#also: the piano! the famous tune thing!

[wispisstillverybored67]

Leone shut the fuck up.

[d-criss-news]

How Sondheim and Burnett Got Darren Criss to Provincetown

Provincetown hasn’t been compared to The Godfather or Star Wars very often, but those are the examples actor and singer Darren Criss names in acknowledging that his July 21 town hall appearance will be his first visit here.

“Provincetown is like that movie that you haven’t seen but you don’t want your friends to know you haven’t seen, so you don’t incur their wrath and ridicule and disbelief,” he says, noting that several of his good pals visit often. “I don’t bring up that I haven’t been there because my friends will give me crap. I haven’t avoided it — I’ve really wanted to go. Finally, the stars aligned quite nicely.”

Maybe the stars had a little help from Carol Burnett.

Host and accompanist John McDaniel, a Grammy and Emmy award-winning musician, says he invited Criss to be part of his summer Broadway series here after Criss performed on 2023’s Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Love + Laughter TV birthday special. McDaniel was the music director.

Criss’s best-known roles are his breakout portrayal of Blaine for five seasons (2010 to 2015) on Glee in a milestone-for-mainstream-TV gay romance with Chris Colfer’s Kurt, and his 2018 Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning turn as spree killer Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. (Both roles came thanks to producer and Provincetown part-timer Ryan Murphy.)

In addition to acting and singing — including Glee’s “Teenage Dream” cover that climbed the Billboard charts — Criss is a songwriter. He first won notice for co-writing and starring in 2009’s A Very Potter Musical parody for the Chicago-based StarKid Productions, which he co-founded. Criss’s A Very Darren Crissmas generated national holiday tours.

Shortly after Criss wrote the opening number for the 2022 Tony Awards, his friend Paul Miller, director of the Burnett tribute, asked him to refashion Stephen Sondheim’s “Side by Side” from Company into an homage to Burnett’s famous duets with celebrity guest stars.

In what he called “one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to be a part of,” Criss performed “Burnett’s Duets” for the star-studded birthday-party special with Broadway’s Sutton Foster. That came after he meticulously dissected Sondheim’s music to fit new lyrics and fine-tuned the arrangement with McDaniel.

“When I was doing this,” Criss says, “in my mind, I was going, ‘What would the ghost of Sondheim be OK with?’ ”

More Broadway music will be on Criss’s mind in Provincetown for what he says will be an unusual program because it likely won’t include original work or him playing guitar or piano; McDaniel will accompany him. Criss prides himself on not performing the same live show twice and plans to include Broadway songs he’s not yet sung in public.

That said, he recognizes fans might want to hear something connected to his own Broadway star turns. Those include — besides the nonmusical American Buffalo in 2022 — How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 2012 and 2015’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Plus, earlier this year, Criss starred in off-Broadway’s Little Shop of Horrors.

In September, he’ll originate a Broadway role for the first time, headlining Will Aronson and Hue Park’s musical Maybe Happy Ending. Criss plays an outdated, retired robot in futuristic Seoul who explores the nature of love with another retired robot (Helen J. Shen). To try to help boost its U.S. profile, Criss is also a producer of the musical, which has been a hit in Korea, China, and Japan. Its Broadway debut will be directed by Michael Arden (2023 Tony Award for Parade, Spring Awakening), a longtime Criss friend who directed the English-language debut in 2020 in Atlanta.

Criss is excited but nervous about the piece; he says it’s intimate and epic at once. “There’s an excitement about the uniqueness and specialness of this show that I’ve never encountered before,” he says. “So that’s either going to crash and burn and blow up in our faces or catch on. I don’t know, but the prospect is very thrilling.”

Criss, who is straight, made headlines this spring for comments at a Chicago expo about being “culturally queer” because of his admiration for the LGBTQ community. “The things in my life that I have tried to emulate, learn from, and be inspired by are 100 percent queer,” he said then, later adding that “it was in queer communities that I’ve found people that I idolize, that I want to learn something from.”

“That had to be the slowest news day ever,” Criss says about his comments getting attention — especially because he’s talked many times before about similar things, including how much it meant to be part of Glee’s Blaine-Kurt relationship story.

Beyond Provincetown and Broadway, in August Criss’s voice will be heard in an unusual spot: on season 10 of Netflix’s Gabby’s Dollhouse, a children’s show, as the new Marty the Party Cat, magical host of the Party Room. It’s a voice role Criss says was planned long before his two-year-old daughter and seven-week-old son were born to him and his wife.

Marty is described by Netflix as a lovable, “exuberant goofball” who has a big heart and the ability to laugh at himself.

“He’s a fun guy,” Criss says. “I’m aspirationally Marty the Party Cat.”

[woso-dreamzzz]

I'm meant to be packing for uni but I have Bubs and Angel thoughts for when they're a bit older:

Bubs obviously grows up to be a bigshot movie director and ends up with multiple Oscars for best original screenplay and best director but her most famous movie was very clearly inspired by Angel because it was about a deaf kid who wanted to play in the orchestra

It's actually a movie that won Angel the Oscar for the best score for because Bubs didn't feel comfortable with having another composer score because it felt too personal. It's the year that they both win Oscars for their work

Bubs has no fashion sense whatsoever. Like no sense of style and just kind of rolls out of bed and throws on whatever. Angel, on the other hand, is full of style and goes more towards pastels and light colours than the darker colours Bubs favours

Their house is so quiet because both of them primarily communicate in sign. Angel doesn't like wearing her hearing aids in the house so Bubs can't be vocal which is why they both sign to each other

Angel also composes without her hearing aids. There's something freeing about composing without them and it makes it easier for the music to flow through her

Bubs, however, brings home rough copies of her movies and edits them to music because otherwise she just can't focus. She doesn't really care what music but her favourite is when Angel is practicing at the piano

Mini is so soppy when she sees Bubs at red carpets. Of course everyone is invited to them but Mini just feels so soppy when she sees Bubs doing so well in her career and cries everytime

Similarly, Steph is always at the orchestra to watch Angel and brings flowers for her daughter every time because she's just so proud that Angel's achieved her dreams

Angel is a diehard Arsenal fan while Bubs couldn't care less about football and finds the whole atmosphere a bit too chaotic but comes with Angel to games because it makes her happy

Bubs wore a suit to their wedding but Angel had to pick it out or Bubs would have turned up in jeans. Angel wore a dress of course and her co-workers at the orchestra performed the Wedding March for her to walk down the aisle to

Bubs also tunes most of Angel's instruments. She learnt when they were teenagers at school and Bubs would hang out with the music department waiting for Angel to finish practice and they taught her how to do it. It's now one of Bubs' favourite things to do for Angel and she gets a little huffy when Angel takes an instrument to the shop to do it

Bubs and Angel probably have a super grumpy Persian cat that everyone says resembles Bubs. Bubs says she doesn't see it but Angel says it's because he's their son and of course he resembles his Mama.

[youngveinsworld]

quotes from a blog recap of the young veins' album release party on 8 june 2010

The Young Veins had their album release party yesterday, June 8th, at Origami records in LA, a record label but also a tiny, tiny store that only sells vinyls. The place is a narrow corridor with an upstairs level that can be reached by a spiral staircase. The band performed upstairs and people had the feeling to be in a pit hole, breaking their necks to look at their heroes. I guess only 30 people could have fit there, and these people were 90% teenage girls.

Ryan, Jon as well as the other members Andy Soukal (guitar, bass), Nick White (keyboards, he played keyboards for Bright Eyes) and Nick Murray (drums) are all extremely young, and with their juvenile looks you would never guess they would venture in the 60’s, the childhood-teenage years of their parents.

The sound is definitely embedded in the past, and does not have anything to do with the rock music of 2010, as they sure don’t use any electronic equipment but instead vintage instruments like the Wurlizter piano.

“Take a vacation” is pure Beatles mania intertwined with Kinks riffs, a few Beach Boys harmonies, and probably a few other things from famous 60’s bands I have forgotten,… the Byrds? I know Phil Spector is serving jail time right now, but the title track could have been one of his productions. The songs ‘Take a vacation’, ‘Cape Town’, and ‘Maybe I Will, Maybe I Won’t’ could be some lost songs of an unidentified 60’s band that would have digested its complete sonic environment. It is pretty hard to distinguish what they have exactly borrowed from the Beatles or the Kinks from what they have really composed since the songs are still inventive beside their obvious inspirations.

It is a recipe for ear delight and even if the concoction seems a little prefabricated, there is no reason to abstain from this pleasurable 60’s gluttony. More British invasion than psychedelic rock, the songs are quite short (the whole album is less than half hour) but made of catchy and upbeat tunes.

Last night, Ryan Ross, Jon Walker and Andy Soukal played guitar, alternating for the vocals, and Jon sang alone on ‘Everyone But You’, whereas Ryan did most of the vocals on ‘Take a vacation’, ‘Cape Town’, ‘Maybe I Will, Maybe I Won’t’, and The Other Girl’. ‘Young Veins (Die Tonight)’ had this particular Kinks feeling, a feeling even more present when Ryan used a tambourine on ‘Change’.

If music touches at our genuine collective memory, it sure is a winner. It’s effortless, you are on familiar soundscape and you recognize it immediately as part of your inner world. Now I wonder about radio airplay for the Young Veins? On oldies stations?

– from this blog post

[namesforwriters]

Music Inspired Names (masc)

Adagio ~ Italian, meaning "slowly."

Derived from the musical term "adagio" indicating the tempo, or speed, at which a piece should be played. Adagio indicates the tempo should be slow and with great expression. pronunciation: ah-dah-jee-oh

Allegro ~ Italian, meaning "cheerful," "lively," "playful."

Derived from the musical term "allegro" indicating the tempo, or speed, at which a piece should be played. Allegro usually indicates a lively and fast tempo. pronunciation: ah-leg-grah

Alto ~ Italian, meaning "high."

Alto is a term used to describe a pitch range in music. "Alto" is usually the lowest range of a female vocal range, and second-highest in general, but some instruments are tuned in the alto range as well, including the viola and alto trombone. pronunciation: ahl-toe, al-toe

Amadeus ~ Latin, "loved by God," "love of God."

The most recognizable person with this name is the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a musical genius and prolific composer in his life time. Born in Salzburg, Mozart is considered one of the greatest composers in Western classical music. pronunciation: ah-mah-day-oos

Antonio ~ Italian, meaning "flower," "priceless."

Antonio was the given name of famous Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi. Vivaldi's most famous composition is titled "The Four Seasons," a series of violin concertos inspired by the seasons of the year. pronunciation: an-toh-nee-oh

Apollo ~ Greek, meaning "to destroy," "redemption."

Apollo is a major deity in Greek and Roman mythology. On top of being the god of light, prophecy, and archery, he is also the god of music and the leader of the nine Muses. pronunciation: ah-pahl-low

Bardo ~ Irish, meaning "minstrel," "singer-poet."

Related to the term "bard," this is a very musical name. Bards and minstrels were musically talented storytellers and poets in medieval Gaelic and British culture. Shakespeare is known as "The Bard of Avon." pronunciation: bar-doe

Bragi ~ Norse, meaning "poem," "melody," "wise."

In Norse mythology, Bragi is the god of poetry renowned for his wisdom and fluency of speech. Bragi is especially associated with skaldic poetry, which often honored kings, and was more stylistically ornate than Eddic poetry. pronunciation: brah-gee

Brio ~ Italian, meaning "vivacious."

Brio is a term usually shortened from "con brio," which is a musical direction term. It indicates that something should be played with vigor, with spirit, with vivaciousness. pronunciation: bree-oh

Canto ~ Latin, Italian, meaning "song," "singing."

Derived from both the Latin and Italian words for songs and singing, canto was a form of medieval and modern long poetry. The canto form usually meant the poetry was meant to be sung by a minstrel to accompaniment rather than dictated. pronunciation: cahn-toe

Carmine ~ Latin, meaning "song."

Originally a Latin name related to the word for "song," Carmine is also the name of a famous contemporary film composer, Carmine Coppola, who composed the score for the Godfather films. pronunciation: car-mine

Chevalier ~ French, meaning "horseman," "rider."

A title of French noble distinction, Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges was the first composer of African heritage to achieve acclaim and fame in Western classical music. He was also an accomplished dancer and fencer. pronunciation: sheh-val-ee-ay, sheh-val-ee-er

Claude ~ French, meaning "enclosure."

