, I was like, oh yeah my God. yeah That, um I have a new love for Garden of Eden after that.
00:38:19
Speaker
And I got to say, I felt like that's where she looked like she was having some of the most fun. Yes. She looks so hot. too Yes. Yes. I there was one moment where I was kind of like, oh, like we we had just had this like whole first act where she didn't, you know, take her foot off our necks for like 20 minutes straight.
Gaga's Vocal Technique
00:38:39
Speaker
And then there was kind of like a whole interlude. Like the dancers did their thing. She kind of went off stage for like four, five minutes, like a good chunk of time. And i was like, oh no, she's kind of losing me here.
00:38:51
Speaker
And then the lights came on and she's buried with the skeleton. I'm like, never mind. Right. And we're back. It all makes sense. Right. should i I need to trust her vision. Trust the process. This is perfect. I think that was my favorite bit.
00:39:03
Speaker
Yeah. Blew my fucking mind with that. Yeah. I've liked Disease. It was not my favorite starter single. And and i it took me a minute and i'm like kind of i was kind of into it. But after seeing that, I was like, that's what I needed. That is exactly what I need. isa Because now I will forever think of that.
00:39:20
Speaker
yeah Yeah. Incredible. Incredible. i the I feel like I only have like three or or so like small like, ooh, I wish she would have done this like throughout the entire thing. First one was – She cut Love Drug, she didn't add Love Drug, and that was, but she fucking kept The Beast, which. Right, right. As soon as it started, I looked at Brian and I was like, she loves this song. She does love this song. She really loves this song. will commend She did not do Blade of Grass, and I thought that was inevitable.
00:39:53
Speaker
I thought so too. I thought that was for sure going to be the new like piano ballad moment. Yeah. um You know, she's saving that for tour. Right. Totally. Yeah. um The, also she didn't do the bridge of perfect celebrity.
00:40:08
Speaker
Right. Yeah. And then she also, and you know what? I get it. It's hot and dry and it's a long set. and She's going hard. She didn't go up at the end of disease she just kind of sang the chorus all the way through but there was a few moments of that yeah there was a few of those things yeah yeah but but she hit every note of like vanish into you like how bad do you want me to tell me yeah her voice was like this here you okay from a vocal perspective her technique
00:40:43
Speaker
Throughout the years. Is so clean. So refined. And healthy. like like Even if. even if like you know She's moving around. And her pitch isn't like perfect.
00:40:55
Speaker
She's always hitting these notes. With such clarity. And like breath support. That. Like she's ah her voice has gotten so much stronger ah with age ah because I'm listening to these performances of her on like the Fameball Festival. Like there's that one where she comes out of that big giant metal like pyramid and girl she took love game down.
00:41:19
Speaker
several steps and that is not a high song right her voice is kind of husky it's like she was this is like it was like but you can tell that this is like her first time really touring and her voice is feeling it and so she's adjusting it's smart she's adjusting to that but like now Her voice is like the clarity that she has and in in her singing is so impressive.
00:41:39
Speaker
Well, and I will say too, and it it sounded like a crazy way to start the song on the record, but for Vanishing to You, I was like, this is going to be such a wild thing because I don't know if people can really appreciate the ability and what it takes to like come out the gate so full throat and hit a specific note and nail it.
00:42:00
Speaker
And it's like such a crazy thing to do. And the way that she just did it live that was like it was nothing. At the end of the set? Right. I was like, oh, bitch. Okay. Okay. i gotta say like we i think as human beings and and z you're obviously gonna know this like ah we do not acknowledge how hard singing actually is right like singing is really fucking hard like i will go to karaoke and do one song and my throat feels sore i'm like oh what like what is going on here
00:42:32
Speaker
The fact that you're able to go on stage and perform for an hour, hour and a half, two hours is insane. That's fucking crazy. I don't know how.
00:42:43
Speaker
I was like, I feel like the bionic woman after like a week of doing for a 40-minute set every night, which, you know, not nothing. right Watching her do this and then just be able to do – I don't know, like back to back a night out.
00:43:00
Speaker
I have to like I have to bank my like vocal stamina for that. Some people are just built different. Like it's not fair. We're not all built the same. You know, i obviously there's there's certain through lines of, you know, technique that we that will help anyone.
00:43:14
Speaker
But some people are able to just like, you know, go out and like, party for the night and then do a show the next morning or like a radio show the next morning. It's it's it's crazy. And Gaga has that sort of like old Italian woman. Like, I don't even want to stability, sturdiness, like fortitude. I don't even know what the word is, but it's like she carries it. She's she vocally carries herself like a Rosemary Clooney, like Edie Gourmet, like these old school like you know crooner women who could do all of that and then you know still smoke cigarettes and you know cook a meal for 12 people and like she has been known to like she gaga's not not a smoker right right and she's made that known like um and it's so funny because like when she speaks her voice kind of like goes down here right right you know and like she she's she's a vocal fry girly yeah um and then but then when she gets into her singing voice
00:44:12
Speaker
It's like... It is. That's i mean. It's very... that sort And I noticed it the most on Vanishing to You. When we even had our first podcast, I talked about that. And it just it feels like... I don't know if it's...
Gaga's Vocal & Album Evolution
00:44:23
Speaker
High on hill. Right. like I don't know if it's because of the Tony Bennett-ness of that whole thing and like the jazz bits, but...
00:44:30
Speaker
That is when i did I did notice her voice changing, though. Yeah. Because, like, you can you can hear her different voices and, like, different, like, like her voice on all of her old, old demos.
00:44:41
Speaker
She sounds like a girl. Right. Right. Yeah. And then there's, like, then she has a very specific born this way voice. like Yes. Like, there was there was ah um the ah um the greatest thing demo.
