LMS: RGV Got Talent: Episode 10 - Andre

We’re getting close to the season 1 finale. Let’s meet Andre our season  runner up. Some say he should’ve gotten first. What does he think about???

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

So yeah, we're here with Andre de la Tejera. Uh second place, RGV Gotzana.

unknown 0:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 0:10

How'd that feel?

SPEAKER_02 0:12

It was good. Um really well. I mean, it was like I said of the thing. You know, I I did my Phantom of the Opera whole mini Broadway show. And that was it. I was just happy to do it. I didn't really I didn't care at that point if I had gotten first place or not. It would have been cool, obviously. But you know, I I got to do it and it was a lot of fun. People seemed to like it. So I was like, yeah, I'm happy with this. It was long, right?

SPEAKER_04 0:40

By that point, you were tired. Everybody was tired.

SPEAKER_02 0:43

It was like the whole competition was long.

SPEAKER_04 0:45

Yeah, that was like 12 weeks.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

Yeah, yeah, go to like three months and change or so. I mean, yeah, it was tiring, especially because it was on a Sunday. And I and I'm a teacher, right? A high school teacher, so I had to get to work the next day and I was dead every Monday. But it was a lot of fun. Afterwards, I was like, man, what am I gonna do now on my weekends? Got nothing to do.

SPEAKER_04 1:07

That was your whole life for three months.

SPEAKER_03 1:09

Oh kind of, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:12

Uh but so let's go back to how how'd you hear about the show in the first place?

SPEAKER_02 1:17

Uh just on Facebook. I was scrolling through Facebook some someday during the in the summer, mid-late July. And and yeah, I just saw it there posted. I think a friend of mine shared it, or I don't know. But uh, but I saw it and I was like, hmm, yeah, why not? Let's let's give it a shot. There was a there was a I I've been uh going to karaoke spots here and there for a couple years now, you know, just to have fun on the weekends or whatever. And a couple of friends that I've made at these places, I saw them posting that, oh yeah, I'm gonna try it, I'm gonna try out. And a lot of them didn't. Except for one guy, uh Alex. He's the only guy that I knew before the competition.

SPEAKER_04 1:58

Oh, Alex from from the from the show. Yeah, yeah. Uh so you what was uh the PC audition with?

unknown 2:09

Oh, what was it?

SPEAKER_02 2:10

I think it was uh it was Don't Stop Me Now by Queen.

SPEAKER_04 2:15

Oh, okay, yeah. You were in the second um week or the first week. The first week.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

First week, yeah. I remember I wasn't terribly happy with how it came out. I've I've done that song at karaoke a good few times, and it's come out better. That was one of the worst worst versions of that song that I've done. Listening back to it, I was like, oh my god, those notes were ugh. Might have been might have just been like nerves or something, but but it was good enough, I guess.

SPEAKER_04 2:45

Being on that stage was interesting because uh I couldn't I couldn't hear myself a lot. Well, we didn't re we didn't have monitors that were coming back to us, right?

SPEAKER_02 2:54

That's yeah, no, we didn't. It was all just the house speakers.

SPEAKER_04 2:57

Yeah, and at the beginning, all the difficulties, the tracks kept stopping or restarting.

SPEAKER_02 3:04

Yeah, they were streaming all the tracks. It kept pausing. I think there was like I think there was one night, I forget which night it was, but my mic when while I was singing, the mic just kind of like it the battery died for a couple seconds and then it came back. I'm like, oh okay, that's we're doing this now.

SPEAKER_04 3:20

Yeah, that was that wasn't fun. I mean, uh and it really it would really suck if like um you're doing a track, right? And of course you don't have the words, so you have to count to come in and say if the intro's not so obvious or there's not a speed drop or chord change. It's just like the same that that's the issue I had when I did uh chasing cars. That's why I didn't use a track because it's just the same two notes repeating for an exact amount of measures before you come in. Okay. And if the track were to cut off and come back, I was like no idea where I'm at.

SPEAKER_03 3:59

You get lost in the count.

SPEAKER_04 4:01

Yeah, so I was like, I don't want to risk that, I'm just gonna use my guitar and and do it.