Claude is the given name of the famous composer Claude Debussy. Despite his modest background, Debussy was admitted to the Conservatoire de Paris. He pushed the boundaries of classical music at the time, and his most famous composition is the piano piece "Clair du Lune." pronunciation: claw-d

Dorian ~ Greek, meaning "gift," "of Doris."

Dorian is a term a few things in the world of music. Usually, "dorian" is a term used to describe a type of scale (a series of eight octave notes played one by one in a minor chord) pronunciation: door-ee-en

Herod ~ Greek, meaning "song of the hero."

This name originates from Ancient Greece and literally means "song of the hero." For that reason, it makes "Herod" a very musical name indeed. pronunciation: hair-odd

Linus ~ Greek, meaning "flax," "flax-colored."

In Greek mythology, Linus is the son of Apollo and the first leader of lyric song. In some myths, his musical talent rivaled that of his father, so Apollo killed him. In others, Linus is the music teacher of both Orpheus and Heracles. pronunciation: lie-nus

Locrian ~ Greek, meaning "of Locris."

Locrian, like "dorian," is a term used in music theory for a type of musical scale (a series of eight notes played in an octave one by one. A locrian scale is more complicated than a dorian scale. pronunciation: low-cree-en

Maestro ~ Italian, meaning "master," "teacher."

Similar to the musical direction term "maestroso" meaning to play a piece with majesty, "Maestro" is also an honorific given to a conductor or director. pronunciation: mai-stroh

Mesto ~ Italian, meaning "sad," "pensive."

A music direction term, seeing the term "mesto" indicates that the piece should be played with a sad, mournful quality or tone. pronunciation: mess-toe

Octavian ~ Latin, meaning "the eighth."

Octavia is a name taken from the Latin octave, meaning "eight." In music, an octave is a range of typically eight notes. The first and eighth note are always the same, with one higher than the other in pitch. pronunciation: oct-ehve

Opus ~ Latin, meaning "work," "work of art."

In Western classical music, composers would often number their compositions and works. For example, the first movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony is titled "Symphony No. 5 In C Minor, Op. 67 "Fate." This means this is Beethoven's 67th composition. pronunciation: oh-pus

Orpheus ~ Greek, meaning "orphan," "best voice."

Orpheus was a Greek hero who helped Jason on his quest for the Golden Fleece. Following the quest, Orpheus journeyed to the Underworld to recover his love wife, Eurydice. Orpheus was an amazing musician. pronunciation: or-phee-us

Reed ~ Old English, meaning "red."

In music, a reed is a mouthpiece with which certain instruments are played, including clarinets, oboes, bassoons, and saxophones. Reeds are usually made of grass cane or wood and come in different strengths. pronunciation: reed

Vesper ~ Latin, meaning "evening."

In Western classical music, a "vesper" or "vespers" is an evening song or composition. A vesper is traditionally an evening prayer. The most famous "vespers" composition is "All-Night Vigil," a choral work by Sergei Rachmaninoff. pronunciation: ves-per

Vox ~ Latin, meaning "voice."

Coming from the Latin word for "voice," this is very much a musical name, one for singers and orators in particular. pronunciation: vox

These name lists are intended to help writers and artists. There is no expectation of credit, and these lists aren't meant to be the end-all be-all lists of possible names. There are millions out there, and this is just for fun!

If you have a suggestion for a name list, or want to see something specific, feel free to submit a request!

And if you see something that is wrong (a pronunciation, a meaning, an origin), again, feel free to let me know!

[gomzdrawfr]

the agony of imperfections and lost

a prodigy once soared, melody adored with perfection now suffers with pieces and symphony left unfinished a silent pain with wrist betrayed each notes falter, with the end replaced by sniffles and pain

☾⋆⁺₊♫✩°｡

AU: pianist!Raven and piano technician!Price

between classes and lectures I've been doodling an AU for my cod oc Raven :] it's the first AU I've ever thought of for a very long time and I didn't start writing and drawing a few things until recently (my friends are huge enablers ah ha)

this AU is heavily inspired by the anime Your Lies in April so if this familiar that's why

Prodigy Raven who used to swoop every piano competition stopped participating one day due to various reasons.

She can no longer finish any pieces.

It starts off with pain, and then progresses into fits of spasms and shakes on her wrist.

That was however, not the main issue.

As she will herself to play more to overcome the issue, another problem raised where notes and tune muffles out as she approach the end of any song, rendering her unable to map out the tempo and the feel of the piece, which was the most crucial aspect in performance((and also hence why the art wrote "when will the sounds return"))

again and again, she attempted to play and only met with tears and pain at every end, and so she stopped playing.

It wasn't years later when her friend invited her to a concert hall that she would attempt playing again, and met a man with an unmistakable beard she thought she will never meet again.

here is a fic I wrote below, you can listen along with the spotify song linked below, and as always I hope you enjoy this lil blurb ⸜(˶´ ˘ `˶)⸝

tags: a lil angsty and mentioned of struggles with chronic pain

𓍢ִ໋. 𝄞 ✧˚ ༘ ♪ ⋆｡˚.𖥔 ݁ ˖♬ ♪₊ ⊹

Raven found herself at the concert hall, involuntarily dragged there by a close friend who was settling some business with the hall owner. Having no interest in the conversation, she idly wandered around.

Eventually her attention was drawn to the main hall, the area was dimly lit with only one light shining above a magnificent grand piano on the stage, when was the last time she had even seen a grand piano?

The golden words that etched on the front of the piano captivated her, "Steinway and Sons", and she ran her fingers delicately along its shiny polished surface, despite promising herself not to touch it.

how could she resist when such a beauty is in full display within her reach?

Perhaps there was a lingering wishful hope within her that pulls her through the haunting echoes of her past struggles.

Perhaps this time it would be different, after all, it's been so many years.

As she took a seat and opened the fallboard, she knew she had to play something.

Little did she know she was not alone in that hall.

John Price, a famous piano technician was scheduled to carry out his tuning services on the grand piano, has arrived earlier than the expected time in order to explore the place.

It gives opportunity for him to figure out the environment, and to assess the condition of the place.

To him, a piano was like the heart of the human body, requiring care and love with every factor taking into account, such as the air moisture content, exposure of sunlight, humidity, temperature...the list goes on.

As he walked onto the area from the backstage, he was surprised to see a figure seated at the piano. When he wanted to call out, the tune of a song stopped him.

A familiar melody, a classic.

He recognizes this song, however, with the way the sound and notes were played, it felt as if he was listening to it for the first time.

Liebesleid. Love's sorrow.

As he pause and listens, watching as the fingers of Raven danced around the black and white, he felt himself washed by the emotions of the piece.

remorse, pain, emptiness and cheery? was it hope? yet he can't help but felt bittersweet.

Each note was played with perfection, the pauses, the tempo and the timing were accurate, and with the sway of the pianist, he could feel the emotional depth infused into the piece.

And yet as the song approach the second half of the song, something in the air shifted.

The tempo increased, the intervals between notes were shorten, and slowly wrong notes emerging as well, with some keys played with more force and vigor.

Eventually the song stopped, and only the sound of stifled sniffles filled the air as the figure slouched forward.

((if you're curious and still listening along on spotify, the errors starts around 2:42 she stopped around 2:57))

"It happened again"

Raven thought as she struggled to control the shaking of her hands, and the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"it hurts....it hurts so...so much"

She lets out a shaky breath; it wasn't the pain of her wrist that was eating at her.

It was the act of not being able to complete a piece.

She pressed her palm up her eyes, a weak attempt to stop the shaking of her arms and the tears that kept flowing.

A hand on her shoulder was what brought her back to reality.

Startled, she looked up into a pair of blue eyes, with gentle gaze that melted away her panics.

"You alright, luv?"

The man asked, and Raven composed herself, wiping over her tears as she gave a weak nod.

She apologizes for the state she was in, gingerly stepping up from the bench, only to be met with a chuckle and another reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"It was beautiful"

He complimented, nodding his head towards the piano as Raven pauses.

"no, it's not", she thought internally, but just gave another thankful nod.

"thanks"

John raised a brow at that, taking note for her answer.

"something tells me you disagree, hm?"

She wonders for a good moment if she should speak her mind, and after deciding that the chances of meeting this man again is slim, she gave her comments.

"I didn't finished it"

She spoke, glancing back at the piano as her eyes soften as the echoes of her instructor came to mind.

"you're not worthy to even be in the same room as the piano if you can't finish the piece. It's not just about the techniques and music theory only, you need to focus on the flow and the dynamic of the piece, honor the composer, bring the composer's vision to life." "alright, play it again Raven, how bout putting your body into it this time huh? I've seen others played better than that" "you know you need to win, make me proud dearie"

"well, a song doesn’t need to be complete in order for it to be good"

His voice brought her back as she frowns slightly, the older male simply smiles as he goes on.

"what matters is how much you put your heart into it"

He takes a step forward to her.

"and you, certainly poured your soul into that song, hell, felt like I was listening to Fritz Kreisler himself, ha!"

She could only blink as she chuckles, a warm feeling embrace her heart as she hummed.

"you flatter me...uh-"

"John. John Price."

He extended his hand out as he smiles.

"Raven."

She smiled, shaky hands now no longer tremble as she gave the firm handshake. Something tells her that this will be the first of many more meetings.

[recapitulation]

this is what each mahler symphony feels like. to me.

familiar old friend. star trek theme at the beginning makes me smile. legendary remix of frere jaque funeral durge and jewish klezmer songs.

half piece of art, half murder weapon. also my wife. my favorite symphony period. literally kills you and brings you back to life. incredibly famous for a reason.

a dance. sometimes you're a deer in a forest, sometimes you're a bug flying over a hazy pond at dawn, but it's always a dance. the finale is titled "what love tells me" and it will. it will tell you.

transports you somewhere else. heaven then hell then heaven again. the concertmaster plays two violins, one of which is tuned sharp and signifies the devil. the third movement really feels like you're watching heaven's gates opening. fourth movement is literally called "the heavenly life."

a beautiful story. easiest mahler symphony to love in my opinion. takes your hand and tells you something nothing else can. mahler 5 i love you so much its not even funny.

an easy jam. the slow movement is the best. its so good it kind of blinds out all the other movements for me a bit. hammer blows of fate in the finale are sick as hell.

feels like a puzzle or a trick. the scherzo feels like a nightmare. the first movement is so ethereal. mandolin and cowbells abound: the combination of a fucking lifetime.

feels like talking to god. part 2 dries me out and turns me into jerky. wild as hell instrumentation list. its called symphony of a thousand because it will cut you into a thousand pieces. legendary combo of celesta/harmonium/piano/organ.

mysterious... the first thing i think of is the 'heartbeat' rhythm that bernstein speculated was a mirror of mahler's own failing heart. generally i think this is the symphony i understand the least... i look forward to unlocking your shrimp emotions miss nine...

takes me out back and shoots me. literally the last movement has loud strikes that jolt you like being shot. one of the most chilling beginnings AND endings.

[yetihideout]

Favorite Albums

Music Composed And Performed By Goblin: Their Rare Tracks & Outtakes Collection, 1975-1989, Goblin

My favorite compilation from Goblin, the prog rock, synthesizer masters who became famous thanks to their contributions to the soundtracks for Dario Argento’s Deep Red and Suspiria as well as George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. Often super-charged and kinetic, but also possessing the ability to be slow, atmospheric and moody, this group epitomizes the nature and energy of horror: from the otherworldly and terrifying soundscapes of Suspiria to the beautiful, thoughtful love theme from the obscure St. Helens (not a horror film, but dramatic nonetheless.)

Goblin is, without argument, one of the most influential artists to the world of horror music – no doubt influencing John Carpenter’s simple piano-driven theme to Halloween (listen to Goblin’s title track from Deep Red and compare) to the current crop of synthesized themes in films and series like Turbo Kid, It Follows, Drive, Stranger Things and many others.

These are all babies born of Goblin!

Silk & Soul, Nina Simone

My favorite album by my favorite vocalist for reasons that are inexplicable to me. This is the album that I play most often – perhaps it’s the odd variety of songs chosen (although all of the material in the Simone archives are from an astonishing range of disparate and unique sources). Historians would consider “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” to be the signature song from this album, but I find her brief tale of simple, matter-of-fact racism explained in “The Turning Point” to be much more devastating, perhaps since it’s told from the point of view of a child.