00:44:54
Speaker
ah yeah when When she comes in and sings that line, I'm like, oh, she sounds so like born this way on this. I don't know how to explain it. right like like she doesn't like It sounds like Gaga, but she doesn't sound like that anymore. And then you know when once she started singing with Tony Bennett and like doing the whole Joanne thing, her voice really matured into this different quality. And that is, I think, the one thing that... like Okay, I love Chromatica.
00:45:17
Speaker
It does sound like... someone who sings like pop rock music singing over like dance beats on that album. and like like Like her voice sounds very organic.
00:45:30
Speaker
And that is one of her most like smooth electronic produced albums she has. and so and it sounds and it's she sounds amazing. But I don't think there's that many A lot of singers who sing over that style, their voices are far more processed than she was doing.
00:45:46
Speaker
Right? Yeah. The ah the times that she doesn't really do that as much as like 911, where it's very processed, obviously. yeah That's like a stylistic choice. But, you know, something like um Fun Tonight.
00:46:00
Speaker
Right. Alice. Yeah. Alice. Yeah. I always wonder, will I ever see her do 911 911 live? and Well, that's the thing. I feel like of all the Chromatica songs, that would have been perfect for the storyline that she was kind of telling with this. so i was really I was actually really shocked that there was no Chromatica featured in this performance. i I'm not necessarily upset about it because I think that the show was pretty much flawless for what it yeah is.
00:46:30
Speaker
But if I had my way, I would have loved to have seen some Chromatica represented. Yeah. yeah it's become clear over this promo cycle with mayhem that like she has found the things that and the music and the parts of her catalog that bring her joy it's reflecting on the parts that did not as my in retrospect did not like she's you know now openly said that like joanne was a tough time for her or because she was kind of thinking she was doing what people wanted from her and reinventing herself in a way that she felt like people wanted to see. And then we know that our pop was tough as well.
00:47:09
Speaker
And apparently Chromatica was, was her, like, it was almost a little bit like fan service in a way. i mean, which, which bums me out. Cause that album to this day is so top to bottom. So listenable for me.
00:47:22
Speaker
i love it so much. Like I understand why it might not be people's favorites, but like, it's my favorite. Yeah. Yeah, let go. Just have some fucking fun. That's my favorite album. It's always fun tonight. Really? Chromatica.
00:47:36
Speaker
Oh, love There is there is really there's no skips on that album for me. And honestly, it's an album where when the next song comes on, I'm like, oh, yay! Like, every time. so its just it's And it's gotten more playable for me over time. But like I don't think lyrically it's her strongest. I don't think conceptually it's it's necessary. Or sonically it's her most ah innovative. But like she doesn't have to.
00:47:58
Speaker
you know what? Someone was...
Gaga vs. Madonna
00:48:00
Speaker
um i listen that That Pop Pantheon podcast, they they they taught they've done a lot of ah Gaga content this past month, obviously, because the album and then the Coachella.
00:48:09
Speaker
But um they were saying how like he's been waiting for her to do like have her ray of light moment. Kind of, you know, where youre like you're you're like about to turn 40 and then like coming back with this moment that like really just reinvigorates your career or or reinvigorates like you stylistically as like an innovator and like you new kind of sound. It's like and I'm kind of thinking she's just not this same type of artist like maybe. And then in my mind, I'm like.
00:48:38
Speaker
I think she did that with born this way. I don't know. A little I think born this way was like her ray of light where, but she just did it too early. I, you know, I don't know. Like it's for me.
00:48:52
Speaker
i mean, Ray of light is obviously such a special album to me. and And this is where we veer into our, the, the, right a lot of ray of light segment. Right. I knew i was going to get into this.
00:49:03
Speaker
Right. I just, I feel like, cause I, cause I feel like this is not um specific just to Gaga. I feel like every pop star, when they hit 40, everyone eyes aren't on them and like, are you going to have a ray of light moment? Are you going have a ray of light moment? And yeah,
00:49:19
Speaker
You know, I don't know. i think that Gaga has that in her. And I don't know if I, for me, I don't think that she's had her ray of light moment yet. Yeah, I don't think so either. But I think that she will.
00:49:30
Speaker
i think that she will have a ray of light moment. And I don't think that... Because some people were like, well, mayhem should have been her like ray of light, period. But we just are living in a different time now where like...
00:49:42
Speaker
artists aren't necessarily allotted to be as experimental as you could have been back in the 90s, I feel. Yeah. And also, like, having a, you know, quote-unquote ray of light moment, which I love is, like, a term now, is, like, it's not, like, a necessary benchmark, that you know? No. Like, some people do that. Like, also, Gaga is, she has so many, like,
00:50:04
Speaker
So many like ah irons in the fire. like i like people have kept saying that like, oh, she's, you know, the next Madonna. But she's the next share. Right. I think I think she is much more like a share than she is a Madonna. agree.
00:50:18
Speaker
I agree. i yeah I just feel when people constantly complain about having to compare the two all the time, I'm like, first, people who don't want to compare them, you bring them up a lot. Yeah, right. They Everyone wants to compare them.
00:50:36
Speaker
but everyone yeah everyone wants to compare them and so they they And I have always kind of felt this way. They really are two very different artists. Yes, Gaga has taken inspiration from Madonna.
00:50:48
Speaker
um But I mean, who what name a pop star that really hasn't. Who hasn't? Right. Yeah. Addison
00:50:57
Speaker
Let me tell you what. will say, I saw the clip of Addison Rae talking about her new love for Carly Simon's Boys in the Trees album. And I was like, Right. What? Okay.
