This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Andrew: We've got a mission to find the best song that's ever been on Gleek.

[0:09] Andrew: There's no rhyme or reason to it, so don't get mad at me.

[0:18] Andrew: Glacket by Glacket, we'll rank everyone to see which song will move closer to spot number one.

[0:26] Andrew: Gleek of the Week, Gleek, Gleek, Gleek of the Week. It's Gleek, Gleek of the Week.

[0:35] Andrew: Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. I am so excited to be joined today by Glee Music Royalty, Adam and Nikki Anders. How are you both doing?

[0:44] Adam Anders: Doing great.

[0:44] Nikki Anders: We're happy. We're good. How are you?

[0:48] Andrew: Okay, I'm doing fantastic. I'm on cloud nine right now to be joined by y'all.

[0:52] Andrew: Um, Nikki, I wanted to start off with you because I, like so many others, are massive Glee Project fans. And I was just speaking with Robert Ulrich last week about you coming on to the podcast and he lit completely up and he was like, he had nothing but praises to say about you.

[1:13] Andrew: I'd love to hear what comes up for you when you think about that, that time of your life, that Glee Project era.

[1:19] Nikki Anders: Ooh, man, that was a moment in history for sure. Um, it was so fast and furious for one, because, you know, Glee was going and the Glee Project at the same time. And so that was, it was almost so fast and so busy that you didn't have time to appreciate it in the moment. But the thing that, um, I think I walked away with a couple of things. One was Robert and Zach. That, um, that time together was so fun and so precious. And, um, also just hearing their input and their perspectives on what, you know, like you've got the choreographer and the dancer and then what he was thinking was important versus Robert, who was like, it's the likability. It's the, uh, the on-camera stuff. And then you've got my perspective from the music side and just the way, um, everybody had such a golden heart in that, that group, um, that just wanted to see these kids succeed.

And so there was a lot of, you know, um, protection, I guess it was almost like Papa and Mama Bear. We took those roles for these kids, even though on camera, you know, sometimes we had to push them to their ultimate. Um, I think the takeaway was we want to make sure these kids are, are, um, getting what they need.

[2:40] Andrew: Right. Right. It's set to go. Um, and Nikki, could you explain to me as well as the, the listeners, um, your role on the actual like Glee program? Um, like when it came to producing the music week to week?

[3:02] Nikki Anders: Uh, the, so Glee proper, shall we call it? Yes. Glee proper. Um, I was a singer, uh, for the Glee, you know, Glee was the group, the, the cast. And so they all had, um, their big group moments. So I was a part of the choir and I was the, the vocalist, I guess, what do you call it? The demo vocalist for the stunt double for Leah Michelle.

[3:24] Andrew: Oh, okay. Wait, so you, you set the groundwork for Leah. Everything you heard Leah sing was sung by Nikki and then Leah would come in and, and do that.

[3:29] Nikki Anders: Right. That's incredible. She arranged what that was going to be for her character for each song. Yeah. Because none of, you know, there's not enough time for them to come up with all the parts and all the things. So it, right. Right.

[3:46] Nikki Anders: So, yeah, early on, I just came up with that concept of having a stunt singer for each cast member. So they would hear, so they'd know they got to know the voice. Okay. I'm doing what that one's doing, you know, work on that and listen to it and then come in and bang it out. Um, and it was just easy in the studio too, cause I could separate everything and just pull everything else away. Except the one thing you need to do is just sing this piece.

[4:08] Andrew: Okay. Right. Right. Right. And it made it very, so Nikki, you provided, you provided the vocals for, for Leah before she actually did the track. Were there any other characters that you would supply the vocals for?

[4:19] Nikki Anders: A bunch, but Leah was the main one, but anytime we needed a diva, so yeah, or maybe a little bit, um, yeah.

[4:25] Adam Anders: You did, um, you did at the very beginning.

[4:35] Nikki Anders: Yeah. Season one, she did all of them, but then it got too crazy.

[4:41] Andrew: Um, speaking of all of the Glee music today, we're going to go down memory lane and watch some performances from Glee with your assistance. You will be helping send through some lucky songs forward on the Glackett. It's, it's been a few years journey each week. We look at six songs from the hit Fox show Glee. Um, and we send three forward on the Glackett and so we'll all be voting on these competitions today. Sound good?

[5:07] Adam Anders: Fun.

[5:09] Andrew: Perfect. Before we get into the Glackett, what do you think that would be the winner of your Glackett? Both of you.

[5:17] Adam Anders: I always come back to the Adele mashup is my Adele mashup.

[5:24] Nikki Anders: Yeah, there's that. And then there's the old school one with Matthew Morrison and Kristen. That was pretty special.

[5:29] Adam Anders: You mean a house is not a home mashup.

[5:35] Nikki Anders: Oh, that was stellar. That was a classic. And then to go more, I mean, don't stop believing it started at all.

[5:43] Adam Anders: Um, but it's just too easy. It's too easy.

[5:47] Nikki Anders: Um, all right, let's get into it with song number one. What have you chosen?

[5:54] Adam Anders: What have you done?

[5:56] ♪ Musical number: "It's My Life / Confessions Part II" — performed by Glee Cast ♪

[7:41] Andrew: Incredible. What comes up for both of you when you watch that performance?

[7:47] Adam Anders: What'd you say?

[7:48] Nikki Anders: Very triggering. It's PTSD for me.

[7:51] Adam Anders: Why is that?

[7:52] Nikki Anders: So much work. So I was all those guys at that point. So I had to figure all that out.

