Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome, welcome, all you listeners out there. I'm Bobby see
Us and I play Marco. That's a wrap on our
story for the season, but we still have more content
for you. This is a bonus behind the scenes episode
about the making of Here Comes the Break. For the
(00:23):
second week of our behind the scenes look at the
makers of the show, we have two more segments coming
at you. First up, I had a conversation with Danielle Perkins,
who plays Janelle, about our experience making the show our
first podcast listening. Cool, cool, cool. I'm here with my
co star, are Janelle the Lovely Daniella Perkins? Daniella, how
(00:45):
you doing? Introduce yourself? Let's get it. Hey, guys, I'm
Daniella Perkins, I played Janelle and Here Comes the Break
and I'm excited to have this little conversation. Alright, alright,
so we'll just dive right in. First question, I'm really
curious about this. How did you get involved with Here
Comes a Break? What was the process like for you
joining the project? Okay, so I got involved with this
(01:09):
project after my agent sent me over the script. I
read it. After I read it, I was thinking about
it the entire day. I was like Wow. Wow, that's
a really good script. So I got back right away
and I was like, I want to be a part
of this, please, let's do this. I just connected with
it immediately, no question about it at all. And it
was right when all the protests were going on and everything.
(01:31):
It just hit different. I guess, yeah, that's dope for me.
It was kind of like it was pitched almost as
like a play podcast hybrid um, and I was like, Okay,
this sounds cool and news. Let me read into it
um and then yes, it's sort of same for me.
The idea of combining hip hop and mental health conversation
through what I love to do, it was just dope.
(01:51):
So I was like, yeah, I'm right in there. Okay.
So like, were there any particular parts of the story
that really drew you in that made you definitely to
be a part of it. Oh yeah, I mean literally
everything about this story I was just drawn too because
it was one, you know, relating to topics our nation
was is still currently dealing with racially, you know, having
(02:12):
those open conversations about mental health. And another thing that
I thought was really really cool is it's super relatable
in all those parts obviously, but another thing is like
kids nowadays are creating their own business. Regardless how old
you are, you can make a career for yourself. And
I thought, obviously, you know, I also do that myself,
and yeah, I just think that's so cool. You know,
(02:35):
everything about this project is just so real and I
was just drawn to it. So yeah, yeah, that's dope.
Like when I think about that, I think about what
I was doing at sixteen or fifteen in comparison to
this newer generation. They're like so far ahead of like
what I was doing in terms of being producted. It's
(02:57):
very inspiring. Yeah, facts, So we'll just keep zooming through
these questions. Is there something that you identified with about
your character and or how are you different? Okay? Um,
I mean we're both very headstrong and determined. We both
know exactly what we want. But I feel like her
determination is like she'll like go out there and get
(03:18):
it done. And then like with me, I know what
I want, but I'll take a little more time, but
really think about things and go for it and just
know if you've got to get it done, you know, Ruben,
you're gonna go here. We gotta talk about this, we
gotta get this, and so she has just more like
pushed behind me, I guess, and I'm more like I
needn't think a little bit fucking do something. I feel that.
I feel that. Do you feel like there's got a
better way to go about doing things in your life?
(03:40):
Me personally? Yeah, if you could be more like Janelle,
would you want to or do you prefer how you
sort of? Oh? No, I would Yeah, I'd want to
be like Janelle. I feel like having those little stops
and mean, well, what if I do this is gonna
be seen this way, you know, instead of just being like, well, no,
I know exactly how I want things to play out
and where my vision is and how how I want
to thing to play out. And so I feel like
(04:02):
with me taking those little stops to be like, okay,
we'll let me think instead of just going for it fully.
Is what I look up to Janelle about, Like she's
just like goes for Yeah. For me, Marco, I think
what I resonate with is just his hustle. His hustle
and his ability to to not necessarily pull strings but
finesse people into pulling strings for him. Oh I like that. Yeah,
(04:25):
that's sort of like I wish I could do that more.
I think I have quite a bit of a hustle,
but he's just super ahead of the game. Yeah, same
thing with Janelle. This is just just a little bit more. Okay.
