2: Nicholas James Connell
Creator's Cafe Episode 2: Nicholas James Connell - Exuding Pop Comedy Positivity with host Jessica Payne of Kika Labs
In this episode, Nicholas James Connell breaks down his love of all things pop comedy along with navigating the wild success of his Off-Broadway hit Titanique, piano bars and viral YouTube creations.
Show Notes:
In this episode, Nicholas James Connell breaks down his love of all things pop comedy along with navigating the wild success of his Off-Broadway hit Titanique, piano bars and viral YouTube creations.
Follow Nicholas:
IG | @nicholasconnell
YouTube | @NicholasConnell
SoundCloud | Nicholas Connell
Titanique | TitaniqueMusical.com
Quotes from Nicholas's Papa:
"Never trouble trouble 'till trouble troubles you"
"The harder I work the luckier I get"
Challenge | Take your favorite song or most inspiring piece of art and take a small chunk of it ( a chorus or a scene) and write a sequel or your version of it - #creatorscafechallenge #cccnicholas
Content Warning | Brief mention of suicide
Next project | Mannie with Wendy Rosoff and Tom DeTrinis
Titanique Producer | Eva Price of Maximum Entertainment Productions
Arno Diem - YouTube Videography
Piano Bars
Programs
Bio | Singer/Songwriter/Arranger/Orchestrator/Conductor/Pianist/Actor
Nicholas Connell is a singer/songwriter who is passionate about bringing the joys of pop music to his audiences.
With a background composing and music directing starting at Berklee College of Music taking him from cruise lines to regional productions, he has worked on many excellent shows. He music directed productions of In S
Creator's Cafe with Jessica Payne of Kika Labs
Host Jessica Payne of Kika Labs breaks down the subtle and the sublime of the creative process with inspiring artists at the Creator's Cafe.
Find out more info on the show and host Jessica Payne.
Offering digital courses, performance coaching, and more! www.kikalabs.com
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More info and resources at | www.kikalabs.com
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Theme Music
Our theme music is composed and performed by Kyle deTarnowsky.
Transcript:
Jessica
Welcome to Creators Cafe. I'm your host, Jessica Payne. I'm a performer, performance coach and Multihyphenate creator. I'm going to be bringing you conversations with some of my favorite creators where we talk about the sublime and the specifics of the creative journey. So grab a drink, get cozy. Let's go.
Nicholas Connell is a singer songwriter who is passionate about bringing the joys of pop music to his audiences. Starting at Berklee College of Music, he's gone from cruise lines to regional productions from L.A. to New York. Lots of stops in between. You can see him on Disney, plus you can watch his YouTube channel where he has 12 million views. You can try to catch him live at Tramp Stamp Granny's the Duplex. Sid Gold's are all the piano bars he plays at, but you definitely want to try to catch his current project. He is the co-creator and music supervisor of the Lucille Lortel award winning Titanique off-Broadway. He's charming, he's talented. He's smash Celine Dion songs. The world of the movie Titanic.
I am delighted to introduce you to my guest, Nicholas Connell.
Nicholas
Welcome. Thank you so much for having me here at Creator’s Café. Let's do it. Let's do it.
Jessica
What are you drinking today?
Nicholas
My lavender latte?
Nicholas
Mm hmm. I love. Lavender. Nicholas Connell?
Jessica
How do you define yourself as a creator? How do you think of yourself identity wise?
Nicholas
I started as a pianist, but I would say when I was young, I singer songwriter first, but now I'm an arranger, orchestrator, conductor, music director. Those are the kinds of things I do. I'm in the music realm.
Jessica
Yes. Is there any aspect that you miss that you don't get to do as much that you want to?
Nicholas
I love acting and I'm always around actors and I used to do that a lot and I still have chances to do it here and there, but that's something always wish I could have done more. And to be honest with you, I loved dancing and I always wished I could have been a dancer. But. But music is like just something that came natural me and that I love to do.
Nicholas
And I still do all of those things. I write music and I produce songs. I'm a music producer as well and a music director constantly. That's My main gig as a music director.
Jessica
So let's talk about that big project right now is Titanique.
Nicholas
Titanique Off Broadway.
Nicholas
Yeah, Broadway. It's so exciting. Thank you.
Jessica
I didn't tell you my mother Law, Nancy and my brother in law, Bob saw it and loved it.
Nicholas
That's great. The whole point of Titanique is really to just to make people laugh and have fun and forget about the kooky, crazy world happening around us. So I'm glad they had a good time.
Jessica
So tell everybody more about, like, what Titanique is the concept and how well, it's doing it's Lucille Lortel award winner. You moved theaters, you started in L.A..
Nicholas
Mm.
Jessica
You moved it to New York. You extended move theaters, you extended, you extended. That's unheard of.
Nicholas
Like, big.
Jessica
Productions are closing.
Nicholas
That's an.
Jessica
Unheard of. You're succeeding so wildly. I'm so proud of you. I'm so excited for you.
Nicholas
Thank you.
Jessica
Tell me. Tell me the story.
Nicholas
Titanique is an off-Broadway hit and it's doing so well and I'm so excited. We wrote this piece in 20. My collaborators are Marla Mendel, Konstantin Virtually, and Ty Blue. Ty and Connie and I met doing the For the Record series in Hollywood. And then I met Marla doing the Rockwell table and stage shows. They used to do a lot of parody shows there.
Nicholas
And in 2017 I had just gotten off of a cruise ship for seven months. I did for the record for seven months on a Norwegian cruise line. And the four of us were just kind of like down about 2016. I think it was like a rough year for a lot of people and we wanted to create something that made our friends laugh and that just made us feel good.
Nicholas
And they had this crazy concept like, what if we take the Celine Dion catalog and we mix it with the Titanic film?
Jessica
So Titanique started in L.A. When did you move to New York? How did that work?
Nicholas
So I moved to New York a year ago because we so we we started show in 2017. We cranked the show out in a month and a half. To me, it seemed like a very fast process, and it was such a brilliant concept. Celine Dion telling the story of Jack and Rose and saying that she was actually on the Titanic.