SPEAKER_02 4:05

Yeah, I mean that works too.

SPEAKER_04 4:08

Yeah, that was uh nice thing about playing. Uh you play a little bit though, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:13

Yeah, I I play a little. Um I've I've been playing guitar and piano longer than I've been singing, but I didn't really I guess work super hard at getting good at them. Because most of what I play on guitar is just like I listen to a lot of metal, a lot of like European power metal that nobody knows about. And I play a lot of that, so it's all just electric and power chords, fast tremolos and melodies and all that stuff. So I didn't really get too much into learning chords. I don't play acoustic very much. And then uh, you know, when it's time's like, oh, it's time to accompany yourself uh on when you're doing your songs, it's like ah crap. Yeah, you should have learned a couple songs to do that.

SPEAKER_04 4:59

Yeah, acoustic night, you had to accompany yourself or yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

For that one I did um I did piano instead.

SPEAKER_04 5:07

Yeah. Um we'll talk about that week, because that that week that was a very interesting week. Yeah, that was a weird that was a weird one. But I'm gonna go back to the beginning to week one. I don't remember if it was week one or two, but you did a queen song.

SPEAKER_02 5:26

The the first week was queen. The audition was queen. Um, and then for the first, I guess, official night, yeah, when they told us we can do whatever, I did Lion King. Oh, you did Lion King. Okay, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:38

So so the the audition was yeah, the Queen. And that's when you pulled out the the star sunglasses and uh took off the ponytail.

SPEAKER_02 5:47

Yeah, I did. Yeah, I figured you know, might as well do a little a little have a little fun with it.

SPEAKER_04 5:54

Yeah. Um and then you did Lion King. And you did Lion King, and you know, the from the from your audition piece, I mean you could obviously sing, reach those notes and and grate and everything. But then when I when I heard you do the Lion King, I was like, wow, this you can really get into a character.

SPEAKER_02 6:20

Yeah, I I I I've just been something that I've liked to do for a while. Like back in high school, some people might know what it is. There's a an old show on Adult Swim, Metal Ocalypse. Yeah, cartoon, yeah, that you know what it is. Cartoon about a metal band, and they have really like it's like two guys doing all the voices, and it was such a funny and cool show, and I really like the music, and I just started imitating the voices. So I guess I just got good at just doing voices and stuff, imitating people. So whenever I do like a song that has like a musical song, um it just it just feels natural to just kind of get into the character and try to imitate the voice. And for that song it was particularly hard because they're like seven-year-old kids, so that's really, really high.

SPEAKER_04 7:10

Yeah, I mean that that was surprising that you were able to hit all those notes and uh you had your your mane flowing.

SPEAKER_02 7:19

Yeah, that's true. I mean, I mean it's a Lion King, so you gotta let the hair down.

SPEAKER_04 7:23

Yeah, I remember that. That that yeah, that was a great um performance.

SPEAKER_02 7:28

Yeah, that one I was pretty happy with.

SPEAKER_04 7:30

Uh then we go to week two. Week two is rock week.

unknown 7:35

That's right. What did I do?

SPEAKER_02 7:37

Oh yeah, I did uh I did Rebel Yell.

SPEAKER_04 7:40

Oh, okay. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 7:43

And that one, I I was debating because like I said, I listened to a lot of metal, and I was thinking of doing this one song that I really like, but then I thought, ah, it's a really cool song, but nobody knows it. Might as well do something that people kind of know. Because you know, you gotta take the crowd into consideration or whatever. And so I just you know Rebel Yell's a good one. It's nice and strong. You can get energetic, have fun with it. And but it was kind of lame because I had this, I think like I was gonna I was gonna do something for the finale. I forget what I was gonna do. Like I had a this I wore it later on for Elvis. I had this like puffy shirt that I was gonna like take off the jacket and be like, wow, look at me wearing a pirate shirt or whatever, and do some crazy stuff with the notes in the end for the final chorus, but they they cut it off right during the the solo, the breakdown section, so I didn't get to finish the song. So I was like, oh man. Oh well, whatever. It was good enough. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:44

Yeah, I remember that that's another reason I I chose to do guitar um instead of use a track for chasing cars, because that song is four minutes. There's no way they're gonna let me for the four minutes, and the main part where it's like really rock or I can really do it my own was at the end. Because the first three minutes or whatever is just the same. Uh so yeah, and then that one of the comments I got was uh it was a little too fast. I'm like, well, you're only giving us like two and a half minutes. Yeah, I gotta get through the whole song.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

I remember people being like, I guess, concerned about that, but I seem to remember it being like it has to be at least two and a half minutes.

