JC Chasez is back with ‘Playing With Fire’ 20 years after his debut album. The singer talks about how the concept of his latest work was built out, a possible NSYNC reunion, duetting with Christina Aguilera in the future and more!
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00:00Let's make a musical together.
00:02And Justin was working on his record as well,
00:04and so it's like, if you do one, do two.
00:06Who knows? I have no idea what that song would be,
00:09and I have no idea the reason why it would be made.
00:11Hi, I'm JC, and you're watching Billboard News.
00:17I'm Rebecca Milzoff.
00:18I'm the executive magazine editor here at Billboard,
00:20and I'm here with JC Chazet today.
00:22Hi.
00:23He has an album out today.
00:24Yes.
00:25Playing with Fire on center stage records
00:27is not what you might expect from JC.
00:29It's a different kind of thing.
00:32Playing with Fire is a musical that I've co-written
00:35with my writing partner, Jimmy Harry.
00:37When you're making a musical, it takes quite a bit of time,
00:39and we decided to release a concept record
00:42of the music from the musical,
00:44and it's all based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
00:48We were kind of wondering what we were going to work on next.
00:51We were kind of trying to come up with ideas,
00:53you know, what would be interesting.
00:55We knew we wanted to write a musical,
00:57but we just didn't know what about yet.
00:59We came across a piece of work, actually,
01:01that Jimmy's mother wrote.
01:03Her name is Barbara Fields, and she wrote a play
01:06that went on in the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis
01:08called Playing with Fire.
01:10A major off-Broadway theater for people who don't know.
01:12Yeah.
01:13I got to look at the material that he shared with me,
01:15and I was totally blown away
01:18by the way she framed the Mary Shelley story,
01:21the architecture that she put in place
01:23to communicate some of the themes and the emotions.
01:26We talked about it, and we said,
01:27well, why don't we just start with a song
01:29and see if there's anything there?
01:31And from there, we wrote the first song,
01:33which is How Do You Sleep?
01:35♪ Lying awake with a monster in your head ♪
01:41We just felt it was special,
01:43and we felt like it's something we just had to do.
01:47We ended up writing the music and then rewriting the book,
01:51and that's where we are now.
01:53Now we're releasing the music into the world
01:55to get people engaged in the idea.
01:57Now, you and Jimmy have a pretty longstanding
01:59creative collaboration.
02:00You've been working together for over a decade, I know,
02:03and it's taken many forms.
02:05What is that collaboration like?
02:06Are you always working on kind of different forms
02:09of music together, and why was a musical
02:11what you arrived at this time?
02:12We come from pop music, right?
02:14We write different kinds of pop music,
02:16but essentially, you know, our strengths were,
02:20and are, I think, in pop music.
02:22We're more mature, you know,
02:24and we have more ideas than just, you know,
02:27just the typical pop song,
02:30and this gave us the opportunity
02:32to express those ideas, you know,
02:34to do something that's bigger than three minutes,
02:37you know, and is a bit more focused,
02:41but allows us to dream in different ways
02:43and to create in different ways.
02:45That was exciting to us.
02:46When we started sharing ideas with one another,
02:48you know, he would say something,
02:50and I would feed off of that,
02:51and I would say something,
02:52and he would feed off of that.
02:53It's been a really fantastic process
02:56in terms of feeling like
02:59you're doing something meaningful.
03:01What Mary Shelley wrote 200-plus years ago,
03:05it's amazing that she wrote something
03:08that really addresses the humanity
03:12and technology being at the forefront
03:15and how humans have to, you know,
03:18obviously all of the wonderful things
03:19that technology does,
03:20but also the very scary things
03:22that technological advancements bring up.
03:26What we found when we were writing this
03:29and when we were telling this story,
03:30as much as we thought it was going to be
03:32about humanity and technology,
03:35it ended up being a father and son story.
03:38There's so much that pop music
03:40and musical theater have in common,
03:42but writing a song that functions
03:44in a theater context is not exactly the same.
03:46No.