Nicholas
It's just so kooky, crazy. And who doesn't love Celine Dion? Who doesn't love Titanique when you mix the two together? I think that's just like $1,000,000 concept. Yeah, so we did.
Jessica
And so does the audience like it? Clearly it's doing so well. Yeah. So how so you created the show? It did. Well here. You had a couple of runs of it or like a read of it and then a run of it. How did that work?
Nicholas
We did a reading at the Dancing with the Stars studio not far from here. And then we did we did at the Wallace Theater, I think it's called The Sorting Room. They have that smaller theater. We did the show there in December of 2017. We did two sold out shows. People loved it and we did it. We always did the show kind of as a concert style with music stands, not really with costumes or other than Celine had her gown on, but it was all pretty minimal and people loved it just because the material and the music and the arrangements and the actors, everyone was so incredible that it just went really well.
Nicholas
And from there we went to the Hayworth. The following year, sold out to another one at Hayworth, sold out, and we said, you know, we have something here. We should take this to New York and see if a New York audience thinks that this is as funny as we do.
Jessica
So did you do a pitch there or did you do like a limited run? How did that.
Nicholas
Work? We did a limited run at the Green Room 42.
Jessica
And you self-produced that?
Nicholas
We did, yes. All of us.
Jessica
That's amazing.
Nicholas
That's so hard.
Nicholas
We never really made it big. We always just broke even because we were doing it ourselves. But we got the attention of overpriced New York Broadway producer When we did the Green Room 42, she came just as a favor to Ty, just to be like, Hey, I know you're doing this. Like, let me come check it out. She wasn't really expecting much.
Nicholas
And after the show she said, I have to produce this. We're taking the show somewhere. And so we decided we were going to open off-Broadway in 2020. And the pandemic hit. We we actually went in January and cast the whole show. We were so excited and we.
Jessica
Were like.
Nicholas
Yeah, touring venues and everything and we were ready to go. And then the pandemic hit, so it stalled the show for a little while. We did a livestream performance of it at Lake Hassan Rouge in New York. I think that was 2021, I think. And, and it was fun and it did well. It was a little weird do it not for a live audience, but it was great.
Nicholas
And then we opened off-Broadway at The Asylum, which is no longer there anymore. It's the old UCB space in in the basement of a gross series. And it was I think it was like a 200 seat theater. And we opened there like May, June of last year, and then we transferred to the terror theater in Union Square in December.
Nicholas
And we've been there since, and it's just been extension after extension and sold out audiences and repeat fans who come and see the show all the time. And it's it's great because we didn't even really advertise that hard with it. It was really word of mouth spread like fire. And I remember our first couple of shows at the asylum were pretty empty.
Nicholas
People didn't know about it, but it quickly became this kind of cultural phenomenon. It's been fabulous. People love it and I love doing it every single night. To go and perform pop music, which is my favorite thing to do, is just like a dream come true for me. And it never gets old for me. And I laugh every single night of these jokes.
Nicholas
Yeah, it was so great. And the show is different every single night too. There's an improv quality it so it's always different and fun and unique. And I always have a blast. I'm on stage playing keyboard and conducting with my head and I just have a blast doing it every single night.
Jessica
So listed as music director, you're playing, you're there on stage. First of all, that's like a marathon to still be doing that. How many shows a week do you do?
Nicholas
It's Eight shows a week.
Jessica
So it's like a full Broadway schedule. off-Broadway. Yes. You're still doing the full intensity and putting people in and just I don't think people know the level of endurance and work that you're doing right now. It's it's incredible. And the show has won Lucille Lortel Award.
Nicholas
Lucille Lortel Awards. I think we won three of those. We won the off-Broadway Alliance Outstanding Musical. We also won the Dorian Theater Outstanding Musical and were nominated for so many other awards, too. Was great.
Jessica
That's so incredible.
Nicholas
Congrats Thank you. I'm so excited about it.
Jessica
Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Okay. And so then on top of that, that's kind of your that's your day job now?
Nicholas
That's my day job.
Nicholas
Yes.
Jessica
On top of that, you're still playing at piano bars all the time. And so.
Nicholas
I know that you.
Jessica
Last night, you're out in L.A. for just a few days last night and the night before you played it. Tramp stamp, Granny.
Nicholas
Yes.
Jessica
If somebody doesn't know, What is that? What do you do there? What's your specialty? And tell us about Tramp grannies.
Nicholas
Darren Criss and his amazing wife, Mia. I love them so much and they have a couple other business partners, but they have a piano bar in Hollywood called Tramp Stamp Grannies. I think it's modeled after Marie's crisis, is what they say. And it's this spot in Hollywood to go. If you want to see some live piano playing and sing along and I love it so much.
Nicholas
It's such a challenge and it's so different than Titanique. My favorite thing in life is pop music like these little three and a half minute gems or now, 2 minutes and 40 seconds is like the new trend in pop music. But I just love songs more than anything. So the piano bar is a chance for me to go and just perform songs and have people request things that maybe I haven't even played before, but I can pull up the sheet music in sight, read it for people, and it's a challenge.
Nicholas
I love it so much. In New York. I play at the Duplex in the West Village. I play it Say Gold's on Tuesdays in Chelsea. Uncle Charlie's. I've been there a couple of times. Don't tell Mama's I play there and it's it's kind of my nighttime gig after Titanique, right?
Jessica
Because you're, you know, just have so much free time.
Nicholas
Right? Right.
Nicholas
But my Sundays are crazy because I'll do two shows at Titanique, and then I do a seven hour piano bar shift until 4:00 in the morning. And then Monday is my day off and I have to get a two hour massage with massage therapist David. Hi, David. I love your shout out to David. He's just a good friend of mine and like, my body is destroyed by this schedule.
Nicholas
So I have to get my massage every week.
Jessica
I'm sure that's incredible. Okay, if somebody wants to specifically know where you are at piano bars, should they, like, follow your Instagram for.
