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[0:01] Mikayla Petrilla: Hey, everyone, and welcome to Tea Time with Mikayla. This is Tea Time. I'm Mikayla, and you're listening on the Broadway Podcast Network.

[0:14] Mikayla Petrilla: Friends, the kettle is on, the guitars are chonky, and today's tea has distortion. My guest today is Matt Copley, recording artist, creator, theatrical producer, frontman of the band Unwell, and the mind behind Broadway Does Punk, the viral project that takes the Broadway songs you know and love and gives them new teeth.

[0:33] Mikayla Petrilla: Matt's work lives at this really fun, deeply theatrical intersection of musical theater, punk, rock, Internet culture, fandom, and live performance. And what I love about this conversation is that it is not just about going viral, although we do get into that. It's about building your own lane when the lane you want doesn't fully exist yet.

[0:51] Mikayla Petrilla: We talk about growing up as a musical theater kid, finding rock music and Phil Collins, life on tour, which does include Planet Fitness, believe it or not, and how Broadway Does Punk is making the jump from the Internet to the stage. And that part is happening very soon. Broadway Does Punk plays October 2nd and 3rd at the Abrons Arts Center in New York City with a full rock show experience and a lineup of Broadway guest artists.

[1:15] Mikayla Petrilla: So if you're listening in real time, go check that out immediately. It is almost sold out. It is Broadway, it is punk, it is chaos, it is catharsis, and frankly, it feels very Tea Time. So pour yourself something strong, emotionally caffeinated, and please enjoy the conversation with Matt.

[1:32] Mikayla Petrilla: Welcome to Tea Time. Matt, I am so happy to have you here.

[1:36] Matt Copley: Thank you for having me.

[1:37] Mikayla Petrilla: Thanks for coming again because you filmed an episode earlier today in the same space, which is awesome. Important tea question first. What is your drink of choice to keep you fueled for a day? Is it tea, coffee?

[1:49] Matt Copley: It's black coffee. Black drip coffee.

[1:53] Mikayla Petrilla: Ooh, black drip. Okay, okay. Something a little just like to really kickstart my day and wake me up. And that's what I found works best.

[2:01] Mikayla Petrilla: You know, I hear that. I get that. And you know why? You're probably saving money in the long term.

[2:01] Matt Copley: I don't know.

[2:01] Mikayla Petrilla: In the long term.

[2:08] Matt Copley: I hope so.

[2:09] Matt Copley: I'm hitting myself with espresso and I'm like, I need more.

[2:12] Matt Copley: That's the thing with espresso drinks, too, is like, yeah, it hits me good for like 30 minutes and then I'm like crashing.

[2:18] Matt Copley: And drip is like hot, so hot enough where I can just like keep sipping it for like a long time.

[2:23] Mikayla Petrilla: Yeah, it kind of sounds like this steady like buzz, if you will.

[2:27] Matt Copley: A steady buzz, if you will, is correct.

[2:29] Matt Copley: And then it's like you don't have to worry about the sugar crashes if you're drinking it black, which is great.

[2:34] Matt Copley: You still get a little bitter taste.

[2:36] Mikayla Petrilla: Okay, so when somebody asks you what you do, how do you answer?

[2:40] Matt Copley: That's a really good question. I usually say I'm a singer or I say I'm an artist. That's kind of, yeah.

[2:45] Mikayla Petrilla: Do you think of yourself as like a musician first, theater person first, or is it the multi-hyphenate life?

[2:52] Matt Copley: That's a really good question. I think just based on the last few years of my life, I identify more with like musicians, like I'm a singer, like I'm an artist or a musician first. But based on like my life as a whole, I'm definitely a multi-hyphenate kind of person.

[3:06] Mikayla Petrilla: That's the way to go. That is the way the industry is going right now.

[3:09] Matt Copley: That is definitely me, too.

[3:11] Mikayla Petrilla: So we've got to like integrate all the different parts of ourselves. Everyone needs to be every role ever right now.

[3:17] Matt Copley: So yeah, I think like that's just that's just the life and a creative person.

[3:21] Mikayla Petrilla: Yes. Well, we were talking about Peter before and he was saying that especially with Broadway shows now, the casts are so much smaller that it's like you need to be able to do so many things. Like you're always looking for these unicorns, not to say you need to create extra skills where there aren't before unless you're genuinely interested. But every part of what you do is going to tie into the parts that you get, which I think is great.

[3:44] Matt Copley: Yeah. Okay, let's start with the obvious. How does a musical theater kid get into the guy making Broadway punk covers?

[3:51] Matt Copley: It's a culmination of how I grew up. I grew up in like community theater shows. My mom directed a bunch of she got me into it at a really young age. And then I did like, you know, the traditional theater kid track I did in middle school and my high school shows. And we had this little community theater stuff along the way. But at the same time, I was really into like Warped Tour kind of bands like emo bands like All Time Low and Mayday Parade and Sleeping with Sirens.

[4:18] Matt Copley: Yeah, so it was like all those Warped Tour bands, if you will, that I grew up with that was just my music taste. But I never thought of melding, I guess, the two together until much later in my life. But both of those things were introduced to me so young. And then I kind of grew my love for both of those in tandem along the way. And yeah, in 2020 or 2021, we finally got the first kind of taste of both worlds, I guess.

[4:46] Matt Copley: Yeah, she would not be able to tell from me. But growing up in Jersey, they would have Warped Tour and Bonnaroo at a Six Flags Great Adventure every summer. And I would go like I was I had a season pass so I could see All Time Low. I could see Good Charlotte. And I was like wearing this weird looking Avril Lavigne denim black vest. I was like, this is me. But it was so good.

[5:11] Mikayla Petrilla: Highlight of your summer of your childhood.

[5:13] Matt Copley: And dude, those are not a roller coaster and see All Time Low. Like, please.

[5:17] Mikayla Petrilla: Yeah. The fact that it was at Six Flags is honestly iconic because it is kooky.

[5:18] Matt Copley: It is kooky.

[5:23] Mikayla Petrilla: You grew up in Michigan.

[5:24] Matt Copley: Yeah.

[5:25] Mikayla Petrilla: Yeah. And Michigan at Warped Tours held at a couple different places. But it was normally just like a big like arenas parking lot. So it wasn't as cool as Six Flags.

[5:33] Matt Copley: But no, but it's so cool. I love that. What was your favorite musical theater show when you were a kid? Your favorite role to play? What was your like theater boy special?

[5:44] Matt Copley: This is so crazy. But I was in my high school theater's production of Tarzan. And dude, I was like for like a year.

[5:54] Matt Copley: Oh, yeah. For like a year or two, dude. I was into Phil Collins and like everything up his alley. Like going back to like Genesis. And then like also I became like theater kid obsessed with Tarzan and Phil Collins.

