All Episodes

October 22, 2025 55 mins

We're breaking free! Drew Seeley joins Bart Johnson to talk about how he landed the job to sing on the High School Musical soundtrack, what it was like going on tour with the cast and what the franchise means to him 20 years later.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Wildcats, this is Bart Johnson and you're listening to
Get Your Head in the Game.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hi.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Everyone, welcome back to Get your Head in the Game.
Today's guest is someone who literally helped launch one of
the biggest musical franchises of all time. He was the
singing voice behind Troy Bolton in the original High School musical,
co wrote the hit track get Your Head in the Game,
and has gone on to do so many incredible things
in music, film, and more. He is so dang talented

(00:30):
and just an all around awesome guy. Please welcome the
one and only Drew sy Lee.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Oh, Bart Johnson ID likewise.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
For homies now, although we didn't meet until when did
we meet?

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Do you know exactly? I don't. I'm trying to pinpoint
the moment. I can't.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
It was a while after the movies, I think, so
like years. Yeah, came out a matter of fact. We
were just talking about you never made a utah.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yeah, no, I've I never made it to any of
the sets one, two or three.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
No, that's crazy. Yeah, so it's so wild, it's so
we just we had a party without you.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Man. I'm so waiting for my invite right now, there's
a step out of the healing and the HSM utility guy,
you know, somebody's sick.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Well, as you know, I'm a huge I'm a huge
fan of this guy. I appreciation, Like I always say,
your voice is butter dude. It's just that it's such
a beautiful, smooth, like amazing voice. So thank you for
first of all being a part of our Imagine franchise family.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Just gratitude, nothing, but you know, gratitude because I could
have been this this this opportunity could have gone to
any number of talented actors or singers. You know, I
just happened to be in the right time, the right place,
be working with the right producers. Met Kenny, I did
audition for High School Musical, and you know that didn't
go my way, but you know he had met me
from that and and I co wrote Get Your Head

(01:54):
in the Game, so he knew my voice from the
demo of that, which so it just sort of love
that one great song on the movie. Thank you.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
Yeah, I'm pretty partially I feel like you wrote that
for me, So yeah, I appreciate. No, it was great, dude,
that's amazing you wrote that song.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
How how did you know we got so many talk
where do you want to know?

Speaker 1 (02:11):
Like it's hard, man, because I want to know so much.
But I guess let's start the beginning. Let's start the beginning,
and then I want to hear about, like how that
happened where you ended up writing the.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
Song you got it? Back to the beginning, back to
the beginning where it all started.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yes, which would have been I guess twenty one years
ago or.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
So, oh my gosh, yeah, let's see. So uh, I
actually don't know the story of the beginning of that.
We like it all, really, it's all kind of there's
a lot of fuzziness around that time, I think because
I didn't realize the gift that it was in the
moment as it was happening. Only in retrospect it was like,
oh my god, like that happened because you were already

(02:51):
in town. I was in town. I had lived for
two years in la I moved here in two thousand
and two from work three Orlando, Orlando. Yeh uh, with
a with a buddy of mine. It was my producing
partner at the time. Nate Bosley shout out, this is
his shirt. It's kind of a running joke because I
stole it from him like twenty years ago and I
wear it all the time. But uh, super talented guy.

(03:14):
Side story, he was my guest on the High School
musical tour because all of us on the tour bus
got to bring up a buddy like a pal. Yeah,
you know, Lucas brought Mark Blackwell, I brought Nate Nate. Anyway,
back to the beginning, I lived in LA for two years.
I was working at PF Chang's. It's a hot Rice

(03:36):
Scooper you gotta you gotta make it do. Yeah. I
was there. Never quite made it to server, but I
was a great Rice Scooper, the Rice Scooper. Oh. It
was like it was like tough competition. It was like
being an actor in LA. Like competition to become a
server at PF Changs was like cutthroats. Ye yeah, but
uh but I was. I was working on music. I
had my my CDs and my apron. I definitely put

(03:59):
one on Jamie Fox his table one day and said, hey,
I'm an artist. You know.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
Yeah, that's a good move because he's like kind of
known for like spotten people.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
You never know, you know, I was. I was. I
wouldn't say desperate is the word, but like green. I
was like, I don't know how this works. Yeah, really
was hungry. I was like, I moved out here, not
just to you know, I'm gonna give it a real try. Yeah.
So I was working on music with a producer named
Ray ch Ham rest in Peace Right. I was signed
to him for a production deal as an artist. So

(04:28):
I was recording songs to pitch the labels, and one
day he got an opportunity to write this song for
an untitled Disney Channel film high school musical, get Your
Head in the Game. And he knew I was a
writer because I've been working on my music with him,
so he was gracious enough to let me in on
the session, and that's when we wrote get Your Head
in the Game, not thinking anything of it, Like it

(04:49):
was just like okay, yeah, let's move on with our life,
like definitely didn't give it a second thought. And then
that was just the beginning of everything. You know, an
next five six years was like a meteoric rise in
opportunities just because of that one session. So wow, right time,
right place. How long did it take you to write

(05:10):
that song? Oh man? Twenty minutes? Really want you? I
didn't write the whole thing I mean, like, you know,
he had the track produced already, Like I came in.
I'm a lyricist primarily in a vocal arranger, so I
came in and put a little sauce on it. I'm
trying to remember the exact parts that I wrote it
sort of again, it blends together. Yeah, I get the

(05:30):
bridge that well, I'm I feeling's so wrong. Oh really
I think that was me.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
That's amazing. Yeah, but uh everybody tries to take that bridge.
Oh that's great, but you you came in, you knocked
it out, and I'm just tripping on the one session thing,
like that's how quick it could happen.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, I mean I was, I was. I was warmed up.
Like I was. I was really gunn into be an artist.
So I was in the studio all the time, writing
music all the time, so it didn't feel like a
challenge of just like fun, like this is what this
is what I like to do. Yeah, way, that sounded great.
So what you did there? Oh hey, okay, thanks having
warmed up, I'll take it. Yeah. So then this is

(06:14):
this is long before the like auditions were happening rating
I don't. I think it's before the auditions were happening.

Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah, yeah, so you so you laid that down and
you thought you were done.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
Totally thought I was done for months and months and months,
even after you guys shot the film. I thought it
was done. Like I knew my voice was on it,
because I did do the sessions with you know, Ashley
and Vanessa and Corbyn and Lucas Enmo. But but even then,
even then, I was like, yeah, you know, it's this
Disney Channel movie. You know, you've made five hundred bucks,

(06:45):
you can go back to PFG. Yeah, and then uh,
and then the movie actually premiered while I was working
and it was playing on the bar top TVs and
I was telling my coworkers, I'm like, yeah, that's my
that's my voice on there. Like yeah, okay, dude, get
back to work. But uh, in.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
The Change's outfit watching the movie on the TV. Yeah yeah,
that's crazy.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
But this was the job that allowed me to eventually
quit that job. And since then I've been acting and
singing and that's been my send there and PF change
watching the TV and like looking at your future, you
never know, right, how many I mean, how many movies
do you do? And how many TV shows and like,
how many actually hit like this? How many type of
podcasts that you're talking about it twenty years later? Right?
So had I had no idea? Yeah? I went to

(07:27):
the play last night. I think I saw you fot
that great man. Did the kids say you were coming? No?
What in cool surprise for them?