So what was your experience like just recording the production? So,
like I the studio is like a city over from
where I live. So I actually went in studio mask
(04:46):
on see what I did there. So like that was
my experience. What was yours? Like? Recording all the way
from the West coast? So mine, I just recorded in
my bedroom. They sent me with this little microphone and
pack over and all this stuff, and I I was
just like, wow, I'm in my room doing this, Like
who am I? You know? The only thing that was
(05:07):
different for me was not having that natural planter and
would get from being in the room with people, you know,
and it was just odd, you know, like being live
action acting is like so different than doing a podcast
and especially being at home, Like I feel like also
being in the studio just gives you that extra oath
of you feel like you're really in that moment. So
did you get any direction? Well, yes, they gave me
(05:29):
a direction. We'd be on the call and everything and
like they would read it through me, but you know,
being an actor you give a little bit more. Yeah,
it's just different. But it was definitely an experience and
I'm so happy with how it turned out. Wouldn't want
it any other way. It was a cool experience. Path
when it finally dropped. What was your experience like listening
(05:50):
to it? Well, one, I was nervous and I was like,
oh gosh, I was going to play at because you know,
like not having that panter there. I was like, Oh,
I hope I did to know justice and I would
really love this project. I wanted to be the best
could be. When I listened to it the first time,
I was like, oh my gosh, it turned out so bad.
Like I cried a little bit. I did because I
was so happy. It truly felt such a connection with
(06:11):
this story and all these characters, and I did. I did.
I cried a little bit. I get very connected to
the work I do, so when I see something from
out and I'm very happy being proud of it, it
gets me a little emotional. But yeah, I listened to
it with my mom. That's really I was just waiting
counting down the days for to drop. And then I
remember when I got the notification on on Apple Podcasts.
(06:34):
I just turned on my headphones, laid in my bed,
face to the ceiling, and I was like, all right,
let's do this. And then just the like first fifteen seconds,
I was like, Yo, the music quality of this is
so fire, like how am I even part of this?
And then just listening to the story. There are a
lot of times where I had to rewind because I
was so focused on how well I I did justice
(06:56):
to Marco, if I was doing justice, and just listening
to those things. As an artist, something I'm always striving
for is to be able to consume or just be
an audience member for projects that I'm in, rather than
like judging it from an actor's point of view, you
know what I mean to Like, I found myself almost
not listening quite to the story, but rather listening to
(07:17):
how it came out, if that makes sense, you know,
So like that makes sense, I'd have to rewind and
be like, okay, like let me actually tune into what
I'm going on and not just my voice. You know. Yeah,
same with you. I was like totally blown away just
by like the story and the production quality of it all.
Thank you, word word, What was something important and different
(07:41):
about keeping creatively busy during the pandemic year for you, Okay, yeah,
the pandemic definitely like changed my world completely because what
I do is so much about seeing people and getting
to me. It's just revolves around like so many other
people and that just me. So it's definitely like, Okay,
what am I gonna do? You know? But when this
(08:03):
podcast really helped me because it gave me something to
do and really throw myself into and just work on that.
So I was very very thankful it came when the
pandemic was happening and all that. It was scary. It
was a big change on the acting side of things.
Live action wise, every audition was zoom and it still
is zoom. It's how you know, charming people in the
(08:23):
room isn't a thing you have to like get on
the zoom and be like hey, what's up? And you know,
there's not that like connection you can build with casting directors.
Literally just this past week ahead a producer session and
I was like, oh jeez, it's so different, Like, I
don't know, I think it's definitely going to be a
new normal in a way. I think the biggest part
for me was it also gave me time to figure
(08:45):
out more about me that makes sense and like what
I really want my career to be and what I
wanted to do and what I needed to get there.
It gave me more time to kind of focus on
that instead of being on this constant hustle and like
I need to do this, I need to do this,
I need to be here, and I was just like
I got to stay home, you know, with yourself. Definitely
feel that. Definitely feel like get in touch with me
and get better at all the things that I want
(09:07):
to do. Yeah, I'm curious what does that look like
aside from working on your career during the pandemic when
you weren't doing that sort of stuff, whether it was
like meditation like rubin or like what are some of
the daily practices or things that you engaged with that
made you feel like you're being a better Daniela. Um,
definitely just cutting out time for me because I very
(09:30):
easily to be like I can do a million things
at once and that's okay because that's the lifestyle. And
you know, realizing like no, you you know, you go
to take some time for yourself, like it's okay to
have one day where you're not running around and doing
all these things. Meditation is something I never thought I
was going to be into and I didn't get into,
and it's helped me a lot because I've a very
(09:51):
overthinking mind. I guess I would say it's always on.