[6:08] Mikayla Petrilla: As you should.

[6:09] Matt Copley: For like a year. It was like weird. But it was fun.

[6:12] Mikayla Petrilla: No, it's not weird. You know what? Also, I went to my good friend's wedding. Her father-daughter dance was to "You'll Be in My Heart." And I was like Phil Collins.

[6:24] Matt Copley: Dude, Phil Collins is that guy.

[6:26] Mikayla Petrilla: Phil Collins like came for this wedding. It was like it is Tarzan. It is Phil Collins on the speaker.

[6:34] Matt Copley: We got so many good hits from him, but I don't think we will ever have enough. Like I wish he was still actively writing a bunch of stuff.

[6:42] Matt Copley: Yeah. Yeah, he's insane. And the fact that Disney got him to do the whole soundtrack is just like it was unreal.

[6:49] Mikayla Petrilla: The fact that you got to sing that through your high school years as well. It's like that's so sick.

[6:54] Matt Copley: That's so sick.

[6:55] Mikayla Petrilla: Yeah, it was silly. But it was I mean, that was very formative for me in my youth.

[7:00] Matt Copley: Yes.

[7:01] Mikayla Petrilla: Yes. Impressionable youths by Phil Collins.

[7:04] Matt Copley: And that's funny that it was Tarzan too. Because otherwise you're watching videos of Phil Collins and Genesis. And it's just him in like the most dad-like business casual attire. Like he's wearing a vest while he's doing "In the Air Tonight." And you're like, what? Like, yes, Phil.

[7:19] Matt Copley: That is decidedly not punk, but decidedly informing a whole generation of you can do it all.

[7:25] Mikayla Petrilla: Dude, yeah, you can do it all. Absolutely.

[7:27] Matt Copley: Yeah. Yeah.

[7:30] Mikayla Petrilla: Yes. Okay. Tarzan, Phil Collins, All Time Low. This is what went into your stew.

[7:35] Matt Copley: Stew? Ew.

[7:36] Mikayla Petrilla: We can't say salad because of the diarrhea virus. Favorite punk bands?

[7:42] Matt Copley: All Time Low. Sleeping with Sirens. I mean, I think I think they were when I was younger, for sure.

[7:47] Mikayla Petrilla: What are they now?

[7:48] Matt Copley: Now? Oh, man, there's just there's so many. I really like this band Colorblind. We toured with them a couple years ago. They're amazing. They're they're on the come up. They're hot and new and young. They're awesome.

[7:58] Mikayla Petrilla: Okay. Shout out, Travis.

[8:00] Matt Copley: And I really like I'm so back at like, remember it because I follow my Spotify playlist. And like these days, like I just listen to like curated stuff and then like save my favorites. I'm trying to think off the top of my head without pulling my phone out. Oh, there's this new band called Breakaway with three K's. All in one word. Breakaway.

[8:15] Mikayla Petrilla: Yeah.

[8:16] Matt Copley: No, but they're super sick. They're like heavy, chonky, riffy guitars. But it's like this, like this woman singer that's incredibly soft, but powerful. It's so cool.

[8:30] Matt Copley: I love The Plot In You is a band that is also from Toledo, Michigan area. And they've been a band for a very long time. But they're most recently getting like this crazy success. They just went on tour with Bring Me The Horizon, opening them for like, like two years straight, basically. And they're really cool. They're really heavy, but they're really, they're really unique. They're really unique. And I enjoy them.

[8:54] Mikayla Petrilla: I love that. Yeah, that's great. Back to when you were young, were you dressing like a theater kid? Were you a theater kid? Or were you dressing punk? Because I'm thinking like, I know like Three Days Grace. I was like all into it. And I was like, I can't escape this. I'm wearing an outfit from Kohl's. And it's like, was there a dissonance there for you as well? Or were you fully like, I'm locked in?

[9:15] Matt Copley: Oh, there was a dissonance for sure. I mean, I would like be adventurous and wear like the Hot Topic studded belts. You know, like the Hot Topic Spencer special. PacSun jeans, American Eagle t-shirts. Dude, this is perfect.

[9:35] Matt Copley: I mean, hey, it was never a phase. It was never a phase. But yeah, no. So I definitely like got adventurous here and there. But no, I was I was like a kind of geeky, just theater kid. There was my seventh grade year of school. The entire year, I wore the same sweatshirt every single day. And I don't know why, why or why I did that. It was like this disgusting, like blue.

[10:00] Matt Copley: Disgusting. I don't know. I don't know. But yeah, my clothing and my fashion taste as a kid was interesting.

[10:08] Mikayla Petrilla: We're all figuring it out.

[10:09] Matt Copley: Yeah.

[10:10] Mikayla Petrilla: My mom cut my bangs for a long time.

[10:12] Matt Copley: Hell yeah.

[10:13] Mikayla Petrilla: You know, we get to where we need to be. But look how well put you are now.

[10:17] Matt Copley: Oh, thank you.

[10:18] Mikayla Petrilla: It was great then, too. It is a journey to discovery. So speaking of discovery, what was the first Broadway song that you were like? This could be punk.

[10:24] Matt Copley: I guess it was the first one I really put out, which was "Defying Gravity."

[10:29] Mikayla Petrilla: Yeah.

[10:30] Matt Copley: Just the lyrics of it. I was like, dude, like, she's so angsty. Like, she's you know, she's got a lot to say here. I mean, obviously. But I was like, I feel I was like, there's we can make this instrumental nasty. And like, put some like chonky guitars behind it. And really, like, give some grit to this vocal performance. And like, make it a make it make it like an angsty pop punk song.

[10:52] Mikayla Petrilla: And you did. I'm not going to lie. Before I knew you, I was helping out at a Schmackary's. And I came on and I was like, what? Wait, are you serious?

[10:59] Matt Copley: Yes. Yeah.

[11:00] Mikayla Petrilla: They had it on a Schmackary's.

[11:02] Matt Copley: Oh, my God.

[11:03] Mikayla Petrilla: Oh, my God. This is sick.

[11:05] Matt Copley: Shout out Schmackary's.

[11:06] Mikayla Petrilla: I was trying to serve cookies. And I was like, uh, uh, uh. I just miss myself because this is great. But yeah, you're, you're playing live on the Schmackary's.

[11:16] Matt Copley: Okay. All right. Shout out Schmackary's, man. Thank you.

[11:20] Mikayla Petrilla: So did Broadway Does Punk, was that a strategy, a joke, an experiment, or like an artistic need for you?