Speaker 1 (07:35):
No, everybody kept telling me because it's the it's on.
It was on the stage I grew up on like
this little in this little, tiny, little one stop like town,
and uh, there they are putting it up twenty years later,
like it's a brand new show.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
It was wild. It was wild. It was really cool.
I did a show last week. This awesome Disney singer
Connor Smith reached out and he put together a show
called dcom Live. Oh I saw the show. Did you
see that? Yeah? And it's basically for the fans of
all these amazing original Disney Channel movies. Uh. And it

(08:05):
was packed and I sang these songs from high school
musical and they knew everywhere and it was it was
almost like being back on tour, Like the energy of
the crowd is that? Yeah? Wild? Years later?

Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yeah, yeah, I got invited to one in Italy and
they said we come up to Milan and host this
dance party.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
And I was like, what do you want to do? Like,
I'm not a DJ? You made a co host bar.
If I had, I would throw Let's get what we
should do. I'm gona talk to him. We should do?

Speaker 1 (08:32):
There was twenty thousand people showed up to that thing. Wow,
it's unreal. Yeah, could you feel like a rock star
for like five minutes? I mean I'll go on the
stage and pretend to dance and get the pretending coach
knows how to high bubble crowd. Yeah, yes, that's all
I do. Okay, So so okay, sorry, I know I
derail you. So we're no, So you're you're pf change

(08:53):
to watch the movie. And then have you met Kenny
at this point?

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Yes, in the record obviously there for all of that,
and from the audition as well. And then I man,
I was ten years old when Newsies came out, so
I was at that like formative age. I was starting
to sing, I was, you know, so that was like
it for me. That was like my movie. I was
a dancer as a kid, so even like before the

(09:20):
movie came out, like getting to work with Kenny was
like the highlight of all of it, I was like,
oh my god, this is icon incredible and he did
not disappoint, like he's he is the genius that everybody
that comes out here says says he is. And I
feel like after the movie came out, Disney and him
could have really thrown me under the bus when it

(09:41):
came time to tour and Zach wasn't available, you know,
but you know they they said, yeah, you know, you
know the music, you're you were here from the beginning,
like hop on board this ride. And I got to
tour the world with the main cast, and you know,
it was like it could have gone many of different
So I'm just grateful that he was there to give

(10:02):
me that opportunity. And uh, and I got to be
directed by him because you guys did him all those films,
But even in the tour, like he really brought that
same I was listening to your your interview with Casey
that you just did and about how he just personalizes
everything with such heart and man, I'm really rambling right now,

(10:24):
but he really he makes you feel like like there's
more of a purpose to what you're doing. Then it's
just like a project. He's like there's a real reason
you're here and we're telling this story and like what
a gift this is, and like he brings everybody together
and I felt that energy and we we ran with it,
and yeah, it's one of the highlights of my.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
Career for sure. Yeah, how did you find Kenny? It's
all It all comes back to Kenny. And I don't
I think, uh yeah, I think people get the sense
of it if you listen to the cast talk about
like everybody knows like he created something really special in
his own special way and bringing so much out of
individuals and and like you're really you're you're like your

(11:05):
DNA is on this this project, you know, like, yeah,
I feel that's how I feel. Like in the movie
and said, I've said your name probably a million times
before I met you, Like oh yeah, yeah, it's like, well,
you're part of the family. But it's like, but I've
never met the guy that was crazy.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
Extended family you know, yeah, long lost cousin.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
Yeah, yeah, like both family forever though, So I am
here the family you can't shake. How was that tour man, Like,
how how did you?

Speaker 2 (11:29):
Uh? It was fifty one city tour, I believe, Yes,
fifty one arenas in the States and Canada arenas man
which was yeah, like hockey arenas, and and then uh,
the South American tour, which was stadiums, so you know,
if arenas weren't weren't big enough. Uh yeah, man, I
was just listening to Vanessa and Lucas's interviews with you

(11:52):
before this, and then it's fun to relive that time
because we were legitimate rock stars in these other countries
where you know, English isn't even the main language, but
they know every single word of every single song. You know,
bodyguards every time you leave your hotel, like it was pandemonium,
and you know, I think I was like, I think

(12:14):
maybe a little bit got to my head in the
time I afterward, I guess I didn't. I didn't realize
that like that doesn't always happen. Oh yeah, this is yeah,
that we're movie stars. Huh yeah. But then no, it
was it was such a cool experience.

Speaker 1 (12:39):
Now, I guess I would would think that you didn't
really get to know the cast very well in your
music session because it was only a couple of days.

Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yeah, yeah, hardly at all.

Speaker 1 (12:48):
I mean, yeah, so that must have been strange, Like, hey,
you're the lead guy now of this show.

Speaker 2 (12:56):
It was weird being the only one coming in as
like a you know, I was there for the music,
but like also like a fresh face. The hardest part
of the tour was the opener was started something new,
the very so like the stages back lit, and then
I got to come out by myself, living in my

(13:17):
own world and you don't see who it is, and
then the lights come on, and I remember in every
city there the audience would be like yeah, and then
because then they'd be like, wait a minute, died down,
Oh it's not Zach. So then I had to spend
the rest of the song trying to like win them back.
But credit to the movie and the music, I don't

(13:38):
think it would have mattered who was up there. I
think by the end of the first song they were
all in. They're like, yeah, we'll take him for this show.
That that'll work. It was just so much, so much fun. Yeah,
I do think the part of it is like they recognize,
Like I think there's a weird cognitive dissonance for a
lot of people, Like even now, people are still finding

(13:59):
out and the response is either oh my gosh, you
you were my childhood or you ruined my childhood. Two
no polar opposite answers that I get. People like to
go like it's like people try to make this like
team Drew team Zach thing, and it's just it's not
that at all crazy stupid. I've only met Zach a

(14:20):
few times actually, because I really was only ever there
when he was not there, of course, so I know
the rest of the cast fairly well. And I met
Zach a few times and he's always been super kind
and cordial to my wife and I and like, you know, yes,
I'm I'm just happy I I got to play my
little piece in the whole the whole thing.

Speaker 1 (14:40):
That's so crazy, man, That's it's I didn't really didn't
think about how you spent obviously how much time on
that tour.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
I mean that was a lot of three months for
the first one, and then that South America was about
a month three weeks to a month, and you guys
were like, I mean have been closer during that. I mean,
Corbyn and Lucas and I shared this super tricked out tour,
but us which was a super uh super Rader's voice
on the yeah yeah, three and three. We had a

(15:10):
nutritionist that was like showed us how to like put
random coconut sauce on toast for energy and like like
like a local local nutritionists now like a traveling tour nutritionists.
It was like such a such a crazy experience, but yeah,
it was kind of a whirlwind. I was looking through

(15:31):
videos the other day from the tour when I found
out we were going to do this, just to sort
of jog my memory and remember some of the times.
And yeah, Amy, my wife was there. She she she
and I had only been dating for like six months
when this tour started happening, so she came along. And
I've got videos of her and Vanessa's little sister Stella
like dancing their faces off at the side of the

(15:52):
stage and taking videos. She was like ten or something. Yeah,
so fun to fun to relive.

Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yeah, yeah, you should post some of those videos. People
are gonna love to see.

Speaker 2 (16:03):
Yeah, and the old flipcam I gotta side for the
iPhone how old. I don't even know what these were
filmed on, but yeah, there I have a I have
a bunch of stuff.

Speaker 1 (16:14):
I think like people were like we had like cam
quarters and stuff. I know, like a lot of the
during the music. So anytime I have to sit in
the in the crowd, is like the coach. I would
always bring my laptop and record off my onboard camera
and like that's how I little phones.

Speaker 2 (16:29):
Now, but like I was using this big thing. Hey,
here we are. I gotta I gotta find those videos.
I don't know where they are. I've got like physical tapes,
you know, film from a camp quarter, right, yeah. Yeah.
The kids are like, what's that? What are you talking about? Yeah,
what's the tape? What's the tape? We're aging our sales bards.

Speaker 1 (16:45):
Yeah, twenty years man, twenty years By the way, how
crazy is that? Twenty years ago this this movie came out,
so we're talking.

Speaker 2 (16:55):
I mean, you must have been so young. Well, I
was older than the rest of the cast. I was
twenty four, twenty four to twenty five, I guess. Yeah.
So I mostly hit it off with Monique and Lucas,
I guess because we were closer in age, and we've
actually stayed pretty good friends through the last twenty years.
Like Lucas sang at my wedding really, which was which

(17:16):
was awesome? And when was that? How long ago? Twenty
thirteen's man? Thank you? Yeah, that's like a one hundred
years of marriage in Hollywood. That feels like, yeah, I
mean basically Amy and I that's twenty years too, because
that was when it all started.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
So that's cool. I don't know, Amy Man, we gotta
we gotta get together.

Speaker 2 (17:35):
Get her on here. Yeah, she's she's a force to
reckon with in her she did own right. She she
works on the Jennifer Hudson Show. She's got a segment
on there and e t oh okay, but she's a
great actress and yeah she's I'm married to an actress too,
so yeah, so yeah, so we take turns. You know,
she's working a lot right now. So my main priority

(17:57):
right now is helping to homeschool our six year old. Yeah,
and we've got a very sick, elderly dog, so he
takes a lot of energy as well, so I'm keeping
it close to home. So this was a great thing
that you asked me to do. I'm like, yeah, that's
a that's an easy lift home by lunch. So I'm in.
That's great six year old kid. That's awesome. Man, that's cool.
Can we say a name, Ember, Ember Florence, Ember Florence. Oh, beautiful,

(18:20):
that's cool. She's wonderful. She's man, she's got a great voice.
She loves to sing in the car. And I haven't
shown her high school musical yet or any of the
things that I've acted in, not for any particular reason.
But she's a big fan of K pop Demon Hunters.
That's her current jam.

Speaker 1 (18:38):
Of course. Yeah, Oh, I hope your kids watch the
watch the movie. My kids refused. They won't, They won't
watch them.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
She doesn't think I'm cool, so I don't know if
she really wants to.

Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah something. I just can't be cool to your own kids. Man,
it's so depressing. This is like, this was my ind you.

Speaker 2 (18:54):
I told the story a few times, but like every
time I try to sing along with her, you know,
because I'll hear her and join in in a harmony,
She'll just like give me this death stare and be like, dad, no,
we're not a singer. Stop, and I'm I laugh internally
because I'm like, one day, I'll show you all this
time one day, one day. Yeah, she's the sweetest, man.
That's great. Congrats, man, that's so cool.

Speaker 1 (19:16):
Okay, so you've done Drew's you know, the whole point
of this is to give back to the fans, our
East High family, because they've been with us for twenty
years and have been so good to me.

Speaker 2 (19:25):
I know they've been good to you.

Speaker 1 (19:26):
They've provided all these opportunities and so nice on social
media like the best, like I do some silly dance
on there and people like, hey let's.

Speaker 2 (19:34):
Go coach or you know whatever.

Speaker 1 (19:36):
So uh so yeah, so like uh I just uh
think of like how like what do they want to know?

Speaker 2 (19:44):
What are my people out there want to know? We
ask them in real time? What do you want to know?
What are your burning questions? Oh? Oh, we got one here.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
In the studio in studio question, yes, yes, you you
and the front.

Speaker 2 (19:58):
I have a really random question and is I know
obviously fans knew you from the tour. Did they ever
think about giving you a cameo in two and three?
It was never spoken about to me. Uh, you know,
I would have loved that. That would have been cool.
I think there is maybe they wanted to keep some separation. Uh.
I really don't know. I would have loved to be

(20:19):
in the reboot too. You guys got to do that too, right, Yeah?
That would have been was that experience like.

Speaker 1 (20:23):
You mean like on the TV series that was That
was that was amazing. It was it was really cool.
I mean, I see everyone in the cast individually. I
bump into him at events or movies. I've done a
couple movies with Lucas and and uh, you know, it's
a small town. Yeah, so you see people, but together
is so different. And then to see everybody in their

(20:44):
wardrobe in character was pretty wild. But the craziest thing
was everybody in their wardrobe walking into the basketball stadium
like the room where we shot. Were all in this
together and had championship games and all that stuff. Was like, dude,
but well, I'm back in East High like I'm I'm
ready to coach.

Speaker 2 (21:02):
Let's let's go. And it was It's pretty special. Man.

Speaker 1 (21:05):
It's you don't you just think it's, uh, oh, this
could be fun to work on this show.

Speaker 2 (21:09):
And you literally walk in the.

Speaker 1 (21:11):
Environment like start getting like emotional, man, like all the fuels.

Speaker 2 (21:17):
Man, it's crazy. It was really, it was really cool.
I think it was really cool that that sort of
like revived life into the whole franchise and reminded reminded
people about it too, And it's just it's kept the uh,
the legacy of it going along so yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:31):
That was that was pretty fun. It was actually kind
of surprising how it felt. It's just like no time
at all passed. Yeah, you know, like we were right
back there shooting and move back in back in actual
East High I look over at Darbus. I'm like Darbus, ye,
Ryan's and his you know, his fancy outfit.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
It is this.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
It was great, man, It's amazing. But now like Corbyn's
a big Broadway star. Now he's doing a dancing you know,
not as a little kid, but like as as a
Broadway This is wild.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
Everybody's It's so cool to see how everybody's gone on
to do their you know, passions and individual things and
so much talent. Yeah, yeah, you know, and it was
like the beginning for everybody. It was like being there
at the at the beginning. Yeah, that was a really
cool I sort of fell into the Disney Channel world
like at a really interesting time, Like I was there
at the beginning of Selena, you know, her rise to

(22:18):
everything and and and the beginning of Sweet Life, Like
I did an episode of that and got to be
in all these soundtracks with it was and singing like
the first song with whoever else And yeah, it was
just it was a it was a cool, cool time
where like nobody quite knew where things were gonna go
or what was gonna so like it there weren't there

(22:41):
weren't like a million gatekeepers to like make stuff happen.
We're just like putting stuff out, and uh, I was, yeah.