03:47Who are your own sort of influences
03:49that you've looked to as great examples
03:51of musical theater writing?
03:52We literally were having a conversation
03:54two seconds ago before the camera started rolling.
03:56I promise.
03:57Yeah, and Jesus Christ Superstar
03:59is a big one for me,
04:01and Weber and Rice together,
04:03they were making amazing music.
04:05Look, the Sondheims are amazing.
04:07When I think of what's been
04:09probably the most inspirational to me
04:12for this project,
04:13it was probably Jesus Christ Superstar
04:15because they started with a concept album,
04:17and that's kind of what inspired us
04:20to release it as an album first.
04:21We said, you know what?
04:22If someone as smart and as talented
04:25as Andrew Lloyd Webber thinks it is
04:28to release the music for a show first,
04:31why don't we give it a shot?
04:33I feel like I should note
04:34you are not the only vocalist on this album,
04:36but you do sing on it.
04:38Was that always the plan as you were writing,
04:40or did that kind of become part of the evolution?
04:42Well, the plan was to write it, right?
04:44To make this thing.
04:46And I didn't even know
04:47if I was going to be singing on the record,
04:49to be honest with you.
04:50We just wanted to bring the characters to life
04:52so people could hear them
04:54when we were telling people about our musical.
04:57And then it evolved.
04:58At first, I sang all the demos.
05:00I was singing, you know, Elizabeth's parts.
05:03Working on that falsetto.
05:05That was hectic.
05:06Thank goodness for Lily Elise.
05:08She is absolutely wonderful.
05:10I mean, again, if you put your ears on it,
05:12you heard how amazing she is.
05:14She transformed the character
05:17once we heard her singing the Elizabeth parts.
05:20The other singer we brought in
05:22was someone that we found, actually,
05:25thanks to technology,
05:27we found them on the Internet.
05:29Cardamon Razzie was someone that we found
05:33just combing through music and things like that.
05:36And their voice just hit me.
05:40When I heard a piece they had done,
05:42I brought it to Jimmy and I said,
05:45you know, this is amazing.
05:47Like, should we reach out?
05:49And we talked about it, and we did.
05:51And they ended up being incredibly kind
05:54and took the time and entertained our idea.
05:57And they were willing to sing on the project.
05:59And I'm so thankful.
06:01These are some challenging vocals, I would say.
06:03It sounds like.
06:04Yes.
06:05For me, there were spots where I pushed myself for sure.
06:08But that's the fun part.
06:09That's part of the growth.
06:10Listening to you, particularly on some of the vocals
06:14that you and Lily do together,
06:15like the really close harmonies
06:17and just sort of the delicacy of a lot of the vocals,
06:19and then just some moments where we hear you singing alone.
06:22And these are songs that I can imagine you doing
06:24in any context, not only this album.
06:26I was looking at some of your fan comments on Instagram
06:29and I think one person said,
06:31we got the JC back who's singing like the rent is due.
06:36I'm paraphrasing, but I was like, hell yeah.
06:39Yeah.
06:40Again, the goal was to make something worthy of the stage.
06:45When you come to Broadway or when you go to the West End,
06:48you hear real singers putting it down.
06:51They're really giving it to you.
06:53And so the goal was to write material
06:55that they could get excited about.
06:57The crazy part for me was singing in character a bit.
07:02Some of it, you have to be willing to take risks
07:05and not be perfect because the parts I was seeing
07:08on the album, Plan of Fire, I sing the creature parts
07:11and the young creature part, which is Adam.
07:13They're not really experiencing a perfect moment
07:16where you have to sing everything exact.
07:19You know, it's more about finding this feeling
07:23and this uncomfortableness in your skin
07:26and this frustration and you have to sing those things.
07:29And that feeling doesn't always create a perfect sound.
07:33And so as an artist, I'm used to singing
07:35in a world where everybody wants it to be
07:37as good as it possibly can be technically.
07:40It's like I kind of had to waive that a bit
07:43and take that risk and be willing to be criticized
07:46for sounding less than perfect, right?