00:51:09
Speaker
And I
Addison Rae's Musical Journey
00:51:10
Speaker
was very, very. Would have guessed that. At all. And it was like, it came across my newsfeed and I was like, wait a minute, what? And I like watched this whole thing and she was talking about how the cover art really spoke to her and made her want to listen to the album. And while she knew other songs, she didn't really know this album and she just listened to it and how it kind of made her fall further in love with like her songwriting and blah blah blah and i'm like all right i was like come on classics i love that i'm like broadcast that out to your audience i love that totally i love the video clip of carly simon where she's like i thought you might like to see this huh have you ever seen that oh like the of of unlike the like from recently where she kind looks like a living doll yes
00:51:50
Speaker
It's one of my favorite clips on the internet. It's so funny. ah God. But Addison is is interesting to me. like I don't know how I quite feel about her yet. Last night I did like ah and an an anonymous AMA thing.
00:52:06
Speaker
and I saw someone ask you about her. Yeah. and so And so they were like, what are your favorite songs of hers? And I was like, Aquamarine is probably my favorite. um I do like headphones on.
00:52:18
Speaker
um There's an unreleased song called chords that cry that that's really good. I love one. I really do like that one. It's really, really good. But like, she's also not an artist that I'm just going out of my way to necessarily listen to. And for no specific reason right now is she's just, she's just not.
00:52:36
Speaker
I will say, I feel like I have a lot of... um Oh my God, this is like, welcome to the but Addison Rae podcast. um she's She's someone that I feel like I had a lot of like pre-existing bias resistance to.
00:52:49
Speaker
Just because she was kind of this... like I mean, no shade, this sort of irritating TikTok dancer for the longest time with like a with like a vaguely like conservative family background thing. I don't know. Like I felt, I feel like her, um,
00:53:09
Speaker
I saw some some tick tock or something about how like initially her aesthetic was very kind of like all American kind of like Republican next door girl next door. Yeah. um And she's really done a hard pivot and rebrand. And it's kind of like if I didn't know like everything about like what she was doing before all this, but I feel the same.
00:53:31
Speaker
Well, I was saying, i was like, I don't, I have not gotten that like into her catalog. There hasn't been anything that's really like grabbed me so far. And ah not that I don't think she's talented. I think she's doing something, whatever it is that she's doing, but it just hasn't.
00:53:46
Speaker
It hasn't spoken to me yet. And I think I'm still holding a grudge for her being the person that released nothing on but the radio. Well, yeah. I mean, I'll be honest. I haven't really um been that inspired by anything pre-Dia Pepsi. And i think I think that was a thing that made me be like, oh, okay.
00:54:04
Speaker
So her her taste level is is something i i I was not familiar with it with her her game, as they say. like and there may There may be something there.
00:54:15
Speaker
Do we think it's her or do we think it's the gays around her? Yes. yeah
00:54:23
Speaker
oh Well, you know, i mean my friend Joey, when we were coming back from Kylie Minogue or the day after Kylie Minogue, he was asking me about certain singers and if I liked them or not.
R&B Genre Evolution
00:54:35
Speaker
And I was like, you know, there's a lot of, and maybe this is like what maybe like what our parents also experienced, but I was like, there's a lot of singers now that I was like, I have my own generation's version of that, that I don't need this new artist to necessarily fulfill that slot for me anymore, if that makes sense, you know? So like, like i'm gonna I'm gonna be brave right now. I'm gonna be very brave. oh
00:54:56
Speaker
got I am not a fan of SZA. I think that she, as a person, seems lovely. Her music has done absolutely nothing for me.
00:55:07
Speaker
But I was trying to sit there and think about it. And I was like, well, a lot of today's R&B music, I just find very kind of just one note and boring. And maybe I'm just not listening to the right stuff. But like the stuff that she has put out, nothing has captivated me. But I was like, I also have plenty of R&B singers from like the 90s and early 2000s that kind of fill that cup for me.
00:55:28
Speaker
you know between Aaliyah and Brandy and Monica and Maya and Janet Jackson and plethora of other singers. And so I was like, this like kind of monotonous, one-note R&B mid-tempo stuff just isn't doing it for me. He said reductive, reductive. It's reductive. Reductive.
00:55:50
Speaker
it up. Look it up. ah Have you heard there's a song by SZA and I was like, I was in a similar place with her. I've, I've come to, I've warmed up to her for sure.
00:56:02
Speaker
um i think the thing with her is that like, she is not a hook. No artist. and Like she, she kind of, it's very, her melodies are very stream. They're, they're very creative, but they're very stream of conscious. She doesn't repeat a lot of things.
00:56:16
Speaker
um She won me with the big boy song. Yes. I was like, why are we not released that one? That's like my favorite thing you've done. There's a song she has on the first album called Prom I think you might like.
00:56:29
Speaker
Okay. If you haven't heard that yet. it's It's a lot more, it's a little poppier, I think, but there's still elements of R&B. It doesn't really sound like other songs i've I've done, but it's it's, I would check that out.
00:56:39
Speaker
ah You know what, and za from the control I almost felt, I felt the exact same way that you did, and then i saw her in concert. And I feel like that sort of changed everything because like,
00:56:51
Speaker
I agree with you on the R&B and I think that there's a lot of R&B girlies that are kind of in this rut because there's a lot of talent out there like SZA's got a great voice. Money Long's got a great voice. um ah What's her favorite? Kelly Uchise is great. um ah ah Georgia Smith and who's the other one? um I'm drawing a blank. Anyway, all the R&B girls. But I feel like there's there's this weird rut with R&B right now. And I feel like nobody knows what to do to like kind of make the genre more interesting. And it's just sort of like R&B for R&B's sake.
00:57:25
Speaker
I just feel like everything is mid-tempo. i just like I'm like, where is the, like, he wasn't man enough songs? Where's the lose my breath songs? Where's the deja vus? Where's the, the boy is mine. Like, I just feel like we are just getting one note constantly and it's not diverse. I mean, it's a genre that can be. Oh my God. Do you listen to Amber Mark?