[11:26] Matt Copley: It was an experiment. For sure. It stemmed from, of all places, like a marketing. Because TikTok was huge during the pandemic, right? And it blew up and everyone thinks. So we were trying to find, I was in a band, Unwell, because of that we just formed in 20 during the pandemic. And then we recorded our first.

[11:41] Matt Copley: Yes, yes, yes.

[11:42] Mikayla Petrilla: Yes. It says Unwell right here.

[11:44] Matt Copley: Yes. And that's why my handle is Mattis Unwell as well.

[11:47] Matt Copley: As well, Unwell.

[11:48] Mikayla Petrilla: He is Unwell as well.

[11:50] Matt Copley: But my band recorded a new EP. And with our label, we were trying to figure out like a good marketing plan for the music. And we were trying to figure out like what was authentic and like unique to me and the band as a whole. And I was like, well, I have a degree in musical theater, but I mean, I'm in this like post-hardcore band. Like, it'd be funny to combine those two.

[12:11] Matt Copley: And that's literally all it was. It was just like, that's the idea. And my bandmates weren't super stoked about it because they're not like very forwardly theater or Broadway people.

[12:19] Mikayla Petrilla: Forwardly.

[12:20] Matt Copley: Yeah. Not forwardly. Yeah. We got them on board and I was just like, let's just do one. And if it hits, like it hits and we'll, and we'll ride that wave. But if it doesn't, we'll never have to do it again. And then that was "Defying Gravity." And it hit. And here we are.

[12:34] Mikayla Petrilla: It hit.

[12:35] Matt Copley: Yeah. Well, I feel like musical theater people and people that are into punk both have like secretly very, or maybe not secretly, very intense feelings.

[12:42] Mikayla Petrilla: Is that the overlap?

[12:43] Matt Copley: It has to. I mean, yeah.

[12:45] Matt Copley: From what I've, you know, come to hear and see from a lot of people online is emo music is very wear your heart on your sleeve. I mean, so is Broadway. I mean, it's, it's all story. Right.

[12:52] Mikayla Petrilla: Yeah.

[12:56] Matt Copley: It's all story and it's all about your, the emotions that are so forward and how you perform. And I think that is like a big part of the overlap. And also I feel like theater, I'm speaking very generically here, but people that were up in the Warped Tour emo phase were also like kind of, they felt or were seen as like outsiders, I guess, or outcasts from like the sports kids in high school or whatever. I feel like that's the same.

[13:16] Matt Copley: I think that's a kind of vibe that theater kids also got. I was part of the drama club in high school, not sports. I feel like there is a lot of overlap in those communities and feeling like outsiders. To combine both of those two, it just makes one super group.

[13:30] Mikayla Petrilla: Truly. That's so well said. I'm thinking about, not to go back to the dissonance, but being so emotionally free listening to emo music, but then also next on the shuffle on your iPod Nano is Seussical. You're like, oh my god. In both elements, I feel seen in so many different ways. I'm crying. We talked about chunky guitars, but what makes musical theater songs work in a rock or punk arrangement? How do you have to rearrange it or what already works? What do you think?

[14:01] Matt Copley: There's not one answer. Each song is so uniquely different. That's what I love about this project as a whole too. Each of these musical theater writers and composers have their own unique flair and the way they write and the melodies they write and the lyrics they write. Each song truly is its own unique approach to how I'm going to arrange it. Some songs, I have to really dig in there and rearrange things, cut things, just basically make it into a pop song kind of structure. Other songs, Defying Gravity are really just made for it. The melodies are very poppy. Maybe I'll repeat an extra chorus just for funsies or stuff like that. There's a good mix of I have to do, I want to rearrange a lot and stuff where I'm like, I really don't have to change anything.

I'll just sing it like how I sing it and add some heavy guitars to it and call it a day. I don't think the amount of work I have to put into arranging or not arranging really defies or defines how successful it's going to be. I think it's just the luck of the draw. Some songs really hit and some don't as much, but regardless, they're all fun.

[15:04] Rebekah Manley: That's a really fun experiment to be like, okay, I want to try this composer's work or I want to try this musical and it might be more or less of a challenge to rearrange it. But what a fun thing to do.

[15:16] Nick Loper: I'll tell you what, Sondheim is the one that's like the hardest by far. I'm sure you could probably guess that. But like, I've only tried I did one Sweeney Todd cover online. Yeah, that one wasn't so bad, but I've tried a lot. And there's a lot that are sitting in the recycling bin at home. So it's hard to at least online for like 30 second clips and songs that like usually do well or go viral. It needs to be like catchy and repeatable or like something that and that's just like Sondheim does not really write like that. Yeah, which is awesome, which is beautiful. It's just like not as it's so hard to do what I do to that kind of.

[15:55] Rebekah Manley: You certainly can like, I'm picturing some screamo elements of this and it's just so hard when there's a lot of patter like your fault could be so fun. But then it's like, you can't have any of the patter you're just like, it's your fault.

[16:09] Nick Loper: Yeah, and I'm sure you know, down the line, there will be more Sondheim stuff that I do. It'll just require a lot more time and creativity I think on my part to dig in there.

[16:23] Rebekah Manley: So do you have a present core team? Are you still working with your band? Or how do you approach from start to finish? Like I want to work on this song. Here's what I'm gonna do.

[16:33] Nick Loper: Yeah, I still work with the same people I've worked with from the beginning. So it's me and I have two writing partners, Drew Bender and Chris Mandel. And they are also in UNWELL with me. They're my bandmates. And I went to high school with Chris. Yes. But Drew's Drew and Chris are producers and recording engineers full time for like bands, different rock bands, metal, all kinds of genres. But that's kind of like their day jobs. And so but they're there's been my writing partners throughout this process from the start of this project. And yeah, so every week, I'll text them and I'll be like, Okay, so this week, like, I want to do this song. Here's the cut. Let's figure it out. And then we just take like six to eight hours and rip it out. And that's it. We've got it down to like a pretty good process now. Right? For the most part.

[17:15] Rebekah Manley: Yeah, once you can establish process, it's like, let's bake it out. But now you just moved to New York.

[17:16] Nick Loper: Yeah, yeah. So will that look different for you? Or are we on Zoom?

[17:24] Nick Loper: Honestly, not a ton because we already worked pretty remotely. Okay. Because yeah, we just do everything like on Zoom or on FaceTime.

[17:33] Rebekah Manley: But beautiful if you can get that to your science.

[17:36] Nick Loper: Yeah, because I mean, well, they'll start writing the guitars or the drums or something and I'll just be on FaceTime. And if I have notes or I want a certain part to go a certain way, I'll just tell them and then we'll listen to the send their files back over to me to cut the vocals and like do production elements on it and send it back for them to mix and then that's that. So it is a lot of back and forth and communicating. But like we've been doing it for the past like year or two already just like that. So it's it's moving here hasn't really changed a ton.