[7:58] Nikki Anders: Um, it was just a lot. Yeah, those mashups were hard. But, um, yeah, look, I just brings back so much. Do you remember, though, how now that was what that was season one, right?

[8:12] Adam Anders: Yeah, that was very early on season one.

[8:16] Nikki Anders: Yeah. Ryan started throwing it was like the first time it's one of the first mashups where he started throwing these two songs together at you and say, OK, I want to mash up between these two songs. Go.

[8:23] Adam Anders: They never were.

[8:23] Nikki Anders: So frustrating because they never went together. I'm like, these songs have nothing to do with each other because they would like take lyrics that made sense for the story.

[8:30] Adam Anders: Oh, this verse.

[8:30] Nikki Anders: Yeah, our story. Let's find a course that goes with our story. Here you go. I'm like, what? They're two different time signatures. They're like, no, this doesn't work. And we'd have to figure it out. And it was very, very painful. And then we still had no time as usual. You know, we were doing an album a week.

[8:51] Adam Anders: Yeah. And yeah, the mashups, somebody I think Billboard. I did an interview with Bill and they asked me how I define mashups. And I said, you take two perfectly good songs and you put them together to make one bad one.

[9:00] Nikki Anders: No. OK, this is not OK. Listen to that guy.

[9:09] Adam Anders: No, no, no, no, no, no. Would you would you. Some are pretty good.

[9:14] Adam Anders: Would you classify this as a bad mashup in your opinion?

[9:21] Nikki Anders: It's OK. No, like I said, the adult one is I think amazing. Some of them were amazing. And the umbrella mashup was awesome. That was fun. But then some I'm just like, this is hard. But some are harder than others didn't belong together to make work. But I think you made it work. I like it.

[9:31] Adam Anders: Yeah, it really did work.

[9:34] Nikki Anders: I want to bring up I Feel Pretty, I'm Pretty mashing up like a TLC song with a West Side Story song. One of the ones that's a clip that was incredible.

[9:46] Adam Anders: I forgot about that one. That's a good one. You know, I probably have a hard time getting perspective because it was so painful to do musically that I'm just like, I'm so done with it.

[9:55] Nikki Anders: We're done.

[10:04] Adam Anders: I'm glad you guys. It tested your ability, your problem solving abilities, I'd say, to take two opposites and make something cohesive that actually felt decent.

[10:10] Nikki Anders: Well, that's the thing that felt like it was one song and that it flowed and it was musical and not jarring and weird. So by the end, you were frustrated and tired and the rest of us are like, this is fun.

[10:19] Adam Anders: They love singing them so much. This is awesome.

[10:24] Nikki Anders: So yeah, I have a very different and I don't, you know, some of the mashups were really awesome. And then some were just not meant to be. That's all I'll say about that.

[10:34] Andrew: What was your experience creating mashups before you were put on Glee?

[10:39] Adam Anders: It didn't really exist. DJs did it, kind of, but it really hadn't been done.

[10:44] Adam Anders: So I had none. We had never done it before. We mashed up styles before. Remember, we were told to write that song?

[10:49] Nikki Anders: Yeah, we did Hoedown Throwdown.

[10:52] Adam Anders: Hip Hop and Country, the director said.

[10:55] Nikki Anders: Hip Hop and Country.

[10:58] Adam Anders: You mean to tell me that you are behind Hoedown Throwdown?

[11:01] Nikki Anders: I know. Should we just leave right now? Should we just cancel it?

[11:08] Adam Anders: Oh, no. Now I'm like, that changed music. That was great.

[11:10] Nikki Anders: Who would have thought? But it wasn't really a mashup of songs, but it was a mashup of genres because we need to teach them a dance, a hoedown, but do it in a hip hop way. And nobody was able to crack it. And then they handed it to us. I'm like, sure, we'll try it. And then we came with Hoedown Throwdown. We brought the choreographer into our studio and say, what can you do like Hawk in the Sky? Would that be a dance move? And he's like creating dance moves.

[11:29] Adam Anders: Hawk in the Sky moves, side to side. Yes.

[11:32] Nikki Anders: Oh, my God.

[11:40] Andrew: Nikki, you also worked on some really iconic mashups as well on Glee Project. Milkshake, Moves Like Jagger. Talk to me a little bit about those mashups.

[11:44] Nikki Anders: Oh, wow. Was that from Glee?

[11:46] Adam Anders: That was from Glee though, right?

[11:51] Nikki Anders: Yeah, because most of the Glee Project stuff was they would take our Glee tracks and then you'd do new vocals on them.

[11:55] Adam Anders: So Moves Like Jagger was on Glee, but it was mashed up with Jumping Jack Flash. But on Glee Project, y'all mashed it up with Milkshake, which I think was even better.

[12:08] Nikki Anders: Do you recall this?

[12:11] Adam Anders: No, there were 817 songs. I can't even remember. You're blowing my mind right now. Like, we did that?

[12:14] Nikki Anders: I have this encyclopedic knowledge. I'm sorry.

[12:18] Adam Anders: Yeah, I don't even...

[12:20] Nikki Anders: You're definitely going to curate our Glee library.

[12:23] Adam Anders: Was this season two of the Glee Project?

[12:26] Nikki Anders: That was season two of the Glee Project.

[12:28] Adam Anders: I'm trying to remember the cast that Marissa was in. That was Marissa? No.

[12:33] Nikki Anders: No, that was like Mario was there, Charlie, Eileen.

[12:38] Adam Anders: Oh, yes.

[12:39] Nikki Anders: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, if you don't remember it, so many other people do.

[12:45] Adam Anders: It's great work. It still holds up.

