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[0:05] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Hi, I'm Jennifer Ashley Tepper. And I'm Joe Iconis.

[0:10] Joe Iconis: On today's episode of the ALBUM PODCAST, we're going to be talking to you about a song called "Yesterdays / I Can’t Relate," as sung by two great Jasons, Jason Tam and Jason Veasey. We're going to talk about the origin of the song and the song itself, which is about nostalgia, like many of the tunes on the album, and it's about pining for a time when music was something that you could hold. This song is not from the Black Suits, but if you like the Black Suits, think of this as a bit of a companion song. Yeah, it's like a spiritual cousin to the Black Suits score. You'll see what we mean.

[1:02] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Yesterdays slash I can’t relate slash.

[1:08] Joe Iconis: Yeah, no, that was good. Always saying the slash. Why don't you talk about how this song was first written? The song was first written, it was first written for a project that was, that might still be a project that's like being pitched out in the world. But the idea was that it was this musical anthology series where every episode would be a different musical. And this one was this idea that I had of a mall that was kind of dying, as malls have been doing for quite some time. I mean, are they, malls might be dead. It's like last gasps now, I feel like. It's a beautiful thing. I love going to an abandoned mall.

[1:48] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Semi-abandoned.

[1:53] Joe Iconis: Yeah, this is a semi-abandoned mall. And it took place in a record store, and it was about a kid who worked at the record store who really was sort of angry at physical media going away and was like really, you know, again, sort of nostalgic for a time that he did not exist in. And he's in the back of the record store and cleaning things out because the record store is going out of business because nobody buys records anymore. And he finds an old man sleeping or comatose or something amongst all the records and finds out that he's this old folk singer who's just been asleep for 50 years or something in the back of the storeroom. And so that's what the musical is about. And the song is kind of like his I want song, I guess, or it's his I don't want song. Yeah, where he's just, you know, kind of living out his final days at the record store and wishing that he lived in an earlier time.

[3:01] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: And the construction of the song is that first part, that I'm filled with sorrow, in my initial idea, that was this old folk singer, that was one of his songs. And so the kid was listening to it and then sort of jumped off from there.

[3:22] Joe Iconis: Diagetic and non-diagetic.

[3:28] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Yeah, yeah. I love this line in it, it's like, I like music you can hold, which this song also feels like a cousin of, you know, some of the material in the Black Suits, like old records, which like celebrates music you can hold.

[3:38] Joe Iconis: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I've certainly I've written a bunch of songs and, you know, shows or whatever in my life about records, about literal, you know, albums and singles and album.

[3:44] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Yeah.

[3:55] Joe Iconis: And it's, you know, it's definitely a, you know, it's a thing that I share with the singer of the song. I do miss music and film and all those things that you can, you know, put your hands on, you know? And I think there's so many amazing things about streaming and about the way that we consume media now. And it's just simply, you know, different than the way we used to. And there's no going back. But I do just kind of miss it, you know? I like it for a number of reasons. I like tangible things. And so, yeah. And so I think that the kid who sings this song, he is very much at the extreme end, you know, where I think for him, it's he's like, I don't have an iPhone. I don't, you know, I don't have a Spotify subscription or anything, you know, and he's just really sort of, he's, you know, dangerously nostalgic for a time that he did not exist in. And I, yeah, I, on my worst days, I'm like that. But I, you know.

[4:58] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Did you plot out at all, like, what happened in this musical? Like, what was the?

[5:03] Joe Iconis: You know, I don't, I don't fully remember the story, but it was, so the name of the old singer was Irving. And I forget the name of the kid, the main kid. But it was kind of like, you know, it's only half an hour, so it's a shorty. But a lot of it was this sort of buddy relationship between the kid and Irving. And it was about getting Irving, like, it's essentially getting Irving back to his planet, you know? It's like the E.T. construction, which is like my favorite construction. It's like the person is in a spot and you have to get the person away. And so, but I think that it was like, it was like a magical tour bus or something like that. But the best part of it was the two of them wandering this mall at night, because once the kid discovers Irving, he, like, hides out and they lock up the mall.