00:57:49
Speaker
I have never even heard of. Oh my God. I got invited her concert and I did not go. i Okay. So I've got to send you some of her stuff because she does have some of the more like R&B, R&B type stuff, but she has some really, really cute like bops too that I think you might like.
00:58:02
Speaker
Okay. um But yeah, she's really, really great. And I guess it's just my long winded way of just saying that like there there's a lot of new artists right now that just like my cops already filled with the type of music that they are already making.
00:58:15
Speaker
And that's I mean, that's how I feel about Tate McRae. Like I already have this song. Her best songs have already been made by other artists that I love. I wonder if this has to do with completely with them or if this is ah where we're at in the major label system as well.
Indie Labels & Creativity
00:58:32
Speaker
Because I feel like, right, most of the interesting music that I have heard or listened to comes from the indie labels. Like, I get pitched things all the time because of work. And it's like, I always look forward to the indie stuff because it's, I know that there's people that are at least going to be trying and this label is going to give people a space to try and make whatever their sound is.
00:58:50
Speaker
Whereas a lot of the majors are just giving me like, five songs of the same exact thing over and over again. Speaking of not to give any too much away, but our next episode that we are recording, I cannot wait to talk about it. Oh wait, indie artists.
00:59:08
Speaker
Because an indie artist or two may be joining us to talk about maybe a new song. Maybe. Maybe. and Maybe. if If I can get the other, if if they can get the other indie artist ah to fucking commit to a fucking time. We'll tell them this to stop being delusional and commit. You know what? I don't think, it's because I don't i don't know if Bentley listens to this, I will say,
00:59:34
Speaker
That bitch, love her to death, will get so like irritated when I don't reply about business stuff. But the moment I ask business stuff, radio silent. Period.
00:59:45
Speaker
Don't you hate it when people – And I'm calling her out. Right. Don't you hate it when you when you email people about their publishing and then they just don't even reply to your email? i i would I wouldn't know. I've never done that. You have to talk to my manager about it. Oh, my God. Everyone's dragging each other. And I'm like, I'm still perfect. what No audio issues here. yeah And I'm talking to and I'm talking about like a direct text. I will. like Sure. best Yeah. To a best friend. Right. Yeah. Yeah. yeah Yeah.
01:00:15
Speaker
But um but all that said, I mean. Y'all. i don't want to to ah I don't want to give anything away. It's great. It's really good. and and And I've said that a million times I actually write the other songs. Right. Yeah. This coming week.
01:00:33
Speaker
Let's celebrate that. yeah well i So too do you want to, I mean, I'm sure that we'll, you know, when when this actually happens and the discussion actually happens, we'll go further into that. But.
Collaborative Project 'Tears and Gears'
01:00:43
Speaker
without Bentley being here, what,
01:00:47
Speaker
yes what no or when do you think the moment happened or do you remember something specific about like, oh, this is gonna be a thing with the two of you working together? You mean the Tears and Gears project? Yeah.
01:01:02
Speaker
I think it was something that he he had floated. It was just we were riding so high off of kind of the synergy we had had on the the last tour Also, when we do Chicago, you don't get your ass Chicago. I know. I'm not kidding. I don't what's happening life. I know don't love to travel. No, I know. I really need to, like, get drugged up or something. Yeah, do it. You just need a hit of our love drug. Literally. Literally. No, I'm, but I'm not kidding. The next, next time you're there, I'm, I'm 100% there. Okay, because we are, because we are, I mean, I'm not trying to give a whole fantasy about it.
01:01:38
Speaker
but we are, we, there, there may or may not be, you know, another little jaunt around the country. jaunt. We love a jaunt. I don't want to confirm too many things. but Gotcha. dude I'll tell you some stuff off mic.
01:01:51
Speaker
yeah um But ah just we were sort of riding high off of that. Plus we we had done like three separate collaborations. But all of those had sort of been like um individual songs first.
01:02:04
Speaker
And then we had the other person hop on and like write their verse separately. These are all songs that we've written together in the same room together from scratch from the beginning. And so it's a very different energy. And, you know, we, we are not too, the nice thing about this, and I don't want to like get too much into the stuff that we might go into when, when we, um, we're actually both on, but we don't feel as tied down to like a specific sound, um,
01:02:32
Speaker
Or like, you know, oh, this isn't consistent with my brand. Like this is a a separate thing. And like, yeah, obviously our our own individual like, you know, influencers are going to come in to play at some point.
01:02:43
Speaker
But i'm I'm not super worried about like, oh this is too much of a pivot. um or anything like that. um and it's And it's very freeing in a way. And also kind of having help with you know lyric writing, because that's the thing that takes me the most time. like I had really um put that off for a long time.
Preparing for Performances
01:03:04
Speaker
And knowing that it's like I'm you know i'm not having to shoulder 100% of this project, um it allows me to let go a lot and we we finished two songs in a day that's wild i have not done that in years and when i did do that i hated both songs this time i loved both songs so it's yeah it's been it's been been really really cool i'm very excited um i'm i'm just trying i was just like i need my coachella uh rasp to go away
01:03:36
Speaker
before next week because girl I need to be on point and then I have a show next weekend that I need to be on point so I'm just I'm like you know praying that my my tour stamina kicks in soon you're gonna be like Mariah Carey with the with the what is it the vapor thing right it's charging over there right now I 100 I 100% thought you said that you needed your Coachella rash to go away and I was like oh oh I was like, we just learned. Wasn't that good of a time. Oh my God. Let's celebrate that. In that heat, no
Coachella Survival Tips
01:04:10
Speaker
one's ready. How hot is it there? 110? It was like 101 degrees.