All of the songs are wrenching and even her revisions of Burt Bacharach’s “Look of Love” and The Association’s “Cherish” are re-ignited with a more appropriate longing and yearning that only Simone can express.

Creepshow, John Harrison

My favorite horror soundtrack of all time. There is something about the opening piano theme that appealed to me even when I first saw ads for the film on HBO as a child (I was much too scared to watch the entire film, but I would torture myself by at least watching the opening credits). The child-like piano tune with the taunting children voices was spooky, fun and surprisingly catchy. This album was a sort of Holy Grail of mine growing up and I would often watch the film just to hear the music. It wasn't until many years later that I was finally able to get a copy of the record. Each story in the film is brought to life by a signature sound – from the Gothic, piano-pounding revenge motif of “Father’s Day”, the melodic and secretive tone of “The Crate” to the minimal synth soundscape that perfectly applied to E.G. Marshall’s roach phobia and germ-free apartment from the “They’re Creeping Up on You” segment.

Each and every note is deliberate, brilliant and visual.

Bone Machine, Tom Waits

My favorite Waits album, probably for the simple reason that each song is like a tiny, separate horror tale embodied with an extremely visual style and brought to life by Waits’ rough, often inhuman voice. Each song is painted in charcoal black and tell stories about the hopelessness of...well...everything. “The Earth Died Screaming” is perhaps the most famous track from this album, but my personal favorite is the slow and mysterious “Black Wings” – a familiar tale of a neutral angel (or demon?) and his exploits, both good and bad. “Murder in the Red Barn” is an equally intriguing tale that one can easily visualize and it's peppered with ambiguous lyrics like, “there’s nothing strange about an axe with bloodstains in the barn - there's always some killin' you got to do around the farm.”

I like to look at Bone Machine as a sort of audio short story collection of tales that Roald Dahl, Richard Matheson or Robert Bloch might have conjured up.

Thighs and Whispers, Bette Midler

A rare album that I actually listen to all the way through. This 1979 album has a diverse range of songs, including a great version of “Millworker” from the Broadway play, “Working”, and some cute disco-fueled tunes like “Married Men” and “My Knight in Black Leather”. Each song has some moment that gives me shivers, or at least slight goose bumps. One of those moments is in the song, “Big Noise from Winnetka” when they sing the line, “Once she was picking up the big boys…now I’m pickin’ up my little kids’ toys”.

The whole album makes me feel really good with all of its emotional ups and downs...which, afterall, is basically what makes a perfect album. Right?

Cow Fingers & Mosquito Pie, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

My favorite compilation of songs from the incredibly insane catalog of Hawkins. All of the favorites are here – “Alligator Wine”, “Hong Kong”, “Little Demon”, “There’s Something Wrong with You” and, of course, his most famous track – “I Put a Spell On You”. Every song is unleashed in his inimitable way, through screaming, shouting and lip-smacking gibberish. His work makes me scream with laughter. I find that listening to his albums is the perfect remedy to road rage…just “singing” along with Jay is incredibly cathartic and relaxing! Take him along with you on your next commute.

Who knew that spouting out silly words and making fart noises would become such a huge part of someone’s career? I’m totally in the wrong profession.

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), Eurythmics

Definitely the first official “album” I ever owned. Like most people of my generation, Annie Lennox mesmerized me in the music video for “Sweet Dreams” (which aired on MTV practically every few minutes). I was equally fascinated, terrified and hopelessly drawn to the pounding computerized beat, the throwback classical strings and Annie’s low, monotone delivery contrasting with her higher-pitched, "choir of angels"-type refrains. And who could forget her bizarre appearance? This is the perfect example of the power of the early 1980s music video: The song and accompanying video compelled me to purchase the entire album. I loved every single song on it – a rarity that I have not often found with other albums.

With the eerie “Love is a Stranger” and the hypnotic “Jennifer” to the ethereal, jungle beat of “I’ve Got an Angel” and the fun and goofy “Wrap it Up”, I had unknowingly set the stage for my musical tastes. 


Hooked on Classics, Louis Clark conducting The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

This was an album I remember being in love with as a young boy when I would play the cassette tape of it over and over again. It was a great entry point for classical music. The often goofy, pseudo-disco element that was added to the medleys of famous classical music provided a fun and punchy rhythm to the proceedings that was perfect for a child. I found a copy of the CD recently and discovered that the album is still a fun listen. The quick, “clapping hands” backbeat now reads very silly and one can envision the album being played during low-impact cardio exercises at a YMCA.

Though this album (as well as its sequels and spin-offs) has its vehement detractors, the album has a sweet innocence to it. It’s merely trying to make classical music a bit more accessible while not taking itself too seriously.

The Haunted Mansion, Disneyland Records

Though not officially an album by any means, this was a record I played quite often as a child. Accompanied by a terrific illustrated book that detailed the exploration of the famous Haunted Mansion of the Disneyland world, your narrator leads you through the famous scenarios from the ride. Though only running approximately five minutes or so, the adventure leaves your brain with indelible memories, probably the most startling being the bride with the visible, beating heart.

The B-side is what I remember the most from this album – a simple collection of sound effects, from moaning ghosts to the absolutely terrifying and intense sequence of a pack of dogs barking in the distance and getting louder...and ever so closer…

[mrjoeiconis-blog]

From the Archive: BE MORE CHILL TRACK BY TRACK May 16, 2018: Hey, hi, hello. My name is Joe Iconis. I’m a writer and performer and, most notably, the person to blame for the music and lyrics of Be More Chill. I wrote the show, a musical adaptation of Ned Vizzini’s novel, with Joe Tracz and it premiered in a production at Two River Theater in New Jersey in 2015. A cast album was made and was enjoyed by the amount of people you’d expect to enjoy a cast album of a musical that played for six weeks in New Jersey. Then suddenly and without warning, after two years of release, people, in particular young people, discovered the show and became obsessed. One hundred million streams of our cast album later, the show made its Off-Broadway debut in summer 2018 at the Pershing Square Signature Center on 42nd Street, before transferring to Broadway!

Before we launch into the madness of a track by track breakdown of the Be More Chill OCR, let’s talk about the Be More Chill score itself, shall we?

The first thing that excited me about adapting Ned Vizzini’s gorgeous book into a musical was the opportunity to write about the issues teenagers face through a sci-fi lens. I’ve written plenty of teens before. I love that they wear their emotions on their sleeve but don’t always have the vocabulary to properly articulate those emotions. But here was an opportunity to not only delve into the minds of young people, but to tap into some of my favorite genre influences: monster movies of the 1950’s, Sci-Fi/Horror flicks of the 70’s and 80’s, and Teen Comedies of the 80’s and 90’s. In short: John Hughes (Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) meets John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing.) 

Be More Chill is a classic musical comedy in disguise. It reeks of technology and is filthy with moderns sounds, problems, references, etc. But make no mistake about it: The show is as traditional as they come. Well, sort of.

The songs themselves are total showtunes; it’s the orchestrations that place us firmly in the genre world.

As I’d write the tunes on piano, I’d dream about what they’d sound like when given the full 80’s sci-fi treatment, and Charlie Rosen’s orchestrations satisfied my darkest, quirkiest musical fantasies. We worked closely on the specific sounds of this score. Our holy grail (especially when it came to underscore) was John Carpenter film scores. John Carpenter has directed countless horror classics, but he’s also famous for writing his own film scores. He was an electronic music pioneer and his work is immediately recognizable.

Other sonic influences included Oingo Boingo, Bernard Herrmann, Weezer, Tangerine Dream, The Offspring, and contemporary musicians with a retro flair like Sky Ferreira, Kavinsky, and Johnny Jewel.

“Jeremy’s Theme” Written at Joe’s 16th Street Apartment 2012/Two River Theater Library, during rehearsals 2015 I’ve always thought of this as the music that would accompany the production logos in a horror movie. The “American International Pictures presents… A Roger Corman picture…” cards. It immediately places the audience in an unsettled place. Something bad is going to happen and that bad thing is going to be otherworldly. 

We’re actually cramming a lot of information into 30 seconds. Up top you’re getting the beep-bop-boop of computer circuitry. It’s the technological equivalent of a scary thunder storm in a creature feature. Next, our first synth line arrives. Hello, synth. Nice to meet you. Won’t you please overstay your welcome for the next two and a half hours? I drove Charlie slightly crazy in regards to the specificity of keyboard sounds I was looking for as I desperately wanted to be faithful to the Carpenter/Alan Howarth collaborations that inspired much of the score. 

The track culminates with The Squip theme, played gloriously on Theremin by Danny Jonokuchi. The Theremin is a vintage electronic instrument played by the Thereminist moving his hands through the air to control pitch and volume. That instrument was used most often in 1950s sci-fi movies like The Day The Earth Stood Still, usually to accompany the visual of an alien presence. 

We’re one of the only musicals to ever use a Theremin in its orchestration. Be More Chill is a show about kids obsessed with all things outdated and unloved and the show itself is obsessed with all things outdated and unloved! How very! (Heathers reference.)

“More Than Survive” Written in Joe’s 16th Street Apartment, 2012 After our eerie mini-overture, the audience expects to be confronted by a demon or a triffid or worse. Instead, we jump cut to the shockingly mundane sight of an average high school kid staring at his computer in his undies. I’m proud that the first event in the musical is our leading man being caught with his pants down. It establishes Jeremy us a decidedly unheroic hero and also kick-starts a theme of pantlessness that continues throughout the entire show.

The “C-c-c-c’mon” motif was one I came up with early on in writing the song. I wanted a repeated phrase that expressed the frustration of wanting things to move at an accelerated speed, and one that could also sound like the chorus of a pop song. I love immediately subverting the expectation of what Jeremy’s waiting for to load—“Is it a major homework assignment? A college application?” Nope, it’s porn! That moment establishes the spirit of Be More Chill right off the bat. It also makes for awkward car rides when kids listen to the album in the car with their parents. Sorry, not sorry.

In the actual show there are even more mini-scenes between Jeremy and the people in his life. I wanted this whole opening to feel cinematic and sweeping and place Jeremy in the center of a world that is swirling around him. Kind of like the “Head Over Heels” sequence in Donnie Darko. 

The first person who connects with Jeremy enough to actually earn sung musical material is Michael. Michael brings his own music with him because he’s confident and, quite literally, marches to the beat of his own drummer.

Will Connolly’s voice just kills me on the album. He sounds like the love child of Michael Jackson and Billie Jo Armstrong. 

Notice the little synth line underneath the lockers scene with Chloe, Brooke, and Jenna. It’s a quote of “Rich Set a Fire.” The little synth line underneath the first part of Michael’s scene? “Michael in the Bathroom.” The guitar line in the second part? “The Pants Song.” That audience has subconsciously heard so many melodies from the show before the first number is even over! Underscore is sneaky.

It should be noted that “More Than Survive” was the first song I wrote for the show. After sending it to Joe Tracz, I sent it to Jennifer Ashley Tepper, who is now one of our producers of Be More ChillOff-Broadway. She wrote back:

“I tried to listen to the Be More Chill song, got 60 seconds in, and got furious at everyone for all of the noise/ questions/ distractions at work... so I'm gonna go download these on my phone and sit outside or hide in the bathroom to listen. BRB!!!”

Hiding in the bathroom. That’s so Be More Chill.

“I Love Play Rehearsal” Written in Joe’s 47th Street Apartment, 2013 After hearing so much about her in the opening, this is the first time we actually get to hear from Christine herself. Charlie and I wanted her song to sound different from the angular computerized vibe of the rest of the score. Enter recorders! 

Everyone associates recorders with elementary school music class and/or Renaissance fairs. That felt correct for Christine, who is warm, strange, confident, free-spirited, and literally dresses like an authentic Renaissance Princess at the Halloween Party in Act II! So much of Stephanie Hsu’s performance informed the song itself—she’s a brilliant actor and a soulful singer and it’s impossible to not conjure up images of her live performance when listening to her on the album.

The placement of this song moved around a whole bunch during our writing process and the eureka moment was realizing that the song’s not literally about play rehearsal. It’s a song about passion and freedom. It’s not the typical way to be introduced to a leading lady in a musical, which makes it perfect for Christine and for Be More Chill, in general. 