07:48But that's what makes it work.
07:50You know, it's like as much as, you know, hey, look,
07:52it's my voice so you hear JC.
07:54I hope that the listener is feeling drawn into this world
07:58and hears the character of the creatures.
08:00Among the many vocally challenging tracks on this album,
08:03what was the hardest to write and also to sing for you?
08:07Well, the hardest one to write, it's hands down, it was Broken.
08:10The story that we've created, really,
08:13the song Broken is the epicenter of everything.
08:15It is the cause for everything.
08:17When Frankenstein loses his mother,
08:19that becomes all of the emotional reason
08:23why he needs to go out into the world
08:26and stop people from dying.
08:28He just wanted to make sure that he wanted to protect
08:30the ones that he loved the most.
08:32And so that song has so much gravity
08:35that we really painstakingly took a lot of care
08:39and precision in putting that song together.
08:41That song took a month to write.
08:42Oh, wow.
08:43You know, we really just, we would step away from it
08:46and come back and step away from it and come back
08:48and analyze it and listen to it
08:50and really craft a lyric that we felt was appropriate.
08:54And I would say the hardest stuff to sing,
08:56look, when I was singing the demos,
08:58it was obviously all the female parts.
08:59That was very hard for me.
09:01But as a male vocalist singing the creature parts,
09:05the song You Touched Me, believe it or not,
09:08there's some sneaky high moments in that song.
09:10Oh, yeah.
09:11You used to touch me, touch me, touch me.
09:17It pushed me a little bit.
09:19But again, excited, that's the whole point of doing it,
09:22is like, let's have some fun with it.
09:23When you're singing it the first time,
09:24your voice isn't used to it.
09:25So I'm hoping that, you know, over time,
09:27if I sing it a lot more, I'll be able to master it
09:30or whoever's singing it will get to master it
09:32and really enjoy singing the parts.
09:34What kind of reactions have you been seeing so far?
09:36And were you nervous at all
09:37about kind of putting this into the world,
09:39this project that is maybe not what fans
09:40would immediately expect from you,
09:41although they all seem like they're losing their minds
09:43on the internet.
09:45I honestly don't know what to expect.
09:47I know that this is not a straight up and down pop project.
09:51In my past, that's where all my success has been, really.
09:54So it's a risk for me.
09:56When you're making something from the heart,
09:59you have, like, it's, I can't be upset with that
10:02in any way, shape, or form.
10:04With the criticism, I'm just going to have to
10:06take it on the chin.
10:07And if people enjoy it, I'm going to be thankful for it.
10:11You know, I really like what we've done
10:14and I have a great idea, along with my writing partner,
10:17we have a great idea of what we'd like to make
10:20and we'd like to share it with people.
10:22So the reactions that I've read so far,
10:24I think maybe I've been in a vacuum a little bit
10:26and everybody's going,
10:27look, this is nice, this is nice.
10:29Who knows what else they're saying?
10:30But again, any feedback means somebody's listening.
10:33You're such a supporter of live theater
10:35and I love seeing you post every time
10:37that you go to see a show
10:38and really supporting what you see.
10:40What have you seen lately that you've liked?
10:41We literally just talked about Sunset Boulevard.
10:43I love the spin on that.
10:46When you think about the original
10:47and what you think about what they put on stage now,
10:50it's really, I thought it was a beautifully done piece
10:52because it's done in such a unique way.
10:54I'm going to be partial to Ann Juliet
10:56because I have a song in it.
10:58Yes, Ann Juliet is great.
11:00One of many.
11:01And a friend who's about to be in Ann Juliet also, Joey.
11:04Come on, Joey.
11:05I saw The Outsiders, which I thought was a lot of fun.
11:07I love The Outsiders.
11:08Again, I could go to a show every night
11:10if I was lucky enough.
11:11I get to see stuff when I'm in town,
11:13so it's like squeezing it all in,
11:15but there's great stuff
11:16and if you get the chance, go see a show.