[18:00] Rebekah Manley: That's great. What tools are using like Audacity or you're just like getting stems from the different tracks and plugging it into?

[18:05] Nick Loper: Yeah, we use different DAWs or digital audio workstations. So I work in Pro Tools. They work in a program called Cubase. There's a bunch of Logic, there's Reaper, there's a bunch of other programs.

[18:15] Rebekah Manley: Is Audacity still even a thing? Or is that like 20 years ago?

[18:18] Nick Loper: I don't know. I really don't know. I think I think so.

[18:21] Rebekah Manley: I have such a limited scope of audio engineering like you lab I know a little bit, but I don't even know.

[18:27] Nick Loper: Oh, no, you're good. Yeah, it's just it's all the same.

[18:30] Rebekah Manley: Logic, but then I'm really just like adding a little reverb on my self tapes if I need to.

[18:35] Nick Loper: That's all you need. I mean, it's like these programs are so complex, but like at the end of the day, like you only use what you need to get out of those programs. Like I probably only use like, less than 1% of the features that it can do because all I need to do is record my vocals and write send them to Drew the producer to, you know, make them sound great. So like, I don't really, yeah, they're awesome. My writers are awesome. But yeah, that's how that's how I like that. That's how our workflow kind of works. It's just a lot of sending stems, like individual stems and like stuff and then he makes him he mixes it and masters it makes it sound all pretty.

[19:06] Rebekah Manley: Yeah.

[19:07] Nick Loper: Yeah.

[19:08] Rebekah Manley: Okay, so when you post talk me through and this might be a whole other section. TikTok culture help a girl out help us all out. Like I'm trying to make videos I'm trying to do musical parody videos, whatever. Let's just use that as an example. Okay, do you lip sync over yourself over the track? Or are you singing like, what do you do to make videos?

[19:28] Nick Loper: Oh, do I lip sync? Okay. I don't try to hide it. Yeah, I'm not I'm not I'm not out here trying to sell a fake product. No, I'm thinking on those for sure.

[19:38] Rebekah Manley: Okay, because I'm always wondering I'm like, do I just lip sync over myself or like your videos and this for a fully produced track this may be might not be the same example, but you hear people like singing in their bathroom and you're like, Oh my god, they sound so good. The audio so clear. And I'm like, I don't know, their throat just doesn't look like it's tight enough. It's not even the breathing because you can tell they're breathing. But I'm like, you just seem to relax to be hitting that note. I think you're lip syncing.

[20:05] Nick Loper: Dude, I'll tell you what.

[20:06] Rebekah Manley: Fine, like pop off. Yeah, but I just need to know like, should I be doing?

[20:11] Nick Loper: Oh, dude. I mean, there's no right or wrong there. Like as far as like, if it's gonna be if it's gonna hit online or not, like there's plenty of people that are completely acoustic, not edited that really hit because they're amazing performers. And there's way more than you think that are definitely edited and like, definitely and people get are really, really good at it, especially like, some people can record the videos live, like if I'm going to record a cover right here right now, and then we can just pull the audio and like, and then edit it, edit this audio and then just like dub it over the video because then it actually is the live performance, but it's actually just edited.

[20:43] Rebekah Manley: Right. So then it's synced.

[20:44] Nick Loper: Yeah, yeah. So there's a there's a bunch of different ways you can go about editing it. And just depends how much work you want to put into it and how much stuff but for me, I mean, it's just the fact that my tracks are so produced that like, if I was gonna try and do that live, it would sound like crap, dude. Like, I've tried, I've tried. Trust me, like, there's and there's, it's just like, I saw this really good video from this voice teacher in New York recently. And he said something's like, Yes, you're live video or your videos from your show or from whatever are not gonna or your concert are not going to sound. And if they sound bad to you online or on your phone video, like, that's okay.

That's not how you actually sound. Thank you for saying that. It's just like, it's so isolated on your phone video. It's not how the room sounds. It's not how like, you know, especially if it's pulled directly from the board and not any processing through it. Like, yeah, dude, there is so many. I guess what I'm trying to say is like, everything online more than you know, is edited. Yes. And there's no shame in it as long as you're not claiming that it's unedited when you're not picking yourself apart, which is me Hello, because we're talking about this with human and I'm curious what you think self taping is the number one most heinous thing for me and in my mental health journey, let's say, because when you are singing for a Broadway stage or for a concert venue, but you're in the confines of your apartment with your iPhone camera, something about the audio feature on the iPhone camera, the way it distorts the sound or picks up the sound, I sound like a freak.

And I'm like, why am I in this industry? Like, I spiraled this week, because I was like, watching this self tape, and they wanted you to sing pop rock. I'm like, I sound like a hag and a half. Like I can't send this. And then the next day, I went in for a callback. And I was like, Oh, actually, you know, I feel good about this. I feel empowered and grounded. But it's also because you know, Apple Studios, you have acoustics and you can like, trust in that or if you're picking up a stem for your production, like they just know how to edit it. But then I'll go on my self tape. And I'm like, Alright, like, let me see if I can just like overlay this with the stem of the instrumental and just balance the sound so it sounds less bad.

Yeah, I don't know what I'm doing. So it sounds even worse. I sound like this. I'm like, no one cares. I need to let this go. But there's just so many different elements involved with production that you can't like pick apart. You gotta like outsource it or just like let it be what it's gonna be. But yeah, I mean, that's kind of like what we were talking about earlier where they're all productions and casting. Everyone's just asking you to wear so many different hats now or just being an artist in general. It demands so much from you in all different aspects of it. And I think it's such a hot topic right now, especially when it comes to self taping. Like, you're supposed to, you know, edit your audio and have the lighting figured out and be a video editor and do all you're supposed to wear all these hats just to get a self tape in to maybe get an in person appointment kind of thing.

And it has to be perfect. Yeah, yeah. The casting directors and production team, you're like, no, please just be yourself. But then you're watching it and you're like, but this doesn't feel like myself. So now I have to edit it to make it myself. But now it's less myself because it's edited. Dude, exactly. But then if you submit it and no one sees it, let's say it's bad. That's living on your breakdown forever because it clicks at past auditions. Oh, I called her in for this. Oh, my anxiety. I am told that we don't have to read that deeply into it, but that is one version of the reality of it. So you're like, yeah, no, I think there's definitely the two types of people that either love self tapes or hate self tapes.

And I don't know which is more, but I'm definitely on that. I would rather be in person all day long because I just know because for me, self taping, I know for others like self taping is great because you can take your time and you can get as many takes as you want to get the right one. But for me, that's my downfall is like I will keep taking and taking and taking for like eight hours. And then I'm like, I spent a whole day doing this like 30 second cut to maybe not even get an appointment. So it's like that's just that's just not something I would rather go in person and blow it. And I like have that half hour of my day back, you know.