SPEAKER_04 9:21

That's what that's what instructions said at least two and a half, but then they started cutting it off.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

They started cutting people off. And I and a benefit of doubt, I guess it was just like they figured all right, the song is kind of over, there's not much left for the end, so we can just cut it here, which is kind of lame if there's something cool you're building up to at the end, but there's like a a little bit of a pause. So yeah, like you say, it's if you gotta do that, accompanying yourself is the way to go.

SPEAKER_04 9:48

Yeah, it was better. Then we go to wait, that week did you get in a top three finish or no? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 9:58

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_04 10:00

I know Aldo won because he did the Bon Jovi.

unknown 10:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:04

Dead or live. Yeah, I did. No, I don't know. I the only one that I remember getting in the top that I didn't get number one was uh when I did Frank Sinatra. I remember getting in the top.

SPEAKER_04 10:14

So that that's the following week. Um yeah, so you came in your your tuxedo. Yeah. You came with the so this week was uh sing something you're proud to be or proud of.

SPEAKER_02 10:25

Yeah, yeah, there you go. Something you're proud of. So yeah, there's like figures like, oh, that this is a good song because you know it's you know, it's my way. So you know, you're proud to do things your way and all that.

SPEAKER_04 10:37

Told my little story about going to New York and Yeah, so you talked a little bit about going to New York. So what what exactly was that? Was that like a a show or a tour that you're doing?

SPEAKER_02 10:48

Oh no, no, no. It was a little it was another competition. Um I've been taking lessons with the professional tutor for a couple years, and she told me there's this there's this competition. It's uh American Protege based out of New York City, and anybody can enter, it's online, and there's a bunch of different age ranges and categories, kind of like boxing with uh weight classes. It's like elementary, middle school, high school, college, adult professional, adult amateur, and each one of those has different genre categories uh jazz, Broadway, classical opera. So she's like, You would do adult amateur, and you should probably do Broadway because that's what you're best at. So we you just send in a couple songs, send in the entry fee, and the first and second place winners of each of those categories, they got to go, they get invited to go sing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. So I was like, Yeah, why not? Let's give it a shot. And so I sent in a couple songs, and I won second place in adult amateur Broadway. And I was like, oh my god. I think first place was like some German girl from Germany. It's like, okay. So nobody in the States beat me. That was that that was really cool. So so yeah, I went to go sing. I did um Gethsemane from Jesus Christ Superstar, and I got to go sing that at uh at Broadway, no, not at Carnegie in New York City. And while I was there, I saw Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, and that was like really, really cool, which is what inspired the finale, but we'll get to that.

SPEAKER_04 12:22

So when you're there at Carnegie Hall, what was what was that like?

SPEAKER_02 12:26

It was really cool. It was also a bit weird because most of the other people that were there were like children or high school, like like like the big chunk of them were high schoolers. Uh there was a couple of like small, like eight, ten-year-olds, but most of them were like 14 to 17, 18. And and you know, they have a little blurb that tells you about them, and it's like, oh, some of these kids are they've they've done a lot of cool stuff. I think there was only three or four adults, and of those three or four, I was the only one that kind of blended in with the young people because I look I still look like I'm 22 or something. Uh there was like this older 50-year-old lady, 30-year-old lady, and everyone sang really well. And they put me at the end for some reason. They they put me to close out the the whole thing.

SPEAKER_04 13:17

Uh showed up show.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

Not it was like the people's families.

SPEAKER_04 13:21

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

I mean, at the end of the day, like it's Carnegie Hall, so it's a little bit of a big deal, but at the end of the day, it was it was a talent competition. Yeah. No big names that are gonna draw people off the street or whatever. But it was still really cool with the the hall that we performed in. It wasn't like the big main hall, it was a smaller little recital hall, but it was still very, very cool.