01:04:13
Speaker
like a hundred and ten it's like a hundred it was like a hundred one degrees at the Yeah. Although once the sun starts to go down, once the sun starts to go down at like seven or so and it gets to like 80 degrees, that's really nice.
01:04:25
Speaker
It's incredible. Oh, okay. But it's like dry heat, right? it's not Yeah, it's pretty dry. mean, you're still sweating. Yeah. Right. Oh, for sure. But it's dry. There's no bugs. But during the day, you're like, you don't pee at all because you're sweating.
01:04:38
Speaker
Wow. Oh my gosh. I mean, a lot of people are like very like half naked, but like even thinking about it being 110 degrees and still seeing what people are wearing. I'm like, i would be.
01:04:50
Speaker
Some of them i'm just like the beauty is not worth the pain. I'm sorry. Like you're walking around with things that have feathers and I'm like, we're not doing feathers in 110 degrees. yeah i had a little I had my little backpack and I had like three or four different like items of clothing I just kind of changed between. like I had like a caftan.
01:05:08
Speaker
I had like my other my um my other mayhem. I almost said Chromatica shirt. And I had like just a tank top. And at end of the day, I just ended shirt off, big chain, sunglasses. right Let's celebrate that. Kept it simple. you know right Oh my gosh. Did you wear your sunscreen?
01:05:23
Speaker
Oh, I sunscreened like a boss. I'm actually quite good at sunscreening. I've read i've come to learn. That is my one thing that I am people like and here in Michigan make fun of me for. And I was like, you're going to laugh when you get to be my age and you're gonna look like a fucking I don't even know. Right. So I was like, I got to preserve this.
01:05:42
Speaker
We got a big birthday coming up. Yeah. Oh, exactly. Yeah. And like you even use sunscreen when it's not hot and sunny on your face. Yeah. yeah Especially if you're white. Right. Yeah. Right. Yes. Oh, yes.
01:05:54
Speaker
Well, you you guys, it's gotten to that point of the show where we each like to talk about a song that we don't talk about
Underrated Songs & Robin's Music
01:06:00
Speaker
enough. Oh, and he's never ready. I'm never ready for this. And I literally just got ready when your computer exploded.
01:06:06
Speaker
That's so funny. Well, I am very prepared because I like to go ahead. Because again, i am perfect. um No, but this is the point of the show where we like to talk about a rare song. You know, maybe it's a flop single. Maybe it's a remix. Yeah.
01:06:21
Speaker
It's just a song that we do not talk about enough. Sounds like the two of you needs a moment. I'm ready. I'm ready, but you go first. You are ready. I'm browsing. I'm browsing. Okay. so I'll be ready by the time you're done. I went on a nice little walk this morning before we started recording, and I was just kind of going down a rabbit hole of random shit per usual.
01:06:39
Speaker
And I this is going to be potentially controversial if we put this on social media, ah because there are is's always going to be a purist of this artist who's going to be like, this is a well-known song in Sweden or whatever, you know? okay And yeah, so to them, I say, calm down. But i was listening to America.
01:06:58
Speaker
This is America. Let me tell you what. And this song ah was on this artist's first album. It's called You've Got That Something by Robin. oh And this is back when Robin was in her white woman of color era. Yes. And she was doing her R&B. Written 1.0.
01:07:17
Speaker
Literally. And this song is such a groove. It's so funky. It's a cute little guitar. It's just got these great harmonies and melodies and hooks. And my friend Fallon and I, we still listen to the song all the time back when we lived back in our hometown of St. Joe, Michigan.
01:07:35
Speaker
And there's like the like, po or like the bridge of the song. She's like, you got that feeling, make me that feeling, make me that. It's like, just like this, like, I don't know, just this great feel good euphoric song. And, you know, Robin does not revisit her earlier work very much. But I will say it sounds like there's a Robin dance party happening somewhere in New York. And she reposted someone's like handwritten song suggestion set list. And it included Bumpy Ride. oh And it's like so a remix of I Want to Say Do You Know What It Takes.
01:08:11
Speaker
And it's the first time I've ever seen her at least acknowledge her earlier work. She's been to that party in the in in New York before. I think so. Yeah. Yeah. She has.
01:08:22
Speaker
It was right when Honey was coming out. Yeah. I've seen – like, that's the first time I've seen her acknowledge her past work in a minute, probably since 2008 when she did a new version of Show Me Love on Tour. Right. So anyway, rob Robin, you've got that something.
01:08:37
Speaker
I mean, really, like, it's – Robin, it's time. It's been so long since Honey. Yeah. Remember when we were saying, Robin, it's been so long since Body Talk. Right. But this is like, where are we at? This is like five years? Six years?
01:08:50
Speaker
Seven years? Almost seven. Almost seven um years. Something like that. End of this year, it'll be seven years. That's crazy. i feel she's I feel like she's doing something. Well, she's she's got the new Royxop album just sort of dropped and does new versions of, what is it? With Every Heartbeat and... No, it's... No, it's um Monument? Do It It...
01:09:11
Speaker
do it again monument monument and the girl and the robot are all in there yeah um but i mean she just released her collaboration with jamie xx last year so good and and the remix of 360 with with charlie and she's just she's been doing kind of like some random appearances lately like she did some h&m thing in la um she did ah what what oh she was on snl 50 like so i feel like she's got something cooking god i hope so We need it. We just deserve it.
01:09:39
Speaker
We deserve it. So ah for mine, I'm going to go a little bit more obscure than Robin and a little bit further back in time to 1995. And while these two songs are definitely not songs that this artist is known for,
01:09:55
Speaker
um The producer that she worked with is somebody that she worked with her entire career and
Bonnie Tyler's Legacy
01:10:00
Speaker
is somebody that is known for these types of songs and really random, but it's Bonnie Tyler. And in 1995 on East West Records, she put out an album called Free Spirit. And it was a lot of different collaborations with other people, but it did have her also returning to production with Jim Steinman, who did Total Eclipse of the Heart.