[24:41] Nick Loper: And then it's as well, like you said, when you're doing the production of your songs, but then in person, it may sound different. There are some roles like I have been talking to a couple of Glinda's lately. So let's use that as an example. Like, girl, those high notes are a hope and a prayer. And you have to be training yourself to sing it every day and have that muscle memory in or else it, you know, you're not sure Chapel Rowan was like, yeah, I can't sing my own songs. It was great in the studio. It was an experience that I can share with people. But for consistency, it's like you may only have like one or two of those in you a day. And that's normal. That's okay. So to be able to have to like fine tune and edit and be like, I'm just not so happy about that thing and then do it and do it and do it again.

It's like the self editing, it can be helpful if you're producing art, as you said, not to say self tapes aren't art, but that's supposed to be just like a fragment of the experience of getting to know you versus like, this is a finished product.

[25:37] Matt Copley: Exactly. So it's very, very, very different animals. Yeah, it's like so hard to divorce those two things. Yeah, it's Yeah, the age of technology and self tapes and music production as a whole has come a long way just since the pandemic. But to be a creator online of music creator online right now, you really have to be versatile and so much.

[25:51] Nick Loper: Yeah. Do you do lives?

[25:57] Matt Copley: I mean, not really. I really I've been trying to get better at that because I would love to incorporate that the more I establish or grow online, but I don't do like live performances online there. Because I am self conscious about you know, performing from the iPhone audio feed or like hooking it all up so like I can get a mic to but but I think like, at the end of the day, I don't want to perform online. Like I want to perform for an actual audience. And so I'm not incredibly interested I guess in like doing live performances online.

[26:32] Mikayla Petrilla: Good to hear because there is such a, as we figure out the online world and how it uplifts you and the work you're doing, but also figuring out like, this is what aspects of that bring me joy versus like, this is not for me. And it doesn't have to be. All the TikTok lives are like people like doing ASMR. Maybe that's not us today.

[26:53] Matt Copley: Yeah. And there's something else too. Like I don't think, especially for theater, and I know we'll probably talk about the show I'm doing in October later, but like, there's a lot of people asking for like a live stream of that. And I don't want to do it because it's like if you're going to live stream like a Broadway show to me, it's like, sure, like, yes, there's a point where like, it'll make it accessible to a lot more people. But that's not the experience of the show. I want people to see like, I really want people to be in those seats. And not from like a selfish, like producer standpoint, like I, the vision for the whole show, like you need to be you need to feel the surround sound of like, the characters I created, you need to hear like the band and feel the bass in your chest.

That's what I want. That's the experience I want to give to my audience. I don't want them to like, be watching it on their iPhone, like on their commute to wherever. Like that's that's not this, it's not at all the same. Like I put so much work and effort into building my audience online. But at the same time, I'm like trying to create this live experience to heighten this project like the next level. And that's trying, I'm trying to build that aspect of that right now. And I think that's wonderful. You sometimes you really just need the bass to like vibrate inside of your bones. Like I feel like that is such an oddly cathartic thing. Like I have never felt more like free and embodied when I just like literally feel my body shake from the music that's around me, which like might sound crazy. But like, it really is like some sort of like weird vibrational healing. I'm into it.

[28:27] Matt Copley: No, it is. It takes you out of like you're bought out of your mind, honestly, and you know, beautiful in a great way. Like and that's, I mean, that's why there's so many people at Warped Tour, like in mosh pits sweating next to a bunch of other sweaty big dudes, because they just love that experience of feeling the music in their whole like being and being surrounded by other humans and people that connect with the music the way they do. And that's exactly what I'm trying to show I'm doing. So yeah, online creation is a catalyst to then bring people kind of home to a community in person, which is great. It's like a great freaking night, which let's talk about it.

[29:00] Mikayla Petrilla: Sure. Let's talk about it. So it started online. Now it's becoming a full theatrical rock concert experience. Like, when did you realize this was bigger than a set of videos? Was it always in the pipeline?

[29:10] Matt Copley: It was in the back of my mind for a little while, but I never had the time or I guess interest to really pursue it like head on like full on and something I talked about with Alan was I never do anything half assed or like just a little bit like everything I do creatively has to be like to the fullest extent. Yeah. So I knew if I wanted to do a live experience or a live concert show, I wanted it to be the full thing. So I was waiting for the right time. And finally, this year, the stars kind of aligned where my schedule opened up pretty widely. And this series was getting big again online and having a lot of hot online moments where I was like, Okay, this is this year's the time and from like February till now, I just kind of been assembling the dream team to make this the show happen.

[29:54] Mikayla Petrilla: Yeah, and get it all lined up. Yeah. Tell me more about the dream team.

[29:59] Matt Copley: There's Okay, so there's a lot of cool people. I'm really excited about the production elements because I've been from the start. I've been calling this the perfect fusion of a Broadway musical and a rock concert. Yeah, so it's in a so the contents of the show is like a rock concert. You know, we've got the full rock band. We've got like a light show. We've got like the video LED walls that have like, they're like panels like the panels. Yeah, and they're so they're like, they're called blow through panels. So they're like, they're just so cool. There's really cool effects. Yes, which I've never been able to perform with yet. So I'm super excited to see all those elements come together. I've seen all the creatives so far.

And I'm stoked to see it just all come together. But so the production team, the production manager, his name is Jeff maker. He's worked with all time low. He's a mega death I prevail. He's like, okay, he's like, he's like in the rock arena. Yeah, world. He's been doing it for like over 20 years. So he's production managing the entire show. What a great dude.

[30:48] Mikayla Petrilla: I know. He's the man. So like this. So the energy the show is bringing from the get go from the start is like the rock arena. Yeah. But the Broadway elements kind of come in with the set design is it's a huge design like a Broadway musical. And then a venue we're playing it in Abrams Arts Center, their playhouse theater. It's a proscenium theater. So it's a seated audience. So that is the one thing we're calling these two shows or three shows technically over two nights. We're calling them the proof of concept for the international and national tour that we want to do next year. So we're testing. So one of the things we're testing and looking at, among many things is the audio like the venue type.

So I wanted it specifically to be my vision for this whole production is to have it be a part of like each city's like Detroit's and Los Angeles and Buffalo's like their Broadway in city. So like their Broadway in Detroit is what Detroit calls it. So like in each season, each city has like their season subscribers that like have the touring Broadway shows come through. And it's kind of my dream to have Broadway does punk like a one night event or like a special offering for these subscriptions and all these different markets. So in that vision, like it's proscenium theaters, it's like big seated auditoriums. And so that's why we're testing out this venue type here to see if that will work because the other side, it's kind of hard to know, because the other side of this audience is like the rock concert.