SPEAKER_04 13:44

Was it uh all paid for? Absolutely not.

SPEAKER_02 13:48

I think they they they they told us like the winners get like a like like a package, like like, oh yeah, like a thousand dollars or something. And I figured, okay, well, at least you can use it to play for the to pay for the plane ticket. But then, because it was during COVID year, they said, never mind, we can't give you the money, but you can still come if you want. And my folks were like, Of course we're gonna go. And I'm like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it's just gonna cost a lot of money, but that's fine. That's fine. You don't you don't do this very often.

SPEAKER_03 14:17

Yeah, I mean, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:19

So that's that's that story. And then the other reason I chose my way was um because like, well, like I said, there it's it's my dad's favorite song, and every time we go, like there's a party at my family's house, or we're out somewhere and people are singing, he's like, Andre, do my way. Come on, it's my favorite. And I'm like, alright, let's go.

SPEAKER_04 14:38

I've I've done that song before. I did it once um at my friend's wedding last year. But what I did was um did both English and Spanish. Oh you know, the Spanish Ami Manete. Also very popular in Spanish. So I would start it like in English or not started in in Spanish and English. I kept flipping back and forth every verse.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

That's really cool.

SPEAKER_04 15:09

Um because my friend, well, he's Hispanic, right? He's from down here. But his wife um and our family are white from Temple, Temple, Texas. Okay. So I just did that. That uh that little uh that back and forth so they would understand something I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

That's cool.

SPEAKER_04 15:30

Although she speaks way better Spanish than he does.

SPEAKER_02 15:36

She speaks it like it happens like that sometimes.

SPEAKER_04 15:41

Uh and then we go to week four. Acoustic night.

SPEAKER_02 15:47

Uh okay, uh, this one.

SPEAKER_04 15:50

Um, yeah, so Acoustic Night. Yeah. I did an original song. Nice. And then so you did I did Elvis.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

I did um oh my god, what's it called? What's it called? Can't help falling in love. That's the one.

SPEAKER_04 16:05

Yeah, okay, so that's when we had Julian.

SPEAKER_02 16:08

Yeah, we had Julian. I I've known Julian for a while, for a couple years. I'd check out his band here and there, so I'm like, hey, what's up, man? But um, yeah, that one was uh, you know, like like they did they'd rip into me for a couple of those low notes, and I totally get it because it was really low.

SPEAKER_04 16:25

And it was. And here's the thing you sing amazing, right? And then Julian, I agree with what he said. You have your style, you have your voice, and you do a lot of these imitations, and I mean you can do that, that's great. But I think your own voice and your own style is already unique in itself that can stand on its own. So when you were doing the Elvis, even when you did a little bit of My Way, it some of it wasn't you, you know, it wasn't your voice.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

Yeah, so a little bit of Frank in there, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:04

And then same thing with My Way and the Elvis song at the end, just explosion, yeah. And hey, that's Andre, and then everybody's like, Whoa.

SPEAKER_02 17:14

I mean, yeah, that's that's my thing, right? Like, yeah. And people and people ask me, it's like, how how Andre? How the heck do you sing so high? And I just tell them, it's like, well, listen to these bands here, these European metal bands. It's like like like Iron Maiden, I guess, but even more intense. Listening to those for like 10, 12 years now, and just singing along to that, you just start getting to sing higher and higher like they do. So whenever I go out and sing, I feel like I might as well, yeah, just might as well do it. And you know, it it it helps, you know, gets people pumped up.

