ALBUM PODCAST with Joe Iconis and Jennifer Ashley Tepper
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.
All Episodes
"Try Again" (Joe Iconis & Family)
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.
"Last on Land" (Joe Iconis & Family)
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.
"Find the Bastard" (Eric William Morris)
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.
"It's All Good" (Jason Tam, Nick Blaemire, Lance Rubin, & Jason SweetTooth Williams)
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.
"Amphibian" (Will Roland)
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.
"Party Hat" (Lauren Marcus & Eric William Morris)
"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.
"Flesh and Bone" (The Robot's Song) Jason SweetTooth Williams
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.
"Tightrope Walker / Mountain Climber / Me" (Molly Hager)
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.
"Starting to Forget" (Badia Farha)
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.
"Him Today, Gone Tomorrow" (Shakina Nayfack)
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.
"Velociraptor" (Liz Lark Brown)
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.
"My Best Friend's A Skeleton" (George Salazar & Jeremy Morse)
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!
"Muthers R Speshel (Wen Yer Sad)" (Lin-Manuel Miranda)
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.
"(Do) The Slide Whistle" (Lance Rubin and Jordan Stanley)
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.
"I Was A Teenage Delinquent!" (Lauren Marcus and Molly Hager)
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.
"Social Worker" (Nick Blaemire)
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.
"Joey Is a Punk Rocker" (Annie Golden)
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.
"A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into" (Seth Eliser)
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.
"52" (Danny Burstein)
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.
"The Prisoner's Christmas Song" (Grace McLean)
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.
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