The original second song in the show was an internal duet for Jeremy and Christine called “Touching My Hand.” It was about Jeremy pining for Christine and Christine wondering if she should go on a date with Jake. There was some nice character material for Jeremy, but it gave us information we already knew and it made the show feel like some cute romantic comedy. It also felt antithetical to the character to have Christine’s first real song moment be about a guy. That’s not her and we needed to respect that.

Note that the original full title of this song was “Why I Love Play Rehearsal By Christine Canigula,” which is very fussy and precious and I loved it but it’s too cumbersome and I knew that someone would inevitably make me change it so I just did it myself. (RIP Fussy, Too-Long Title That Joe Loved.)

“The Squip Song” Written at Joe’s 16th Street Apartment, 2012 It begins as a retro-sounding “cool kid in a ’90s movie” rock song (with some Oingo Boingo horns added in for good measure) and then turns full blown sci-fi/horror fantasia. And it all goes down in a bathroom. There are a lot of bathrooms in this musical. 

This song is the first time we hear the “It’s From Japan…” refrain, which repeats ten million times over the course of the show. Gerard Canonico is a powerhouse of the highest order and he turned this song from a serviceable musicalized scene into a show stopper. The optional octave up jump on the second “It’s From Japan” is all Canonico’s doing. We had to add the big ending (including a toilet flush on the final button) just because it was so clear people wanted to clap after Gerard finished doing his thing.

Props to Josh Plotner on the vocoder, yet another retro instrument that’s rarely used in theater orchestration. It’s what makes the weird digitized voice sound. People usually think that it’s a mic effect but it’s all done live! Old school, baby.

For those who care: Gerard’s pronunciation of the word “correctly” is a nod to The Shining’s scary bathroom encounter between Jack Torrence and Delbert Grady.

“Two-Player Game” Written at Joe’s 47th Street Apartment, 2013/Rewritten during rehearsals at Ripley Grier Studios, 2015 I enjoy writing songs where characters have to work through some major personal issue while doing an unrelated task. (Ahem, “The Answer.” Ahem, “Ammonia.”)

Here, the boys talk about self-worth and the desire to be somebody else while playing a video game. Of course, the video game is actually telegraphing the journey they are about to go on but to Michael and Jeremy it’s just another nothing-special hang sesh. When I wrote that little 8-Bit “Apocalypse of the Damned” theme that threads through the song, I was inspired by being a kid and plunking out the melodies to grandiose John Williams orchestral scores on my Casio.

The original version of this song was titled “Level Up” and it did a lot of what “Two-Player Game” does, just not as well. It also sounded exactly like a particular song by The Clash and once I realized how similar the two songs were, “Level Up”s days were numbered.

It should be noted that I am the world’s biggest stickler when it comes to rhyme. I’m super old-school in that I believe things either rhyme or they don’t; none of that “half rhyme” garbage. I think rhyme makes theatre songs easier to understand and actually heightens the dramatic intention of the lyric. Disgustingly, “Two-Player Game” contains an accidental fake rhyme. By the time I realized, it was too late to change the rhyme. Every time I hear it, I cringe, and you can pay me a million dollars but I won’t tell you what it is. 

“The Squip Enters” The grand entrance of our antagonist: The Squip. It was important to our radiantly talented director Stephen Brackett that The Squip’s entrance feel larger than life. His staging of the moment was dazzling, and I needed to write a cue that rose to that occasion. The Squip enters to music that is tastelessly huge, appropriately so. 

It should be noted that I wrote The Squip with Eric William Morris in mind and I’m so glad his iconic performance of the role is preserved forever and ever on the album.

“Be More Chill – Part 1” Written in Joe’s 47th Street Apartment, 2013  I had a lot of trouble figuring out the musical style of The Squip. First I went down a computer-y road, but that felt too in line with the sound of the rest of the show. Then I tried a sort of 1950’s Dick Dale Surf Rock take. (Mike Rosengarten’s nasty, relentless guitar line is a remnant of that version of the song.) 

Eventually, I settled into what currently exists. There’s a timeless cool, laid-back quality to The Squip’s music. It’s approachable and sexy but never too scary or affronting. This is seduction music. The moments where the vocoder is adding the spooky digitized element the melody line (“don’t freak out and don’t resist…”) is where The Squip’s true colors are peeking through the façade just a little bit. By the time we get to “The Play” he’s given up on trying to seduce and is just trying to conquer, so his music sounds different.

The whole “Be More Chill” section is really just a classic “make-over montage” sequence (it’s even set at The Mall!) so I took some musical inspiration from make-over and training sequences as well. Think Karate Kid, Dirty Dancing, The Breakfast Club.

A lot of people are bothered by the harshness of the “everything about you makes me want to die” line. To me, that’s the whole point of the show. The tone may be comedic, but the characters in Be More Chill are actual teenagers struggling with actual problems. I don’t think being depressed or suicidal is a laughing matter, but I do think sometimes people feel like there is a voice inside their head telling them to hurt themselves. It would be insulting and untruthful to pretend that a kid like Jeremy wasn’t struggling with these thoughts. 

The humor, the fantasy, and the harsh reality co-exist in every moment of the show. And, in my experience, in every moment in life. It’s about learning how to deal with it and knowing which of the many voices in your head you’re supposed to listen to. But we’re not at that particular song yet.

“Do You Wanna Ride?” Written in [memory temporarily scrambled] I have no memory of writing this mini-song, it just happened. It didn’t exist and then it did. Look, I made a spicy song about stopping for frozen yogurt where there never was a spicy song about stopping for frozen yogurt. 

Lauren Marcus’s interpretation is a gift from the theatre gods and is a testimony to her brilliance as an actor, singer, comedian and all-around magic person. The yodel, the riff at the end, all Marcus. She’s the Goldie Hawn of musical theater. 

“Be More Chill – Part 2” When I stumbled upon the idea of the “Everything about you is going to be wonderful” section, that’s when the song really clicked for me. After being berated for all the things he isn’t, Jeremy finally gets teased with the promise of unadulterated love and adoration. It’s the false promise of spam emails about penis enlargement pills or the aspirational Instagram accounts of the Kardashians. The idea of: “If you just do This, everything will be Perfect.” The musical equivalent of “Make America Great Again.” Cheerful, optimistic, secretly sinister. The writing and performance make me think that it’s a theme song for an awful 1980s sitcom that never existed in the first place. “Everybody Loves Squips!” maybe.

Props to Dan McMillan for aggressively hitting that gong at the end for a big finish. 

“More Than Survive” (Reprise) Restart! The show essentially begins again and we fast forward through another day at school, this time with notes and instructions from Mr. Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor himself.

The chorus goes into a reggae feel for a few measures at one point. The idea there is that sometimes things are the same but feel a little different and you can’t quite put your finger on why. The familiar feels unsettling. Reggae is a style of music associated with Michael, so I like thinking that maybe Jeremy has Michael on his mind in that one instant before Squip wipes the slate clean.

“A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into” Written in Ripley-Grier Studios 2015, during rehearsal This was the last song I wrote for the show. I wrote it very quickly on a rehearsal break after not being able to nail this moment for years. I love that Christine gets this unexpected jangly little rock song as her second big number. 

Have you ever noticed how the female lead in musicals is often saddled with the most drag-ass songs? Part of my mission in musical theater is to never subject my female lead to an unmotivated obligatory ballad. 

It should be noted that Christine ends both this tune and “I Love Play Rehearsal” with an unexpected non-rhyme. Christine is a character who subverts our expectations of her at every turn. Gosh, I like her. 

“The Squip Lurks”  I’m eternally grateful we got to include this taste of underscore on the album. I’ve heard rumors that this plays in theme parks during the Halloween season. That’s the highest honor I could ever receive. 

The track name is a reference to “The Shape Lurks” cue from the Halloween soundtrack. And, yes, “Jeremy’s Theme” is also a nod to “Laurie’s Theme.” 

“Upgrade”  Written at a Two River Theater writing retreat, 2014 // Re-written at Ripley Grier Studios 2015, during rehearsal

The line “this is my favorite place behind the school” is one of Joe Tracz’s great creations, delivered incomparably by Ms. Marcus. I don’t know why I find it so funny but I laugh every time I hear it. I think it reveals so much about Brooke.

The notes of “Upgrade-upgrade-upgrade” in the first part of the song are the same notes as the pattern that begins “More Than Survive.” They are just a little scrambled up. The melody of “I already know what it’s like to be the loser” is the “Apocalypse of the Damned” theme song melody.

This song is notable as the first time the character of Jake sings in the show. Poor Jakey D. This is the only musical in history where the classically good-looking Prince Charming-type gets the least amount to sing. I still like the guy, though. It’s another testament to the brilliant Joe Tracz that a character like Jake, who could’ve been a one-dimensional asshole jock, is actually a kind, well-meaning popular kid. Dude can’t help that he’s pretty! Jake Boyd’s vocals are so sensitive and approachable and kind of remind me of Mr. Peanut Butter from Bojack Horseman.

The final chorus of the song is the same melody but we lose the swing and make it more of a driving rock. Damn. Things got not cute quick.

This song used to end with a long minor version of the “Na Na Na” theme from “More Than Survive.” It was very musically exciting and too long and did nothing to service the story and was cut.

“Halloween” Written at a Two River Theater writing retreat 2014 The Halloween Party is a mammoth sequence that begins Act II and I knew it needed its own theme song. I wanted to write a chorus that sounded like what it feels like to be shoved around in loud, hot, crowded room. The sort of song that would send anyone with social anxiety into a full-blown panic attack.

The Suburban Halloween Party is such a hallmark of the movies myself and my collaborators were inspired by and we endeavored to do those films justice and make the greatest Halloween party blowout sequence in musical theater history. Please note that when we wrote the show, there weren’t actually any other musicals with Halloween Party blowout sequences, so just by existing, we were automatically the greatest. Now we’ve got some competition. How fetch! (Mean Girlsreference.) 

There’s an element of group awareness in the “Halloween” lyric. “Cuz a Halloween party’s a rad excuse to put your body through mad abuse.” That’s because we’re experiencing the party through Jeremy. This is his first big social event and as much as he’s trying to be part of it, he’s still on the outside. He’s got a detachment that allows for a bit of perspective.

The dance break was arranged by Broadway legend Rob Berman! He based the melody line on a part of “Halloween” that was subsequently cut. It’s the “who’s got the peach Schnapps?!” section. I often add it back in when I perform the song in concert. 

Props to Amanda Ruzza’s propulsive bass line! Crank it up, crank it up!

“Do You Wanna Hang?” “Do You Wanna Ride?” strikes back! With new lyrics relating to Chloe’s Sexy Baby costume! Katie Carlson is yet another four-leaf clover in our incredible cast of musical theater misfits. Chloe is hilarious and monstrous without ever being a cartoon. She’s trying her best, just like everyone else, she just has… questionable taste. I’m so enamored with the way Katie does the final “Do you wanna stop?!” chorus. I think in that moment Chloe is trying so hard to be Britney Spears circa 1998. Which would almost work if she wasn’t literally dressed as an infant. There’s something charming and a little sad and completely hilarious about it to me. 

We never actually address the fact that Chloe is dressed as a baby (well, a “sexy baby”) in the lyric. In two million years all that will be left of this world will be a fat cockroach, a copy of the Be More ChillOCR, and a few confused aliens wondering what she means by “get inside my diaper, boy.”

“Michael in the Bathroom” Written at Joe’s 43rd Street Apartment, 2014 Many times as a kid and even more times as an adult, I’ve fled to the bathroom to escape a social situation. It feels like one of those no-big-deal things that everyone does and those are the exact sort of scenarios I’m drawn to when writing musical theater.

I’ve always been partial to the “Best Friend” characters. I want to know more about them and never understand why they exist only in the context of the lead character. In every show I’ve written I’ve imagined that when a secondary character leaves the stage, they’re walking into another show where they’re the lead. “Michael in the Bathroom” is the moment when the ultimate sidekick is allowed to take center stage and be the star of someone else’s show. I hope it makes the audience think about all the other secondary characters in the show like Chloe or Rich. They’ve probably all had their own “Michael in the Bathroom” moments over the course of the show, we just don’t get to see them. Oh how I long to write “Jenna in Her Bedroom.” Or “Brooke in the Alley Next to Pinkberry.” Maybe for the sequel.