[12:49] Nikki Anders: It sounds fun.

[12:51] Adam Anders: It all runs together. People are like... It was funny. I did an interview, I don't know, a couple months ago, and they had asked me a question.

[12:56] Nikki Anders: What song do you regret not being able to do on Glee?

[12:59] Adam Anders: And I named two songs, both of which we had done on Glee.

[13:05] Nikki Anders: I'm like, oops.

[13:13] Adam Anders: Yeah, we did a lot of songs, so it's hard to keep it all straight.

[13:18] Nikki Anders: And all of them are still... I mean, because there are certain songs that are completely not made public, like Fergalicious is, I know, one of them, but I've never been able, or any of the Gleeks were never able to hear it. Those tracks exist somewhere, I would imagine?

[13:36] Adam Anders: They likely exist.

[13:38] Adam Anders: On this very computer we're speaking on somewhere...

[13:40] Nikki Anders: You're kidding. Okay. Don't do that.

[13:45] Adam Anders: I'd be like, share your screen. We're gonna go in.

[13:49] Nikki Anders: No, it's a hard drive somewhere that I would have to find.

[13:53] Adam Anders: Okay. There are many songs, because we overcut on some episodes, and there wasn't an episode for all the music. And then things would fight it and we'd have to make a decision.

[14:04] Nikki Anders: And we probably should release the unreleased Glee stuff at some point.

[14:07] Adam Anders: Yeah, that's actually a good point. There have been so many calls to do exactly that. So when that day does come, the Gleeks will be very appreciative.

[14:20] Nikki Anders: There's a whole Glee library of songs we never did that AI has been creating.

[14:24] Adam Anders: Oh yeah, that's messy. But we want the real thing.

[14:26] Nikki Anders: You want the real thing. Come on.

[14:28] Adam Anders: Yeah, yeah. Okay, going into what It's My Life, Confessions Part 2 will be against, here is song number two.

[14:38] ♪ Musical number: "Wide Awake" — performed by Alex Newell ♪

[17:33] Adam Anders: All right. Wide Awake, featuring none other than Tony Award winning Alex Newell. Oh my, Nikki, my question is for you. Watching, particularly like the Glee Project contestants to go on to get these major accolades, how does that make you feel?

[17:56] Nikki Anders: Crazy actually to think I was there at the very beginning and see them just in their infancy of their careers right there in that little, that moment in time. And now to win it, that's just, it's pretty awesome to see that because that's rarely happens. Rarely, I mean, rarely happens that, you know, you are rewarded with an accolade like that. It also rarely happens to be at the very beginning and do that talent and watch it grow. It's just, it's a really cool thing. And I need to let you know, like as like a viewer, as like being like a teenager watching the Glee Project, it was like, oh my God, I saw this star potential with like Alex Newell and Ali Stroker and all these folks. And it feels like so validating and vindicating all these years later to be like, well, yes, they, of course they are getting these major accolades.

And I don't, there's almost, I don't want to say like an ownership of it, like, but you feel like you've shepherded them because you've supported them. But it hasn't been overnight either because, you know, Alex was on the show and then we got him a record deal at Atlantic and it was a whole process and went on for a while and nothing happened there. And it was really disappointing, I think, because there's so much talent there and a voice that's kind of singular, you know. And then now to see what's been happening recently, again, it's just proves that talent wins out and that if you just don't give up and you keep pushing and yeah, it's really awesome to watch. With this particular track, Wide Awake, it's so different from the original, like, Katy Perry song. Adam, I'm going to test your memory right now. Do you have any recollection of working on this song and bringing this new arrangement?

[19:50] Adam Anders: I do remember that one. I don't remember why. I remember the song. I know that it was a song. We didn't always get to work on songs we loved, you know, because sometimes you just have to, it's a job and I just got to do the best I can with the song, even though I don't love the song and make it work. And then other times there were songs I loved that I got to work on that just made it way more fun. And this was one of those. I think this is a great song. And you know it's a great song because it works that simply, which is piano, which is really a true testament to great songwriting. If you can break it down to a guitar or a single piano or one instrument and have it be that good. It was just fun to see Alex, too, on that clip because it's been a while.

I don't remember the context. I just remember enjoying working on that song. There's other ones like Blackbird was a personal favorite that I hear songs of all time. To get to do that was really special. It almost feels like an unfair question, particularly in a recorded format, to ask are there any Glee songs that either of you would say are better than the original that you all worked on? That's a tricky question.

[21:05] Nikki Anders: You know, because I feel like this Wide Awake cover, what y'all did with this is like eons better than the Katy Perry song. You know, that's a tricky question, which I know you designed it to be.

[21:21] Adam Anders: I can say this in all honesty. I have never felt like anything we did was better than the original. I think maybe because I respect the work because it's what I do, too. And I think there's a level of hubris required to say that. I'm okay with other people saying it, and it makes me feel very good. Like, job well done when people say that. But I wonder if you would feel that if it was not connected to these characters in this show you love so much.

[21:50] Nikki Anders: That's an interesting point.

[21:51] Adam Anders: Yeah.

[21:52] Nikki Anders: Because I think that's what puts it over the top.

[21:53] Adam Anders: Right. I mean, it's everything included. All it is is special. And it's unfair, almost, to compare it to a song that just plays on radio that you have no emotional connection to. But when it's your characters that you love singing your favorite song in a way that's completely fresh and different.

[22:07] Nikki Anders: Right, right.