Speaker 1 (22:48):
No we when did when did you start getting heat?
Like when did you start feeling like there's a lot
of eyeballs on you?

Speaker 2 (22:54):
And well I put out Dance with Me from Cheah
Girls too before right before High School Musical. So that
was like my first single, my first music video, and
and it made a little bit of noise, I guess.
But then after high School Musical another Cinderella story was
the other the other thing that I'm mostly known for

(23:14):
asked about now, that came about very soon after High
School musical, right.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
After high school music. I mean like all three or
like the first one, just the first one. Yeah, yeah,
so like the first book.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
I don't remember when the tour was. When was the
tour was? That tour was after six but like the
very end, like Christmas of O seven and then uh
so number two hadn't come out yet. Number two hadn't
come out. This is before number two. Yeah, and then
and then I think what you guys are doing? Number two?
I got to go to Broadway and play Prince Eric
in The Little Mermaid, which was another direct uh Disney,

(23:48):
you know property, Oh who do we know that could
play Prince What about this guy? He did High School Musical?
So you know, your first gift that keeps on giving.
First time on Broadway, first time on Broadway, incredible show
was open for Clo was three months later. You know,
I don't know if I think this is true, but
Tim who created High School Musical, the musical, the series,

(24:09):
I believe he was in the same Broadway production of
The Little Mermaid, but like he left before I came in,
Like he was an actor in the show. It was
an actor, that's right. I was the replacement Prince Eric
the last three months of the of the show. But yeah, anyway,
small weird connection for Tim too. Now he's boom, he saying,

(24:31):
But yeah, Broadway, I would love to get back there someday.
Ye the best time. Okay, So I'm trying trying to
think of the trajectory.

Speaker 1 (24:38):
So you did so you'd already been working, but not
enough to you still got a job the high school
musical one comes out, and then did things start happening
before the tour, before the concert tour?

Speaker 2 (24:49):
Yeah, I quit around I quit the job around that holiday,
that Christmas, so yeah before Yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:55):
He said, great, dude, Quentin qu The rest it was gat.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
I did a three. I mean, I have nothing against
restaurant work. Like you know, I worked at Friendlies for
three years in high school.

Speaker 1 (25:06):
Yeah, it's it's working nights so your days are free
to audition and.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
For sure, yeah, for sure, but I but I'd much
rather be singing and acting and traveling. It's a choice, you.

Speaker 1 (25:15):
Know, gust like the job that lets you quit, and
it's not it's not quitting the job. It's like what
it's what it means, right, Like I can. I'm gonna
make an income pursuing my passion. Like that's so exciting.

Speaker 2 (25:26):
It's the definition of success, it is. It is like
making it.

Speaker 1 (25:29):
But then when you, like a year later, you have
to tail to your legs. Okay, really need some money
to pay this this rent and going back. I've did
do it three times. Man went back to work working
in Yeah, you know, I started I started getting jobs
further out of town. So I didn't all my actor
forensic kazlic directors Like.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
There have been lean years, that's for sure, but all
in all, haven't had to go back to restaurant work
at least.

Speaker 1 (25:56):
But yeah, yeah, well I was looking through your credit.
So you've done a ton of stuff since then, So
I mean you're staying you stay busy.

Speaker 2 (26:04):
Yeah, I've been so fortunate. I'm Canadian as well, so
I'm in the last six seven years, I've filmed a
lot of Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies and that kind
of thing up in Canada because that's where they shoot
the majority of them. Yeah. Uh, And they're a lot
of fun. And I've snuck my music in there wherever
i can. Like a lot of them have little soundtracks,

(26:25):
and I'm like, hey, guys, you know you know what, Yeah,
you get in on that.

Speaker 1 (26:28):
You've ever done them where you're like, that's a storyline,
like you're a country singer in this.

Speaker 2 (26:32):
There's one called Christmas Movie Magic that came out a
couple of years ago that it's sort of like a
gene Kelly fred Astaire's like a big singing dancing song
in the snow, like on top of an old car
and like old timey outfits and that was like a
real special one. It's kind of fun.

Speaker 1 (26:47):
Okay, we'll have to look for that's nice because they
always a little play everite Christmas.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
Now yeah yeah, and now you know I and there's
the high school musical conventions. There's also these Christmas conventions,
so like those have been fun. I've done number of
those now. Yeah, and the fans of Christmas movies are
I would say just about his Rabbit as fans of
high school musical wow. Wow. Oh that's cool. It's a
whole other thing. Yeah yeah, Oh that's great, man. Yeah,

(27:11):
that's so cool. I'm just like you man, like people
saying to you an in and out burger and You're like,
I'm in it. Like let's let's do it. Like somebody
was like, hey, you want to say it my birthday.
I'd met her before, but I was like, yeah, yeah,

(27:32):
it's in Koreatown.

Speaker 1 (27:33):
Sure wait, okay, tell me back up, tell me about that.
How did that happen?

Speaker 2 (27:38):
I did some contests last year and the winner of
that like had a twenty minute conversation with me, and
she was working in music, and I was like, oh,
that's so cool. Nice to meet you, and she randomly
reached out a year later and said, Hey, my sister
and I are having our joint thirtieth thirty thirty birthday.
Would you perform? Like, well, I've never done a birthday

(27:58):
party before, but is it la? Yes, yeah, let's do it.
So I made it a surprise appearance. It's like forty people,
random little club in Korea town and uh sang all
the you know, greatest hits and it was so much fun.
So so now I'm bookable for birthdays. Hit me up.
That's awesome.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
That's awesome. Michael boob Lace and my sister in law's
Diddy birthday birthday probably came by. I said, it's kind
of same thing. Hey, the crowd goes crazy like, oh
my gosh, it's amazing. But how cool that you can
show up and you got something to offer? Man, you know,
like I get I get hit on the spot all
the time, like brought on stage or like do something.

Speaker 2 (28:36):
What am I gonna do? Man, I didn't have a
song in that movie.

Speaker 1 (28:39):
Like I'll give him some quote them the lines or
give them the pump up speech or you know, like
give them my you know.

Speaker 2 (28:47):
I got my get you hitt in the game. You
got your arsenal. Yeah, yeah, all that. Yeah, we do.
We do a lot of that's a that's a good one. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (28:56):
The people freak out about that one too, because everybody
says we can, we can.