Nicholas
I always post on my Instagram. It's at Nicholas Connell, Connell, c, o, and ll2 ends two ls okay. Yeah.
Jessica
I can't wait to see you do it live. I've seen you do it online. I've seen on your clips. I love it. I love yesterday you posted when you have to burp.
Nicholas
Yeah, I guess it's still the musical break. Yeah.
Nicholas
Forget my voice too. I'm my voice is completely like fatigued from the two nights and I love it. But yeah, sometimes I'm playing and I play for 5 hours, 7 hours at a time. And sometimes I can feel a burp coming up and I'm like, I have to wait till the end of the 60 bar phrase, and then I can let it out because I can't stop singing.
Nicholas
You got to keep going, you know, just.
Jessica
Got to, like, write it.
Alex
Yeah, yeah.
Nicholas
Like just holding it in my stomach.
Jessica
I mean, I think of you as a piano player and as a musician first, but you're singing is incredible.
Nicholas
Thank you.
Kyle
Thank you.
Jessica
I'm a singer. Like, that was my. That was my very first love. Yes. And just the freedom and the space and the flexibility that you have. Is it just practice over the years and mimicking the songs that you love and doing the covers? Is there a technique that you like? What How did how did you land where you have I mean, other than practicing 7 hours a day for last X years?
Nicholas
Yeah.
Nicholas
I mean, when I was 13, Britney Spears snagged me on the radio. I came home and my brother was blasting baby one more time, his bedroom. And I just went and opened his dress. And what is this? And he's like, Dods, Britney Spears is like the new hot thing. And from then I was like, just attached to pop music and the Max Martin sound.
Nicholas
And Britney Spears is my favorite artist. So I used to just sit in my room for hours and just belt out all of these pop songs. And then my my parents put me in some musical theater shows when I was a teenager. I went to the Las Vegas Academy, which was a performing arts high school, and learned more about musical theater singing there.
Nicholas
And then I went to Berklee College of Music, had a voice teacher there at the Boston Conservatory. Carey Deal Shout out to Carey Deal, I Love You. And she taught me all the things I needed to know about technique. And then from then on, I've had various voice teachers throughout the years, and then it's just been really just getting myself up in of crowds and letting it out.
Jessica
Oh my gosh, I love.
Nicholas
It, too.
Nicholas
And I'll tell you what I love. When things are not perfect, I like going for it and making in front of audiences. I know that it can be like really scary, but like if you just go for it, you you learn so much about your voice and about yourself, you know? And who cares if things go wrong, You know, you have to make mistakes in order to get better.
Jessica
And there's that magic of the live performance anyway, that if something goes a little wrong, everybody kind of is more awake and aware and remembers that you're human. Not totally incredible singer That's like perfected on the radio where you get 50 times and right in a studio and you can do all the takes, right?
Nicholas
I don't mind making mistakes in front of an audience. I like those little imperfections, you know?
Jessica
What do you do regularly to kind of practice that being muscle? Is it just getting in front of people? Is it experimenting with things? What do you what do you do to be brave to practice that kind of creative courage? Muscle?
Nicholas
That's a great question. I really do try to put myself out there as much as possible and try to run towards the uncomfortable ness of things. There are times when I've done a show where my heart is racing right before the Derby, my hands are shaking and I'm like, You know what? To just breathe and remember that you've done this your whole life and who cares if things don't go great?
Nicholas
You know, I've had keyboards go out in the middle of shows and like, you just have to, like, do the best you can and just know that everybody knows that you're human and you know it is what it is. Go for it, you know?
Nicholas
Yeah. Yeah, I love that. Nice. Yeah.
Nicholas
I also, like you also have to take care of yourself as as much as you can. So all the prep work ahead of time prepares you for those moments when things don't go well or when you're not as confident as you have been in the past, you know?
Nicholas
Yeah.
Jessica
Is there anything creatively or even just out in the world that scares you? So snakes and.
Nicholas
Snakes.
Nicholas
Absolutely scare me. Oh, my God.
Nicholas
Instead of jokes. Yeah.
Nicholas
In fact, I follow a lot of the, like, crazy snake things on Instagram so I can try to get over it. But like, a lot times I just have I can't watch. I just have to go past it.
Jessica
Yeah, I've never thought about Instagram exposure therapy. I love that you're trying.
Nicholas
But that's totally what it is. Yeah.
Jessica
I mean, you're on giant stages. You have performed at the highest levels all over the place, and I'm sure you still get sometimes, but what do you do to kind of keep that bravery going, confront things that scare you? Does anything still scare you creatively? Where does that land?
Nicholas
Breathing is a huge, huge, huge thing. You have to breathe just to regulate your body. And then you just have to remind yourself to, stay in the moment and do the best that you can in the moment. And what is the intention of this performance? You know, if the intention is to make people laugh and you hear people laughing then lean into that and enjoy that in the moment as you're performing, you know.
Jessica
I love that. And that kind of connects to something I like to ask from an actor's point of view and a director's point of view. You think about the intention, what do I want to do? Right? And so if your intention is to make them laugh and you do check you want.
Nicholas
Yes.
Jessica
Is there anything else that you can think of of like those there's action verbs or intentions of I want to inspire, educate, or, you know, make people entertain people and make them laugh. Does anything come up regularly for you?
Nicholas
I yes. I want people just to be entertained and be joyous. I want them to love that they're there, you know, And also, I'm so inspired by my heroes and knowing that they've done all the big stages and everything. I'm like, You know what? They've trained me. I do that, you know, I know I can do that because they can do that.
Nicholas
And they they've inspired me so hard, you know? So yeah. And it's it's all about the audience experience. I just I just want people to enjoy themselves. That's the biggest thing.
Jessica
And clearly from Titanique and all your shows that Rockwell especially just that sense of joy and ease, just stepping away from the world. It's really beautiful and people keep coming back. You have people that are coming back dozens. Yes. Times.
Nicholas
Yes.
Nicholas
It's fabulous. If even good friends of mine who are like, I'm not coming to see you. I'm coming to see Titanique. I'm like, That's great. That's fabulous. That's all I could ask for.