It's like work for us, like all general mission, like mosh pits, like, you know, just standing room only kind of stuff. And so moving forward after October, like there is an idea where like we try that kind of thing out next and see if that works better for the show or for if the seated Broadway kind of traditional proscenium theater is going to work best. And we don't have the answer, but that's what we're going to find out in October and get some feedback. And because because it's a rock concert, I'm not sure if people are going to want to like get up out of the seats and like mosh or if they're going to want to like sit back and enjoy.

[32:42] Mikayla Petrilla: Well, there is depending on the proscenium space, if there is an area for a pit in the front, which there usually isn't always. I think there might be a little bit, but it'll be helpful to because like pretend you're at MSG without the arena, like without the. Oh, my God, what are you called? The fourth, the four seats. Yeah. Pretend there are no four seats. Like people will get up when they need to get up, when they know it's time to like rock out. I guess my my thought for this, what's your transition between numbers? Because would that be like an audience sit down and then get back up again?

[33:10] Matt Copley: Yeah, that's that's a that's a good question. I so right now it's it's pretty much just there's no overarching narrative. So it's not like a musical, like a show show. It's more like a concert. But the transition transition. Oh, my God, that word is so hard. Transitions are just musical interludes. And then there also is like this. We created this animated narrator character. That's like an evil little jester kind of guy. Yeah. So he kind of pops up in between some transitions throughout the show just to kind of like move things along. And not no narrative involved. He's just like, he says some shit. It's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, he is the chaos. That is him, dude. He kind of creates some chaos, dude. Oh, my God. So yeah, no, it should be it should be really cool. It's a it's a cool mix of both worlds. And that's what we're testing in October to see what works, what doesn't and adjust for when we go to tour it.

[33:59] Mikayla Petrilla: I love that. Do you have what numbers are you most especially excited about? Can you tell us or is it still a secret?

[34:11] Matt Copley: Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty much anything. Almost all the stuff that's on Spotify that I've released officially is going to be performed. Great. So I'm excited for Phantom. Defying Gravity. I'm really excited to do. We're going to open the show with the greatest showman or the greatest show from the Grisham. So there's I mean, there's a ton the set list is like 14 songs or 15 songs. It's an hour hour long. And that's it. So super easy. So like no breaks like breezy. Yeah, there's no openers or anything like that. Like it's just a one hour event experience. Because it is a proof of concept. Like I don't want to do like a two hour show if people aren't enjoying, you know, so they're going to enjoy it.

I know. But I also I get that because people's attention spans are also a little difficult to keep on in the age of like, internet culture, everyone probably has a little like touch of yes, for sure. For sure. touch. So it's like, you know, most shows now like you have to earn the intermission. So then to have it just like an hour long, like boom, let's go high energy. Yeah, dude, it is like high energy the entire time. And there's there really is no I mean, there's there's a lot of dynamics in the music that we chose to play. But like, it is just an hour packed of just really cool stuff. And the production elements that Jeff's making are just like, even if you don't like I've been telling people this, even if you don't like my music, and you come to this show, you will have an amazing time just watching the production elements.

Yeah, it's so cool. dopamine hits abound between the animation and the light panels. Like I I'm already so excited for this. Yeah, it'd be great. Are you singing lead for all of these songs? Or do you have special guests? And what does that look like?

[35:44] Matt Copley: Yeah, I'm doing I'm singing on every song. But I do have special guests joining on certain songs. Yeah, we're hopefully going to be announcing those later this month. Good. So I'll time that out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It might. It might just work out perfectly. Yeah. announced when this podcast drops, maybe. Yay, I love that. So let's talk about you being the lead vocalist of fun. Well, like, okay, what did touring with the band teach you about performing that musical theater didn't?

[36:13] Matt Copley: Honestly, this is gonna sound so like against everything I was ever taught or you're taught in a theater program. But it's like, I, the biggest thing for me was to, I guess, not baby my voice. That's the biggest thing I've I learned. Yeah, personally. And yes, like, of course, you have to take care of it. You have to get your sleep and your water and all those things. Like, I'm not discrediting any of that. But you also have to take risks and take chances if you want to, like, change or like see progress and become a better performer. And that part of touring with and well, I mean, just joining the band in general, like a post hardcore band from going from a theater program to a post hardcore band was a huge adjustment in itself.

And so it took me a lot of trial and error to figure out what my voice was going to be and what how I wanted my vocal quality to kind of be in the band and then touring in like a tiny especially because the band started off like very small and DIY we toured in a 40 350 van with bunks built in the back. So like, and we drove everywhere ourselves like on full us tours. So like we would our daily schedule was just insane. And we would sleep in planet fitness parking lots and stuff. Yeah, because planet fitness has free showers. I mean, if you remember, yeah, yeah. So yeah, I mean, but yeah, dude. So I mean, just touring in general. It really put me touring like that, like with no hotels and like no air conditioning and the planet fitness dude, it is you buy the black card for like 25 bucks a month.

Yeah. And then you have a shower every day you can work out if you feel like it at least from the Yeah, dude. Yeah. So and they most will let you sleep in their parking lots. This is innovative, dude. Yeah. And it's 25 bucks. Because I'll tell you what, if you go to like loves or any or pilot or flying J or any pilot like truck stop those hours are like 30 bucks a pop, which are crazy, which we've done if we've had you but like 25 bucks a month for unlimited showers, dude, that has been is all day long. Let's play a sponsorship. I am so I'm still a member. Good. Remember, I still love I mean, I no shade to them at all. Do they they have come in clutch for us and it's air conditioned. So if it's our van didn't have air conditioning one summer. So like, no, we would just go chill in the planet fitness for until our loading.

[38:25] Mikayla Petrilla: That is your home. That is your third space.

[38:25] Matt Copley: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, touring like that. Yeah, like it puts a lot on your voice and you will never get that experience unless you do that. And so I lost my voice plenty of times because I wasn't sleeping because I was driving to like four in the morning and then I get up at 10 to load in or whatever it was. So I think just like going through the ringer and really conditioning my voice in that awful way. kind of taught myself to kind of figure out what works and what doesn't in terms of the qualities I can use in my voice. And yeah, so as far as taking care of yourself, clearly planet fitness prevails. Like if you're tired, sleep at the bunker, like you just foam roll that out.

[39:03] Mikayla Petrilla: Oh, yeah. Did you end up having to do legs of your tour so you can have like a few days to recover before you do the next city? Or were you just like, let's go.