01:10:20
Speaker
did um Celine Dion's It's All Coming Back to Me Now, all the really, really big ballads. And she covered two songs, which are my two favorite tracks on this album, but I will only pick one of them. But one of the covers that she's actually more known for is Air Supplies Making Love Out of Nothing at All. which if you don't know it, and Zach, it's almost eight minutes long. Love. Right.
01:10:40
Speaker
There's a whole like ridiculous intro with like operatic vocals from her mother, apparently. um Whatever. Yeah, really random. But she also covers Meat Loaf's Two Out a Three Ain't Bad, which was written by Jim Steinman.
01:10:52
Speaker
But she does it as a dance song. And it's, again, almost nine minutes long. It's a sort of kind of cheesy, like Euro-ish type production for the 90s.
01:11:03
Speaker
But it's done by Jim Steinman. It's got the big, like, booming Jim Steinman backing vocals, which I love. It's so good. And there was even remixes by Ralphie Rosario that came out, too. I don't think they came out on streaming, but they they were out on vinyl back in the day. But that's, yeah, I was a very, very big Meat Loaf fan growing up.
01:11:20
Speaker
Wow. Yeah. All that dramatic shit I was really into. Yeah. Let's celebrate that. I'm going to have to. I have not. I am not familiar with her discography at all. Besides Total Eclipse of the Heart. There are some really, really great things. And then there are some absolutely questionable choices. But she's just one of those women that just since I was kid. That's any artist. Right. Right. That I just absolutely. Well, you know, like she's the original version of Tina Turner's The Best.
01:11:45
Speaker
Originally done by Bonnie Tyler. Oh, I did not know that. Oh, yeah. I knew i knew it was a cover, but i didn't realize that was her. She did that originally. She also did Ace of Bases. Don't turn around was originally Bonnie Tyler's song.
01:11:59
Speaker
Really? Wow. oh So she really is the queen of pop. Oh, yeah. As it turns out. And it's like. What was the other Ace of Bases song that was a Tina Turner song? ah Oh, no no, no, I'm sorry. Sorry, sorry. don't ah Tina Turner also covered Don't Turn Around.
01:12:14
Speaker
yeah But she also covered it, but Bonnie's was the original. Wow. yeah Incredible. um But she's got a few things like that because they all were working with like the same producers. I think, yeah, it's like super weird like when you get into the 80s producers of it all. But I love her stuff. I could send you some stuff that's really, really good because, like I said, there are some very questionable choices, especially one where she covers.
01:12:33
Speaker
And I'm telling you, I'm not going from Dreamgirls. Can't even. Okay. yeah Wait, Z, before you give us your choice, what's yeah what's your most questionable music choice that you've made? that I've made.
01:12:46
Speaker
love this. Actually, this this would be a great thing to ask other musicians
Musician's Stylistic Choices
01:12:50
Speaker
on the podcast. that yeah let yeah Let me look at my discography. don't you dare don't you dare say don't you dare say four on the floor no prom dress for sure yeah Oh, okay. I know why.
01:13:07
Speaker
I feel like I know why. Yeah. we We can't say it on mic. I know. I don't care. i don't care. i Oh, there's been development on that. Is there? Oh, I'm so excited. No, just like stylistically, I was like, I just want to do something stupid and like fun and but and like I don't know. Not very me, but it's the whole thing. Yeah.
01:13:27
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. So, wow. Really dissing his own. Questionable, not bad. Yeah. Just sort of like... Fair. oh Fair. um Not on the floor. and Tons of questionable remixes.
01:13:38
Speaker
Everybody has them where I'm like, where did I think I was going with this sound? Who who was this for? Who was this intended for? Well, speaking of... it Sorry. now i Speaking of questionable remixes, AG Cook apparently has cooked up a remix for Kesha's Yippee-Ki-Yay.
01:13:53
Speaker
And they performed it together at Coachella this weekend. I watched the entire thing and I was like, you know what AG Cook is the king of? Making a buildup that goes nowhere.
01:14:05
Speaker
You know what ag king is the king of A.G. Cook is the king of? Making songs I don't music making sounds i don't like. Yeah. like he He has co-produced and produced some great stuff, but but I would say nine times out ten. At what cost?
01:14:21
Speaker
At what cost? And I feel like he's intentionally being a i mean brat, if you will. I was going to say, all of his music just feels very Bushwick Brooklyn. it's very i'm just i'm like like that you're it's a remix that i was kind of like what is the purpose of this i was like this isn't really a danceable remix it has a like two or three different build-ups that you think okay here's the beat's gonna switch we're gonna get some it's gonna drop and it's gonna go insane nope nope this is goes yeah this is very much how i felt about donna chromatica
01:14:56
Speaker
oh Did not like Dawn of Comatica at all. At all. Interesting. That is one I will never go back to. they're there i did like a few remixes. I did like the the Alice remix just because it kind of reminded me of Promiscuous.
01:15:10
Speaker
I love... No, that's fair. Okay. yeah there There was not a single version on that that I liked as much as the original.
01:15:21
Speaker
Right. and they And they did kind of like adjust a little bit with the House Labs version of Babylon only to not release the one that we actually wanted. Right. they did I was like, y'all know what we wanted.
01:15:33
Speaker
and'll but but but that but but i mean, I do love that B. I do love that B. I think it's sick. But... Anyway, okay, ze what is your song we
Natalia Kills & Authenticity
01:15:43
Speaker
don't talk about enough? um Oh my god, wait, wait, I just had it.