[22:07] Adam Anders: Well, by the way, it's not like we did Stinkers. We did good work. We're proud of it. But I don't know. I think we also did different things. Like, I wouldn't say Don't Stop Believin' was better at all. It's just different, and it's cool. And it was, you know, you didn't see it coming. And so, I don't know. Yeah, that's, I'll leave that to other people to decide. I'll say that. I will say that. Were there any songs, because, like, y'all, I really did, like, the songs that you put, like, a fresh spin on, were there any admitted clunkers in your perspective that it's, like, you put this new spin on a song, and you were like, ooh, this is probably not what I had hoped?

[23:53] Adam Anders: Hmm. Ooh, that's, you know, maybe I'm, like, a parent who only remembers the good stuff, you know?

[23:59] Nikki Anders: Sure. That's a good quality to have.

[24:02] Adam Anders: I don't recall any song. So Pear, my producing partner, Pear, and I, we kind of had a rule, which almost killed us, that we wouldn't stop until we were happy with it. It didn't matter if we were all-nighters. We would not turn a song into Ryan until we thought it was great. We never compromised in over 800 songs, which I'm most proud of that. As tired as we got at times and as hard as it was. So I don't feel like we turned a song into Ryan until we thought it as tired as we got at times and as hard as it was. So I don't feel like we turned in a clunker. Now, the caveat is there were a couple of originals that we were tasked with doing, where we were handed finished lyrics from a script that were unusable. And I was listening to this, that they had written on that, I'm sorry, but they were really impossible to make good songs out of. And I don't remember specifically, but they actually probably worked for comedic reasons. But I would never write that.

[24:55] Nikki Anders: I remember you brought up Big Ass Heart last time we spoke.

[24:58] Adam Anders: Big Ass Heart, not one of the best. Just going to tell you right now, not winning any awards for that. But then Trouty Mouth was funny.

[25:07] Nikki Anders: Trouty Mouth is a fan favorite amongst the Gleeks. They love it.

[25:12] Adam Anders: And Cord, who by the way, I saw, played golf like a week ago. He's just doing great. And I actually see him and I can't unsee Trouty Mouth.

[25:19] Nikki Anders: Trouty Mouth.

[25:22] ♪ Musical number: "I'm So Excited" — performed by the Glee Cast ♪

[25:24] Adam Anders: They're synonymous with it.

[25:26] Nikki Anders: When it comes down to this first Glackett competition of It's My Life Confessions Part Two versus Wide Awake, do either of you feel confident in your vote on what should be moving forward on the Glackett?

[25:42] Adam Anders: Wide Awake.

[25:46] Nikki Anders: Wide Awake. No?

[25:47] Adam Anders: Wide Awake, yeah.

[25:48] Nikki Anders: Okay.

[25:48] Adam Anders: I might agree.

[25:49] Nikki Anders: Yeah.

[25:49] Adam Anders: All right.

[25:50] Nikki Anders: I love that.

[25:50] Adam Anders: It's a three for three.

[25:52] Nikki Anders: I love it.

[25:52] Adam Anders: It's pretty easy.

[25:54] Nikki Anders: Yeah, Wide Awake for me as well.

[25:56] Adam Anders: Okay, incredible. Let's get into competition number two, song number one.

[27:16] ♪ Musical number: "Loser Like Me" — performed by Glee Cast ♪

[27:51] Adam Anders: Alright, I'm so excited. What comes up for you when you watch that?

[27:56] Nikki Anders: That I have no recollection of working with Gloria Estefan whatsoever.

[28:01] Adam Anders: You're kidding.

[28:02] Nikki Anders: That crazy?

[28:03] Adam Anders: Really.

[28:04] Nikki Anders: That's how insane it was. That just gives you an idea of how bonkers our lives were. Where I'm like, oh yeah, I forgot. That's so sad. So yeah, like I said, I'm going to add her to my resume immediately.

[28:18] Adam Anders: Oh yeah, yeah. That, the whole thing, that just reminds me of the joy of so many of the sessions that we had. You know, like you know how many sessions, recording sessions, and there's so much joy in most of them. Like the speakers, we just had so much fun. And so I think that track... It came out in the music, it came out in the show. The joy behind the voices, because music penetrates in a way words don't. And when there's real authentic joy captured in the recording, and then that is what you're getting. You're feeling that whether you know it or not, and you're getting that energy back. And I can tell you, being there, and it was a family, and we were doing two, three songs a day, day and night in the studio. And we had so much fun. They're laughing and just enjoying every minute of it. And you can hear it in that song especially.

[28:55] Nikki Anders: Yeah, I feel that. Really, really awesome.

[28:58] Adam Anders: Yeah. Nikki, you mentioned that you have this, you're adding a freshly new addition, Gloria Estefan, to this, your already established resume. Who would you say is at the top of that resume of a person that you've worked with?

[29:12] Nikki Anders: Tom Cruise.

[29:13] Adam Anders: Really?

[29:14] Nikki Anders: Or Meryl Streep.

[29:15] Adam Anders: I thought you said Meryl.

[29:16] Nikki Anders: I was going to say, my male is Tom Cruise and my female is Meryl Streep. And then Nicole.

[29:20] Adam Anders: What was Tom Cruise for?

[29:21] Nikki Anders: I did Rock of Ages.

[29:23] Adam Anders: Oh, wow.

[29:24] Nikki Anders: Oh my God. Yeah. I knew about Meryl. I did a prom with Ryan. So that was Meryl and Nicole who were amazing. And Nicole was one of the great people I've ever worked with. But, you know, Tom was awesome because he had always wanted to sing. His dream was coming true. And then I'm sitting there like, I can't believe I'm working every day with Tom Cruise at his house for a year. It was a crazy, crazy time.