[39:14] Matt Copley: So honestly, a lot of the touring on well does is support. So we as a support band, we don't decide the tour routing. It's all the headliners agents and their responsibilities. So we literally and we get offered like a support slot. So when we take an offer, they'll send us the route or we can send an offer. They'll send us the routing and the dates and they'll basically say if you want it or not. So we have no control over like the scheduling of it.

[39:49] Matt Copley: But like a general rule of thumb is like four days on one day off is like a pretty typical schedule.

[39:54] Mikayla Petrilla: Dang. Is that one day off like traveling to a new city?

[39:56] Matt Copley: Because the one day off that the agent from the agent's point of view, it's like traveling, that that's an extra day to travel from, you know, San Diego to Phoenix or like San Diego to somewhere in Texas like El Paso or like Houston. So it's like you get one extra day of travel. But yeah, you are driving that entire day. Or from like Denver to Salt Lake is notorious.

[40:15] Mikayla Petrilla: How did you live?

[40:16] Matt Copley: Dude, you live in your van.

[40:18] Mikayla Petrilla: Like did you?

[40:19] Matt Copley: You like crap.

[40:20] Mikayla Petrilla: Dude, it's tough, dude. Because I mean, and to give you I'll be transparent. Like, yeah, in the early days, we were making like 200 bucks a night. Like 250, maybe 300, like in the early days of a guarantee, right? And then we would live off our merch money, basically, because that's how any band makes money. That's from the merch. And because everyone, all their managers, their booking agents, and anyone else involved in your team, they have business managers or lawyers, they all get percentages off the top. Right. And so but the only one that has a merch cut is you guys is the band itself. So that's where we'll take merch money and like, you know, go to a fancy dinner every now and then or on a day off, if we have time, we'll go to a movie or something. But you are, like, at least on the touring level that we were at is it's tough, dude. It is like you're living a very nomadic life.

[41:05] Mikayla Petrilla: You know, if it's worth it for the art for the project. It's like you got a hustle.

[41:09] Matt Copley: Yeah.

[41:10] Mikayla Petrilla: And that's the thing. Me and the guys, we never doubted or questioned that lifestyle at all. We wanted to play our music on the road. And we wanted to tour the bands that wanted to take us because the headliners are always amazing. So we didn't care. Like we were doing what we loved every day. And we still are. But that's just part of touring. And when you get started, unless you know, you start very fortunate, like you got a grind, dude, it is a grind.

[41:31] Mikayla Petrilla: So pretending I know nothing about you doing theater after doing rock, have you done it? How does this feel? Has the stamina from living that lifestyle for so long and then bringing that into a more theatrical performance? Like, do you feel like you're like, Oh, this is easy, I can do this? Or are there different elements to it?

[41:49] Matt Copley: So I have yet to be in like a full production contract since I've joined Unwell.

[41:53] Mikayla Petrilla: Let's get him on.

[41:54] Matt Copley: I was gonna do one this summer, I unfortunately had to drop off because I was moving to New York. I just moved to New York. Yeah, Saturday. So I, you know, I did contracts happening right now. And I needed I was moving my life and my cats and my whole life from Michigan to New York for the first time. So I was like, I had to drop that contract. So I was like, I need to be here. Yeah, I was like, and then, you know, so I was, I was gonna do it this summer. But I'm excited to find out what the next thing will be because I am interested in doing another production of some sort. I've been auditioning a little more frequently now, especially now I'm in the city, the things I've gone in for definitely, I feel from my rock experience are not as difficult as I thought they were in college, you know, especially like auditioning in general, like the material, like, it's kind of, it's not as hard as it once was to me, right?

Which is cool. I think a lot of it has to do with like, the material and our songs that Unwell writes to are just so high and like, really hard to sing. So vocally, like training yourself to meet that, which is great, because contemporary musical theater is going all like pop rock, like high belt sounds across the board. So the fact that you have also, okay, we didn't say where did you go to college? I went to the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music.

[43:07] Mikayla Petrilla: Okay, I wasn't sure if you went to Michigan because you were from Michigan. I feel like sometimes you want to like get out of tried and denied, baby. Listen, we all find ourselves where we need to be.

[43:19] Matt Copley: Yeah, no, it was the right fit for sure. Yeah. But then yeah, to have that musical theater, classical training, and then even classical, I don't know how old you are. I'm assuming we're in the same bucket of some decade. But like, we were trained with this very particular sound. And now that has like, expanded and stretched to a even more contemporary sound that is like so difficult to sustain if you were practicing something else. So the fact that you were literally practicing, like through being the lead in a rock band is awesome, because you inadvertently have this like solid edge and authentic sound that I am sure people are looking for.

[43:57] Matt Copley: Yeah, thank you. Thank you for saying that in a musical theater program, any of them you're taught to sing in a very healthy way. And when I joined a band, like I kind of threw all that out the window at first, because I was just like, I just want to, like sound edgy and like tear up my voice. And there was times where like, I was definitely singing unhealthy and like tearing up my voice. But you recover. And but that's part of like, what I said earlier in the podcast was to is like, you just got to try like, if you don't try, like you're never gonna grow or like be different with, like, if you're trying to like achieve something better, or expand your horizons and your vocal qualities, like, you got to try. You're not only covering songs, you're a songwriter as we have established. So how does your musical theater background show up in your original work?

[44:39] Matt Copley: That's a really good question. I don't think I've ever really been asked that before. It's hard for me to analyze my own writing from a third person's point of view in that way. But I think it like melodies from musicals and stuff are very, I guess, particular. Yeah. And when I go to write music, I like to maybe like, emulate a lot of my melodies based on like some of my past experiences in theater. So maybe, maybe that's why it's hard for me to come up with an answer right now. There might not be an answer. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I don't have like a pinpointed like, this is where I'm drawing this from. It's just kind of the music I write is just a culmination of all my experiences. So, you know, theater's a huge part of that. So I mean, anything I write is coming from at least a little bit of theater.

[45:20] Mikayla Petrilla: Yeah, well, I'm sure you're probably drawn to like big emotional hooks because of it in some ways. And that informs it. Especially like lyrically, too. I'm like, like, you want a good, you want a good like hook line. Like, you want a good like story to your song. So like, you know, you think of really effective musical theater songs, you're like, okay, what are they doing here? What do you wish more artists understood about building work from the ground up?

[45:40] Matt Copley: I mean, you're not going to be successful right away. Unless you're very, very lucky. Yeah, you got to really grind, you got to really work. That sounds like a generic statement. But like, you really have to like, put in hours and hours and hours and the time to really just try things and like, get your like, really honing on your what you do. Right? Because nothing's gonna happen overnight. And like, even if you have like a viral video that hits, that's awesome. But that's not the end all be all that's like, one, that's one little tool in your whole tool belt of like things that will make you successful. So virality is like, awesome, but you have to work on top of that. Like that's something that will propel you forward.