Nicholas
I'm not supporting you. I'm just enjoying myself.
Nicholas
Or people who have throughout the years, like I saw it in L.A., your first reading, and then I saw it at the Asylum, and then I saw it at the Daryl Roth. It's so cool to have that history with people in there. You know, this was my favorite production and like it's each production we've had has had different strengths and the nature of the show is so improv based and keeps up with the pop culture that it's ever changing.
Nicholas
So you never see the same show when you see Titanique. It's fabulous.
Jessica
That's going to be so refreshing too, when you're doing I've done a couple of long runs of shows that are hundreds of shows. LONG Yes. And just, you know, you have to find something to kind of reengage with it. So having it be alive probably helps so much.
Nicholas
Yeah. And the cool about another cool part about our show is every actor that goes in or every musician who goes in gets to kind of put their own spin on things, their own on it. And I love that so much because I don't want it to be a cookie cutter thing that's the same every single night. I like being inspired by the different energies and the mix of people, and it's always different because people are going in and out and it's it's so joyous to me, and I've met so many amazing contacts through this.
Nicholas
Oh, my God. Even just our original Ruth off-Broadway. Ryan Duncan shout outs. Ryan Duncan, I love you. He is someone who I saw in Altar Boys off-Broadway. Do you remember that musical altar boys? I saw that in college and I was obsessed. I went back just like artist Danny coming to see the show 13 times. I saw altar boy, like 13 times in the course of, like, two years.
Nicholas
And I saw Ryan Duncan on stage and I love him so much. He's a creative genius. His voice is incredible. And then here he is now in my show and I'm like, How do I get to work with this person? Nicole Parker is someone that I idolized growing up. I watched on Mad TV and her Britney Spears was so funny and inspired me.
Nicholas
And now she just played Celine for a couple of months. And I love her and like how crazy that I get to work with these amazing people. It's incredible and inspiring and it makes me want to go even harder and further, you know?
Jessica
Okay. So if you could go harder and further, who would be other dream collaborators like that? Have you thought of that?
Nicholas
My biggest idol and Sorry, Britney. I love Britney so much cause she is number two for me. But Max Martin, the guy who writes and produces those amazing pop songs who kind of was unknown for a while and now has his and Juliet musical on Broadway, which also he was a producer. Yeah, as well. Yeah.
Jessica
Yeah. And we have that connection that Eva was my producer. Yes. Two of my national tours.
Nicholas
When you played Miss Frizzle?
Nicholas
I did a little. The Magic School was it was fun to see that. It was.
Jessica
It was really, really cool. Very satisfying. Yeah. And just to to know that she's kind of making this happen and helping you to take the next step with. Your show is so, so incredible.
Nicholas
Titanique was nominated. I forget which award it was, but was in the same category as Angela. And I was just like, how? How is this happening that our show is in the same category as my idols show? Like, this is wild to me that this is all happening right now.
Nicholas
Oh, I just got to. I love that.
Nicholas
So I'd love to work with Max Martin. I love to work with Brittany, of course. Oh, my God. My my buddy Tim Willis, who played keys for Titanique in Los Angeles years ago, played keyboards for Britney Spears. And I'm just like, oh, my God. Like, she is just like one degree of separation away from, you know? Like, it's so exciting.
Nicholas
And then, like, Larry O'Keefe is someone that I idolize. He wrote Legally Blond and he is like such a good I feel I do pop comedy. That's kind of my wheelhouse. And he he has the same mentality as me or a similar mentality. So I would love to collaborate with him. Stephen Schwartz I would love to collaborate with Yeah.
Nicholas
Madonna I would love to do something with.
Jessica
Oh my gosh, I see so many possibilities. Yeah. Have you thought about kind of dream projects like that or in is it just more the collaborators themselves that inspire.
Nicholas
You.
Nicholas
With these recording artists and songwriters? It's more like a studio thing that I want to do with them. I would like to write music with them, produce music, sing with them, perform with them. I think in a in a theater setting, like I do want to continue to create shows and kind of send them out into the night and see what comes back to me because I have so many ideas for shows and so many fabulous collaborators that I just want to keep creating.
Nicholas
So that's my my goal as I move forward is let me just keep creating and exuding pop positivity.
Nicholas
Oh my gosh, I love it so much. Well, you're definitely succeeding wildly.
Jessica
So thank Keep on keeping on. If you could look at kind of the the state of affairs of the entertainment industry right now, is there anything that comes to mind that you'd love to see change or that you're worried about or that you are excited about? Where would you like to see things go?
Nicholas
I feel like being an artist is so hard in this world. I feel like the system doesn't really cater to us. We're kind of weird people off to the side, you know? I would love to see artists get health insurance easier. That's like such a big thing because it just doesn't happen for a lot of people. And even if you booked three really great TV shows that year, you could still not have health insurance.
Nicholas
So I would like to see these people at the top taking in most of the wealth. I would like that too, to see that more evenly distributed. You know, it's it's already a hard world for artists and it's getting harder and all of these strikes that are happening, it's like there's a real problem. Things need to change. And I hope that they change and make artists lives better.
Nicholas
So that we can focus on creating and being creative and not having to deal with this kind of stuff. You know? You know, I would like to see things better for minorities, you know, women and gay representation is incredibly important for people to see themselves and all of the things that are happening in life. And I just feel like a lot of people are under attack right now.
Nicholas
I think racial groups, the community, women are under attack. And it's it's really hurts me on a daily basis and it really frustrates me. So I try to be conscious of. Equality is like my driving value. And so I try to be conscious of representation in casting situations and try to do everything can to lift everybody up and give everybody an even playing field.
Nicholas
Everybody needs an equal opportunity to show their stuff, you know? So that's that's definitely a driving value for me. And I would like to see more and more and more of that as we move forward where it's gotten better. But we still have a long way to go, I think.
Jessica
I totally agree.
Nicholas
Yeah.
Jessica
Okay, beautiful. Let's swing totally different. Okay. So for you as a creator, what do you like to do and what does your creative look like?