[29:46] Adam Anders: Yeah. So that's definitely a pinch me thing. And so is Meryl. I mean, maybe the greatest that's ever done it.

[29:52] Nikki Anders: Yeah. I love her song from the prom.

[29:54] Adam Anders: It's great.

[29:55] Nikki Anders: Yeah. She's amazing. She's so talented. It's crazy. So, yeah, those are up there. And then from Glee, you know, I remember working with Gwyneth the first time. And that was kind of a pinch me thing because I was like, wait a minute. It's an Oscar winner sitting in my studio. You know?

[30:07] Adam Anders: Right.

[30:08] Nikki Anders: It was pretty cool.

[30:09] Adam Anders: Casual.

[30:10] Nikki Anders: Yeah, casual. And I told her I was just using her to get to her husband at the time, to Chris Martin, because I was a big Coldplay fan. But we bonded over that. But no, it's just honestly so many amazing memories. And it makes you very, almost sad in a way, of like this bygone era when we got to do that. But I think that thing will never happen again. It was just one moment in time. And to have been a part of it is pretty incredible.

[30:34] Adam Anders: Not only was Gloria Estefan featured on that song that we just watched, but also Jennifer Coolidge.

[30:40] Nikki Anders: I know.

[30:41] Adam Anders: Do you have any recollection of working with her?

[30:44] Nikki Anders: Nope.

[30:45] Adam Anders: Or no?

[30:46] Nikki Anders: Zero. But I think that's because my brother recorded her.

[30:50] Adam Anders: Oh, got it.

[30:51] Nikki Anders: He would remember. I remember him talking about her. And I go, we worked with her? And he's like, yeah, she's hilarious. And she's on all these other things. And I'm like, yeah, I don't know.

[31:01] Adam Anders: How is it working with someone that doesn't have as much of a singing background like Jennifer Coolidge?

[31:06] Nikki Anders: I used to get really frustrated that they would always cast people who weren't singers. But now as I'm directing and moving on to other things in my life, I realize I'm going to do exactly the same thing. I'm like, we'll figure out the singing. Because you can't fix acting. But I can help you sing. So at that point, it comes down to the personality that you're working with and if they're good to work with and take direction and work hard at it. I remember even early on with Corey. And we've already talked about it before. But he'd never sung in his life. And recorded that first song. But he was just great to work with. So, yeah, it's more challenging to get an end product that is good enough. But it can be more rewarding, too. But then every now and then, I would just thank God Amber's in the studio. Or Naya. Just sing it and be like, great, thanks for coming.

[31:57] Adam Anders: Right.

[31:58] Nikki Anders: Was there anybody from the series that stands out to you? Because this is from Glee's final season. Was there anybody that stood out to you as who grew the most vocally over their course on the series?

[32:11] Adam Anders: Wow. Honestly, on some level. Some didn't. Kevin was always great. Obviously, Naya and Amber were just amazing singers. I wouldn't say they grew. Maybe they grew as far as we stretched them stylistically at times. But Leah grew a lot. Because she'd never sung pop. She'd only sung Broadway before she came in. It was a stretch for her. It was a challenge. She really embraced it and became really good at it. But probably Corey made the biggest leap.

[32:44] Nikki Anders: Yeah. I like so much what you're saying. The fans really enjoyed a lot of the music. Because of the connection to the character. And I feel like even the fact that Corey was coming fresh into this career and didn't have that much of a history of singing, it was able to translate to the audience as well. In a really endearing way. There was a lot there. He was the jock who was going to become a singer. So it wouldn't be a surprise. It would be a surprise.

[33:09] Adam Anders: Sure.

[33:10] Nikki Anders: Yeah. Adam, in the same vein. I know that it was a much shorter time span with the Glee Project. But was there anybody in particular that you felt really made the most of their time on their season from the Glee Project?

[33:24] Adam Anders: They made the most of their time. Honestly, they all gave everything they had. You're going to hate me because I can't even remember her name.

[33:32] Nikki Anders: I've got you.

[33:34] Adam Anders: She really grew. She had an Adele quality to her voice. From the second or first, do you recall?

[33:40] Nikki Anders: I'm going to go with first.

[33:42] Adam Anders: First.

[33:43] Nikki Anders: Give me some more hints.

[33:45] Adam Anders: Maybe it was second season. I don't know.

[33:48] Nikki Anders: I don't know.

[33:49] Adam Anders: I don't know.

[33:50] Nikki Anders: I don't know.

[33:51] Adam Anders: Maybe it was second season.

[33:53] Nikki Anders: She... I don't know. I just remember even saying at the time. Literally, she popped into my head when you guys were talking. By the last... She was one of the finals. Final three.

[34:06] Adam Anders: Eileen?

[34:07] Nikki Anders: Not Eileen. She did grow, though. Was it... The final four or five. She sang an Adele song.

[34:13] Adam Anders: Lily May?

[34:14] Nikki Anders: Lily.

[34:16] Adam Anders: I'm so glad that we found it.

[34:18] Nikki Anders: Lily May. Oh, my gosh. I really felt that she grew vocally. I don't know if it was the confidence in the studio or what. I remember there was a point in one of her recording sessions. That she just... I don't know. It's like something snapped. She all of a sudden was opening up more. Getting her own style. I feel like to Robert's testament. He was able to find so many of these stars. As well. Lily did a play not too long ago. In New York. Where I'm located. Starring opposite Kira Sedgwick. She completely held her own.

[35:05] Adam Anders: Wow.