11:18Go see Nicole Scherzinger in Sunset Boulevard.
11:21You two know each other.
11:22You better.
11:23When I tell you, look, the whole cast is amazing.
11:25Yeah.
11:26And again, what I really enjoyed about what I saw
11:29was that it was focused on the talent and the music.
11:33It's laid bare for everyone and the talent shines.
11:37The director did a fantastic job.
11:39I was excited to see that you performed at Elsie Fest recently.
11:42Darren Criss is sort of...
11:43Who's on Broadway. Darren's on Broadway.
11:45Go see him.
11:46Yes, I'm going to see his show soon.
11:47I'm excited.
11:48I think it's so cool the way that he puts on this
11:51sort of like festival concert
11:53honoring sort of the overlap between pop and musical theater.
11:57You and Darren did a little Bye Bye Bye together.
11:59Yeah.
12:05I was sitting there with a grin on my face the entire time.
12:07It was such a delight.
12:08Tell me about doing that with him.
12:10Speaking about theater and people who love the theater,
12:13Bye Bye Bye was featured in the Deadpool film, right?
12:15Yeah, yeah.
12:16And Hugh Jackman is a huge theater buff.
12:19When the Deadpool film was being made
12:21and they reached out and asked for Bye Bye Bye to be in the film,
12:24I didn't know how it was going to end up in the film
12:26or how they were going to use it.
12:28And then eventually they described a little bit more
12:31and we were like, oh, that's fun.
12:32And then when we got to see it, we thought it was a blast.
12:35And the fact that it's having a resurgence right now
12:37because of the film,
12:38it's nice to go out there and see people, you know,
12:40doing parts of the dance.
12:42The choreo.
12:43Yeah, doing the choreo.
12:44So when Darren hit me up and he's like, you know, it'd be a treat.
12:47You know, if we did this just impromptu thing,
12:50we'll just go out there.
12:51I'll have my guitar and we'll just kind of bang it out.
12:54So I was all for it.
12:55You know, I love the fact, again, he loves pop music.
12:58I come from pop music.
12:59I love pop music.
13:01And he loves the theater as much as anybody.
13:03And that's why he's on Broadway doing theater.
13:05And so I wanted to be supportive of him
13:07because, again, I love where he comes from
13:09and his love of music and his love of all the performing arts.
13:12Anytime we can do something fun like that, it's a blast.
13:14It must be noted.
13:15Both of you doing all the riffs.
13:17All the riffs were happening.
13:18It was great.
13:19And, again, we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into
13:22because, again, it was very not rehearsed.
13:25So we were just kind of flying by the seat of our pants.
13:28But, again, that's what it's about.
13:30It's about having fun.
13:31It's about being live.
13:32Playing with Fire is somehow your first album in 20 years.
13:35This is crazy to wrap one's mind around.
13:37It's the 20th anniversary of your debut solo album.
13:40How are you kind of reflecting on that?
13:42And I'm curious sort of the ways that those songs still surface in your life.
13:47I actually just don't spend a lot of time thinking about when I release something.
13:51I just kind of go wherever.
13:53Time is a circle.
13:54It is.
13:55Time is precious.
13:57But I think I just go wherever I'm inspired.
14:01I let my instincts lead me.
14:03My instincts led me to make a solo record.
14:06And I very much enjoyed doing that.
14:09When I was making that record, I thought I was experimenting quite a bit.
14:17Messing around with different genres and different styles of production and things like that.
14:21I had a lot of fun doing that, and that's why I was happy with the way that record came out.
14:25I ended up on a television show for a few years judging dancers
14:29because the first thing I ever did was dance in public on a talent show.
14:33So I've been inspired by the theater.
14:36I love the fact, again,
14:38I'm getting to see real people go out there and sing these songs every night.
14:43And again, we're living in a day and age where everything that you see on the screen isn't necessarily real.
14:48I've been inspired to, again, join that movement and be about what's real.