It's never I'm doing this right now, I can think
about that. I could be like all the most beautiful
hype in the world. I'll be thinking about what I
have to do when I get back to my room,
you know, instead of just like enjoying the now. And so, yeah,
I feel like meditation really helped me with that. I
also do this little thing called a brain dump. I
take time in the morning when I wake up and
(10:13):
I just write down kind of like journaling, and I
just write down everything thinking and everything. That's just clearing
my mind of the clutter. Yeah, I would say that's
what I kind of do. That's dope, that's dope, very
similar for me. I actually, during the pandemic, I challenged myself.
I've been meditating for quite some time a few years now,
but I challenged myself to just do it more consistently.
(10:35):
So I did like a hundred day eight minute meditation challenge,
where like I wouldn't break it for any day. Wow,
that was like the most rewarding thing that I've ever
put myself through, and like, by the end of the
hundred days, I just felt so much more clear and
like productive and it was really cool. Since then, it's
been hard to get back to it now that things
(10:57):
are going back to normal or semi normal, but like
that's now something I try to incorporate daily and try
to just keep up with it. I love that. That's
also another cool thing. It's not something that has to
take up like an hour of your day. It's true
something that you can work into your busy life, which
I love. It's nice to find something like that. Yeah,
real quick, before we wrap this up, I have one
(11:18):
personal question and then I'll have one rapping question. So
in the podcast, our characters and Reubens specifically, we talk
about influencer culture and how that sort of affects us personally.
I've always been curious, as someone who's an actor but
like not like a breakout star yet. I've always been
curious what the transition from not having a super large
(11:40):
audience too then having one, what that looks like. Are
there things that you personally had to like mentally think
about because you now have a large audience that you're
almost like responsible for. What was that like for you?
For me, I started the whole social media thing and
my main passion acting at the same exact time. I
(12:01):
was on set for my first thing and my sister
was like, Yo, we gotta hop on this musically thing
and I was like, okay, bet let's do so for me,
it kind of happened at the same time. And I
really haven't changed my own personality, I guess when it
comes to being online. And I never was really like,
oh my gosh, people are gonna like look up to me,
like I need to make sure I'm like being a
role model and things like that. I don't know. I've
(12:22):
never been like I need to hide a part of
me because I'm super open and I feel like nothing
about me personally is like shocking or like, oh my gosh,
I might be a little weird, but like that's okay.
And it comes to social media and all that. I mean,
now I feel like it's definitely changed then when I
started it, and that was only you know, like a
(12:42):
couple of years ago. But I feel like now becoming
TikTok or like that must be very crazy, and seeing
it is also crazy, like going into all the Internet
stuff and you're like, wow, this is such a different world.
And now that it's like next thing of kids coming
and I'm oh, my gosh, this is such a different world.
It's crazy what a couple of years can change everything. Thought.
(13:04):
With social media, it's definitely a little scarier now. For sure.
Before I felt like it was a safe place rather
than like a place to like, you know, get a
brandle and do all this stuff. I hear that. I
hear that. Okay, now that life is returning to normal,
what can we expect from you? What are some projects
you might be working on, whether independently or big projects
(13:26):
that you can speak about. Where are we going to
see Danielle next? Okay, so this is actually very exciting.
I am gonna be in the upcoming season of Grown Ish,
so congress excited for it premiers this month, so I'm
very excited. I booked it end and we just wrapped
(13:49):
in June. That's dope. Yeah, it's really cool. So that's
something that's super fun and you can look out for.