[35:06] Nikki Anders: That's amazing. Again, it was so validating to see. It was this person that I watched as a young person. I was like, oh, I really hope that she goes places. I was like, oh, I really hope that she goes places. I was like, oh, I really hope that she goes places. She is. It's really great.

[35:27] Adam Anders: That is really amazing. That's a huge thing. They're all doing so much. It's hard to keep up with. Robert's played a big role in that. Robert's been really great. He's been so great. Let's get into what is against. I'm so excited. Here we go.

[36:03] ♪ Musical number: "Loser Like Me" — performed by Glee Cast ♪

[38:49] Adam Anders: What comes up for you when you watch that performance? Man, first of all, it's like what song is this and I'm like, oh crap. I wrote that. Yeah, that's a crazy one I forgot we did a remix of it or a yeah, I'll be shopping mix better. The original was really fun because I wrote it with Max Martin. You know who's if you know anything about pop music? Yeah, the guy who wrote almost every song that we don't believe. But it was funny. I brought him in to write it with us and he sends me like this kind of music idea and I wrote that chorus over the music idea and I sent it to him and he called me back and he's like, I don't get it. Like why would anyone want to be a loser? This is terrible. I'm like, have you seen the show?

And he's like no I'm like go watch this show and call me back. Watch the show and he calls me back. It's brilliant. It completely mad. Yeah. Yeah, so that was a fun record. It was Christmas at your family's house. I remember us discussing the title. Mm-hmm at Christmas at my house in Iowa. Mm-hmm. It was yeah, it was that was a special one in it. Obviously do really well and it was the first original song we wrote for the show. So that was super cool. But yeah, I just remember all I remember snow on the ground in Iowa. I'm in her parents living room trying to write that thing and no studio just pacing. Yeah. It was fun. Do you have a do you have a preference when it comes between the two loser like me is of the original season?

[40:32] Adam Anders: Yeah to version or this version. We just watched I just go with this one because you know again it shows that it's a good song that it sounded that good just on piano. Yeah voices. I think that was really great. I've forgotten that completely. I don't remember.

[40:54] Adam Anders: I prefer this to the, you know, the Season 2, the entire group singing it. I think it's also like kind of like a it's kind of silly that they're singing these lyrics that are kind of silly in really like a humble fashion. I just I really appreciate this performance.

[41:12] Nikki Anders: That's great. Yeah. No, I'm with you. Let's go with this one. Yeah. Um, Nikki, I understand that you wrote the Glee original song, Get It Right. Talk to me a little bit about getting that song onto the show. How did that happen?

[41:26] Nikki Anders: We had written it for another project. And it didn't make it onto that project. I don't remember why. But then Ryan called and he's like, I need a song that talks about this. And I go, here it is. And it's a great, you know, we love the song. This is a special song, and it's going to find the right home. And was thrilled that Ryan loved it as much as we did. And then put it on there. It was crazy, because I think Loser Like Me was number one and Get It Right was number two, same week.

[42:00] Adam Anders: Yeah, it was crazy. How does that even like I can't even like begin to understand how that must feel, seeing one and two on the top 10 list, there's one through nine at one point, it was it was crazy. It's just I felt like Taylor Swift does now, I think.

[42:21] Nikki Anders: Yeah. No, it was really, honestly, that's what kept us going, because it was so exhausting and hard. But you get that kind of feedback from the world every week. And it just gives you the adrenaline or whatever you need to keep going. Because I knew we had been doing it long enough to know how unusual this was this level. Right. So we knew, you know, we just got to keep this thing going. But it was really, really fun. It also is it's hard, because when it stops, you know, I remember when Glee ended, it was just a void, a chasm, like what just happened? Yeah, dominated our lives for so long. And then you're like, well, what do we do now? You know, that was the feeling. So it's a blessing and a curse to have that kind of success.

[43:04] Adam Anders: Yeah, but how does it make y'all feel that there's still such a solid fan base, even, you know, 10 years after the series finale, that it's like that these stories hold up, that this music holds up?

[43:16] Nikki Anders: I can, I mean, you want me to go first? I mean, because I would say, you know, when you pour yourself into something, and it dominates your life, like the way you've been saying, Adam, it's really edifying to know that it's got some sort of longevity, and it leaves some sort of legacy in the legacy is what I was gonna say.

[43:41] Adam Anders: Yeah.

[43:42] Nikki Anders: And some, whether that, you know, I don't mean that in like a grandiose sense, necessarily, but it feels really rewarding that, okay, I, you know, what we gave our lives to for so long does have merit and meaning.

[44:01] Adam Anders: Yeah, it's a lot, we sacrificed a ton that nobody would see behind the scenes, for our life, our relationship, our kids, quality of life, just to keep this thing going. So it makes it worth it, in a way. And I think any artist, all you could ever ask for is that something you did, did left a mark when you're gone.

[44:19] Nikki Anders: Yeah, you know, and that's that legacy thing where this will never happen again. And when we're long gone, people will still watch Glee, and our names will still pop up as part of something special that changed the world, I think, and changed the music industry and changed a lot of lives. And it's very gratifying.

[44:36] Adam Anders: And that may be the only time that happens in our careers, and that's okay. But we've been a part of a lot of other great things. But Glee was crazy. Glee was like the Beatles, you know?

[44:48] Nikki Anders: Yeah.

[44:48] Adam Anders: And I can only speak for myself. But it's changed my life so much, like this entire series and all the music that I've been introduced to, as well through the process of watching it, that it's like I am so indebted to the entire creative team behind the show. But when it comes down to it, of this content, we have I'm So Excited, and Loser Like Me, the season five version.

