This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:01] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Hi, I'm Jennifer Ashley Tepper.

[0:13] Joe Iconis: And I'm Joe Iconis, and this is ALBUM PODCAST.

[0:17] Joe Iconis: On this episode, we're going to be talking about Flesh and Bone, The Robot's Song, and we'll go into how this song came to be, how iPads were involved, and just what kind of robot Joe Iconis imagines to be in this song.

[0:31] Joe Iconis: I have a very specific idea of who The Robot is. So if you like songs about technology and how that, you know, unexpectedly comes to life, you'll love this episode and this song.

[0:43] Joe Iconis: Yeah. Enjoy. Press play. Robot.

[0:46] ♪ Musical number: "Flesh and Bone" — performed by Jason SweetTooth Williams ♪

[1:03] Joe Iconis: Let's talk about Flesh and Bone, The Robot's Song.

[1:07] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Let's talk about it.

[1:09] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: So how this song came about in a pretty unique way compared to a lot of your other songs. What was the inspiration for this song?

[1:19] Joe Iconis: It did. So the song came about because of a prompt, I guess. It was written for a show that my great friend and collaborator Ashley Rodbrow was directing and producing at Ars Nova. It was sort of like a one-off theater piece that Ars Nova was doing.

[1:37] Joe Iconis: And it was all like short plays and performance pieces that were built around Apple products. Which, I mean, when I describe it, it sounds like it was like a commercial for Apple, but it really wasn't. It was just sort of like this idea of using technology to create theater.

[2:10] Joe Iconis: And so this was in 2012, maybe. And she asked me to write a song for it. And the idea is that the song would be performed by iPads, I guess. We would use only iPads to perform the song.

[2:29] Joe Iconis: This was before this kind of thing was hot. Early iPad theater. Truly early iPad theater. It really felt like it was a cutting-edge kind of situation. As I describe it now in 2023, it feels a little basic. But it really wasn't back then. It felt very novel and very strange.

[2:54] Joe Iconis: And so I wrote this tune. And I wanted to write something that wasn't just going to be performed using the technology, but something that was sort of about technology itself. Or use technology as a metaphor. And so I wrote this song about a robot.

[3:27] Joe Iconis: And I really liked the idea of the robot's battery dying over the course of the song. Which felt like a really nice way to connect it to actual devices. Especially back in 2012 when the battery of life wasn't what it is now.

[3:44] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Here's a question I haven't gotten to ask you on any other song. Who are your favorite robots? Was this inspired by the idea of being asked to write about something technological and kind of taking a left turn and writing about technology of the past? Because robots doesn't feel like the easy way to go. As far as, hey we're going to do your song with iPads. It's almost vintage technology. Who are your favorite robots?

[4:11] Joe Iconis: Yeah, it is. And I guess I liked... The reason that a robot made so much sense to me. I think because it sort of feels like an old idea of what the future is. The idea of a robot servant is such a mid-century idea. This is what the future will be. We'll never have to make our beds again. Because our house robot will make them.

[4:36] Joe Iconis: And so I loved the idea that a robot is technology that's kind of already outdated or from another time. I love the idea of even in the realm of gadgets and things. A robot would feel kind of like an outsider. I love the idea of a robot and an iPad. And the robot feeling like, oh I'm not as good as that thing.

[5:03] Joe Iconis: So many people connect this song to WALL-E. It feels like it's a very in the universe of WALL-E song. And I guess that WALL-E crossed my mind. But I definitely was not thinking of WALL-E when I wrote the song. And honestly even now when I think about the robot who is singing Flesh and Bone, I realize I'm thinking about Konky, which is the robot from Pee-Wee's Playhouse.

[5:35] Joe Iconis: So like a real classic chunky robot. I really respond to robots that basically look like they're a person in a robot suit. Because many of the ones that I love like Konky just were that. And so they're just sort of big and clunky. And if they were in your house they would just be knocking things over.

[5:59] Joe Iconis: And I also really love the movie A.I. Which I guess is like a controversial two letters to say now in 2023. But the movie A.I. is a movie that Stanley Kubrick was developing for years. And then he died before he could make it. And so Steven Spielberg took it over. And it came out in 2001. And it's basically about this really advanced robot that is invented that can feel human emotions. That's like the hook of this robot. And it's kind of like this robot's journey, played by a just post Sixth Sense Haley Joel Osment, and a very great performance.

[6:44] Joe Iconis: And that idea of like a piece of machinery actually having human attributes and actually being able to feel. I feel like that was the thing that probably influenced the song most.

[6:56] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Makes sense. And can you talk about the colors of this song? As far as instrumentation, orchestration, musically. How you feel like that kind of touches on the whole robot of it all.