Speaker 2 (29:00):
You're on Cameo. I am both on Cameo. It's been
a great you know it's fun, right, Yeah, it's a
lot of fun. I got these shoes from Cameo. Actually
randomly started Cameo, like maybe like a decade ago. Whenever
they came has set me nothing. I've done four cameo. No,
you need to hit them up.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
I think there's a Cameo house now, is there like
a Cameo Oh, I'm sure If you guys don't know
what cameo is, it's a great app.

Speaker 2 (29:28):
You should download it. You can find us personalized videos
or whatever your events. Uh, you know, what do? What
do you do? What are your big requests you have?
Like anything like sing sing to me, sing for this,
sing for my wedding, sing for this surprise birthday, or
like can you teach us the dance from another Nurella story?
Like they want to learn the choreography because I play

(29:50):
like a postar slash dance teacher in this movie. So
those are the two things mostly, and then you personalize.
You could talk to him, tell them their name, like yeah, yeah,
that's what. There's so much fun. I can do it
in that back, you know, and then it's the best.

Speaker 1 (30:04):
Yeah, you get the reaction videos, so they send them
to some like the reaction videos of the just.

Speaker 2 (30:08):
Occasionally repost some of those because they're just so cute
and hard.

Speaker 1 (30:12):
Yeah, I should do that. That's a great idea. Yeah,
it is really sweet. I've never been asked to sing
on those though.

Speaker 2 (30:19):
I get you here hearing it first. Everybody's Bart's gonna
sing to you if you ask him.

Speaker 1 (30:24):
By the way, we were gonna we got some singing
to do. Yeah, on my bucket list, man, I want
to do a duet with Drew seely Man, I would
love to do that.

Speaker 2 (30:35):
That would be awesome.

Speaker 1 (30:36):
I feel chipped in the movie, man, because like I did,
I've done a lot of musical theater before I started
doing film and television. And then I finally I met
Kenny on the set of Newsy's a long time ago
when I was kid. Yeah, it was awesome, and I
was like I met Christian Bale, Dave mosscownt Ellie Keats.
I'm like, these guys are my age man, and they're
like making these cool musicals Like I was amazing on
the backlidded of Universal and like then that old twenties

(31:00):
I think it was like nineteen twenties paper Boy, yep,
paper Bowl. It's just like, oh, it's so cool. And
I finally get to do a musical. So I thought, oh,
I get to okay to sing and dancing here somewhere
like no, you don't.

Speaker 2 (31:12):
Get to see it there. You have to stand over
there yelling everybody. I'm like, well, let's make it happen.
It only took twenty years. Yeah we will. So yeah,
put in the comments of this podcast, what would you
like Bart and I to sing? Yeah, that's a great
We're gonna we're gonna do it and post it for you.

Speaker 1 (31:26):
That's a great idea. Yeah, we'll do it. We'll do it. Yeah,
I get I get. Uh came I asked a lot
to do. Like, well, it's funny. It was it used
to be high school graduations like hey, congratulate it, but
now it's a lot of pep talks, and it was
college graduations. Now it's like, well, you asked my best
friend to be my maid of honor. Yeah, just having

(31:47):
a kid and you know, but yeah, I asked. I asked.
Getting people pumped up all the time, like hey, my
friend's down, could you pump them up? Coach, I'm like,
oh yeah, send me in, I'll do it. But man,
must be nice to be able to sing like that,
to be able to just like wherever you go, like
people died to hear your voice.

Speaker 2 (32:04):
I think there were a number of years in between.
I think Lucas was talking about this too, where it's like,
all right, high school musical was fun, But like I
I read all this other music, I do all this
other stuff, and I think I got a little precious
with like, oh, I'm a real artist, you know, like
I'm gonna put out my album and I'm gonna release
all these other songs. But then at the end of
the day, people just want to hear Breaking Free twenty

(32:24):
years later. So it's fun. It's cool that I was
there in that time, and like, I have all of
those iconic songs that I actually sang, like in my
repertoire that I can just pull out for a birthday
or a wedding or a concert. You know, I pepper
my own stuff in there as well. But you know,
I know what people want to hear. That's why we're here. Yeah, yeah,

(32:45):
people what they want to hear. I feel like it's
a gift.

Speaker 1 (32:48):
It is your gift given this, Like and if you
if you don't realize like how special it is, like your.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
Mindset like it can be if you can think of
it as like a curse, like I can't get out
from under this, or you can realize that it's such
a gift because how many actors get to be a
part of a project that has a life like this.

Speaker 1 (33:03):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, no, it's I think if you
don't realize how special it is, it's like it's a shame.

Speaker 2 (33:09):
Man, I've taken that arc and now I'm back at
just gratitude.

Speaker 1 (33:13):
Yeah yeah, yeah, that's a common like it could be
an ugly arc full of like ego and you know,
pride and everything else to think you're like I'm so
above this, like I've done all these other great movies man,
and like, well nobody really cares about so many movies
where I thought like okay, well this is you know,
yeah whatever. But I mean, I I think.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
Also becoming a father definitely takes your ego down a notch.
I think you realize, oh, I'm not the star of
the story all the time.

Speaker 1 (33:42):
Yeah okay, yeah, yeah, that's this is true.

Speaker 2 (33:45):
That's a good point. Yeah yeah, but it is.

Speaker 1 (33:48):
It is interesting to like, the biggest start of the
cast is still we'll have a huge movie come out.
And I see in the comments actually like that's that's
still Troy Bolton, Like okay, like you can't get over
it too bad. It's like people, but it's it's a
I think it's a it's a gift that you can
we were a part of something that was so meaningful

(34:08):
on such a deep level, just so many people all
around the world, and then you can show up and
just give them a little something and see like my
small effort is going to make them so happy. Yep,
they're going to be stoked. I mean they are stoked
when you do yeah something. It's that's pretty cool, man.

Speaker 2 (34:23):
And I don't think like things I think nowadays, like
do you think if High School Musical came out today,
do you think it would have the same exact global reach.
I feel like everything is so much more fragmented and
everybody likes what they like, their niche of what they like. Yeah,
I feel like it came out at the right time
with the right story and like the right message, and like, yeah,

(34:43):
that's wonder man.

Speaker 1 (34:45):
There's because there's I mean, how many Disney Channel movies
were there before High School Musical and how many times
they try to replicate it after Yeah, and they just
it didn't hit the fla and it really I mean
some of them did. You know, there's there's some uh
that did pretty well, but they this one was you know,
no special marketing, no special commercials or anything, and then
opened to the biggest.

Speaker 2 (35:05):
On another level for sure. Yeah. Yeah, were you there
at the at the premieres? I was, I mean, it's
hard to remember I was there. I don't think I
was there for the movie premieres. I was there for
when we got all got our platinum records. I have
pictures of that. I found that under my house the
other day, like collecting dust. I'm like, man, yeah, this that's.

Speaker 1 (35:28):
Pretty wild, right. Was that from number one? Yeah, so
you're a platinum recording artist.