George Salazar’s performance of the song is magic. It’s one of those miracle moments when a song and a performer connect in a specific way. The music and lyrics are a road map, but there are so many people who make the journey of a song like this happen. It all came together through a collaboration between myself and Ned’s characters and Joe’s book and Stephen’s direction and Nathan Dame’s musical direction and Bobby Tilley’s costumes and every other element that goes in to making any moment of theater. 

George is the first person to sing “Michael in the Bathroom” in the show itself, but while I was developing the score, the song was sung out of context by a few gents including Jason Tam, Seth Eliser, and Will Roland. They taught me much about the tune and I bow down to them.

I wrote the song in one sitting in 2014 and the content never changed, aside from the cutting of a short third verse right after the bridge. We cut it late in the rehearsal process in deference to the “too much of a good thing can be dangerous” rule of theater.

A few people have questioned my use of humor in songs that are otherwise quite serious. “Why do you have jokes in such a powerful song?” an uptight professor once asked. “Why is this hilarious showtune so stinking sad?” a late-nite comedian queried over drinks at McHale’s. The intersection of the comedy and the tragedy feels true to the human experience. The absurdity of having to work through things at the Worst Possible Moment is something I’ve experienced many times. Things are rarely all good or all bad but things are always messy. You find out you got into your dream school while you’re high at your racist grandfather’s funeral. You have to audition for a role on Stranger Things the same day that a mountain lion eats the family dog. (RIP Spot.) You have a panic attack while wearing a Halloween costume after fighting with your possessed best friend in the bathroom of High School Halloween Party. It’s all so forlorn and confusing and funny. To me at least. 

Charlie and I worked closely getting the arrangement just right. We wanted it to ebb and flow and sound like a pop song at first, never giving away that it will eventually turn into this tour-de-force musical theatre mad scene. I like when orchestration is at odds with the content of a song and doesn’t immediately announce what the song is about.

After going on this monumentally poignant journey, Michael undercuts it all with a spot of sarcasm, carrying on the great tradition of musical theatre characters who don’t really mean it when they say “I’m so glad I came.” (Follies reference.) The whole thing ends with the most sardonic cha-cha-cha ever to button a number.

“The Smartphone Hour (Rich Set A Fire)” Written at Ripley-Grier Studios, 2014 Jenna Rolan finally gets her moment of glory, unexpectedly, as the star of a seven-minute dance number. Katie Ladner’s turn as Jenna is so specific and inventive. She deflects the casual barbs thrown at her because she is not letting anyone ruin the time she gets to shine. 

I set out to write a song that dramatizes and activates the dangerous world that the Be More Chill characters exist in. We spend so much time with our kind, sensitive protagonists, it’s easy to forget the madness they are living in. It’s hard to be a teenager, especially today. It’s a menacing world where information travels at warp speed. As does gossip, rumors, insults, lies, etc. To me, “The Smartphone Hour” speaks to the ferociousness of modern teenagers and shines a light on the sort of environment that leads to bullying and depression and worse.

It’s also a splashy musical comedy dance number! I wanted it to feel overlong and unreasonably gargantuan. I thought for sure some smart theatre artist along the way would force me to cut this song. I decided I was going to fight for it. It may not cover a ton of story ground, but I felt that it was imperative to have the number in the show. It sets the audience up for the craziness that’s about to happen in Act II and lets us know that things have spun out of control—both in the story and in the show itself. I think subconsciously, the audience thinks: “A dance number about arson?! The rules of the show are changing! I hope nothing unexpected happens to the characters I love! They wouldn’t kill off Jeremy, would they? Well, if I’m watching a dance number about arson anything is possible! Oh no! #SaveJeremy!” 

Luckily, I never had to fight for the song. As soon as Chase Brock got his hands on it, he made it longer, in deference to the “too much of a good thing can be wonderful” rule of theater. Rob Berman’s arrangement of the dance break sounds like a sleepover from hell on crack and Charlie’s smartphone sounds bear more than a striking resemblance to the sort of sounds normally associated with the sinister Squip. Gossip is Evil, kids.

I really feel like we made the best Michael Bennett number Michael Bennett never choreographed. The final shouted: “End!” was all Chase’s idea and I love it so much. It’s a moment that lives in the real estate between musical theater Cheese Ball and rock’n’roll Middle Finger. A neighborhood I often hang my hat in.

The notes of the phone buttons that are heard after “he told me cuz he’s my best friend” are, once again, the same notes as the “More Than Survive” intro figure. Just reversed this time.

The title is an obvious reference to “The Telephone Hour” from Bye Bye Birdie. “Rich…” is by no means a parody of that song, but I think they are spiritual cousins. It’s another example of Be More Chill having a foot in the past and a foot in the future. 

“The Pitiful Children” Written at Joe’s 47th Street Apartment, 2013 / Joe’s 43rd Street Apartment, 2014–2015 / Ripley-Grier Studios and Two River Theater 2015, during rehearsals Oh, heavens, this song. The lyrics of this song changed a ton over the course of the rehearsal process and I never got it quite right. I love it on the album. It sounds like what would’ve happened if Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails wrote Les Misérables. Alas, dramaturgically, I don’t think I did a great job of telling the story that Joe Tracz laid out. Don’t be surprised if this one gets fiddled with in anticipation of our forthcoming Be More Chill off-Broadway production.

The orchestration of this song is one of my favorites in the whole show. It pushes The Squip firmly into digitized-demon territory. He’s worrying less about seducing people in this number and he’s letting his true colors show. His true colors are cold, industrial, heavy, and militaristic. There’s no question that this Squip has his sights set on world domination.

I like using lyrics that work dramatically and stylistically. The Squip’s “beep-bop-boop” is literally him speaking in his native computerized tongue, but it also conjures up images of an old-fashioned crooner scatting. It’s connected to Jeremy’s “C-c-c-cmon” and the Ensemble’s “Hey hey hey” and all the rest of it.

“The Pants Song” Written at Joe’s Family’s house on Long Island, 2014 My experience writing this song is very much an example of the comic/tragic thing that I often love to write about. 

I had tried to write a song for Jeremy’s Dad for the longest time and could never crack it. Joe Tracz said to me: “I just wish Jeremy’s Dad could have a song about the lesson he learns. That if you love somebody, you put your pants on for them.” Essentially, I am an idea thief. I immediately knew that sentence was a song, I just didn’t know how to write it. We were doing a developmental reading of the show and I was feeling the pressure. There was a date I needed to have the song in by and I had nothing. The day before I needed to have the song, I decided that after rehearsal I was going to have a drink with my best friend Jason SweetTooth Williams and then go home and write the song. And then my Grandma died. After a long illness, my grandmother Flora (RIP Flora) left this damned earth at the Iconis home on Long Island. I needed and wanted to be with my family. After doing all the things that you do when a loved one dies, I went downstairs to my family’s basement at 2 AM and wrote “The Pants Song” in one shot. Sometimes you have to write a song about two guys in their underpants on the night your beloved grandma dies.

Paul Whitty starts in such a forlorn, hurt place at the top of this song. I bet the audience thinks this is going to be a perfect-time-for-a-cigarette-break “sad dad” number and then it turns into a total bop. Much like the “We love everything about you…” section of “Be More Chill,” this was another song that I wanted to feel like a rockin’ version of the theme song from a 1980’s sitcom. Only difference is, the mythical sitcom that “We love everything about you…” comes from is phony and corporate and the “Pants Song” show is heartfelt and cool, Must See TV material.

There used to be a song for Jeremy’s Dad earlier in the show called “The No Pants Song,” where he extolled the virtues of not getting dressed. It was a sad, lazy waltz. The whole thing was one-joke, but I did love the final stanza:

ALL THE EXERTION OF PUTTING ON, THEN TAKING OFF JUST TO PUT BACK ON SEEMS TERRIBLY UNNECCESSARY TO ME WOULDN’T YOU SAY? I’M FINE WITH A Y-FRONT COVERING MY FRONT EVERY DAY

It should be noted that many of my musicals feature moments of pantslessness for male characters. This feels fitting as I am often pantsless when I write said musicals. Write what you know, Joe. (ReWrite reference.)

This is the only song in Be More Chill that features a big, in-your-face key change. I’m normally very discreet about my key changes, but a tasteless shift up a step for two men dancing in their undies feels earned. 

The in-store music playing in the background of The Mall sequence is actually a Muzak version of “The Pants Song.” The moment I wrote the tune I knew it was destined to be the annoying music played on a loop in the atrium of a mall. The sort of irritating ear worm that slowly drives the employees of Payless and Sbarro’s mad.

“The Play” As a kid who spent hours listening to the big action-packed climaxes of the Sweeney Todd OCR, the Sunset Blvd. OCR, and the Carrie soundboard bootleg (thanks, 1996 Playbill Online message boards for making that one happen!), I’m so thrilled we got to include ours on the album. The underscore is straight-up cinematic, with all the themes of the past two hours crashing into each other like violent zombie bumper cars.

A few people have asked me if the cascading downward piano line in “The Play” is referencing “Suppertime” from Little Shop of Horrors. While the two riffs sound similar I was actually alluding to, you guessed it, John Carpenter film scores. The 5/4 time signature and downward modulation are dead giveaways. But I do agree that the line sounds not dissimilar to “Suppertime,” which is fine by me! Little Shop was my first musical and has clearly influenced me in countless ways as a writer, especially on Be More Chill. 

The “Michael makes an entrance” line came late in the game and is a testament to the “sometimes the best thing a writer can do is just musicalize the stage direction” rule of theater. 

One of my favorite bits of orchestral business is the twisted music box version of the “More Than Survive” chorus. Hella Danny Elfman. (Shout out to Rich’s Nightmare Before Christmas belt buckle! The 1990’s are alive and well and living inside my musical.)

The “Squip Death” section was hatched by Eric William Morris and myself in the basement dressing rooms of Two River Theater. It’s hard to make out, but as the Squip is destructing he’s speaking Japanese. The Japanese was translated by my bestie-since-fourth-grade Michael Ettannani. We’ve all got our Michaels.

“Voices In My Head” Written at a Two River Theater writing retreat, 2015

The point of Be More Chill is that we’re always going to have voices in our head, both good and bad, telling us what to do. The trick is to figure out which ones to listen to. The fear and doubt and anger and anxiety never really go away, but you can find a way to manage them. At one point in our process Joe Tracz articulated this by saying: “At the end of the show, there are still voices in his head, but the loudest one is Jeremy’s.” Yet again, I am a lowdown dirty idea thief. I stole Joe’s words and turned them into our finale.

Since the show begins and ends with ensemble numbers led by Jeremy, I thought this was a nice opportunity to chart our leading man’s growth. I wanted the vibe of the chorus to be different from “More Than Survive.” It’s more laidback, it’s more confident, it’s more playful. It’s more (ahem) chill. Even when the Ensemble kicks in with the “Na’s Na’s” from the beginning of the show, it’s less aggressive than it used to be. There’s harmony and everyone’s singing together instead of singing at each other.

It was important to all of the creators of the show that the triumph of our show not be that Jeremy gets with Christine. The personal triumph for him is that he’s able to deal with his “stuff” enough to have a normal-person conversation with her. I don’t know if Jeremy ends up with Christine after the events of Be More Chill. Maybe he does. Maybe he ends up with Michael. Maybe he ends up with no one. It really doesn’t matter. What matters is that he has figured out that his voice is one that is worthy of being listened to. And that allows him to get on with his life and move forward. All of the characters being together shouting “C’mon, let’s go!” is a triumph to me. They don’t know what’s next, but they’re going to go through it together. An army of Creeps, taking on the world hand in hand.

Robert Altman used to talk about how he never understood why movies ended with weddings. Why is the story over just because two people kiss? There are no real endings in life except, maybe, death. Musically, I didn’t want the show to end with a big held-out chord or with arms-around-each-other “it’s all gonna be alright!” sweetness. I wanted the very end to feel raucous and alive and like the music is tumbling toward something. Toward the future.

The joke of the ending is that even though the kids at Middleborough deactivated The Squip and prevented a total take-over, chances are good that all of the neighboring high schools have been completely taken over. No one is safe, all we can do is prepare ourselves as best we can. They may offer you fortune and fame. Love and money and instant acclaim. But whatever they offer you don’t feed the… Squips? Sorry, wrong show. Smiley face, lipstick, kitty paw.