01:15:45
Speaker
um Oh my god, oh my god, what was what was it? Okay, yeah, so I kind of got someone, some Twitter account I posted, or I follow posted something this week. um Oh, and I actually texted y'all in the group chat about it.
01:16:00
Speaker
um I was just like, thoughts? um I'm gonna go this with Natalia Kills. Oh, work. Free. Love. But the version without Will.i.am, which is not available anywhere on streaming.
01:16:17
Speaker
Of course. I can find. i remember I had this album on my iPod 2011. I remember. Yeah, this was this was also like born this way summer. and I and I was kind of like I i had worn, you know, had run the wheels off that that thing. And I'm like, I need something similar that's going to give me a similar kind of energy, um like Gaga vibes, but like not a rip off. And I think she was on like a chair. She was a Cherry Tree Records girl as well, I think. Yeah.
01:16:46
Speaker
So, and and it was it's very clear they were trying to sort of like replicate a format, but I think a lot of these, so many of these songs stand on their own really well. Like I was just listening to this album again for the first time in a while. And like the first like three quarters of that album is just like, boom, boom, boom. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Whoa. Okay.
01:17:05
Speaker
Like really, really, really um creative and ah ah great vocals. Good writing. Very interesting production. Love zombie. Yeah.
01:17:16
Speaker
I love Break You Hard. Love is a Suicide. Mirrors feels a little bit like we want another Just Dance. But yeah whatever. It's fine. Either I love this album. And something about Free, because like at the time that came out, I just was like...
01:17:30
Speaker
this This broke girl like walking around like she's like a fuck fucking like you know a rich bitch. and that was very i was 21 when this came out. that was very i was you know almost done with college. i have you know my My band was like doing things. I was dropping acid. i was just I felt like I was on living in Boston with like you know finally an adult but no real responsibilities. it was just very This this kind of like encapsulated my energy of the time. and I don't really feel like I see...
01:17:59
Speaker
People talk about like this album much anymore, but like that version specifically without will. I am ah was one of my favorites from that. So i want some love to her. love that. There's something about her and um Queen Herbie that sort of linked together as the same person in my mind.
01:18:15
Speaker
Oh, interesting. They had that they had that blunt kind of um ah the bangs. Yeah, maybe it's that. But it's like there's something about what they were both doing because they ah they both had different projects with different names.
01:18:26
Speaker
yeah And they were all like in the in the pop space and like doing their thing. But i yeah, Carmen is to Natalia kills what Queen Herbie is to Teddy Sinclair. There it is. There it is. That's that's it. That's exactly it.
01:18:39
Speaker
There it is. And, you know, I think that i responded to you, Z, because very timely, because she just posted for the first time on social media in over a year. oh wow. Yeah. Apparently she had some major health issues. I forget she was diagnosed with something, but basically there's like a benign tumor in her brain. oh my God. And she's had to like relearn how to do like, she had a a surgery and she's had to relearn how to like do daily tasks. and Shut up Yeah.
01:19:07
Speaker
Yeah, it's crazy, which is really sad. I'm glad that she seems to be on the mend and is okay right for the most part. But she said that like she she will always have, and I have this, which mate when she said that she had this, I was like, wait, what?
01:19:22
Speaker
But it sounds like the floaties in eyes. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. yeah um But she has that and she has like some other issues. But she said that, I guess, new stuff is on the way.
01:19:32
Speaker
by Okay. Yeah. But i was i was like that's I was like, that's crazy how you brought this up. And then like two days later, she posts that. I was like, what is in the air? Right. Like, like that's so wild.
01:19:44
Speaker
But yeah. And the thing is, people, every time I mentioned her, people like, oh, and she killed her career on that. And it's like, you know, I have never seen that clip. And like, I don't really care. i really don't care.
01:19:55
Speaker
the thing i don't like watching cringy things like that. It makes me really uncomfortable. Same. Well, here's the thing. i I, first of all, kind of have used that clip in memes before because it's kind of hysterical because she's just kind of going off on this guy But it's no different than seeing Simon Cowell go off on a plethora of people throughout the years.
01:20:16
Speaker
I truly, when people said that that killed her career, i was like, how did this kill her career? right like That is insane to the point where she changed her stage name. But they they'll take it from a man. They won't take it from a woman.
01:20:29
Speaker
It's crazy. I mean, she was being like wild kind of, but at the same time, but I wouldn't call it. It was just funny. It was television. Like it's, I don't know.
01:20:41
Speaker
I yeah know that worked people are really dramatic about any time. Like, ah like an artist does something kind of wild. Like people like when Chapel run was kind of having her moment earlier this year where she was like,
01:20:53
Speaker
kind of spinning out a little bit. They were like, I think, i was seeing all these people on tape. I truly think we are seeing the decline of Travel Road. Right. i think she's And I'm like, you guys are so... Right. but You think like one little thing like this is going to derail this girl? Like, you you are so in the moment and like stupid and like nearsighted about this shit. Like, yeah give her a second. It's like, I think she's going to cancel her SNL performance. I don't think we're getting another album. I think after this she's going to stop music. It's like, baby...
01:21:21
Speaker
Guys, Chris Brown is on a sold-out world tour right now. yeah like I'm pretty sure Chapel's going to be fine. yeah and like And almost not even from like a cancellation point as much as, like I don't think she can handle it. It's like, I think she can handle it. I just don't think anyone has been through this before right in the last 10 years.
01:21:39
Speaker
And she's also made it really clear that if she does like if it doesn't... continue on like she doesn't I think that she'd rather it she will be fine right yeah so she said she misses that that kind of you know um inspiration she got earlier on when there was like less pressure and like because I don't because I don't certainly don't think she expected this right no no I mean again we we I don't think we've ever really seen a pop star kind of blow up in real time the way that we saw with her like going from like one weekend it's small crowds I mean truly I saw her here in Grand Rapids she played a a
01:22:12
Speaker
ah venue here called The Intersection. I think it holds maybe 5,000 people at at capacity. um Very, very tiny. And I mean, it was two weekends later that she started you started seeing these me these huge crowds and all the festivals.