14:54Speaking of people being thrilled to see all you guys together
14:57when you all performed with Justin earlier this year at the Wiltern in L.A.,
15:01the sort of surprise reveal of all of you being there
15:04and the big medley of NSYNC songs that you did,
15:07I would love to hear a little bit about how you all put that together
15:10and sort of what feeling that reaction live was like.
15:13That all started with the Trolls soundtrack.
15:22We had a conversation about just doing something fun.
15:25We're all great friends and we're always talking,
15:28but it's just a matter of everyone's doing their life and excited about different things.
15:34That was an opportunity when everything kind of came together
15:37where a lot of these guys, I'm the only one that's not a dad right now,
15:41and so the opportunity to come together on a family-friendly film just felt like the right thing.
15:49We all kind of went in, popped in, sang our parts on the song,
15:53and when we heard it back, we were like, oh, that's fun.
15:55And Justin was working on his record as well,
15:57and so it's like, if you do one, do two.
16:05We ended up singing for his record as well.
16:11We thought it was kind of like the perfect wink to get together on,
16:15and so we ended up working on that record.
16:18The conversation has been a little bit more open,
16:20but right now, look, I'm focusing on playing with Fire,
16:23and Justin's obviously on tour, and Joey's about to do Ann Juliet.
16:28So everybody's busy with projects, but we're always talking,
16:32and anything's possible in the future.
16:35It certainly seems very organic and natural when you guys come back together vocally.
16:39It all kind of clicks into place.
16:40It's always got to be for the right reasons.
16:42Look, everybody and their mother has said,
16:44oh, if you do this, people will go crazy and they'll do this,
16:47and we're like, the only way I think we can do it
16:50is if it happens for the right reasons and it happens organically.
16:53Speaking about potential reunions,
16:55I saw that you were able to celebrate Christina Aguilera's 25th anniversary of her debut.
17:01The singer?
17:02Yeah, I know.
17:03The talent?
17:04Yes, talk about the voice.
17:05There was a little tease about an MMC reunion duetting.
17:09Would you do a duet with Christina? We need to know.
17:11Come on, man.
17:13Look, she is an amazing talent.
17:16I'm lucky enough to have grown up with a bunch of very talented people,
17:20and look, who knows?
17:22I have no idea what that song would be,
17:24and I have no idea the reason why it would be made.
17:26It would bring the vocals.
17:29Look, if it was organic and it was the right thing,
17:32I would be happy to sing with her any time.
17:35I'm just gleeful just thinking about this.
17:38I have to say that it's kind of incredible to see the fan base you have.
17:44All these years later, people are really devoted.
17:46The J.C. Hive is real.
17:48Perhaps you don't pay attention to these things,
17:50but I feel like even when I see videos of you performing with the guys,
17:53so many of the comments are like, J.C. still has that voice.
17:57I'm trying. I'm trying.
17:58That's got to make you feel good.
17:59Hey, man, I'm getting a little older.
18:00It's getting a little scratchy here,
18:02but any time somebody pays you a compliment, it's worth a thank you.
18:05It's a very kind thing when someone says they like what you're doing,
18:09and you're working as hard as you can to do it,
18:11so they're recognizing the amount of work you put into something.
18:14It's humbling to me.
18:15Again, I'm thankful every day that I get to do what I love to do.
18:19I think there's even a commenter called Justice for J.C. Chafee.
18:23We have the people out here fighting for you, just so you know.
18:26Let's make a musical together.
18:28Are you aware of the Las Culturistas podcast?
18:31No.
18:32They recently put out a list called the Iconic 400 of culture
18:36in honor of their 400th episode.
18:38This is a list that includes everything from Kelly Clarkson to Jesus Christ
18:42to Korn to Sacagawea to Mariah Carey.
18:46So we're very random. Okay.
18:48Guess who is the only member of NSYNC on the Iconic 400?
18:52It's you.
18:53If you're posing me the question, I'm guessing.
18:55Does it have something to do with the turtleneck, or no?
18:57It has nothing to do with the turtleneck.
18:59That was a running joke for a while, but I was like,
19:01why are you always in a turtleneck?