Nicholas
I love a creative process because it doesn't have to be any certain way. It can always be a different process for songwriting. Think that if you have a fierce concept, you can just run at that and just like, Let go. I like to throw all the spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks. It can start with a melodic idea.
Nicholas
So I have one song on Spotify. I should I should have so many more. But I have my one song that I wrote like 11 years ago. It's called Drum Driving. Like, have you ever drummed on your dashboard during that? Yeah. So that's the idea of the song. And it's it's actually kind of a fantasy hot rod like on the strip in Las Vegas kind of song at my dad had hot rods growing up and built a hot rod.
Nicholas
And so I was always around him working on his cars. And so that kind of as a fantasy song about being in your car and just having a blast. So that song, just that melody came to me in a dream. I just woke and I was like, I've got the whole course. And I went straight to my piano and I wrote it down and I had a couple of the lyrics from my dream.
Nicholas
It was bizarre how it happened and it just poured out of me. It was so easy. Write that song. Other songs like you write it, you had a little bit of it, and then you come back two or three months later. It could take years to write a song, you know. But it's always a different process for me.
Nicholas
And I. I like to go towards the thing that inspires me the most first. Yeah. And, and it's also okay during your process. If things change and you go a completely different way or if you scrap ideas too, it's just important to keep the energy flowing and the excitement flowing. And then for, I don't know, for like so I'm writing a show called Marnie with my collaborators, Wendy Rosoff and Tom to train us.
Nicholas
I love you guys, too.
Nicholas
Yeah.
Nicholas
So we've been working on this for three years, and it's kind of a musical theater fever dream. I call it musical theater toppers, where we're kind of parodying the Annie musical, but also referencing lots of contemporary musicals like Wicked and Grease Two is in there too, and I think with that process they came to me with a script and I had all these different songs that I had to attack.
Nicholas
So I just went to the thing that really inspired me like the most first, and I just kind of moved from whatever made me excited the most and then tackled everything and it came together.
Jessica
Beautiful in the creative process. When you're going from 0 to 1 and you've talked about how you get your ideas, but what do you technically do? Do you write it out? Do you capture it by playing and recording it? What do you do?
Nicholas
D All of the above. I love I mean, like I try to focus on the big picture first. What is the message of this? What's the intention of this? And then I try to write down the big picture things, you know, from start to finish. What does this look like? Kind of just in basic terms, like here's the first part, mental part, last part.
Nicholas
And then I try to get a little more creative with the specifics of the words, or I record the piano into recordings and it's always great to record stuff. And then when you listen back to it the next day, you might have a very different attitude than you had the day before. You might think, this is the most brilliant thing, and then you're like, Oh God, it's not the next day or you might say, like, This idea means nothing.
Nicholas
And then the next day you're like, No, actually there's something there. So I use finale to notate sheet music. So a lot of times if something if I know that this is the hook or I know that this is the theme that I want, I'll write that down and finale so that it's set and I can always refer back to that.
Nicholas
But recordings a great way to do it, and then just jotting things down on my phone. When I'm writing songs, the music comes easy to me and it pours out of me. The lyrics are the hard part for me I'm just like, not as good with words, but I'm so good with the music. Like I've just done the music my whole life.
Nicholas
So that's the easy part. So with lyrics, when I'm out in public, just like seeing a movie or with friends or whatever, anything that catches my eye or my ear, or if I hear a cool phrase, I immediately write it down in my notes on my phone and I can refer back to my phone for concepts of songs or specific lyrics, or like, What's the heart like buzz words of today?
Nicholas
So so I have just this huge document in my phone. It's all the word ideas that I have.
Jessica
Oh, that's brilliant. Do you, in an ideal world, work with someone who is actually doing the book and the lyrics so you get to focus on the music or do you like having the challenge of doing both or just a mix?
Nicholas
I like the challenge of both. I love a mix of both. I really love words as much as it doesn't come as easy to me as the music. I still love doing it and I love being a poet. So it's a mix of projects I know someone is. That's their wheelhouse. They do the book then like, Oh my God, please go for it and I'll just be the music person.
Nicholas
But if it seems like we have that shared interest and they're willing to go for it, then we'll do both. You know, I'm happy to do all of it.
Jessica
That's so great.
Nicholas
Yeah, it all inspires Me? Yeah.
Jessica
Other than family, what other programs do you like to use or technology? Is there anything that you have recommendations for?
Nicholas
Ableton Live is my absolute favorite program to use. That's how.
Nicholas
What is.
Nicholas
Ableton is a D, a digital audio workstation, and you can produce music in it. So that's how I produce all of my YouTube covers. That's how I produce in Titanique. There's backing tracks. So it's a four piece band that plays with these backing tracks. So it sounds like a 20 piece orchestra. And I just producers on my computer, we upload that to the TD 50 kids and oh, it's the speeds it's going through the TD 50 Cooky, crazy, all these, all this equipment.
Nicholas
But the drummer, you know, on the downbeat will trigger the track and then the band is hearing a metronome. So we're all playing to a metronome so that the track is right in sync with our playing.
Jessica
That's incredible I've done that just just enough to know how hard it is and amazing it is that you get that of live musicians. Yes, It's the feeling of a huge orchestra. Does does this happen for every song or is it all paced out or you do like one act at a time? How does it work?
Nicholas
Technically, any time that we go into a moment where we're on autopilot, like like the song 14 is Because He Loved Me and we start with an opening vamp which Escobar da da da da da da. A back and forth. Well, this scene is happening. And then when it's time for all those times, and that's when the drummer triggers the track and then we go on autopilot to the end of the song.
Nicholas
So the track is triggered. You hear the, you know, harp blesses and the suspended cymbals, all that fun. There's a huge string section. And then at the end of the song, the track dies out and where the band is holding the chord. And then we can do the rubato with the actor and follow them so that it goes back to completely live instruments.
Nicholas
So it's kind of a mix of both like completely life playing and then the backing tracks. I'd say like back in tracks are like maybe 70% of the show, something like that.