I also did an independent film last month, so it
also up in June. I did it right after Grown Ish,
Super Super Cool. It's called del Topia. But yeah, thank
you for sharing your time with me. Looking forward to
working again. Pleasure meeting you, and peace out by We'll
(14:15):
be right back and now back to the show. For
our final behind the scenes segment, we have a wide
ranging conversation between Here Comes the Breaks writers Taylor Bettinson
and Kia Hill about crafting the story and balancing all
(14:36):
the characters and themes. And Nikia conducted all of the
mask on artists interviews, which Taylor has some questions about
for her too. Their conversation coming up next. M hm Hi,
I'm Nikia Hill and I'm Taylor Bettinson. Together we wrote
(14:58):
Here Comes to the Brain, and I was the real
voice behind the interview host you knew as mascart. So
this is a special behind the scenes look at the
writing of season one of Here Comes the Break. Nikkia,
why didn't you tell the listeners how you got involved
in the show, how he came to work together? Absolutely so,
about maybe almost two years ago. Now, I met the
(15:19):
executive producer and one of the co founders of Double
Elvis Production, Brady Fadler. I met him through a contact
and we kept in contact, and I invited him to
come speak to my students about branding and podcasting and
(15:39):
to talk about his work. And Brady just blew both
myself and my students away. And after he spoke to
my students, we actually sat and we just spoke about
like just creative things, some of the projects that he
was working on. And I shared that I have a
background in podcasting, and and we were just like vibing,
(16:01):
really just getting to know each other. And I said
that I had a desire to I'm a nonfiction writer,
a journalists by practice, and I have a background of
music journalism. But I really, at that moment, about more
than a year ago, I had a desire to get
into script writing. And months past he didn't tell me
about Here Comes the Break podcast. He was super secretive
(16:23):
about with some of the projects he was working on,
which I understand now, Um, industry all the way it works,
you can't talk about everything. And I just happened to
reconnect with him. I just was like, hey, shot him
an email, and um, you know, he remembered the conversation
that we had and then the rest was history. He
(16:43):
shared a lot about the Here Comes the Break vision
and talked about you and also the casting director Chris,
and I just fell in love with the story and
I'm like, I have to be a part of this,
and luckily he invited me to be on the team
in Yeah, the rest of this history, how about you? Yeah? Well, no,
I was so excited, like you said, when you came aboard.
(17:06):
I had been involved with Double Elvis a little longer
than you. I knew the other co founder of Double Elvis,
Jake Brennan, from other projects around Boston and other companies
around Boston that we had worked in together, and so
I had been doing some writing in the podcast based
on script writing and support writing for Jake on his
hit show disgrace Ling, and they thought of me to
come on board with Here Comes the Break and sort
of do the show running. But as you alluded to,
(17:27):
you know, you've got students, you're really in touch with
the youth today, as old like me would say. And
I was really excited to have someone who would you know,
again to use zoomer slang, who maybe would keep us
from me in too choogy, you know, who would keep
us in touch with with kind of the youthful spirit
of the characters, because I knew that I had some
(17:47):
real attachment to the story as well in terms of
some of the themes which we're going to get to
talk about in this behind the scenes look, but in
terms of what I think made us a great match
with just being able to balance bringing some of that
realness and some of that lived extreme arans to knowing
some kids these age in a way where we can
reflect the maturity and bring a sophisticated structure behind these
interviews together with these character arts, but just keeping it
(18:10):
down to ground level. I was. I was so happy
when we got to work together. So it's pretty simple
for me. I knew Devil Elvis and knew that they
were gonna introduce me to even more great people to
work with. I'm lo and behold you did. Yeah. Like
as I think about just how Brady and I connected
and like why he decided to bring me on the team,
I'm like, wow, I just have all of these different components.