19:02I was like, I don't know. I just like turtlenecks.
19:04It looked good, man.
19:05I have to tell you, you made the 400.
19:07You are between the crazy The Bride of Frankenstein
19:11and Ursula from The Little Mermaid.
19:13I love where I am in this mix.
19:17Are you kidding me?
19:19Yes, please.
19:20Truly iconic, so I just wanted you to know.
19:22Tell them thank you for the kindness,
19:23and thank you for making me a part of this list randomly.
19:26Yes.
19:27With this album, hearing about something like this,
19:30I feel like your career has gone in sort of like
19:33really unexpected creative directions, which is so cool.
19:35What do you see ahead for you?
19:37What do you still want to do?
19:39Well, we've made this concept album, Playing With Fire,
19:41but we want the musical to get made.
19:43We need to see it on stage.
19:45That's the absolute truth.
19:47We're hoping that this gives us an opportunity
19:50to really kind of stretch these muscles
19:52and put some really fun stuff out there in the world.
19:55But Playing With Fire is the focus right now,
19:58and I would love in the years to come to see it get made
20:01and maybe make one or two more of these things,
20:04and then let the world take me where it needs to take me.
20:08Well, that sounds good to me.
20:10JC, are you ready for Rapid Fire?
20:13I don't know if I'm ready for Rapid Fire,
20:15but I'm ready for Rapid Fire.
20:16Okay, so in this game, you're going to have 60 seconds
20:19to answer these questions in a Rapid Fire style.
20:21Our mutual goal is to get through as many of them as possible,
20:24so let's see what we can do.
20:25We're starting the timer now.
20:27Guest or host?
20:28For me, I would be the guest.
20:30Sunset or sunrise?
20:32Ooh, I like a sunrise, actually.
20:35Past or present?
20:36Present.
20:37Podcast or series?
20:38Series.
20:39Going out or staying in?
20:41Staying in.
20:42Fall or spring?
20:44Fall.
20:45Text or FaceTime?
20:46Text.
20:47L.A. or New York?
20:48L.A.
20:50Sorry, Broadway.
20:52Long hair or short hair?
20:53Long hair.
20:54Phantom or Les Mis?
20:57Ooh, that is dirty.
21:01No, that's my answer.
21:03No, you cannot have me pick one.
21:06I have to say the aspects of those shows.
21:08Oh, no.
21:11Les Mis.
21:12Okay.
21:13Phantom.
21:16Justified or future sex love songs?
21:18Future sex.
21:19Espresso or please, please, please?
21:21Espresso.
21:24Give me one more because I took so long on that one.
21:26They're good, they're good.
21:27You should do the rest.
21:28Okay, okay.
21:2990s or 2000s?
21:30Doesn't matter.
21:31Rap or R&B?
21:32Ooh, R&B.
21:34Bye Bye Bye or It's Gonna Be Me?
21:38Bye Bye Bye.
21:40America's Best Dance Crew or Trolls Band Together?
21:43Oh, that's dirty.
21:47Trolls is cute, but ABDC, I loved seeing those young people perform.
21:51So I'm going to say ABDC, actually.
21:54But I love Trolls.
21:56But not the mean Trolls.
22:00Yankees or Dodgers?
22:01Dodgers.
22:02Hits or deep cuts?
22:04Deep cuts.
22:05Dancing or singing?
22:08Singing.
22:09Sweet or spicy?
22:10And we saw you on Hot Ones.
22:11Spicy.
22:13You were so chill about those wings.
22:14It was delicious.
22:17Play or musical?
22:19Musical.
22:20Beach or city?
22:22City.
22:23Finally, Frankenstein or Dracula?
22:25Frankenstein.
22:27Although, I am a fan of Dracula.
22:30I like the creature features, man.
22:32I'm into it.
22:33This man is a peacemaker.
22:35Happy Halloween, everybody.
22:38This was great.
22:39Thank you so much.
22:40Thank you for having me.
22:41Yeah.