Speaker 2 (35:33):
Yeah, I got I got a platinum records from jump
in under my House, from Cheetah Girls, Like that was
when people like bought CDs and like albums and like,
oh you got happened? Did those all go platinum? I
think Cheetah Girls did. Jump In was like five hundred thousand,
So that's what gold jump in that Yeah, yep, Jump
Rope movie, yep. Yeah. With Kiki Palmer. Yeah, yeah, who

(35:54):
I did a radio Disney tour with right after high
school musical. That was another fun thing. Another different cities
all over the country every weekend. When Kiki was like,
you know, fifteen or something. She's a force to reckon with.

Speaker 1 (36:09):
Hey, let me ask you this question, a music question. Yeah,
my voice is on that soundtrack.

Speaker 2 (36:15):
You know.

Speaker 1 (36:16):
I say things like come on boys, you know, like
I hear myself on there, Like I went.

Speaker 2 (36:20):
Into the recording studio. No on high school musically. In
high school musical. Yeah, so sound exchange? Have you done that? No?
No sound exchange? Any any recording artists listening that have
vocals on something. You might not get paid by the
actual companies, but you'll get paid for like random internet
radio play, and those tracks can be pretty substantial, especially

(36:43):
if you're part of a project like this. I just
want my platinum, you just want the record. The thing
you got the thing on the wall, like the I
had it on the wall for a while and then
it just it felt a little like like self serving.
I was just like, Oh, here's all my platinum records
and in my studio, you know. So you know, it's
sort of that thing where like people put their oscars

(37:04):
or their Emmys on the back of the toilets. You know.
It's like, let me downplay this a little bit, you know,
for my own yeah ego.

Speaker 1 (37:11):
Yeah, I went to I went to a screening with
Jerry Burkheimer's house and he's got this little this little
bookcase of like just crammed full of like oscars, Emmy's
cold gloves. I'm like, it's just like crammed. Amazing, man.
I don't know if I I think I'd let my
maybe let my ego.

Speaker 2 (37:29):
Out a little bit, like, yeah, I was feeling myself
that first year when I got nominated for an Emmy
for for high school musical the first year, so like, yeah,
my ego was was working. Oh you got you got Yeah,
they got the Emmy. Yeah, get your head. The Game
was nominated and Breaking Free was nominated in the same category.
So Jamie Houston was there and like it was neither

(37:50):
of us won, but getting to go to the Emmys
and take my parents and like, yeah, it was a
it's a wild time.

Speaker 1 (37:57):
That's awesome. I remember I was like, uh, not invited
to any of those things. And I'm like, I'm pretty
sure I was in that movie, like like some of
the Castle who had like a few lines in there.

Speaker 2 (38:07):
I'm like, how all those great scenes with Zach? How
am I not? Like? How am I not ogative? You know?

Speaker 1 (38:12):
But it's like in the Disney world, it's like, if
you're one of the older, well, let's we're going to
focus on the kids because that's a little better marketing,
you know.

Speaker 2 (38:19):
Yeah, what did you just sing with Lucas? Remind me
of what that was? Did you a different project? Yeah?
Did you? What did you? I kissed a Vampire? Is
that he talking about? Oh? Is that? What? Are you
talking about? Something else?

Speaker 1 (38:38):
I don't just have it in my mind. I was like,
I know, you guys know about this. Yeah, I think
it's the one that Lucas made that right with?

Speaker 2 (38:44):
Yeah, it was. It was very campy. It was something
that I got asked to do and I sort of
convinced Lucas to join in, like I looped him in
after the fact because we've become friends from high school
musical and they needed I was the king, the lord
of the underworld, and there needed to be a mortal
that was fighting to not become a vampire. And uh,

(39:04):
he signed on and it was Yeah, it was really campy,
but it was really fun. The music was actually fantastic.
Frankie Blue did did all the music and I think
it's you know, we could probably get it on Amazon
Prime or something. It's probably out there. But did Lucas
sing too? Yeah, he's singing a ton Do you sing together?

(39:25):
We did? We sang sang a ton together? Yeah, yeah,
we all we all had a fake vampire teeth as
we were singing. So sometimes we sound a little old rough.
I guess not in the recording studio he would no, no, no, no,
only on that that'd be pretty hardcore like that. But
it was. But it was fun. Like, my sister was
in it, Amy, my wife was was my Queen of

(39:48):
the Underworld. Lucas's uh girlfriend at the time, Emily was
in it. His his sister Autumn was in it. Uh,
So it was like a family affair. We got to
like loop everybody that we wanted into this project and
all dress up like vampires. It was really fun. Have
you done a vampire movie? Mart? I feel like that's
the next thing for you. I don't.

Speaker 1 (40:05):
I don't think. I don't think, so, I don't think.
You know, some people never do that and they come
up and they're like, you were great in that movie,
and I'm like, I'm like, I don't read the script
all the time, so like, help.

Speaker 2 (40:16):
Me out here, you know what, I get a lot
you drew, you were great and pitch Perfect. I loved
you with Pitch Perfect. And because if you go on IMDb,
it's like listed as one of the things that I've done.
But I was background singer number seven, never on camera,
just like at the very intro, and I'm like, okay,
it didn't really do your reason, Okay.

Speaker 1 (40:35):
I would just think of the first time that we
really hung out. I guess it was in Paris. Yeah,
I think that was really because I think we've met
in Passing. Yeah, but like a few things. Yeah, but
then when we do this, we did ourt.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
This is probably the longest we've ever hung out. Yeah, totally,
but yeah Paris.

Speaker 1 (40:51):
Yeah that's true. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, we do this,
uh like two three day event in Paris with Kenny Yep, yep.

Speaker 2 (40:57):
It was like kend yeah yeah yeah, the Julian the
Phantoms I think was there as well, and then the
Descendants and then yeah and Vanessa was with us and
Lucas and I think Corporin was there a year or two.
Yeah remember who all was there? But yeah it was Uh.
I love doing these things. I love That's why I'm

(41:19):
here doing this with you, Like I love meeting the fans. Yeah,
giving back. I love the energy that always comes back
at you and like it's just it's yeah, just it's
so fun. Minds you why you do do these things? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (41:33):
Again, it's like coming face to face with the fans
and they expressed they're so nice to have to expressed
like you don't understand, you know, they always like start
and they shared like the most like personal like intimate
meaningful experiences they have with the movie, or how much
they appreciate you, or or.

Speaker 2 (41:49):
They make you little like books, all sorts of cut
out pictures like I don't know how many, like German
chocolates I brought home from Paris, like thank you. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (41:58):
Yeah, so those those listening that don't know what the
heck we're talking about.

Speaker 2 (42:03):
It's like a it was a two days.

Speaker 1 (42:05):
It's a two day event, I think two or three days,
and we go to Paris and we were doing it
every year, which was so great. But it was uh yeah,
the cast of those three movies. And then they would
invite the fans come, we do photos, we get together,
and it was like they just called back to the
music with Kenny or Tag and it's like Kenny or
take is universe. And it was so fun to get
to know the guys from the Descendants. I didn't really

(42:27):
know anybody from the Destense.