(18:32):
In regards to my background, it didn't quite lawn on
me that, oh I worked with youth and also I
used to have an online publication and at my background
to music journalism, like it honestly felt like in up
to date, like it feels like a full circle moment
for me. And also like I felt working with you
(18:52):
on the script, it was really because my background was
not in scriptwriting, Like I'm a storyteller. I'm a writer
through and through, and I really is that if you're
a writer, you are writing. It just comes naturally. And
I felt like I was in school because there is
a particular structure with scriptwriting and just working with you,
I definitely just appreciate like I felt like I was
(19:12):
a student, like I was able to be it was
just fluid. I was able to be creative. And then
I was learning from both you and christs And even
when we were going through the process of the auditions
kind of figure out the cast, I just learned. I'm
learning so much about the evolution of like where podcasts
(19:36):
are going, and I really feel a part of history
because we don't see a lot of podcasts doing what
we're doing in this space right now. Well it is right,
I mean, it's exciting space to be in. There's a
lot of different stuff being tried out, and you know,
we incorporated that into the show with the kids pursuing
a podcast. Thank you so much for those comments. Book
Like a Student trust me, I felt as much a
student in terms of us being able to find a
(19:58):
way to bring these voices to together. It is a
new medium and the structure of a podcast episode can
be more experimental in some ways than what people are
used to and more established mediums like movies and TV
where the rhythms are really established. So we had a
great time, and particularly because it was over the pandemic
year and there was a lot of time to be
(20:20):
inside and to be working and be in your head
about something like this. It was great to have even
our small two person writers from to bounce ideas off
of together and develop the story together. Yeah, that has
always been a dream because as a journalist and I
write poetry as well, and essaying He's like, I am
very much in my own world in silo as a writer,
(20:42):
and I've always wanted to be a part of a
writer's room. And what was interesting was when I was
brought on the team, a lot of the story was
like written, and like you were really open to me
bringing in more voice, more depth to the characters, and
just like building so like there was a lot of
(21:03):
back and forth and like the story is your baby too,
and I just thinking about being a woman in the
music industry, and I'm the only woman on the team.
I felt like both you and Chris and Brady from
the very beginning, I didn't feel like I was getting
any special treatment. It was like, this is the story
and that's it. It felt really good, and especially being
(21:24):
in the pandemic and the whole women are extremely vocal
about what it means to be in the entertainment industry,
and I'm happy that one of my first experience in
this way was with all of you, because it felt
really respectful across the board. It was a great experience.
Well that's so great, thank you for saying that. And
(21:45):
frankly it ties in a little bit too. I feel
like we should discuss the season finale of it. There
were a couple of big twists and changes in the
show that we dropped on the audience towards the end,
not least of which was a shift out of Ruben's
head for the very first time and into Janelle's first
respective and promoting that new female perspective on everything that's
been going on the events of the season. Like you said,
coming in, you had a tremendous amount to provide in
(22:08):
terms of helping flesh out characters, backstories and perspectives and
adding texture to the world. And I think you really
connected with the Janelle characters, so it was very exciting.
Even though we had the first draft of the season
ready to go when you came aboard, it evolved a
lot as we work together. I think we added the
trip out to viral Villa, the sort of you know,
excursion that leads to his whole later mental health diagnosis.
(22:30):
And there's a bunch of stuff that happened over the
year that impacted the development of the story. Let's start
to discuss that a little bit. Let's discuss the themes
of the show and what we just brought to the show. Obviously,
this is a story about gen Z breaking out in
the podcasting space and young creators who are digital natives.
A lot of the questions we wanted to examine by
(22:51):
living with these characters were questions of youth and social
media and creativity and how much that is an influence
on on everybody today, not just the youth who are
involved than it, but the older generations whose media and
culture is being defined by Yeah, I would say, also,
just to piggyback on what you said, The theme was
definitely mental health, also youth finding their voice. Although the
(23:15):
characters are teenagers, I feel like anyone from any generation
can relate to just young people just finding themselves and
standing up for what they believe in and just pursuing
even as adults, just pursuing your craft as whatever you
want to be an artist, the doctor and architect, just
(23:35):
having the bravery like these young people who are extremely
brave and really represented the gen Z generation. I hope
that it did in the best way. I was really
inspired by my students at eight to six Boston that
I work with on their Youth Literary Advisory Board. I
(23:56):
work very closely with them. I also have the nineteen
year a brother. He really inspired me as well. And
of course music inspired me in getting to learn more
about the amazing lead cast member, the star of the show,
one of the mini stars, because all of the actors
and actresses their stars, but Assante Black really tapping into
(24:21):
who he is as the person to that really inspired me.
You know, you mentioned the mental health theme as well,
and that ties in I think so much to what
people think of when we have conversations about what social
media does to people and people get concerned about the youth,
but you see in the creativity of the on social
media how much more comfortable they are in that space
and that bravery and putting themselves out there. Like you said,
(24:43):
there's a lot of adults who you don't see you
have that courage I who don't know how to do
it and aren't comfortable with it. And I think it
really speaks to the fact that the mental health theme
as well is it's a universal thing. It's not just
some new thing because of social media. Um, but you know,
that's a mental health and dealing with it is a
pretty universal concern. I want to share myself a little bit.