Nicholas
Yeah, Yeah, that's.
Jessica
A great blend. That's so cool.
Nicholas
Yeah, I love I like really big production. So, like, the cool thing about Titanique is I think there's 11 characters in the cast. Yeah, there's 11. And they're all powerhouse singers. Yes. So I like big vocal arrangements and so they're all singing backup for each other. And because they're all powerhouse singers, it just sounds like we're in a studio with a million voices.
Nicholas
It's so exciting, yeah.
Jessica
I love that. Yeah. You talked briefly about your YouTube channel, which is wildly successful. Yeah, well, other side of.
Nicholas
You.
Jessica
And there and you sing and play and you get a lot of amazing guest artists.
Nicholas
Yes.
Jessica
What was the inspiration for that? I know it's been around for a long time. Just talk about your YouTube channel.
Nicholas
I'm so happy to talk about my YouTube channel. I love it so much and I don't give it enough attention and that makes me so sad. I'm just so burnt out by all the other stuff that I'm doing. But one day I will get back to doing more regular videos. The YouTube channel has been really, really incredible for me personally.
Nicholas
I when YouTube first came out, I just threw up a cover of Gimme More by Britney Spears and it was like a little like, I don't know, like 18 year old. And my friend was just recording me at her piano and people really liked it and responded well to it. But then there was a bunch of people who are like, You sounds like a frog, because I'd be like, Can.
Nicholas
But like, I sounded like a little.
Nicholas
Bit like a frog.
Nicholas
Fry Yeah, I like that Britney vocal fry, you know? But then a VH1 blog picked it up and it just kind of went like a little bit viral, you know, like overnight it got, I don't know, like 200,000 hits or something like that. And I was like, Oh, cool, I have something here. So let me start making more videos.
Nicholas
And I just started singing at my piano live. And then as time went on and I learned more about producing, the production value went up and then I said, Well, I got to hire a videographer now because the music is so good, but the videos I'm just doing with my phone or my computer. And so I started working with Arnaud.
Nicholas
I love you so much. Arnaud did a bunch of my videos as the videographer, and we collaborate so well together and he's like my brother. I just love him so much. And I would just put out videos over the year of live shows that I did in college. The biggest video that happened is my buddy Nick Olaf Jacobsen.
Nicholas
Larson, who is now the conductor Michael Bublé, on tour and does albums with him. And it's so cooky, crazy. But Nick and I did a South Park concert in college. Nick and I just like to rent how Performance Space is in college because we were students and we could rent out the facilities for free and we did the South Park concert and people loved it was completely packed.
Nicholas
And in fact, people were in the hallway listening in on it, and it was just all the songs of South Park, the show and the movie. And we both orchestrated it I music director he conducted. We had a fabulous cast of singers who all just wanted to have fun. And we put this video up of Kyle's mom as a badass.
Nicholas
Can I say that?
Nicholas
Yes, absolutely.
Nicholas
And it's it has millions of views now. It's crazy. So that's my biggest videos. People just still talk about it and respond to it and comment every day on it. And it was on Reddit and all these things. So that video, because that was so popular, it kind of led people to my other videos. And so I these videos are so personal to me because I love pop music and I put the songs up that I connect with, not necessarily what the biggest hit of the day is, but I have a cover of This Love by Swift that I love so much.
Nicholas
It's so personal to me because I connect so hard to that song. That situation happened to me, and also I collaborated with my friends. Brian Crumb helped me out with Arnaud and I recording the video and just that experience of being with my friends and creating something that I think is really beautiful really touches my heart. I in fact, I played the piano bar last night and Tram Sam Grande is in Hollywood, and this guy came and sat at the bar kind of next to me for hours.
Nicholas
And I was like, Who are you? Like, What's going on? It's like, Oh, I'm like a fan of your YouTube channel. I have this love on repeat every day. Like it's my favorite song. I saw that you're in Hollywood. I had to come see you. And I'm like, This is crazy. Yeah, this is crazy that it's all full circle.
Nicholas
And even, like, even people who are fans of my YouTube channel then come to see Titanique. And so it's all it's all connected. And I'm loving that aspect, that community aspect of it. And then also it gets really deep too. Like I had a cover of Firework Katy Perry and these two men in the UK. It was their wedding song.
Nicholas
They played it as they were walking down the aisle together and I'm like, This is crazy. I don't even think that covers good, but it touched them and they love it so much and it meant something to them as a couple. So that's that was their wedding song. And then I've had somebody else say, like, I was thinking committing suicide, and then I heard your music and like, I can't, I can't.
Nicholas
Oh my God.
Nicholas
Like I have to live, you know? You're inspiring. That's when it gets, like, crazy. Like, I'm like, how? How? Like, I it's it's just wild to me. And I'm so happy I can connect with people that way. And it's a really beautiful thing. So the YouTube channel is very important to me personally. It's kind of my creative outlet that is just like so me and I don't I don't know, I just love it.
Nicholas
I'm happy that I have.
Jessica
It, I love it. And now I'm kind of crying. But I think that's so important because art is something that connects to people at such a personal level and we have to kind of just put it out there and trust that it's going to connect with the right people in the right time. Right. I'm grateful you're getting those stories back so that it gives you inspiration for keeping doing it in the future.
Jessica
Is there anything else that you think of that helps keep you inspired in those low times or when you're burnt out? Or are there quotes or people or pieces of art or anything that comes to mind for you?
Nicholas
I'm continually inspired by the artists that I'm around. That's one of the biggest things. And when I am low, I go back to my favorites, you know, Oops, did it again. As crazy as it is to say is my favorite song in the entire universe, and it inspires me and I learn new things about it every time, you know, I'm like, Oh my God, I didn't listen to that bass lick there or whatever.
Nicholas
And those nostalgic things, even like TV shows and stuff that you've watched a million times. When you go back to it, it you. So I try to go back to the favorites, the nostalgia, and that really gets me going. And then I do the new hot thing inspires me to I love put on Prom. It's my absolute favorite song right now, and I feel like enough people, not enough people know about it.