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

Acid House Disco 1988 House / Acid House

First of all, can we just marvel at and appreciate how amazing the art for this release is here? It's not everyday that you come across a comp with illustrations that are this cool, and regardless of the music that may or may not sit on this record itself, this has to be one of the greatest front-and-back covers that I've ever seen in my life 😍. I tried to scan the liner notes to see who might be responsible for them, but I couldn't find anything, so hats off to you, whoever you are!

And now for the music. Acid House Disco is a comp that was released in 1988 on Warlock Records, a New York-based label that ended up being a pretty important old school rap entity, but also put out dance releases as well, and ended up serving as a vital launching pad for house legend Todd Terry too. In fact, probably the greatest piece of 80s hip-house that was ever made was a product of Warlock's own synergy, when the best of their dance and hip hop wings teamed up to create The Jungle Brothers' "I'll House You"—produced by Terry himself.

But this ephemeral record, unfortunately, doesn't have any Todd Terry on it. What this appears to be instead is a mix of different things: one, it's partially a sampler that includes tunes from the catalog of Warlock's own sublabel, Idlers; two, it has a few exclusives on it; and three, it appears that it licensed some tracks from Gee Street as well, a similarly situated label in London that also released both hip hop and dance music.

And there's some sweet goodies on it, folks! A couple of which were made by notable people who were just operating under obscure aliases and group names. For example, the release's penultimate track, "I Love You," which really hits its stride when it finally drops in its speedy Latin piano riff, is by a duo called Drum and Bass, who only ever put out one release together. But guess who made up half of that group? Youth, aka Martin Glover, the bassist from the famous UK post-punk band Killing Joke! 😯

And the final track on the album, which is hands-down the best one, is by someone who went by Nebula. But Nebula was just a one-off alias that was used by a guy named DJ Cesare, who was in super successful UK rap group Stereo MC's back then too. And his track, "Deep Space," is the only one that comes close to matching the futuristic dance aesthetic that's painted on this album's back cover. A full and thick house tune with satisfying string pads and a constant, acid-zapped lead melody 😌. Terrific late 80s banger right there.

So, all in all, a pretty decent house comp here. There's definitely a good deal of disposability to it, but there's a few tracks that end up saving it from having its beautiful artwork wasted on something that might've been so lackluster. And some of its best tunes come courtesy of people that you might not expect, like Youth!

Highlights:

Zizi - "Give and Take" Drum and Bass - "I Love You" Nebula - "Deep Space"

[cainache]

thinking of if the pogues were a band, what role do you think they’d have within the band or what would they play? ily soph <3

lia, baby! hi, honey! i love you!

[ 🎧 ]

ok, so i love this ask and i feel like they could be like a modern day daisy jones and the six? like they aren’t famous - famous yet. they’re just playing gigs at boneyard parties or for like weddings or even maybe gigs at the country club. it’s small things that build up as time passes.

i feel like the band starts with john b and jj, obviously. like it’s something they use to talk about as kids and would do silly performances with air guitars for big john, when he was still around.

but as they got older, maybe john b got into music in high school? i think it would definitely be “his band”. he’d be the main guitarist, writing songs at first. i feel like he could sing somewhat good, as well.

jj is on drums, no doubt about it. he’s good at it too. i feel like when jj finds something he knows he might be good at, he’ll really put the work in. plus i think being on drums is kind of like a relief of emotions for him. he plays with passion and aggression, depending what the songs are. the people love it.

the two boys definitely rope pope in. they have too. they’re a trio. i also feel like pope is good with his fingers. lol. he’d be the bass guitarist. he’d help out with a lot of the writing too, his brains and all that.

kiara is on the piano. it suits her, to me at least. keyboardist and vocalist. she just gets into it and really mellows the boys down when it’s needed.

the four of them are good together, but they all seem to know something is missing.

john b meets sarah at a gig at the country club. she loves their music and the way they play. the two hit it off, because sarah’s a sweetheart. pope thinks she could be good for him (and the band, eventually). jj doesn’t really care, he just doesn’t want john b distracted—if it comes down to it. kiara obviously isn’t on good terms with sarah, because of what happened with them during school.

sarah comes around a lot after that. she’ll be there when john b is coming up with lyric ideas. and when he’s figuring it out on the guitar, she’ll over look his lyrics and hum them how she thinks they’d go. she helps him out with a few songs. it’s sweet.

a few months into them actually being together, he realizes she can sing—and good. he’s out on the porch with jj, they’re smoking and working on something new. they’re staring down at lyrics that don’t seem to be clicking when they hear it. jj hears it first, john b too in tune with the crinkled papers of messy words.

sarah has a beautiful voice and she’s the final puzzle piece to the band. (her and kie are good!)

they start to make it bigger when sarah comes in. her name definitely helps out. and her father’s money.

+

and when they do make it big, i think it gets crazy from there. you know how jj is with drinking and stuff, he’s definitely into drugs and hooking up with one too many girls. they all love him, he’s like the “sex appeal”. he loves it. sarah and john b are perfect (no cheating here, lord). kie’s with this really shy and cute timid girl they met at a gig a few months ago—she’s been traveling with them ever since. she helps with photography and promotion for the band. as for pope, he’s definitely more reserved. he drinks a beer or two here and there, stays way from drugs, and makes sure everyone is at sound check when they need to be. girls definitely like him, he’s good and cute and in a band, hello? he’s definitely hooked up with a few, but nothing ever sticks and he doesn’t go crazy like jj does.

+

(you don’t have to read this if you aren’t for jjpope)

and maybe this is me being me, but i feel like pope is waiting for jj. like it eventually happens at some point. there’s a lot of tension between the two and teasing. no one ever comments on it. (there’s a few questions about it in interviews or from fans. pope never knows how to react, but jj always has it covered.) sarah definitely talks to pope about it, like when he’s freaking about jj and everything—he goes to sarah. (pope and sarah definitely have an amazing bond.)

jj eventually stops being blind. it’s him and pope. people love it. it’s sweet and feels right.

+

anywho! i definitely got too in depth with this? maybe? who knows. but, god, i loved this ask and it was very fun to envision them as a band <3

[beardedmrbean]

Evidently last week’s Star Trek joke was only funny to one person, me (humorless philistines).  I’ll make it up this week by not being subjective.

This live recording should’ve not been good as it is.  The piano was the wrong model, out of tune, and with dodgy hardware; the musician, Keith Jarrett, was sleep deprived, dealing with back pain, and in a bad mood about the whole situation.  The concert promoter had to beg Mr Jarrett to follow through, and do the show.  The famous Koln Concert shouldn’t been this good, but it is, and it remains to among the best live albums.  Mr Jarrett dug his heels in to make this work, so we can kick back and vibe.

Submitted by @eggs-n-ham-sam

This is at least the 2nd Keith Jarrett piece you’ve sent me, that or you’ve brought him up before.

> The piano was the wrong model, out of tune, and with dodgy hardware; the musician, Keith Jarrett, was sleep deprived, dealing with back pain, and in a bad mood about the whole situation. 

Sometimes that’s the exact recipe you need to produce magic, Itzhak Perlman  playing on 3 strings is a urban legend as far as anyone can prove, but it’s gained traction as a thing that actually happens because that’s just how masters be.

Or at least that’s the pedestal we’ve put many of them on, then some of us also fail there too when that kind of thing hits, be why I failed on the joke thing was a bit worn out last sunday am today too but I’m trying my best.

I’m also not a master of my craft so there’s not really any pressure on me there.

Thankfully Mr Jarrett is, because this is magic

[sillyname30]

How Sondheim and Burnett Got Darren Criss to Provincetown

The songwriter and star of Glee makes his local debut in Broadway-centric concert

By Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll Jul 17, 2024

Provincetown hasn’t been compared to The Godfather or Star Wars very often, but those are the examples actor and singer Darren Criss names in acknowledging that his July 21 town hall appearance will be his first visit here.

“Provincetown is like that movie that you haven’t seen but you don’t want your friends to know you haven’t seen, so you don’t incur their wrath and ridicule and disbelief,” he says, noting that several of his good pals visit often. “I don’t bring up that I haven’t been there because my friends will give me crap. I haven’t avoided it — I’ve really wanted to go. Finally, the stars aligned quite nicely.”

Maybe the stars had a little help from Carol Burnett.

Host and accompanist John McDaniel, a Grammy and Emmy award-winning musician, says he invited Criss to be part of his summer Broadway series here after Criss performed on 2023’s Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Love + Laughter TV birthday special. McDaniel was the music director.

Criss’s best-known roles are his breakout portrayal of Blaine for five seasons (2010 to 2015) on Glee in a milestone-for-mainstream-TV gay romance with Chris Colfer’s Kurt, and his 2018 Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning turn as spree killer Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. (Both roles came thanks to producer and Provincetown part-timer Ryan Murphy.)

In addition to acting and singing — including Glee’s “Teenage Dream” cover that climbed the Billboard charts — Criss is a songwriter. He first won notice for co-writing and starring in 2009’s A Very Potter Musical parody for the Chicago-based StarKid Productions, which he co-founded. Criss’s A Very Darren Crissmas generated national holiday tours.

Shortly after Criss wrote the opening number for the 2022 Tony Awards, his friend Paul Miller, director of the Burnett tribute, asked him to refashion Stephen Sondheim’s “Side by Side” from Company into an homage to Burnett’s famous duets with celebrity guest stars.

In what he called “one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to be a part of,” Criss performed “Burnett’s Duets” for the star-studded birthday-party special with Broadway’s Sutton Foster. That came after he meticulously dissected Sondheim’s music to fit new lyrics and fine-tuned the arrangement with McDaniel.

“When I was doing this,” Criss says, “in my mind, I was going, ‘What would the ghost of Sondheim be OK with?’ ”

More Broadway music will be on Criss’s mind in Provincetown for what he says will be an unusual program because it likely won’t include original work or him playing guitar or piano; McDaniel will accompany him. Criss prides himself on not performing the same live show twice and plans to include Broadway songs he’s not yet sung in public.

That said, he recognizes fans might want to hear something connected to his own Broadway star turns. Those include — besides the nonmusical American Buffalo in 2022 — How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 2012 and 2015’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Plus, earlier this year, Criss starred in off-Broadway’s Little Shop of Horrors.

In September, he’ll originate a Broadway role for the first time, headlining Will Aronson and Hue Park’s musical Maybe Happy Ending. Criss plays an outdated, retired robot in futuristic Seoul who explores the nature of love with another retired robot (Helen J. Shen). To try to help boost its U.S. profile, Criss is also a producer of the musical, which has been a hit in Korea, China, and Japan. Its Broadway debut will be directed by Michael Arden (2023 Tony Award for Parade, Spring Awakening), a longtime Criss friend who directed the English-language debut in 2020 in Atlanta.

Criss is excited but nervous about the piece; he says it’s intimate and epic at once. “There’s an excitement about the uniqueness and specialness of this show that I’ve never encountered before,” he says. “So that’s either going to crash and burn and blow up in our faces or catch on. I don’t know, but the prospect is very thrilling.”

Criss, who is straight, made headlines this spring for comments at a Chicago expo about being “culturally queer” because of his admiration for the LGBTQ community. “The things in my life that I have tried to emulate, learn from, and be inspired by are 100 percent queer,” he said then, later adding that “it was in queer communities that I’ve found people that I idolize, that I want to learn something from.”

“That had to be the slowest news day ever,” Criss says about his comments getting attention — especially because he’s talked many times before about similar things, including how much it meant to be part of Glee’s Blaine-Kurt relationship story.

Beyond Provincetown and Broadway, in August Criss’s voice will be heard in an unusual spot: on season 10 of Netflix’s Gabby’s Dollhouse, a children’s show, as the new Marty the Party Cat, magical host of the Party Room. It’s a voice role Criss says was planned long before his two-year-old daughter and seven-week-old son were born to him and his wife.

Marty is described by Netflix as a lovable, “exuberant goofball” who has a big heart and the ability to laugh at himself.

“He’s a fun guy,” Criss says. “I’m aspirationally Marty the Party Cat.”