Speaker 2 (42:28):
I never met any of them. Yeah, yeah, and then Julia.

Speaker 1 (42:30):
Vannams like those guys are great, Like I got to
know those guys and yeah, it's like we're all kindred
spirits and they.

Speaker 2 (42:36):
All have their own little you know, Disney crew experience,
like their movie, you know, it's it was cool. The
World's Collide was cool.

Speaker 1 (42:44):
Yeah, and people come up from all over Europe like
that was amazing how far they would drive in or
fly in.

Speaker 2 (42:49):
And I guess a little, well, now they do these
like you know, Disney nights too, Like I'm doing one
in two weeks called Childhood Nights oh in New York.
Oh and Racket on twenty fourth.

Speaker 1 (43:01):
Those are those are my friends. Yeah, I've done a
bunch with those guys. They're the ones from from.

Speaker 2 (43:08):
Germany, right, yeah, yeah, and I'm doing the first one
with them, and yeah, they're great. I'm looking forward to
this great man, it's great.

Speaker 1 (43:15):
The first time they invited me to they said, hey,
we want you to come host this party in Berlin
and I was like host me, Like what what am
I to do? Like okay, and I go out there
and uh, they said, okay, we're gonna have you come
on the stage at like eleven. I'm like eleven PM,
Like I'm here, I'll come out. You want to come
out earlier, I'll come out Like They're like no, like
like eleven is good. I'm like okay, So I going

(43:37):
on eleven and like just dancing and you know, I
don't ever leave the stage, like I'm just good. I'm
just so happy to be It's like so fun, dud
Win it. Get get ready for those dances because they're like.

Speaker 2 (43:46):
We all do that, you know. But if I could
stay up till eleven, then well here's.

Speaker 1 (43:50):
The craziest time, I was like, it was sold out
concert in Berlin at this like really cool club at
like four o'clock in the morning.

Speaker 2 (43:58):
I'm like, how how we going? Like well, when the
sun comes up, we're all going to breakfast. I was like, oh,
dude's cool. I'll tap it out like that's that is late.
That is late. So yeah. So uh those guys they
know how to party that Like then the bop to
the top ones like there's have you done one of
most have not done one of? No? I did do
one with Lucas two years ago in l A. Yeah,

(44:20):
he had a bunch of special You were probably there.
We were there together at the Inner Smer downtown l A. Yeah.
But it's cool if there's these nostalgia nights like all
over the world, like there's a whole there's one in Mexico,
I think too yeaheah.

Speaker 1 (44:33):
I'm doing that one in Mexico and you do all
that's great LinkedIn.

Speaker 2 (44:39):
Yeah, I love it. I love it.

Speaker 1 (44:41):
If I could only sing, man, if I only had
a song in that movie, my gosh, we need we'll
make an act you me, yeah, yeah, yeah, boocus on Cameo.
We'll go to We'll go to euro up and put
on a show. Uh, let's talk about what you have
coming up? Like, what what do you what are you
doing these days? Are you what's your socials? Give me

(45:02):
all that, Like, people want to find you.

Speaker 2 (45:04):
I'm easy to find I'm on Instagram mostly, Uh do
TikTok occasionally, I'm on there, not as many.

Speaker 1 (45:14):
I think you should do more TikTok. Man, there's like
there's a lot of out there.

Speaker 2 (45:18):
Yeah, yeah, they go up that a little bit. But yeah,
I'm I'm easy to find them on there. I'm still
releasing new music all the time. I've got a movie
coming out next year called Saturday that's uh sort of
a grease meets high school musical sort of the idea,
and I play the teacher this time around, and I'm

(45:38):
basically the only adult and in all the stars of
the kids. So it's sort of like a weird full
circle moment for me. But I'm sorry, bart, I do
have a song in this as the adult, I get
to sing in the movie, which is a slap in
the face. I know, as you should, but I only
get one song. I'm not like, yeah, I'm not all
over the place. Yeah, but uh, yeah, you know, I

(46:00):
think it's going to be really it felt it felt
special in the same way that being part of you know,
I wasn't in the movies with you, but in the
same way that that project probably felt like as we
were filming, I was like, oh, this is this is great,
Like these actors are awesome, this music is awesome, Like
this is going to connect. So I don't know where
it's going to come out, but uh yeah, Diane Foster,

(46:21):
Mark Vogel and a bunch of amazing kids that you
haven't heard of yet, but she will youngsters. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
it was made independent. Wasn't made with totally independent Oh
so I mean that's kind of amazing too, that we'll
see musicals are being made like it never happened before,
Like you had never see an independent musical because the
end the audience was so small, like the distribution was tiny.

(46:44):
And now and it's one of and I also I
wasn't even supposed to be in it. It was supposed
to be uh Jonathan Bennett who that is from? Uh
finally mister Christmas and yeah yeah mean girls obviously and
all that stuff. We did movie back in the day
and we've been friends for for a long time, and
he got down to the wire and he couldn't do it,
and he threw my name in the hat and it
worked out. But that's that's You've probably been in this

(47:04):
situation too as an actor, where you're not the first choice,
but it goes to you and it comes like something
that's like really important. Yeah yeah, like probably everything I've
ever done, I've been like third or fourth choice and
it's and I've made a career off of that. So
thank you all you actors who turned things down. You
are greatly appreciate it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love it.

(47:26):
Really turned stuffed down. Well, yeah, they got to go off.
They have to, you know.

Speaker 1 (47:30):
And and sometimes you're not going after someone, they're not
going to have someone better. They're going like always not
always it's like someone more famous or yeah, you.

Speaker 2 (47:39):
Know, it's all such a nobody knows anything. It's the
main point of everything. True. What's going through old emails
And I found something for my agents like fifteen years
ago about an audition for something called the Hamilton Mixtape,
and I was like, I don't know about that, you know,
I don't know know if this is for me past?
Was that before Hamilton? Yeah, that was Hamilton, Oh, get
out of here for like the original, like it was

(48:01):
just for an audition, but like, what are you doing dude?
So yeah, wow, there's a lesson in this. You know,
that's wild. Give everything a try. So it's called the
Hamilton Mixtape. It was originally called the Hamilton Mixtape, and
I think it was maybe I read an article later
like the producer or some somebody was like, that's a
little too confusing. Just call it Hamilton, you know, And

(48:22):
then there we are. It's it's kind of amazing, right,
that kind of the projects that come across your your desk,
like your agent's sitting all these amazing things you do.

Speaker 1 (48:30):
You just don't know. You just don't know what's gonna be.
I mean, I thought High School Musical was this tiny
little movie. I mean that's what was me too exactly.
It's like this, it's a little dizzy champel. No one's
gonna there's hardly a budget. It was such a small budget.
No one's gonna see it. But it's gonna be a
fun shoot. Like okay, yep, that sounds I mean, I'm easy.

Speaker 2 (48:50):
And that's and because of that experience, I go into
every project and movie and any like thinking like this
could be like you give it your every single time
because you never know what's gonna happen, Like never phone
it in because you don't know what's gonna connect and
what's gonna hit and you know, yeah, yeah, films forever,
right forever. Man. No, it's it's so true, like not theater.