(25:03):
The mental health theme was really the one that drew
me to the show because I have a bipolar diagnosis myself.
And in the show, as the season came to a close,
after Reuben kind of breaks all of his rules and
betray his friends and you know, flies across the country
on his own, everyone's really freaked out and they wonder
if it wasn't something like a Manning fit, and they
start to discuss that as a possible diagnosis, and that
(25:24):
became really important to me to explore and something I
hope we get to explore further because frankly, it's not
something that's been debilitating for me, but I did go
into the hospital to deal with some mania just a
few months before we started writing the season and before
the pandemic hit, and so my headspace was very much
in dealing with this kind of material and working through
this material. And it's a largely set in Reuben's head.
(25:47):
He's dealing with a lot of anxiety that was written
into the story from the first draft. Um So I
hope that a lot of people, anyone struggling, particularly through
the pandemic here, found some solace in hearing another voice
of someone who was in there head a lot of
the time, I'm dealing with working through some psychological stuff
in order to be able to get back out into
the world in a boulder and braver way. Although we
(26:08):
didn't know that we were going to go through a pandemic,
it ended up being a very resonant thematic arc for
the character, and I hope that came out absolutely And
thank you for being vulnerable and sharing that with our listeners,
because that was something that I feel like midway through
as we were writing the season, that you did disclose
to me your personal experiences because that was something that
(26:30):
I really had to do a lot of research, are,
like what does one who is living with bipolar disorder?
And like what I had to do some research on
my end. And also I definitely the writing process was
super collaborative, but I was very sensitive to that, and
I think what you managed to do with sharing that
(26:50):
part of your personal story was like you humanize the
experience and how difficult it can be. Yeah, thank you. Yeah,
you know, I tried to be pretty transparent about to
destigmatize it. And it doesn't have to be a huge thing.
And some people certainly suffer much more chronically than I
do with mental health diagnoses. It's just something that I've
learned to live with as an adult, and I think
that's something that we all want to be examples of,
(27:12):
is being able to sort of cope with our conditions
and show that it doesn't have to preventue from achieving.
I think there was another important thing that we should
touch on that grew in importance over the season of
the show, and that was finding a voice for and
finding a balance in your life for activism and social
justice issues. I know that over the course of writing
(27:33):
the show and even over the course of conducting all
of the interviews that occurred to some degree over the
Memorial Day window of when George Floyd was murdered and
when there was a large awakening in the country and
there were a lot of protests, and we had discussions
around that and how much to incorporate it explicitly into
the show, because we had already had to make the
(27:53):
decision early on not to try and write the show
set in this pandemic quarantine, but to write it for
a time afterwards when people could say, go back out
to music shows again, you know. But we wanted to
honor what was going on in the world and be
real and topical. You know. Did you find it was
difficult to balance at all, like say, doing the interviews
in terms of being topical and talking about what was
(28:16):
going on in the world that day, while trying to
maintain something a little more thematic and universal or I mean,
you're pretty well experienced in the interview mold and lightness. Yeah. Well,
I definitely wanted to be sensitive to what was occurring
not only in our country but throughout the world, because
there is still this reckoning and we were just like
in the midst of it. So even when we think
(28:38):
about self care and what that means, I am not
someone when I'm interviewing just focusing on getting the interview done,
but like connecting with the artists. So number one, I
had to acknowledge that we were in the midst of
the Black Lives Matter movement in a global pandemic. Like
I really wanted to know how Saint Bodie was doing,
(29:02):
how Nada Jolie, Like I really wanted to connect with
the artists, just to break the ice of it and
just humanize them in that way, just so that we
can build that rapport and then we can talk about
the music. So that was just my approach, and it
was so much going on each day and writing. Some
parts were very when we started to touch on what
(29:24):
Ruben's mom, what would she say to her black son?
Those are things that I would say to my brothers.
Those are fears that I had that my mom has
in so many moms throughout the world. Yes, it's entertainment.