And so then he and Irving get to just be in the mall. And there's a makeover sequence, because Irving is like, because he's been asleep for 50 years. You know, his hair is all long. It's like Rip Van Winkle. And his clothes are dirty and old. And so they sort of go around the mall and, like, they go to the, you know, the barber shop and, like, shave him and they break into Macy's and, like, put clothes on him. And, yeah, the makeover sequence.

[6:19] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: They go, yeah, revisit.

[6:24] Joe Iconis: Yeah, no, I love this. I've never really talked to you about that musical. Who want to talk about the performance on the album?

[6:34] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Yeah. So the main kid is, the main singer of the song is Jason Tam. And Jason is someone who I have known for so many years. He was in my very first thing I ever did professionally called Things to Ruin. And the first, so Jason isn't on the album of Things to Ruin. Jason did the original iteration of Things to Ruin at Ars Nova. When the show was a little bit different, it was a little bit more like, this is every song I've ever written up till now. And a little less, like, you know, structured. But, but, yeah, and I met Jason through John Simpkins, who had worked with him at some regional theater, some, like, Sacramento music circus kind of deal. And just John just loved him so much and was like, you're going to, like, lose your mind over this guy.

And I did. And then he was John Amoroso in the Black Suits. And he was the script in Be More Chill. And I think that he's just, he's just incredible. You know, he is like, his, it's a weird thing to say, but he has so much, like, empathy as a human being. And I think that just comes across in all of his performances, you know, obviously in a chorus line and, but in everything, even when he's, you know, almost villainous in Be More Chill. He just has this sense of, like, he understands your, your problems. He understands what you're going through and wants to help. Like, it's just, there's just something in his voice that's like a, it's like a, you know, like a golden retriever or something. It's, and it's, and it's, it's just this, this creature who wants to make you feel better.

And he, and he can never lose that. And I just think it's so incredible. And in addition to that, his literal voice is just, like, it's gorgeous. It's, it's unreal. He sounds like, he sounds like, like a, like a, you know, he could have been, you know, he could have, he could have been in the Jackson 5. If Michael Jackson, you know, if Michael Jackson had a cover in the Jackson 5, it would have been Jason Tam.

[8:40] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Yeah.

[8:46] Joe Iconis: His voice is just, it's perfect. It's, it's, you know, it's gorgeous. And his performance of the song is both, it's really, you know, he gets the story across. He's great with the lyric. And also it sounds like a pop song. The way he sings, the way he delivers it, the way that the literal quality of his voice, it's a, it's a pop song. And then the, the other singer, who's doing the, the old timey, My Mom Fought With Sorrow is the great Jason Veasey, who I've collaborated with a whole bunch. And I remember the first time I saw him in a reading of Strangeloop many years ago, it was like one of those, who is that moments where I was just like, wow. Just, you know, he is, there's nobody like him.

And I wish he was singing more on the album. You know, this was sort of like, I want Jason to do this. And I wish I had more songs and more time because he, as an actor, as a singer, as just a human being, as a personality, he is like, man, he's just, he's, it's like, you know, sometimes when I'm, I'm with him and I see him on stage, I just feel like he is our Elaine Stritch or something, you know, it's like the, the amount of personality he exudes and then also can inhabit characters in such a whole, you know, a whole hog way. It's just, it's, it's really, really stunning. And I'm so happy that, that we got him on the album for this bit.

[10:06] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Totally.

[10:12] Joe Iconis: Yeah. And neither of them had performed the song.

[10:17] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: No, this was, this was a new girl for both of them.

[10:24] Joe Iconis: Yeah. And they just, you know, and they sound like they've been singing it their whole lives.

[10:31] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Yeah.

[10:36] Joe Iconis: Like truly. And that's it. "Yesterdays / I Can’t Relate."

[10:42] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Hey, thanks so much for listening or watching to my podcast. Do me a favor and go to wherever you just listen to or watch this thing and subscribe or like, or give us a great rating or review, and then head to bpn.fm slash album to find out even more information about this podcast, more ways to watch, more ways to listen, and check out my album. Thanks so much for hanging out.

[10:59] Joe Iconis: Album Podcast is executive produced by Liz Armstrong, produced by Dori Berenstein, Alan Seals, Kim Garris, and the rest of the team at the Broadway Podcast Network. Be sure to visit bpn.fm slash album for both audio and video versions of this podcast and to listen to the album. Don't care about tomorrow's, give me yesterday.