[kittysamzkewlz19]

‪Medusa Ex Makina‬

‪Chapter 4: Not an Instructor‬

‪Rated: M for Mature ‬

‪Warnings: None‬

‪Author’s Note: Ohoho, now we’re getting into some crazy shenanigans! The first arc is slowly coming to a close but the curtains rise on something bigger going on in the background.‬

From the morning she woke up on her new high end mattress, to eating the most extravagant breakfast, and to even getting ready in her very own private luxury bathroom, Makina felt like a fairytale princess. A very brutal, fairytale princess. She still couldn’t believe that she went from the world’s shittiest apartment, to living in a ginormous castle that was also home to the world’s most famous metal band in the universe! It was a dream come true for the rookie metal singer, and she didn’t want to wake up. It had been a whole week since she began living in Mordhaus and the first thing she wanted to do today was to check out that state of the art music room she was shown on the house tour. Makina remembered that the music room was close to one of the recording studios. The room itself had a satin red velvet carpet with the signature medieval theming on one of the walls, there was another vampiric looking sofa and sawblade coffee table near the back end of the room. There were various different instruments placed around, from hanging on display to larger instruments that took up more space. This room oozed with creativity that got the gears in her brain turning as inspiration struck. The one thing that caught Makina’s eye was the bright sunburst orange, limited edition, Gibson “Les Paul” piano. A beautiful Baldwin 243, aka a classically shaped upright piano. Pressing a G note, it showed that the piano was perfectly tuned and maintained. Makina giddily sat down and began to play a favorite song of hers. As she played, she began to sing along with her own accompaniment.

She hummed along to the instrumentals and lost herself to the melody and rhythm of the song. She was completely engulfed in her own fantasy of being on a large stage, the thousands of imaginary people watching and raising their phones’ flashlights to the sky like a sea of twinkling stars. A set of tiptoeing footsteps came way towards Makina as she began to sing the next part of the song. Makina’s eyes still shut, imagining the crowd cheering for her. Her piano playing became more intricate and elaborate as the mystery viewer gingerly opened the music room door wider. The onlooker watched on as she played with frantic precision and grace, slowly coming back down to the simple melody she was playing at the start. The figure walked closer to her, ever so slightly leaning against the piano’s body. Gently coming back down, playing the last few notes until she accidentally missed. Makina opened her eyes at the sour note and then was taken aback by the reveal of her secret spectator. “Nots bads fors a pianos players.” Skwisgaar smirked, “It ams nots the sames as playings guitars, but it ams stills verys talenteds-ka.” Makina’s face began to burn up. She didn’t know what to say to the suave swede, it was as if words of gratitude had completely been erased from her vocabulary and instead replaced with stuttering nonsense.

Deep down in the pits of her soul, Makina would have screamed like the rabid fangirl she was. To her this was cloud 9, the highest praise she was ever going to get for a long time. Skwisgaar was always her favorite member of Dethklok; not for his looks, his foreign european charm, or his supposed “raw sex appeal” that made everyone drool over him. No, she admired him for his passionate love for music. The way he talked about building custom guitars, his avid knowledge about song composition in interviews. Makina had always admired him for the skills that he possessed. And now he was complimenting her piano playing! Makina’s expression became dopey as she was completely deaf to the criticism coming from the slim man’s lips; she was far too distracted by his fervor to even care. “Ams yous listenings or watchings fairies dancings?” Makina was shaken back to reality by Skwisgaar’s annoyance. “S-sorry, I didn’t catch that last bit. Can you please repeat that?” Makina asked dumbfoundedly. Skwisgaar exasperatedly sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Oks, Ams goings to puts its in babies termkanologists. Yous gots a vibratos problems whens you do thems melotics singings. Thats ams whens yous makes yours voices sounds like you ams in an earths shakers. You ams puts too much ofs its ams in the last notes ins everys verses. You ams gots a goods voices buts stills lots of needings improverments.” And there it was, Makina finally got her wake up call.

She had a vibrato problem?! She supposed a death growling vocal set could only take her so far. ‘Wait, how come no one told me about my vibrato!?’ “Oh… damn…” those were the only words she managed to say before slouching further into her seat. Makina closed the piano, ashamed to even play anymore and leaned onto her elbows on the hard wooden cover. She was forever grateful that a musical genius like Skwisgaar would catch such an obvious problem. But boy, he placed a real shiner on her ego. “How do you suppose I fix it?” Makina questioned with dullness in her voice. “Simples fix, practice lots. Haves yous evers taken proper vocals lessons?” Makina tried to recall a time in her life where she had any form of formal training, then it dawned on her. “Well, I was in a children’s choir from pre-k to eighth grade. But that’s ‘cause I went to an all girls church school.”

“And there ams the trunks ofs thems problem. Choirs does nots shows your fullest range ofs singings, you ams playing matchings with others harmonies. Plus thems operatics mess with yous as a solo singers. So, you ams gots to retrains yous voices.” Makina’s eyes filled with a sudden burst of pluck, “If that’s what it takes, then I’ll do it!” she exclaimed with a fiery passion. Skwisgaar was taken aback by Makina’s sudden enthusiasm, he had never seen anyone determined after being harshly reprimanded. Makina was truly something else. “Skwisgaar, you should give me more pointers!”

”What, nos! That jobs shoulds bes for someones like maybes Pickle or more importantlys Nathans. Am’st he not yours mentors?” Skwisgaar questioned. “Yeah, but it’s good to get other people’s perspectives. Besides, Nathan keeps pushing back my apprenticeship.” Skwisgaar raised an eyebrow of concern at Makina’s nonchalant attitude. Back when he was mentoring Toki, there was a sense of urgency to advance his training. But since Makina wasn’t a part of Dethklok, he supposed that the circumstances were entirely different. Even still, the guitarist couldn’t stand to see Makina flounder without a sense of direction.

XxxX

Meanwhile in Nathan’s bedroom, the hulking vocalist was hunched over at his desk scribbling away in a notebook. He was discussing with Pickles more ideas for a new record. “What if you added that idea you had when we were in Costa Rica. You know, the one about underbites hooking onto flesh.” Pickles suggested as he laid on the singer’s bed. “Uh… oh the anglerfish thing! We did that already.”

”Oh fuck. Guess you’re really losing your touch.” Nathan placed his pen down and put his hand on his forehead. “Don’t say that, it’s just been a bit more… I don’t know. Is stressed the right word?” He said with frustration. Pickles sat up from the bed and crossed his legs, “Stressed? About what, the record?” Nathan shook his head, he didn’t have the right words to describe what was bothering him. Before he could give his drummer a response, Skwisgaar opened his door with Makina tucked away behind him. The slender musician roughly tugged Makina’s arm, dragging her into Nathan’s room and leading her towards the singer’s desk. Pickles turned to see the younger vocalist with an apprehensive look on their face. “Medusas, tells Nathan’s whats yous needs.” Skwisgaar pulled Makina’s arm a bit more. He gestured her to speak, she sighed. “Mr. Explosion, I… I need you to… I need you to give me proper vocal lessons during my apprenticeship. Um… now would be nice.” Makina sheepishly stated, she looked away with embarrassment. The bruise on her ego made itself known as she fiddled with the zipper on her hoodie, hiding her hands in the sleeves. Nathan looked up at Pickles and pointed at Makina. “This, this is my answer.” Nathan said with a drop of frustration in his tone. Pickles scratched his beard with a wide eyed expression, he somewhat comprehended Nathan’s emotions. The ginger dreaded man hopped off of Nathan’s bed and walked closer towards Makina and Skwisgaar. “You know what kiddo, how about I take over for Nathan as your mentor for today. Is that fine?” Pickles asked warmly, Makina hummed in agreement and Pickles led the raven haired lady out of the room with Skwisgaar following suit. She took a quick glance to see Nathan with a disappointed look on his face.

XxxX

“Alright so let me get this straight, you have a vibrato problem?” Makina silently nodded, “How is that possible? When you covered ‘Hatredcopter’ at Doom-opolis, I couldn’t hear any issues.”

”That’s because the song had more growling and it wasn’t as melotic. I want to be able to sing properly without having to overuse my voice with only death screams.” Pickles leaned into the music room’s couch arm and placed his hand over his mouth. “Whys don’ts yous shows Pickle.” Skwisgaar said as he leaned a bit into the piano, Makina gulped nervously and looked down at the ebony and ivory shine of the keys. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and began playing the same song as before. Taking into consideration that Pickles and Skwisgaar were watching, her concentration began to falter a bit. Missing a few notes here and there and then finally before the end of the second verse, her voice cracked. Makina stopped playing and began to cough up the saliva that was caught in her windpipe. “Geez, You got more than a vibrato issue there.”

”Ja, you soundeds worsers that times.” Skwisgaar cringed. “I don’t know about that I mean, it was more… pitchy.” Pickles said as he walked towards the piano. “Sorry, just nerves. I can try again.” Makina began playing from the second verse onward, her heart felt as if it was twisting in knots as every beat made her chest tighter. Her hands shook as Makina attempted to calm down, and once more she missed another note. “I’m sorry… I just don’t think I can do this.”

”Oh come on Makina, you got this. Here, maybe just try another song?” Makina put her hands back in the sleeves of her hoodie, Skwisgaar noticed this and realized something. “Medusas, take offs yours jackets and toss it overs theres.” Skwisgaar commanded, he pointed back to the sofa. Without hesitation, Makina did as she was told and threw her hoodie to the side. The air in the music room was much colder than she had expected, shivers went down her spine as the crisp air conditioned room touched her skin. “Skwisgaar, how the hell is that going to help?”

“Justs watchs. Ok now, sings.” Makina closed her eyes, and began to play a different song.

As she sang, something strange began to happen. The lighting in the room began to darken, with her concentration deepened Makina’s voice began to echo. Her vocals became louder and louder, the melody of the piano began to swell. But somehow, they could hear more than just a piano playing. It was as if there was a whole orchestra accompanying Makina’s song. And it was here Pickles and Skwisgaar had seen something unreal, a greenish glow began to surround Makina. They could see a faint string of lights begin to form some sort of image, but it was far too blurry for them to comprehend. Skwisgaar’s eyes widened at the display he so inevitably caused. Meanwhile Pickles was far too stunned to utter a word. He just knew something about this felt so wrong and yet, this sight felt so oddly comforting to him. As if right on cue, Nathan walked in to see the familiar display of lights. Makina began to softly sing and the green aura began to die down a bit. But then with a burst of fortissimo, the aura became clear to them. Green floating metal chains began surrounding Makina as if she was in a tangled bird cage.

The music began to die down as she was playing the last few notes of the song. She didn’t even miss one and her singing was once again, in perfect pitch. “What the actual hell was that?!” Pickles shouted. “I don’t know what you’re talking about?” Makina replied. “Oks so it ams nots a fluke, yous cans sings nots likes shits!”

”Forget about that Skwisgaar, did you hear the background music or those chains?! Makina what was that?!” Pickles exasperated, Nathan walked closer and placed a hand on the shorter man’s shoulders to calm him down. He then quietly looked at Makina, who was confused by the whole ordeal. “Makina, care to explain yourself?” Nathan questioned, Makina shook her head. “I honestly have no clue what you're all on about. I’m sorry.” Pickles and Nathan’s faces were painted with disappointment, leaving them with more questions than answers. “Medusas, I thinks yous needs more praticings stills. Don’ts overdos its.” Skwisgaar commented calmly. Nathan looked to the side in shame, he didn’t know how or what to say to his protege. He was just as completely lost as Makina was, she gave him a look of dread.

XxxX

That night, Nathan restlessly stared at the ceiling. He was the one to vouch for Makina to be her mentor, he was the one who took interest in her singing abilities, so why was it that now he couldn’t speak with her about starting her training? ‘Mentor’, a word he was sort of familiar with. While the concept was easy to grasp, the idea of what a mentor was supposed to do was incomprehensible to the death metal vocalist. Nathan remembered the look on Makina’s face earlier that day; an expression of confusion and anxiety. He felt as frozen as the day he first saw her perform. Nathan desperately tried to wrap his head around how to fill that mentor role. Only problem was that he really didn’t have a mentor when he was starting out, Nathan had no one to go off of. The long haired singer shifted his weight, laying down on the side of his left arm. His mind began to wander off as he finally drifted to sleep.