Nicholas
And that song really inspires me because I'm taking more of like a minimal pop sound route lately, and that's the trend that's in the industry. The songs are much shorter, 2 minutes and 40 seconds and I like that minimal pop sound.
Jessica
Do you know where that trend is coming from or who really took us in that direction? Or is it just everyone in the industry? It's kind of silently agreed that that's a good place to be.
Nicholas
I think it's just technology and the attention span of people and Tik Tok and that kind of thing. Like all we need is a hook for two and a half minutes and we can get by with that. You know, I still hope.
Nicholas
But you.
Jessica
Like that. And what I think is so interesting is I think a lot of people are kind of knee jerk reaction push back against that. But you're finding inspiration in that. And I think that's interesting.
Nicholas
You're hitting the nail on the head. Absolutely. I resisted it when I first realized what was happening because I was like three and a half minutes or 340 is like ideal for a pop song. But now I'm like, I see a song like Put on Prom. I'm like 2 minutes and 40 seconds. I'm not mad at that. Like, the song really does it for me and inspires me so much.
Nicholas
So I'm kind of embracing that trend right now.
Jessica
I love it.
Nicholas
Yeah.
Jessica
Okay. I'm going to have a lot of listeners who are creators or kind of in the closet creators who want to be doing more, but something's holding them back. A lot of times it's just not seeing people like you succeeding or feeling like it's all too much.
Nicholas
Or it just it's.
Jessica
Scary to kind of put things out there when you're comparing your baby steps with somebody else's 15 year later steps. Yes. Do you have any advice?
Nicholas
What would you say?
Nicholas
I think that I don't believe there's such a thing as an overnight sensation. I think those people who seem to be overnight sensations have been doing it for years and years and years and are just in the right moment at the right time and are prepared. And then they become they blow up and they become big. I think you're not limited by your gear.
Nicholas
Whatever you have, get really creative with it. You know, when I first had the software that I was producing and I was a student, I didn't have much money to get the full suite version of the Ableton that I wanted, but I got a smaller one where it's 16 tracks or like even I had a physical 16 track mixer.
Nicholas
And what I would do is I would like bounce two tracks to one track so that I had an extra one to record on. And like I wasn't limited by the gear that I had. I just used what I had to the fullest and got really creative with it. So whatever gear you have, even if it's just your cell phone, there's so much that you can do with that.
Nicholas
So you need figure out what inspires you and how you can use that gear to the fullest. I think. What else can I say? You just really need to put yourself out there and go for it. And who cares if you make a mistake? I love mistakes so much.
Jessica
I love that.
Nicholas
Yeah. This idea of perfection is outrageous. Like you'll never be perfect. But, you know, the mistakes are kind of perfect, so. So go for it.
Nicholas
You know.
Jessica
One of the mysteries of all quotes is let's get messy.
Nicholas
And it's.
Jessica
Very apropos.
Nicholas
Oh, that. And speaking of quotes, I want to tell everybody my papa two quotes. I love my papa. Rest in peace. I love you so much. But he used to tell me never trouble, trouble till trouble troubles you because you can so you know, in your head and ridden with anxiety and you just need to realize it. Like if it's not bothering you yet or, whatever you're worrying about hasn't hit yet.
Nicholas
It's not worth it to focus on it, to obsess over it. And the other thing he said is he said, The harder I work, the luckier I get, which is which I've taken with me my whole career. And I've always tried to say yes to a lot of different opportunities because it makes you a well-rounded and you don't want to put all your eggs into one basket if you do a lot of different things and one of them goes south, you have all these other pokers in the fire, you know.
Nicholas
Yeah. So I try to I have gotten better at saying no because I used to just say yes to everything and then I burnt out. Yeah, but at the start it's great to say yes to everything that comes your way or most of what comes your way. If, if even a little piece of that feels right, go for it and see what you learn from it.
Nicholas
You know, not every project is going to be a huge success or a huge, fulfilling experience. But but it's worth it. You learn things from different projects.
Jessica
I'm really inspired by how you've managed to success in creating across a variety of mediums. So it's it's one thing to have a successful musical theater. It's a totally different thing to have a successful YouTube channel. And then you've got this parody kind of career spans, both of those, and I just find it so inspiring that you're able to take your talents and make them work across so many different mediums.
Jessica
What's that like for you? Do you feel like you're the same person in every medium. Do you feel like you have to really make changes in your identity or how you think about your art in those different mediums? How does that work for you?
Nicholas
I do feel like the same person in all the different mediums, but I feel like I'm showing different sides of me. To me, they're all connected. When you get good at one thing, it automatically makes you good at the other thing. So like with the Titanique show, it's a little bit more of like a formal, you know, it's a real production and so there's a down beat that you have to make.
Nicholas
I have to conduct into a camera. The gear is much higher quality than the stuff that I'm doing at the piano bar. But then when I go to the piano bar, it's like the Wild West. You don't know what's going to happen. It's crazy. And you're dealing with drunk people and you don't know what requests you're going to get.
Nicholas
There's a song that someone requests that you don't know, but I'm going to I'm going to go for it. I have the sheet music. I found it on script. I'm going to do it right now. And so I think that all of these different challenges that are brought up in all the different mediums, they all make you better at the other challenges.
Nicholas
So I just love trying new things and being the best artist I can be. So I don't know, go for it. Like I love all of the different mediums.
Jessica
Some artists have an alter ego or a persona or kind of this performer that they step into that helps them kind of get where they need to go. Do you find yourself doing that?
Nicholas
It does come up for me and kind of a way that maybe people are looking at what I'm doing wouldn't notice. But when I made my musical theater career, I use Nicholas James Connell, my full name, and that's more of my formal jobs when I'm doing my pop stuff or my piano bar like performances. Nicholas Connell is my name, and when I'm like Nicholas Connell, I am fearless and I go for it and I'm sweaty and imperfect and I love it When I'm Nicholas James Connell.
Nicholas
It's much more of like a just a formal presentation of my self.