Yes it's a fictionalized story, but it was also very
like rooted in the reality that we were in and
(29:45):
things just evolved as you know, life happened. For sure,
you know, if mom is another example, like you brought
a lot of gravity to her voice with that perspective,
and even in stuff that's not in say the dialogue.
But when we did a conversation on Instagram live with
death him mid season for the show, and our host
was asking us about the parental style that he saw
displayed when Ruben was fighting with his parents, basically that
(30:08):
they were being pretty allowing of him sort of mouthing
off during this discussion and that that was not necessarily
the norm. And you know, I know that, Like we
have talked about what is Mom's background, and there was
some discussed of her being like a professor and having
an academic background, and I thought that that played into
some of the sort of openness and permissiveness of dialogue
in the house and the way that they end up
(30:28):
having their conversations a little bit. Having that sort of
intellectualized approach. With most stories that have any kind of
serialized element or or have any kind of scope, even
if they're short and concise, it's like an iceberg. You know,
the contents are just what's above the water, but there's
so much beneath that is uh backstory and character motivation
and the stuff that just manifests above and with our season,
(30:51):
I think you really see it come to fruition with
the burst out to Viral Villa, and then you see
it towards the end with their decision to go out
to the Black Lives Matter protest rally as the sort
of climactic scene of the finale, once we've switched to
Janelle's perspective and we lose sight of Ruben for the
first time, you know, and kind of a twist, we've
been in his head the whole season and then we
(31:11):
tracked them and it's a bit of a cliffhanger, But
I also think it's sort of is a button on
the season because it shows Ruben is still figuring out
what's safe and what's the danger, but he's out there
on his own and he's being independent and he's out
in the world. And there is a little something to
that that shows his progress as a character over the
course of that season. Where he was so nervous even
(31:32):
as mask on that he was running away from the
door in the first few episodes. You know, he was
out there being reckless. Like anyone can relate to that
when you are a teenager and your parents are trying
to shield you. But that is a particular level as
you get older, of protection and love. So yeah, Ruben
was just really reckless, and I feel like his mom
(31:55):
she was for me. I really wanted it to reflect
the difference of black women, regardless if you're a professor,
you have education or not. Like, at the end of
the day, you're a black woman. And there were moments
where mom was like, don't talk back, young man. She
said it in a different way, but you know what
inspired Mom's character was like a Claire Hospable, she would
(32:18):
have that tone. She didn't have to raise her voice,
but you knew she had that Black mom like don't
even try it, you will be grounded. So I really
wanted to capture that. Yeah, I did want to ask
you a couple of final questions about your experience as
Masks on basically as getting to conduct all of these interviews.
You know, you talked a little bit about balancing sort
(32:39):
of topicality and you know, real world issues with keeping
it thematic and establishment poor. But was it also something
to balance knowing that you were going to basically be
overdubbed by the character. Yes, yes, yes, yes, I think
that was one of the challenging components. There were several
challenging pieces, but just for me as a music journalists
and also building that rapport with artists. I'm a woman,
(33:03):
and sometimes if you are interviewing men in particular, I'll
just be honest. There's a little bit of like it's
like super casual, and sometimes they can get flirtatious and friendly. However,
that was something that I kept in mind because that
it has been my experience in music journalism. So I
really just tried to make sure I mean and at
(33:26):
the very beginning mentioning that too to the artists that
I'm asking the questions, but an actor will be asking them.
But I think I did a good job. I would say,
I think you did an excellent job as the man
who went through the transcripts and selected the sections to
to become the full mask on interviews for the episode.
I think you did a marvelous job balancing that and
(33:47):
I completely agree with you. You know, we're given again
these behind the scenes peaks. Letting the artists know the
format of how it's going to be presented within the
fictional show. I think probably helped everyone. You have to
understand the concept in order to be able to develop
the real report you're talking about, you know, so that
they weren't surprised by that later. And also another thing
that was challenging that was like the relational piece and
(34:09):
the interpersonal skills and what it takes the interview, but
also making sure that each interview was thematic so that
it would fit into each episode, like the particular things
that we knew would go into the script. And I
feel like we kind of had to go back into
the script and like change some things, but I wanted
to not create more work on the back end. They're
(34:32):
all talking about the same thing opening up. And that's
something that I still do when I interview artists is like,
in your own words, who are you? That is hands
down I always ask artists that because in the music industry,
labels will try to box you in, and I think
it's really important for artists to define who they are.
