ALBUM PODCAST with Joe Iconis and Jennifer Ashley Tepper
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Description
ALBUM PODCAST is a behind-the-songs deep dive into the creative process of writer and performer Joe Iconis. Through a series of conversations with his friend/collaborator Jennifer Ashley Tepper, Joe will offer a behind the scenes glimpse of the writing and producing of his 44-song epic Album. The longtime friends weave through their common history, share war stories of their time spent in the battle ground of contemporary musical theater, and introduce you to the Rogue's Gallery of showtune misfits who make up their chosen Family. A sprawling, rafter-shaking podcast that is the ultimate companion piece to Iconis' massive body of work. http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
45 Episodes
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Try Again was written in July 2015, after Joe's musical Be More Chill opened amid a wave and hype and received a show-killing review from the Grey Lady. The song deals in the specifics of an artist's life, but the hope is that it is relatable to everyone. It acts as the final song on Album because, like the album itself, it is heartfelt, a bit profane, fuzzy, ragtag, unexpected, and pure. Here's to... survival.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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This group 11 O’Clock number is the centerpiece song from Joe's Bloodsong of Love. The entire original cast of that musical are featured on the track, along with a resplendent choir arranged by the oft-mentioned Joel Waggoner. Listen to find out if the written lyric is “lore” or “lure” and if “soul” is about a fish. This might be the song that best encapsulates the Iconis & Family ethos.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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Find The Bastard is about being on a mission and is the "theme song" of Iconis' Bloodsong of Love, his spaghetti western musical. Joe and Jenn discuss the style of theatre songs as stand alone songs and how the end of Album's track list becomes more and more like a live album as it wraps up. Performed by Eric William Morris and the original cast of Bloodsong of Love.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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Joe Iconis boldly asked the internet, "What does music mean to you?" and got a beautifully sentimental response from a Long Island high school student that inspired the vulnerability expressed in It's All Good. Another track from the musical, The Black Suits, on Album it is performed by the original cast of the SPF workshop: Jason Tam, Nick Blaemire, Lance Rubin, and Jason SweetTooth Williams.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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From Joe Iconis' musical, The Black Suits, Amphibian is a song about songwriting. It was a surprise hit in the show that audiences responded to with enthusiasm. William Finn advised Joe about not dwelling on the imperfect rhyme between the words amphibian and oblivion. Written in the voice of high school band members, the words fit the vocabulary of the characters singing them. Killer orchestrations by Charlie Rosen and vocal performance by Will Roland.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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"I'm gonna put a party hat on my cat", was an earworm that was stuck in Joe Iconis' mind for a long time until he brought it to fruition in the summer of 2012 for a concert at The Beechman. A woman sings about how she can solve all her problems by putting a party hat on her cat, dressing up, and putting on perfume. After trying a few different ideas, Joe finally landed on the concept of having the cat chime in and share their perspective. On Album, Lauren Marcus is the woman singing about her cat and Eric William Morris is said cat.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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This song uses technology as a metaphor. A robot's battery dies throughout the song while he dreams of being happy, human, and real. The production on this track is more electronic focused, incorporating synths and computer sounds. Performed on Album by the very human, Jason SweetTooth Williams.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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Tightrope Walker / Mountain Climber / Me is one of two songs that were written specifically for Album. Joe wanted to write a piece specifically for Molly Hager and remembered a half-finished song from 2012 that he thought might be worth a second look. The resulting song is a three-part story that explores a person's relationship to their drive. Molly Hager recorded this song for Album.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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The oldest song on the record, "Starting to Forget" was written when Joe was an undergrad at NYU. It's based on source material from Brighton Beach Memoirs and inspired by Joe's own grandfather who passed away a few years before he wrote this song. Joe's longtime, cherished collaborator Badia Farha sings this song on Album and was present the first time Starting to Forget was performed 20 years ago.
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Him Today, Gone Tomorrow is a rock and roll banger created with Shakina Nayfack for her musical, Manifest Pussy, an autobiographical story of Shakina's journey to gender affirming surgery. This song's sentiment speaks to how the middle of a transition is just as valid as the beginning or the end. Performed by the goddess herself.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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Written for the incomparable and ludicrously talented Liz Lark Brown, Velociraptor is a song about a creature who doesn't fit in. While the specifics involve a dino on the dating scene in modern-day New York City, the tune has become something of a theme song for a wider range of humans.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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An ode to an unconventional friendship in a whimsical yet ghoulish context. Joe wrote this song using the "my (blank) is a (blank)" format he'd been trying to crack for a while! Originally performed during the annual Beechman Halloween show, this bizarre and hilarious two-hander is performed on Album by genius character men George Salazar and Jeremy Morse.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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Muthers R Speshel (Wen Yer Sad) is a unique collaboration between Joe Iconis at age 6 and Joe Iconis at age 30. The track is an updated version of the first song Joe ever wrote, interpreted here by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Ad-Libs by Lin.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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This song was born... out of a joke. One of Joe's trashiest songs, this is ironically one of the most suitable for children. Sort of! There was this one time that Lance Rubin made up a fake dance craze called The Slide Whistle. And then Joe was hanging with Jordan Stanley and the rest of the crew. And then there was whiskey. And then there was slide whistle. Come on snakes, let's rattle!
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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The song that inspired the musical LOVE IN HATE NATION. Originally written as a one-off love song paying homage to 50s/60s Girl Gang films, Joe ended up adapting his own standalone into a full-length musical romance. Sung by real-life besties Lauren Marcus and Molly Hager and given a proper wall-of-sound production design that would make Ronnie Spector proud.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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Another song from THE BLACK SUITS, "Social Worker" made the final cut of the musical. Joe regards this as a song that begins to bridge the gap between his early work and later work. There is no "Michael in the Bathroom" without "Social Worker." Sung by Nick Blaemire, this song is also responsible for Sept 18th becoming "Black Suits Day." Next time you win Joe Iconis songwriting trivia, you're welcome.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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The character of Megan got cut from The Black Suits and along with her went her big number: "Joey is a Punk Rocker." Here, it makes a dramatic return nw, as sung by the incomparable Annie Golden, a woman who truly embodies the ragtagness and youthful energy of rock and roll music. Joe wrote this song during his Senior year of NYU Undergrad, a time when he was less hard on himself in regards to perfect rhyme.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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One of the few songs on this album that can also be heard on an OCR, "A Guy That I'd Kinda Be Into" is from Be More Chill, but this is an extra special version meant to live on its own outside of the show. The multi-talented Seth Eliser is the performer and arranger of this rendition. Seth can do literally everything a human being has the ability to do. If the zombie apocalypse happens, Seth is the one you want to in the bunker with you.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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The writing of this song led to one of the last fights that Joe and Jen ever had. Joe waited until the last minute to write this song for a concert Jen was producing, Jen needed the song a week in advance, Joe didn't deliver until hours before the show, and Jen was (rightfully) PTFO. But now it's one of her favorite songs! (If the song sucked, would Joe and Jen still be in a fight?!) Please listen to it while standing on 52nd St in NYC for a truly immersive experience. Sung by Danny Burstein, who embodies the connection between generations that this song describes.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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This is the first full Christmas song that Joe has ever written. He loves New York City, he loves a cocktail, but he REALLY loves Christmas (the holiday garbage, not the religious stuff). Much to Jen's dismay, this song is not secretly about Bernie Madoff. The tune is sung by Grace McLean, who elevates it in an "unreal way" that straddles the line between humility and insanity.
http://BPN.fm/Album to get the music.
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