Jessica
That's so fascinating. Right? It's just it's still you, but it's just how you step into that space as you're that version of yourself.
Nicholas
Exactly.
Jessica
That serves the purpose that you're there for. Yes. Any fun stories or mishaps or anything through the years of showbiz mishaps.
Nicholas
So I had oh, God, this was like such a bad situation. But it all worked out just fine. But I was so upset at this one Hayworth production that we did of Titanique because I, I spent two months programing this keys to and on the day of my computer was working fine at home. I packed it up. We went to the theater, open the computer, and it was not working.
Nicholas
And I was just freaking out because David Foster was coming to see the show that night with his wife.
Jessica
You give people the context of who that is.
Nicholas
David Foster is an amazing, amazing songwriter. Producer. Pianist Cat McPhee is his wife, but he has worked with Celine Dion, especially. We have lots of David Foster songs in Titanique, which is so exciting because I love him. He is a master of melody and meaningful lyric and harmony form and arrangement of it all, and his productions are so full with acoustic instruments.
Nicholas
There's not a lot of synth happening. There's a lot of big orchestral production happening in that stuff. And I just I love it because it's so catchy and fun to listen to on repeat. So David Foster is coming to see the show, and I was freaking out because our keys to didn't work and I already had so much.
Nicholas
We we get in the day of and we have to put everything up and put everything together ourselves. So I didn't have time to fix that and I was just like, so upset. But my buddy Tim also I mentioned earlier, he said, Don't worry about it, dude. Let me let me figure it out. I'll go to the Apple store.
Nicholas
He did. They couldn't figure it out. So Tim took it upon himself to just program a few patches before the show, and then he still played the keys, too. It wasn't all of the CD sounds that I wanted, but it was. He nailed it. Like in a pinch. He just like, alleviated my fears. We presented so well. David loved the show.
Nicholas
Kat loved the show, and I think we got his blessing to move forward with everything.
Nicholas
So that's incredible.
Nicholas
It was a scary, but it all worked out just great. Song.
Jessica
Wow.
Nicholas
Yeah. And I love I love those moments too, because we all take care of each other when one artist falls down, the other one picks them up. And those are magical moments in this industry, I think. Yeah.
Jessica
That you feel like you have collaborators and also teammates and friends totally.
Nicholas
That's a big deal.
Nicholas
Totally. Yes.
Jessica
One of the things I like to do is give my audience a creative challenge. So if you had creative challenge for my audience that they could do in a short amount of time, that might be scary, but it's kind of going from 0 to 1 and putting them self out there in a way that feels kind of good and personal to what we've talked about.
Jessica
What would you say?
Nicholas
I think a great Creator's Café challenge would be to take whatever is your favorite song or the most inspiring piece of art that you love right now and just write something that is your version of it or that is your sequel to that and just start with a chunk of it. You don't have to do the whole thing, but like just starting with a chorus or just starting with a scene doing something like that, that's a great way to start a project.
Jessica
I love that so much.
Nicholas
Yeah. And I'm also so inspired by the melodies that I hear and I I'll take a melody that I love and then I'll just kind of like make it my own, change it a little bit, and then it's completely my own. So that's my challenge for people.
Jessica
And you've made a career out of this.
Nicholas
Yeah. Yeah.
Jessica
It's incredible. Yes. Okay. So for that one, it's going to be Creator's Cafe challenge and then do so Hashtag Creator's Cafe Challenge and hashtag CCNicholas. Yes. Thank you. We will know that it's that one. So you can do that at our Instagram or, at our Facebook group. Fabulous. I'll have all the information in the show.
Nicholas
I can't wait to join the group.
Jessica
Oh, totally. We'll totally watch all of them.
Nicholas
I can't.
Nicholas
Wait. I'm so excited. Yeah. Show us what you got. I'm very excited.
Nicholas
Yes, please.
Nicholas
Cool.
Jessica
Okay. You're amazing.
Nicholas
You're amazing. Thank you so much for having me.
Jessica
Thank you so much. Where can people find you.
Nicholas
You can find me on Instagram. It's at Nicholas Connell my last name. Titanique Musical dot com is the website for our off-Broadway show and Titanique as well. Titanique musical dot com and then also my YouTube channel. Also I always post on my Instagram what I'm going to be at the piano bar either in Hollywood or Las Vegas or New York City in Hollywood.
Nicholas
I'm at tramp stamp Grannies in New York City. I'm at the Duplex a lot of the time. That's in the West Village. On Tuesdays, I'm at Sid Gold's in Chelsea. Don't Tell Mama is another one. And Uncle Charlie is is another one that I play it perfect.
Jessica
Yeah. So people can just watch you on Instagram to find out where you're going to be for those.
Nicholas
Yes, Please come see me. I would love for you to sing along with me. It's so fun. We Just have a great time.
Jessica
Fantastic.
Nicholas
Yeah. Thank you.
Jessica
Is there anything else? Any other stories, Any other questions? Any asks for the audience? Anything you want to leave them with?
Nicholas
Oh, my gosh. I just want to say, you know, this career for me has been hard, but I always knew I should keep going. Always knew I would get somewhere. I really believed in myself. So I think even in those low moments, you should just keep truckin and eventually you'll come out that great cloud and you'll come and rise above it and the skies will be blue and everything will be golden.
Nicholas
And you know, you should just keep going if you really, really love this and you really love the work that you're doing and inspired by what you're doing, then just keep going as hard as it gets. Keep going. I love it.
Nicholas
Yeah, I love you.
Nicholas
I love you so much. Thank you so much for having me. This has been amazing. And congratulations. Cheers.
Nicholas
Cheers. Yay!
Jessica
Nicholas Connell.
Nicholas
Jessica Payne
Nicholas
Thank you. Thank you. Perfect.
Jessica
Join the community and share your creative challenges on Instagram and Facebook at Creators Cafe by Kika Labs. And also check out my website www.kikalabs.com to sign up for the mailing list. So you always know when a new podcast is released and to check out my coaching and digital courses to help you be a more confident and joyful creator.