XxxX

Within the dream, Nathan was partially nude with only his underpants deep underwater. He was all too familiar with this setting, but something about it felt off. The whale prophet was nowhere to be seen and the oceanic waters seemed shallower than usual. The only logical explanation would be to swim upward to see what he could find. Upon swimming further up, he could clearly see a shoreline. It was unusual for him to be near the surface of the water, but then he saw her. The whale prophet breached the water and was floating next to him. Nathan swam closer to the whale and gently petted her, she clicked with affection. “It is good to see you daughter, I see you have found the egg.” The prophet whispered. “What do I do?” Nathan asked. The whale whistled and nudged the singer to the shore. “Find her before he does.” She said as a large wave washed Nathan closer to the shore. Landing on the hot warm sand, he could see in the distance Makina walking closer and closer to a cave. He wanted to get up and run to her, but was paralyzed on the beach like a fish flopping about. Nathan tried to call out to her, but his voice was suffocated by hoarse coughing. It was as if Nathan couldn’t breathe and desperately tried to reach out to her. But then…

XxxX

BANG! Nathan awoke to something very loud, large beads of sweat came pouring out of him like a waterfall. He hadn’t had a dream that visceral since the eve of the Metalocalypse. Nathan rolled out of bed to see what disturbed him from his slumber, he opened the door. “Who the fuck did that!?” Nathan shouted down the hall. No answer, then a few seconds later the sound of whimpers. He rubbed his eyes, grabbed a pair of slippers, and a flashlight. ‘Probably just Toki.’ Nathan thought to himself as he followed the sound to a few doors down the hallway. Instead of Toki’s room, the sound came from Makina’s. Nathan sighed and opened her room door to find her life sized coffin shelf toppled on top of her. Makina looked up with tears in her eyes, pouting as to not make it look like she was in pain. “S-sorry for waking you. I… I fell. Clumsy me.” Makina did her best to try and make herself smile but Nathan could see right through her pained expression. The vocalist quickly stood the shelf back up and offered a hand to his raven haired student. Makina grabbed it and pulled herself up, seeing the mess around her. Nathan quickly scanned Makina to see if she was bleeding, thankfully it was only one small thin cut under the bottom of her left jaw. Nathan put his hand on her face to inspect it further, “I’m fine, really.” Makina protested, she sniffled a little bit to hide her obvious crying. “We can get a klokateer to help clean this up.” Nathan suggested, “No no, I got it. Besides, most of this stuff is very valuable.” Makina replied as she wiped away some of her tears, she knelt down and began picking up some of her belongings.

Upon moving some books around, Nathan spotted a very familiar snow globe. He knelt down to examine it further. It was a miniature Mordhaus snowglobe; the same kind of snow globe they sold at concerts, the same kind of snow globe he had given to Toki when he left for Rock-a-Rooni Fantasy Camp, and now it was shattered on the ground with the glass and water scattered on the floor. “When did you get this?” Nathan asked as Makina grabbed some tissues from her personal bathroom. “Ah, uh… well, my friend Gerard got it for me. He wasn’t able to go to the concert that year but he did buy it from the online shop. It’s too bad that I gotta toss it.” Makina said wistfully. She knelt down and began wiping the water off of the brick tile floor. Gingerly she began sweeping the glass into hand and placing it into the wastebasket by her computer desk. Nathan watched on as Makina sniffled again, tears began to flow out from her eyes. “Why were you up?” Nathan attempted to ask softly, he did his best to not push too many questions on the poor vocalist. Makina stopped dead in her tracks. “I… uh, it’s stupid and embarrassing.” The singer looked to the side sheepishly, her tears kept drizzling out from her face. “I was, I was…” Makina looked back up at Nathan and saw how concerned he looked, Makina took a breath and then spoke. “I was trying to open the coffin cabinet but it got stuck. Then everything was about to fall so I went under to try and stop it but, I got noodles for arms, and I just ended up becoming a pillow for the shelf’s fall.”

‘She was right, it was stupid.’ Nathan thought to himself as he tried to keep his composure. “Why did you want to open the coffin?” Makina looked to her right and saw the thing she was looking for. She pointed to it and Nathan picked it up, it was a crimson stained leather bound journal. Curiously, Nathan opened it up. Makina’s face flushed bright pink. Inside there were scribbles about song ideas and little doodles too. He flipped through the pages and saw a note written in red ink.

“If only Dad, Rats, and that rockstar guy could see me now. I’m sure they’d be proud.

Note to self: fix vibrato. Do it for Nathan, make him not regret choosing me!”

Nathan’s heart sank, he realized Makina was pushing herself to the max in order to impress him. But when he read over the first part again, the word ‘Dad’ echoed in his mind. Maybe Makina was homesick. “You know, you could alway call your dad.” Nathan offered, gently handing back the journal to her. Makina limply grabbed it and let it fall to the floor, “My dad’s dead Mr. Explosion, he’s been dead since I was 10.”

”You could drop the formalities Medusa.” Nathan said bluntly, “No offense, I get that you’re wanting to give me respect and all, but it’s kind of fucking weird.” Makina couldn’t hold back anymore, she couldn’t compose herself any longer and began to sob. “I’m sorry I’m not as good or as brutal as you are. I’m trying really hard to live up to your standard and I fucked up again. Please don’t kick me out!” Nathan couldn’t believe what he was hearing, her anxieties were being poured out in front of him just like back at Doom-opolis. This time he knew what he needed to do. Nathan swiftly wrapped his arms around the crying singer, her muffled screams into his shoulder now wet with her salty tears. He rubbed her back, in an attempt to finally give the singer some form of comfort. Makina’s sobs were now nothing but hushed whimpers as Nathan kept holding her. Out of instinct, Makina hugged her mentor back gripping his pajama shirt by the waist. “Makina,” Nathan said in a fatherly tone, “You’re doing a good job. Stop beating yourself up over the small shit. And you will do better, I know it. I will start your training properly tomorrow, I promise. Ok?” Makina gave a small ‘Mmm-hmm.’ And with that Nathan released Makina from the hug. He ruffled her hair a bit before helping her clean a bit of the remaining mess. Makina crawled back into her bed, “Good night Mr- I mean, Nathan.” The singer gave a small smile back and bidded his pupil good night.

[elxgantcaptain]

FULL NAME. Captain James Bartholomew Hook NICKNAME. James, Captain, Hook, Jim ALIASES.  Captain Hook, Captain, Cap'n, Hook, Mutiny Red, Scarlet Jim, Codfish, old man, Ol' Feather Hat, worlds most famous crook, Captain Crook, Captain Codfish, Jim, Jimmy PRONOUNS. he / him / his SIZE. 6,7 feet AGE. 49 ZODIAC. virgo SPOKEN LANGUAGES. English, Latin, Spanish, Arabic, Fairy (not spoken but understands), French, Hindi

𝐏𝐇𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒 ―

HAIR. black, curly/wavy FACIAL HAIR. Moustache, sometimes stubble SKIN TONE. Olive, sometimes darker/tanned BODY TYPE. Muscular (or dad bod? xD) BOOTY TYPE: Flat? Round? xD idk man VOICE. 'Proper' and well spoken, though susceptible to the pirate slang and dialect. Sing song sort of voice. DOMINANT HAND. right hand, though also left when he had a hand. Though he can still use it well with prosthetics. POSTURE. Straight, though he can appear smaller by haunching over. BIRTHMARKS. On his left ankle he has a birth mark shaped like a rapier sword MOST NOTABLE FEATURES. Pointy moustache, olive green eyes, long black curly hair, scars across his body and missing hand

𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐃 ― PLACE OF BIRTH. England, London, most likely in an ally, brothel or shack HOMETOWN. London, around Mayfair SIBLINGS. NONE (that we know of) PARENTS. Father - James Thomas Benedictus Jackson. Mother - Sophronia

𝐀𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 ―

OCCUPATION. Captain and pirate CURRENT RESIDENCE. Jolly Roger/Neverland OR Agrabah (verse dependant) CLOSE FRIENDS. Smee? FINANCIAL STATUS. Rich but hordes treasures DRIVER’S LICENSE. No, man can't even ride a horse without falling off. CRIMINAL RECORD. Yes. He's been wanted, searched for, tried and freed many times VICES. Finding contractual loopholes, or creating them. He gets rather dastardly and unhonorable when he's desperate in a battle. He can be whiny and clingy and has a short temper amongst other things.  

𝐒𝐄𝐗 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 ―

SEXUAL ORIENTATION. Bisexual, leans stronger towards men PREFERRED EMOTIONAL ROLE. Wifey PREFERRED SEXUAL ROLE. Bottom. Major bottom. But he can be quite the strong dom when he wants to be. TURN OFFS. Whips, piss, puke and poop :), calling him 'daddy' or codfish. TURN ONS. Power, dirty talk, dominance, commands/orders LOVE LANGUAGE. Quality time, hand holding, snuggles, gift giving, surprise sex. RELATIONSHIP TENDENCIES. He can be very clingy and needy, he CAN do one night stands but not without wanting to cuddle and stay the night first. He craves love and being wanted in such a relationship. When someone wants him back, he attempts to do everything they want in order to keep them there.

𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐎𝐔𝐒 ―

CHARACTER’S THEME TUNE. Captain hook's theme / The Elegant Captain Hook / I'll give you one Guess HOBBIES TO PASS THE TIME. Writing and sketching in his journals, reading (mostly romance novels and poetry), fishing, free diving, playing his piano. LEFT OR RIGHT BRAINED. Right brained SELF-CONFIDENCE LEVEL. 9/10, only cause he can sometimes be self conscious about his scars and stump

tagging: @veldinstar / @shiningsilverarmor and anyone else

[lgcxjasper]

♛ - intro + q4 plot call & tracker ❕

hey you all, thank you so much for an amazing welcome. i'm bee, the mun behind only jasper (for now), and i'm super excited to write with you all. this is a intro, but as it's the start of the last quarter, i'd figured i'd lump in one. if you'd like to plot for missions and/or events, don't hesitate to reach out or like/reply to this post and i'm sure we can come up with something!

meet jasper, aka jas, or really he'll answer to anything that moderately starts with a j, though you might have to take his earbuds out first. he's got a little bit of a reputation that precedes him if someone does a little bit of digging! he tries not to make a big deal out of it, so unless you ask, he won't tell. still though, he's talented in his own right with a voice that sometimes surprises him. he's constantly writing song lyrics, and if there is a piano best believe he'll play a few fun tunes. he's also as british as they come, complete with the dry sense of humor and deadpan delivery, but he's fun, i promise!

an '03 liner, and was recruited in july of 2022 after rejecting the scout three times. he truly had no initial thoughts of pursuing such a career in the spotlight, but the life has sort of grown on him, and he enjoys performing ever more than he thought he would.

he's from across the pond, london, and he was born and raised there, though he's traveled thanks to his mom's amazing talents.

his mom is yoona mae, a prominent trot singer that is known as the queen of trot(think jang yoon jeong), and his initial recruitment was only on the fact that he could play piano and was pretty. once he sung at his audition, the rest is sort of history, but he's kind of apprehensive of the shoes he thinks has to fill.

like previously stated, he's a prominent piano player, but he's been playing both piano and the cello since he was five and seven, respectively. while he's also got a pretty unique voice, it's legacy who has honed in on the concentration which is thrilling and terrifying for him. he also has been writing and doing minor composing since he was thirteen, is pretty amazing at sight reading- and is show blessed with perfect pitch- something his mother doesn't even possess.

he works extremely hard as a trainee, mainly because he feels like he has something to prove but, he can't say he doesn't enjoy the hard work. it's nothing like what his mother went through, he sort of likes that aspect to-- carving his own tiny place in their family's history and maybe even more. he's a excellent singer, and a decent performer, but he's got some work to do before he can debut, so he's working hard to perfect his dance and 'idol' like skills. his sense of humor is very british coded, but he's also the type of guy that 'complains' about something while doing the very thing he's being asked for, ie. handing someone a pen they dropped on the floor while saying he doesn't have time for such trivial things. he also will give you the shirt off his back if you're freezing, he's just chill like that.

THE TRACKER

dec: open event 002 solo trainee mission #15 [due jan 6 '24] educational videos[male junior group, SSEIREUM] ( @lgchyun) korean games ( @lgcyoojoon, @lgcyichen(x)!) what a childish cheory![podcast] w/ @cherrylgc (x) non-event threads: slow journey w/ @lgcjinyoung (x) call out w/ @lgcyuxi (x) i have a famous parent w/ @lgcsori (x) catching up w/ @lgcalex (x) flew the nest w/ @lgcxmax (x)