I want them to be able to name this is
(34:54):
who I am. And then we jump into the interviews
because I really respect the craft what goes into artists
creating their music. That's great. And then my final question
for you about the interviews, did you find I guess
that what you're saying right now about the theme stuff,
what threads did you find in interviewing so many emerging
artists for this project? Did you find a particular sort
(35:14):
of motif or theme in these interviews? I guess what
I'm saying is, did you find anything in the answers
that became a thread that you were following? Because I
really feel like on some of these things we talked about,
you really see the interviews blossom and get richer as
we go on the season, and it creates this real
sense of Reuben evolving as an interviewer within the story
that I really loved and think you're a huge part
of that. What did you find about interviewing all those
(35:36):
emerging artists in a row? I would definitely say being yourself.
When we think about a big machine, which is def
Jam Records, there's so many historical legends artists that come
from that label, and I think it's easy to say, Okay,
I'm gonna be like the next Kanye or like the
(35:57):
next Tiana Taylor or whoever. And even like naming those
two artists who you know are affiliated with def Jam,
they are very much who they are, Like there will
never be another Kanye and I feel like these artists
really mimic that they were just like authentic raw and
they were emerging artists. And I think that's the beauty
(36:18):
about the heir Comes to Break podcasts. It's like, you know,
we're not breaking the artists. But I feel like what
I really wanted to capture in the interviews is that
we weren't asking the same questions that they would be
asked on another platform, on a radio show or whatever,
that our listeners would walk away with getting to know them.
(36:38):
And they were really concerned about in vocal about what
social justice meant to them, and like how they were
dealing with the pandemic, and they were extremely authentic. But
I think the one theme is like be yourself, whatever
you're gonna do, do you and pursue that. I think
that they're doing that in such beautiful ways. A lot
(36:58):
of the artists I wasn't from you're with their music
before a particular interview. I'm the lasting their music in
my house so I can really get to know them,
listen to their lyrics. I can ask questions about a
song or an album title and also align it with
the story. And here goings to Break. Yeah, that's the
way to do it well, I think for yourself is
(37:19):
a great note to end on. Great theme from the
interviews and a great theme for the season. Thanks so
much for taking the time to have a little conversation
about the behind the scenes, and again it's been a pleasure.
And that's a wrap on this season of Here Comes
the Break to all of you aspiring creatives out there
of any age, and we hope these conversations about the
making of the show have brought you some excitement and
(37:41):
insight into the creative process and special final shout out
to everyone who made Here Comes to Break possible. Listen
up for those names one last time in the credits, Peace, love,
and remember to be yourself. Here Comes to Break is
produced by Double Elvis and partnership with I Heart Radio
Executive duced by Deaf Jam Recordings Executive produced by and
(38:02):
starring Assanti black Is Ruben, produced by Daniella Perkins who
plays Janelle, Bobby cs is Marco, Christopher V. Edwards as Dad,
Raymie Cornell is Mom, and Taylor Bettenson. Written by Taylor
Bettenson and the Kia Hill Artist interviews conducted by Nikia Hill,
directed by Christopher V. Edwards. Mixed and edited by Matt
ta Hainey, Sound recording by Colin Fleming, Music Elements and
(38:26):
production by Ryan Spreaker. Additional production support by Jamie Dimons.
Executive produced by Jake Brennan and Brady Sadler for Double
Elvis Special thanks to Rain Rosenbaum, Shelby Shankman, Sarah Kani
and Jordan Gerrellic United Talent Agency, Beck Comedian Marketing, Barack
Moffatt and Universal Music Group, Rich Isaacson, Lind Gonzalez, Charlene Thomas,
(38:48):
Merrissa Pizarro, Gabriel to Serrierio, Jessica Manarino and Nya Fleming
at Deaf Jam Recordings and Conald Burne, Carrie Lieberman, Will Pearson,
Noel Brown and the entire I Hurt Media team to
hear bonus content, meet the cast, and go behind the
scenes of Here It Comes to Break. Follow with Double
Elvis on Instagram or visit double Elvis dot com