01:22:26
Speaker
So it's crazy. Like, I've never seen that. She's an industry plant. No. I love when people say that. right I love when people say that.
01:22:38
Speaker
I mean, like, you know who is an industry plant is like the Spice Girls. I mean, yeah, they're formed by a record label. Apparently, apparently someone I. OK, no, it was Justin Tranter, I think, who was saying someone was saying that they like had them on their podcast or something like that.
01:22:55
Speaker
And apparently he was like, you know what? No one nowadays is an industry plant. All your favorites back in the day. Those are industry plants. Yeah, By the definition, whatever the fuck that is. Right. Yeah. yeah Because I would think that industry plant... It's marketing.
01:23:08
Speaker
Right. Yeah. I would think that an interest industry plant is like a record label sought out artists, whether it's singular or a group, to put them out as an artist. Britney Spears is an industry plant. I mean...
01:23:22
Speaker
Britney is an industry industry plant. NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls. There's tons them. I feel like this this rise in like the need for like authenticity, I think, has... It's such a buzzword. I hate it. Yeah, which, you know, nothing wrong with it, but if we're saying like authenticity equals quality...
01:23:41
Speaker
quality I think that's where we start to lose the
Concert Ticket Strategies
01:23:45
Speaker
plot a little bit. And it's like, oh, well, well you didn't come from come from where you said you did. And it's like, God forbid someone choose a stage name right or some shit like that.
01:23:54
Speaker
Like when people were coming for Lana Del Rey, it's like, that's not even her name. It's like, okay, Sting. Right, right, right. Well, they used to say that in in in the 90s and early 2000, mostly in the 90s with, ah I think it's Ice Cube. It's either Ice Cube or, no, not Ice Cube, Ice T, the rapper. Because they're just like,
01:24:10
Speaker
you know The things he raps about, that wasn't his life because he came from like a really like wealthy family in New Jersey. And who cares? like what what And this is what I always say. like What matters is what comes out of the speaker.
01:24:21
Speaker
yeah you know like I understand like there's an authenticity factor, and I don't want people to be lying to me either, but it's like sometimes people are just good at doing the thing. right and that's okay but people got mad at beyonce for like i just quit my job and i'm like this is so for this hate right here is so forced right yeah right i'm like what would you like her to sing about being a billionaire like and then you get mad at her for that and i saw there was a whole thing talking about an article that hit uh in the last few days maybe last week where they were saying that a lot of the shows for cowboy carter aren't sold out yet and i got oh i got cheap tickets
01:24:56
Speaker
Well, well, so here's you. So they were talking about specific shows that weren't sold out. And I was right, so let me just go look and see before I make a comment and say something stupid. And it's like literally all the tickets that weren't sold out were limited view tickets, obstructed view tickets. And I'm like, well, I mean, like I don't know, but I just don't understand the need for the hit pieces.
01:25:15
Speaker
Oh, well, yeah, that's that's what I'm like. That's right. Yeah. I'm like, you're not even telling full story. I'm not complaining. Like, I feel like tickets should be $50. Well, and that, but that's the thing too, is that I said, I was like, people are broke.
01:25:28
Speaker
And more often than not, people are not buying the tickets in advance like they used to. They're buying them like the week of, because even when we went to go see Kylie, I was like, maybe like a few days before i was like, maybe we'll go and get better tickets. I was like, let's see how much they are.
01:25:40
Speaker
And when we looked, there was still a lot of tickets available. And then when I was there that night, completely sold out. We did that for Janet. We did that for Janet Jackson a couple of years ago in Atlanta. we We waited till like two hours before the show and got that really cheap.
01:25:53
Speaker
Yeah. yeah Yeah. Oh, yeah. I got my Renaissance tickets day of. Yeah. Two more than I would have liked to pay. But, you know. Right. Yeah. I was there. Renaissance was the most expensive concert that I've ever purchased ticket for. like I'll never forget. that he was like He was like, they're floor seats. And I closed my eyes and I go, just do it.
01:26:11
Speaker
Just do it. I was like, I'll figure it out. Just do it. And now you look back and that money's not even in play anymore. but but if But if there's any show you want to have floor seats to, I think it's that one. For sure. yeah Well, this is why we're dealing with this now with the with the Cowboy Carter tour, because it's like we have seats, but they're further out than I would like just to have them.
01:26:30
Speaker
yeah But I'm like, the floor seats in the New Jersey show right now are going for $4,500. The same exact seats are going for 300 pounds in Paris. Wow. Wow. So I'm like, we might be going to Paris.
01:26:43
Speaker
Wow. Are you happy to be in Paris? You'll see. Oh my God. I know. I need to get tickets. Maybe I'll try to get some cheap tickets in Chicago or something. No one comes to Michigan anymore.
01:26:57
Speaker
Just like Soldier Field. i know. i will. when you when you When you jaunt, I will jaunt there. ah we're gonna. we're go ah And boy, will she ever jaunt.
01:27:07
Speaker
And while I jaunt now I'm like sitting here like, what am I going to wear to it? I know. two That's what I was thinking. What would I wear? oh my God. ah I'm not worried about that for you. You've got the fashion.
01:27:21
Speaker
Right. i point Yeah. but I know, but I will rack my brain until that moment comes. Girl, me too. Yeah. I feel like what's going on?
01:27:32
Speaker
Well, thank you guys for joining on this episode of Homophonic. I cannot wait to record the next one because it's going to be just as fun, if not more. So until then, peace out. Bye.
01:27:46
Speaker
Bye.