(49:13):
You can't go back and take it's in the can.

Speaker 1 (49:18):
Yeah it's not. It's not Instagram stories. It's not gonna
disappear in twenty four hours like it's a It just
reminds me of of everybody on high school music because
I feel I feel like nobody really kind of approach
that project like it was a little Disney Channel movie
that's just gonna go like disposable media. It's going to
be forgotten about in a couple of years.

Speaker 2 (49:36):
Like, No, this is a heart to it. Yeah, And I.

Speaker 1 (49:39):
Think you get that, Like I think the cast got
that from from Kenny Well knowing that he had the
pedigree that he does, Like you knew he was going
to be serious business with what he was bringing to
this and every day was just Kenny a game, like
just a game every day and then it's like it's
amazing to see that. It's not just the budget man,

(49:59):
like you can half you could have easily had. I
mean the budget from from one to three was well,
number one was like a four million dollar budget. Number
three was thirty five million dollar budget.

Speaker 2 (50:10):
Yeah. Thanks, yeah, I mean what a what a swing man.
Sure the actors were a little more expensive the third
time around, a little more expensive. Yeah yeah, thank's Disney
for that one.

Speaker 1 (50:20):
But yeah, but but Kenny approaching it like it was
a news E's or a hocus pocus like you've done before,
and put his putting that same amount of effort in and
that's well, I think, like, is that white resonated man?

Speaker 2 (50:32):
Is that white hit? The message is great.

Speaker 1 (50:34):
He's so good with picking cast, picking voices, like he's
so good with all that and then putting all of
his magic on it is the same way he put
his you know, the magic on news Easer or anything else.

Speaker 2 (50:47):
You know, you got to have Kenny on this podcast
at some point because he's the glue that kind of
held this all, put it all together and held it together,
and you know a lot of other amazing people put
their voices in, but like he was the glue. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
he was. Yeah, he was, but I got Yeah. Shout
out to Steve Vincent too, who was like the music
guru through this whole thing and has also always been
a champion of mine of mine through the years. Oh really,

(51:10):
did you meet him on this? Yeah? Yeah, met him
in high school musical but you know, he was instrumental
in getting me on all the Disney Mania soundtracks and
Disney Christmas albums and jump In and Wizards of Wavery
Waverley plays soundtrack and like all these other things too.
So uh yeah, I owe a lot of my career
to Disney. So yeah, going to Disney next week. Hey, hey,

(51:35):
take an over to Disney World for the first time.
Oh really, which where are you going? Which one? Magic Kingdom? Yeah?
Magic Kingdom. Well, we got to Park Hopper, so we'll
see how much energy we have, but probably won't make
it past the Kingdom like like five five parks four
four or five? Have you been to Animal Kingdom a
long time ago? Yeah, it's amazing. It was fun. Yeah,

(51:56):
so different. You know, I'm I'm a fan, so loved it.
I got to see some pass nice. Hey, by the way,
you gotta come up with Utah sometime. Are you scared
of snowboard. Yeah, I am a skier. Yeah, okay, do
come up. I would love to. Yeah, or city. I've
never skied up there, never been there. Yeahsast in the world,
all right.

Speaker 1 (52:16):
When we get snow up there, you start riding the
chair lift with people and they're like, oh, yeah, you're
you're uh the big we're here for the big snowstormer came.
But you come from oh, Switzerland, Colorado like a like
all the big skip spots.

Speaker 2 (52:28):
Like I'm used to Big Bear. So I'm sure that'll
be uh.

Speaker 1 (52:31):
Oh dude, you'll be you'll be real level. Yeah, you'll
be really happy.

Speaker 2 (52:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (52:34):
I'm split my time between l A and and uh
Utah right now. So it's been I taste the weather
a little bit. So it's a good snowstorm. Come on up, man,
bring that.

Speaker 2 (52:44):
I hear that. We just got a place in the desert.
So we're out there a lot nowadays. Oh cool, like Josh,
the weather. Yeah, so sort of sort of the middle
of nowhere out there. It's great, beautiful stars, uiet. I
love it out there. No Dodger Stadium, fireworks. It's great.
But you hear that, Oh yeah, you live, you live
not too far from close to there. Yeah. Do you
hear the fireworks like every game when they win? Yeah,

(53:07):
it could, it goes off. Yeah, I've been That's another
fun thing I've been doing the last five years is
singing the anthem at the Dodgers game every year. What, Yeah,
I didn't know you did that. You should do that sometimes.
Oh yeah, yeah, there's our duet. Let's find a too
far harmony and we'll go sing the anthem at the Dodgers.
I do it, dude, Yeah, I know you would. I
was game. I'm game.

Speaker 1 (53:27):
Yeah I still sound terrifying, though. What's the scariest time,
like for you? It's like, is it just like you're
not you don't get nervous?

Speaker 2 (53:34):
No, I think that would have been That would have
been scary if I hadn't done the high School Musical
concert tour. It's like, I've done stadiums before, Like, I
I get it, you know, Dodgers Stadium when it is full,
it's a lot of people. But yeah, I've done this
before this, so no, it's just no big deal, no
big deal. A healthy amount of nervousness, yeah, yeah, the
right amount. I'm not in a robot, but yeah yeah.

(53:54):
But also yeah, I got this. Yeah, yeah, that's cool man,
that's awesome.

Speaker 1 (53:59):
So last question for you, Okay, well, first of all,
January is twenty years wild wild, right, do you have
any plants doing anything?

Speaker 2 (54:09):
No, No, I don't no, no plans other than just uh,
what's what? What do you got going on? You know,
I haven't thrown a party.

Speaker 1 (54:21):
I would think about a screening party, like a like
a viewing party.

Speaker 2 (54:25):
I'm in, would you sing? Would you sing? Of course? Yeah,
I'm in amazing, let's do it. I would love to
do something for the twentieth I think it said. It's
a fun milestone where yeah, I'm in. Okay, cool, cool, Okay,
we'll figure something out free and clear. Uh yeah, yeah,
I think.

Speaker 1 (54:41):
I mean I would think if I was if if
I was mister Disney, I would put put on a
big thing.

Speaker 2 (54:48):
But yeah, well January is not here yet. They have time,
and if they don't, we will. Yeah boom, all right,
all right, let's do it. Well, thanks man, I really
appreciate being here. Been a real pleasure. Man, dude, you're
the best, and we got to you. Okay, yeah, and
thank you so much to all the fans listening, and
thanks for being with us. All this time.

Speaker 1 (55:10):
Honestly, love y'all, Love you guys, the best fans of
the world, indeed the East Time family, all right, Drew, Seeley,
everybody

Speaker 2 (55:19):
Get your head in the game.
Advertise With Us

Hosts And Creators

Will Friedle

Will Friedle

Sabrina Bryan

Sabrina Bryan

Popular Podcasts

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.

The Joe Rogan Experience

The Joe Rogan Experience

The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.