[45:20] Nikki Anders: What are we talking about? Come on, Loser Like Me has to win.

[45:31] Adam Anders: Oh, yeah. Hello. Yeah. I guess I'm voting yes myself with every one of these. But this one, since I wrote it, too. No, but that song's special. I love that.

[45:39] Nikki Anders: Yeah, yeah. It's so great. I think they all sound so good. Jenna, Kevin, Darren, they sound incredible.

[45:46] Adam Anders: Going into our final competition. Here we go.

[46:09] ♪ Musical number: "Animal" — performed by the Warblers ♪

[47:53] ♪ Musical number: "Don't Rain On My Parade" — performed by the Glee Cast ♪

[54:32] ♪ Musical number: "Don't Rain On My Parade" — performed by Naya Rivera ♪

[56:38] Adam Anders: That's funny. Well, Leah brings back a lot more memories than Naya. Naya's obviously just sad, yeah, so it's emotional just seeing her. She was so good. And then I think of when she sang that, she didn't remember that she sang that because we had a stunt double for Naya, but she couldn't sing "Don't Rain On My Parade," so she had to step in.

[57:03] Nikki Anders: Wait, really?

[57:03] Adam Anders: Yeah, and she's, I don't know, you maybe learned on Glee Project that she is a musical encyclopedia herself. She can sing you most songs from most musicals on demand, so a very, very marketable skill. It was incredibly useful.

[57:25] Nikki Anders: I am so glad that we got this song with y'all because I, like, what I really love about Santana's version of "Don't Rain on My Parade" is that it's so different from not only the original Barbra Streisand version, but it's also very different from the Rachel version. Do you, can you recall, like, the process of building this arrangement that it's a little bit more poppy for Santana?

[57:50] Adam Anders: Rock opera, guitar things. We were trying to make it more her and edgier and more rebellious, and, you know, to see how the Santana version of it, which is kind of a mash-up, again, a bit of genres. But yeah, because you want it to make it, you know, unique to her. We'd already done the Leah version or the, gosh, Rachel. Thank you. It's been a while. Yeah, so I think that was always fun. That was a fun challenge, I think, when we had to do something fresh with songs we'd already done. But it's also, man, those arrangements are so huge. Those Broadway ones were also the ones that gave us PTSD because it required me to get those done and recorded in time.

[58:38] Nikki Anders: What is your favorite memory of working alongside Naya on these songs?

[58:47] Adam Anders: So, gosh, Naya was great. You know, Naya was obviously somebody I looked forward to when she came in the studio because she was so good. I loved her voice. You know, don't tell anyone at all, except for the millions of people listening, that she was my favorite. Billions, yeah. My favorite voice to work with on the show. She was a very layered person. She had a lot of depth to her. I don't know. I just loved her. I appreciated her. We got along really great. You know, she had her ups and downs on the show and hard times, but she was always great in the studio. I think she felt at home in the studio. That's probably where she was comfortable. Yeah. It was her natural habitat, if you will. I think Amber's a little bit the same way.

That's where they would go to get a break, you know, from the creative show. So, it was nice to be that place where they could go and chill out and enjoy themselves and be themselves. So, I have a lot of great memories of her just having fun in the studio. Even after Glee, you know, we did some stuff together. There was a movie I was producing that she auditioned for, and we had a great time. We were having lunch with her. It was the last time I saw her. Yeah. Gosh, there's so much joy as the show brought so many people. It's also had its share of tragedy, as we all know. So, it's always emotional thinking about the show, you know, thinking about the times and the ones we lost. Yeah. I know exactly where I was when Corey passed, you know, and I know exactly where I was when Naya passed. Yeah. So, you just hold on to the good stuff, you know. Just remember that.

[1:01:04] Nikki Anders: Yeah. But as an audience member, again, it was such a comfort space for me and so many others. Even just watching behind-the-scenes stuff with Naya, that it was like you can feel that warmth through these videos. And even though you'll never meet these people, it's like you feel very safe. I hear from everybody that, you know, it's just singing so many praises for Naya and everybody. So, yeah, I'm so glad to hear that.

[1:01:13] Adam Anders: Families fight. Families have hard times, good times.

[1:01:17] Nikki Anders: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally a family in every sense of the word. And we have a bond, I think, that will last forever, anybody who was part of the show. And when we see each other, we could be years apart, and then we see each other, and it's like, you know, we've never missed a beat. We know what it was like to survive Glee. Chris Colford made hats that said, "I survived Glee." Only we know what that means.

[1:01:32] Adam Anders: My final question for you both is, working on both the Glee songs and the Glee Project songs, how collaborative was the process? With this song in particular, would Naya be following the vocal demos to a T, or would she be bringing her own flair?

[1:01:52] Nikki Anders: Hmm. It was pretty close to the demos. But we also knew them so well that we would design it for them, you know, with them in mind, and we knew what they liked. We got feedback from them when we were producing them, like, "Oh, I hate those type of anthems. I don't want to sing that key." Or we would learn what they loved. So we got it down to a science tour. It was very natural, and it felt like them. So it was usually harder when new cast came in that we'd never even met, and then we got to figure out what they can and can't. I remember Cord Overstreet's first song was a disaster because we didn't know who was going to play the role, so it didn't fit him at all. But yeah, Naya, I mean, I would say Naya and Amber probably got the most freedom because they were such great singers and pop singers where they could kind of stretch it a little bit.