[7:12] Joe Iconis: Yeah, for sure. The production of Flesh and Bone as it appears in the album. We arrived at it a little differently than some of the other tunes. So the aforementioned Ashley Robbro, who created the show at Ars Nova that Flesh and Bone was written for, she ended up making a short film based around Flesh and Bone.

[7:41] Joe Iconis: And this track was essentially the track that we made for that short film. And so Ashley had a ton of input into the sound of it. And I think that she was really excited about bringing out the contemporary flavor of the song and making the song feel something that was kind of related to pop music currently.

[8:11] Joe Iconis: Pop music currently does feel so electronic. It feels so computer driven. That I think the kind of bleeps and bloops in the song and the processedness of the song, it kind of jives with the message of technology. And so Flesh and Bone, even when it's performed live, there's always the element of computerized sound. But it's not, it doesn't feel like. As far as songs and orchestrations of mine, it's not as computer centric as something like Be More Chill. It's like it's still, there's a humanness to it. Even with the sort of technological, obviously synthy sounds on the track.

[9:00] Joe Iconis: And as far as the performance history of this song. Obviously it's Jason SweetTooth Williams, who we've talked about a lot in previous podcast episodes. Who else has performed the song? And when did Jason start performing it?

[9:17] Joe Iconis: Jason started performing it. He started performing it pretty early on. Like in 2012 or 13 probably. Which was the first time that we ever did it in concert. When I wrote it for the show at Ars Nova, I performed it myself with an iPad. And then other people. Jason's performance of it is amazing. He is such a human performer.

[9:54] Joe Iconis: Which sounds like a silly thing to say. But the thing that I always say about him is that he seems like a real person who just happens to be singing or acting or whatever. But he's never not a real man. Whereas there are plenty of musical theater performers who are fairly robotic in their actions or vocal affectations. Jason Williams is so not that. And so I love that he's the voice of this thing that's a machine. And I think he just captures that so perfectly.

[10:30] Joe Iconis: But Will Rowland also has sung the song quite a bit. And it's definitely a different take on the song. I think that his robot is perhaps a little more cerebral than Jason Williams' robot. But yeah. I feel like those are the only two gents who have ever sung the song.

[10:53] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Yeah I was going to say. I thought so too. It hasn't been performed in any kind of educational context. Like students. It is released sheet music wise right?

[11:03] Joe Iconis: Yeah. I mean I've definitely heard other people who I'm not intimately familiar with sing the tune. But yeah. I feel like at concerts it's only Jason and Will. And it's also one that I tend to do myself quite a bit. You know the end with the na-nas is a really nice audience sing-along moment. Because the lyric is really easy. Because it's just na-na. So I often defer to Flesh and Bone.

[11:33] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Yeah that makes sense. Anything else about Flesh and Bone?

[11:38] Joe Iconis: You know just the title of it. It's often appeared in multiple versions. But I...

[11:49] Joe Iconis: Wait. Now I'm doubting myself. Is the title of it on the album The Robot Song or the Robots Song?

[12:02] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: I was going to ask this as well. So I've seen it both ways.

[12:06] Joe Iconis: On the album I think it's the Possessive.

[12:09] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Yeah.

[12:10] Joe Iconis: That was always my intention. Because I have so many songs that are like, you know, the whatever song. It sometimes is listed as the Robot Song. But I always think of it as the Possessive. The song belongs to the robot as opposed to being about the robot. And so that's what the official title is. And that's how it is on album and will be forevermore.

[12:37] Joe Iconis: Also you know, you can't really tell. Like if you're introducing the song and mess up, we're not really going to know. Because the next letter is an S. So.

[12:46] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Yeah.

[12:47] Joe Iconis: Yeah I guess it's more about the literature. You know. But I want it for history. Of course. For future generations. When they're reading about it. To know.

[13:01] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Of course. Some future Jen Tepper is really going to wonder about this. So we want her to have all the information.

[13:07] Joe Iconis: Now you know future Jen Tepper. The song is not about a robot. The song is for a robot.

[13:10] Jennifer Ashley Tepper: Yeah. Big difference.

[13:12] Joe Iconis: The robot possesses the song.

[13:25] Joe Iconis: Great. That's right. The Robot's Song.

[13:26] Joe Iconis: Hey. Thanks so much for listening or watching to my podcast. Do me a favor and go to wherever you just listen to or watch this thing and subscribe or like or give us a great rating or review. And then head to bpn.fm/slash album to find out even more information about this podcast. More ways to watch. More ways to listen. And check out my album, Album.

[13:46] Joe Iconis: Thanks so much for hanging out. Album Podcast is executive produced by Liz Armstrong. Produced by Dori Berenstein, Alan Seals, Kim Garris, and the rest of the team at the Broadway Podcast Network. Be sure to visit bpn.fm/slash album for both audio and video versions of this podcast and to listen to album.

[14:05] ♪ Musical number ♪