But if you don't have the work ethic behind the virality or whatever else, the support you have, you're gonna not go very far because you need you need that work ethic. And luckily, I think like being in New York and going to a musical theater program, that's something to teach you is like you need to grind, you need to audition, you're gonna go audition every day, you're gonna be like grinding, your agents are gonna be sending you stuff all the time, you have to learn stuff in 24 hours. And like, that's a grind. So any musical theater performer or any performer in general is going to know how to work like that have a good work ethic. And I think that, for me, at least carries over into this project is like I was trained to work very hard. And, you know, and it knows happen all the time knows are like 90% of my days. So yeah, and it's not learning to be super discouraged by some of those.

[46:59] Mikayla Petrilla: And there's also such an unpredictable momentum, which goes with being viral and also in our industry where it's like, you don't know what's gonna hit. But when it does, you have to build off that immediately. And you have to press the advantage immediately, whether that's a callback, or like I had this viral video, people are now giving my page attention, I want to use that platform to now get them to see what else I really care about. It's like, Oh, okay, like suddenly, your whole day is rewired to adjust for that, which is a skill to learn to regarding work ethic, it's hard. No one can do it can be very exhausting.

[47:29] Matt Copley: Oh, it's like it's so exhausting. No one has enough hours, nobody, nobody in their day in their adult life has enough hours in the day to like keep up with social media online, like 24 seven, if it's like a career, like, you know, if you're an artist full time, like trying to do social media all day long is just not realistic. So like, yeah, you pick and choose the bad, you know, what's what's most valuable to you and the goals you want to achieve. And you kind of go from there. And hopefully you have a team behind you that can make all those pieces, you know, work as effectively as possible.

[48:03] Mikayla Petrilla: What part of producing? Were you like, Oh, my gosh, I'm so glad I have a team or this is a moment I realized I need to hire someone to do this when specifically for this October show?

[48:13] Matt Copley: Yeah, I asked me if I had event insurance. I was like, What do you What do you mean, like insurance? Like I have like progressive like, is that what you're talking about? This is a win. They're like, No, dude, like, if you want to perform here, you need a venture. Okay, gotta figure out what this is. I leaned on the Martian Entertainment or Carl White are the producers and general manager tied to this show in October two, and they helped me out with that, which is amazing. Because I had no, he like knew right away exactly who to talk to. And it got me a call within like 48 hours. And it was like, Okay, cool. Well, you're learning how to speak so many different languages between being a content creator, like running a band, like navigating record label partnerships and collaborations. Like there's so many different elements.

[48:58] Matt Copley: Yeah, like just learning in real time. Dude, yeah, that is that is like the biggest thing. I don't know if a lot of viewers from the outside like realizes I really, I don't have like a business manager or like someone that manages all my things like separately for me. It's literally just me like dealing with the labels I'm working with, or the booking agents I'm working with, or my casting agents, or my general manager, executive production manager, Jeff, or the you know, it's all these different players and figuring out how everyone communicates and making them all work together is really just on me right now. So I'm hoping in the future that this is successful and I can pass some of these stuff off. So I don't have to wear all these hats, but I enjoy it for the time being because it keeps me busy.

[49:40] Mikayla Petrilla: And it makes you better for it like becoming your own mini media company for yourself as an artist. It's like they understand the language and then can help like yeah, understanding other people and how they do their jobs is so helpful. So it's like, very overwhelming to learn, but then you're like, okay, like once somebody else takes it, like you have a deeper appreciation, but then also like, you don't have to do it.

[50:00] Matt Copley: For anyone who's trying to build an artistic life, and it doesn't fit cleanly into one category, what would you want to say to them? What do you want them to know?

[50:09] Matt Copley: Good question. I would say just keep exploring it like keep doing it. Even if it's not what everyone else is doing. That's a good thing. Like that's the best thing in the world, dude. Even if it's like, it doesn't hit online, it's not viral overnight, like who cares, it's different and it's unique to you. That's what's interesting. And you know, if you have bigger support behind it, or you grow bigger support, that's awesome. But like you don't need you don't need a crazy team or a bunch of money or like a bunch of things to to be successful or fulfilled and you know, being the leader of your own pact. Like I think I would just say, just keep trying new things and keep doing what feels good to you. And make it your own. Yeah.

[50:49] Mikayla Petrilla: Yes. And you're doing it. I'm trying. Remind us when is your show in October? What day?

[50:54] Matt Copley: It is October 2nd and 3rd in New York City at Abrams Arts Center.

[51:00] Mikayla Petrilla: We're gonna come see you. Yay. Oh my gosh. Where can we follow your work?

[51:04] Matt Copley: Madisonwell.

[51:05] Mikayla Petrilla: Madisonwell. Yes, at Madisonwell and everything.

[51:09] Matt Copley: And find you on streaming platforms.

[51:11] Matt Copley: Yeah, Matt. Matt Copley is if you are on like Apple Music or Spotify or YouTube, whatever. Copley. C O P L E Y.

[51:18] Mikayla Petrilla: That's right. Yay! Oh my gosh. Thanks for coming on. This was amazing.

[51:22] Matt Copley: Thank you for having me. It's been great.

[51:24] Mikayla Petrilla: That was Matt Copley, creator and producer of Broadway Does Punk. I loved this conversation because Matt is such a great example of what happens when you stop waiting for permission to be all of the things that you are. Musical theater kid, rock artist, creator, producer, frontman, internet person, live event builder, all of it gets to be in the same room. And I think that is such an important reminder, especially for artists right now. Sometimes the work that feels the most specific to you is the thing that other people have been waiting for. Sometimes that weird overlap is the whole gift. And I am thrilled to tell you that Broadway Does Punk is almost entirely sold out for its three performances on October 2nd and 3rd at the Abrams Arts Center.

But there may be a handful of tickets left, so take a peek at the website or at Matt's socials at MattIsUnwell. The current listed Broadway guest stars are Konstantin Maroulis, Samantha Pauly, Tamika Lawrence, Troy from Epic the Musical, Jasmine Forsberg, and Keaton Whitaker. This is such a killer lineup. Oh my goodness. A note that Sam Pauly is only performing October 3rd at 4.30 and 8 p.m. and Jasmine Forsberg is performing only October 2nd at 8 p.m. So this is an incredible lineup. It is a gift. You get a banging show no matter which one you go to. If you can't go to the show, I hope it tours to a city near you soon. Please in the meantime support Matt's work and if you like Tea Time, leave us a little rating or review and send this episode to the friend who contains both a theater kid and a rock star in their hearts. Thanks for listening. Thanks for spilling with us. I'll see you next time.