But still 80%, you know, was maybe even 90. And some didn't want to. There was a comfort for them to just hear the demo and just do it and not have to worry. It was a very stress-free process for them. But yeah, it was pretty true to the demos. And then Ryan had approved the demos, so we'd never strayed from those too much because he expected it to be what he approved. There was no time to go back again, so we kept it.

[1:03:07] Adam Anders: Were there times where he sent it back and said, like, "Try it again"?

[1:03:16] Nikki Anders: Extremely rare. I'd say out of 800 and something songs, I can think of one off the top of my head. And then there was one where he sent it back and I sent it right back to him and said, "Oh, this is great." And then he got mad at me. I'm always afraid Ryan's listening. Ryan's like omniscient. I think he's always listening to this day. I don't want to say anything. He's actually in the other room.

[1:03:43] Adam Anders: Yeah, we all are. He's the mastermind behind it and created so much success for so many people around him. But he's a character and honestly, I always say it was the best creative situation I've had in my career was working with Ryan Murphy because he gives you so much freedom. When he trusts you, he lets you do your thing and he doesn't really push back much. He's like, "I trust you if you say it's good. Great." And there was one or two times where we disagreed, but that was it.

[1:04:17] Nikki Anders: Yeah. Adam, I know that we're running short on time, but what was your experience working so closely with, you know, King of Hollywood, Ryan Murphy?

[1:04:24] Adam Anders: Well, at first it was scary. Yeah, of course. And I think more because the reputation preceded him. I'd met him early, early on when we first did season one. And he was actually wonderful, really very sweet to me. And so I had that experience. But then we spent so many years in the studio before the Glee Project started. So doing that side by side was scary at first, but then, you know, he has a heart for these kids just like anyone else. Yeah. At the end of the day, it was actually enlightening to see his insight into these, you know, infant careers, really, you know, and his input and the way he viewed it was actually more heartwarming than I had expected. And that was good.

[1:05:16] Nikki Anders: See, I think, here's my theory. Okay. He has created this persona that scares everyone because he's a big old softie. He is an incredibly emotional guy. He's a very sensitive man. This is a theory.

[1:05:27] Adam Anders: It's a theory.

[1:05:27] Nikki Anders: He's a very-

[1:05:29] Adam Anders: Okay, okay. I will say that it worked. I mean, I'm frightened watching Glee Project or interviews with, like, he is an intimidating guy, from my perspective.

[1:05:38] Nikki Anders: I think what Ryan and I worked well together, because I was never, I didn't feel that, like, I felt like I could be very honest with him. And if he got mad at me, great, but it is what it is. My superpower was not being afraid of him. But there was no time to be afraid.

[1:06:00] Adam Anders: Yeah. We just got to get this done.

[1:06:03] Nikki Anders: But no, I do think he's a sensitive guy. He does care. Obviously, he can be tough, too. But yeah, I think it's fun. That's one of the cool things about the show, because you even saw he didn't even want anyone to lose at the end. He just, his soft, he couldn't hide-

[1:06:17] Adam Anders: He wanted to give everybody something.

[1:06:23] Nikki Anders: Yeah, yeah.

[1:06:32] Adam Anders: Speaking of this competition at hand, this final competition of "Animal," thank you. "Animal" and "Don't Rain on My Parade." What are we thinking?

[1:06:35] Nikki Anders: Naya, all day long.

[1:06:40] Adam Anders: Hello. I mean, if it went another way, I think the Gleeks would have your head.

[1:06:42] Nikki Anders: So I'm so glad that-

[1:06:42] Adam Anders: I love you, bro.

[1:06:42] Nikki Anders: Well, thank you so much, Adam and Nikki, for furthering this process of the Glacket and for providing so much insight. Doing God's work.

[1:06:52] Adam Anders: Yes, you are doing- I know. Someone needs to do it. Hello.

[1:06:56] Nikki Anders: That's right. I love it.

[1:07:00] Adam Anders: Last we spoke, Adam, "Journey to Bethlehem," I cannot tell folks enough that this is a movie that folks need to watch. And we're getting back into the holiday season. So I'm just so- I cannot recommend it enough. Is there anything else that you would like to promote at this time?

[1:07:17] Adam Anders: Oh, it's time to watch "Journey" again. It's doing great on Netflix. We had a song from the movie go viral over the summer, a billion streams.

[1:07:24] Nikki Anders: Okay. Christmas music on that.

[1:07:25] Adam Anders: A Christmas musical in the summer. That's good.

[1:07:28] Nikki Anders: I think it's because of you.

[1:07:29] Adam Anders: Yeah.

[1:07:29] Nikki Anders: Frankly.

[1:07:32] Adam Anders: Oh, yeah. I will take full credit.

[1:07:36] Nikki Anders: It went crazy. It must have been you.

[1:07:41] Adam Anders: Yeah, I think it was like- yeah, exactly. Yeah, very happy. Very proud of the movie. And I do think Gleeks would love it because it's the Glee music team. It's all there. It's like the fabric from Glee is the same for "Journey to Bethlehem." And so, yeah, I cannot recommend it enough. Thank you so much.

[1:07:51] Nikki Anders: Yeah, I'm working on a new movie, but it won't be out in time for this Christmas. It'll be next year, so.

[1:07:56] Adam Anders: Oh my gosh, I can't wait to see it. Well, thank you again, Adam and Nikki. And I hope you guys have a great rest of your day.

[1:08:03] Adam Anders: Thank you. You too.

[1:08:04] Nikki Anders: Great seeing you, Andrew. Thank you so much.

[1:08:06] Adam Anders: See ya. Bye.

[1:08:07] Andrew: It's Gleek, Gleek of the Week.