SPEAKER_04 17:51

What is what is that? What why do you do like some imitation? Like you just want to, you feel like you know something I guess you just want to? It's just like, yeah, that's what I want to do, so I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02 18:04

Yeah, yeah, I guess. I guess it's kind of like and I and I get what people say about the whole like like you shouldn't try imitating, you should be yourself. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, I do that. But it's also kind of like like on on the other hand, I guess you could say it's like I guess it's it's a talent in and of itself. It's not just saying like I'm imitating this person because I can't do it in my own voice, it's more like like I'm also able to imitate this person, and and if and if it comes out good, then cool. If not, was you know, that was a mistake. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:39

There's some so but I mean, so okay, so like going back to week one, Lion King sounded exactly like the recording, the soundtrack. Like you could close your eyes and be like, oh, that's that's the actor, the voice from Lion King.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:56

So yeah, that came out really well. And the the stuff Frank's not showing Elvis, I don't know, maybe it's just so maybe so many people have tried to also imitate them, or you just hear like oh it's another imitation.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

Yeah, that one is a lot more, but it it it's everyone knows that song, everyone a lot of people do that song. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:19

But I mean, yeah, so you you just kind of you know, you're like, I want to do this, and I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02 19:25

Yeah, and and with Elvis, the the problem with that one was just it was just the key.

SPEAKER_04 19:29

Yeah, that was really low for you.

SPEAKER_02 19:31

Yeah, and and that that was the the mistake. Because I I don't know what key it it's in originally, it might be like an E or G, because you play it on guitar normally and it uses the those basic chords, but but I did it in C because I was doing it on the piano, and I don't accompany myself on the piano very often. So like I'm just like, alright, I'm just gonna pick the easiest key. No, no black keys. So I just did but didn't that that that's why I did it in C. Okay. And so it's it's like a good like two or three whole steps lower than it is, and it's already a pretty low song, so it's really, really down there. And I was like, oh and when I was practicing on my own, it sounded okay. And then when I'm there live, it was like again, maybe probably the nerves, I'm like, oh crap, those are a bit rough. Come on, let's save it at the end. Jump the octave.

SPEAKER_04 20:22

When that happened, and I was right sitting uh next to the stage, and as soon as you go to the end and you just just blow the whole roof, it just goes like yeah, just throws his hands up in the air, and he was like, damn it, Andre. Could you do this with a hope?

SPEAKER_02 20:40

Yeah, yeah, but but yeah, like the build-up, right? It's the build-up. And I think it also helped that you know, like the crowd was getting really into it, singing along to it. So though it's like, thank god they can save me from singing one more verse in that really bad low-key. Yeah. So in the end, we we saved it in the end.

SPEAKER_04 21:01

Yeah, you made it through. Um, both did, and then the next week was the battle rounds. Ah, yeah, that that's so I don't believe, Jonas, for one second, that that was all by chance. Oh no.

SPEAKER_02 21:19

The matchups, the the matchups. I they and Shanti.

SPEAKER_04 21:23

Yeah, no, you and Alex, uh Zeke and Michael. Like it was just Lisa and Alice. Mm-hmm. They're just a belief or not believe.

SPEAKER_02 21:33

It was just too it was too perfect.

SPEAKER_04 21:36

Yeah. This is the the wheel of fortune now. So you got prettyx.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

Yeah, with Alex, and that was like, and I think everyone was under this impression that everyone, like all the pairs had the same song. So when they told me my song like a final countdown, I figured our Alex also has final countdown. And Alex, you know, Alex, he's like he's a He's a showman. He always puts on a really entertaining performance. So I'm like, I gotta pull out all the stops to to win. So that that's where all of that came from. My big old puffy pirate shirt had a bandana on, bring out the guitar, play a little guitar solo and do those crazy highs. He's like, yeah, that they I think that'll be good enough. And then no, everybody got different songs. Like, oh okay. Didn't have to try that hard, I guess.

SPEAKER_04 22:26

Yeah, that was yeah, I didn't know how it well. They kept changing it, like leading up to that week or Jonas and the rules or whatever they can decide. And then Alex had um what what did he do?

SPEAKER_02 22:40

He did uh it was that Queen and David Bo under pressure, right?

SPEAKER_04 22:44

Yeah, yeah, under pressure. And man, it was that that was probably the battle of of the night.

SPEAKER_02 22:54

I mean the two of you. It was pretty like he he was great.

SPEAKER_04 22:58

He was great, and then you did a good job, and yeah, it was tough deciding between the two of you. Um but you you ended up winning that that battle, right?

SPEAKER_02 23:09

Yeah. No, actually, I think it was uh no, yeah. I I I I rem I did, but then they put him in the top three as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:21

Which made no sense.

SPEAKER_02 23:24

Yeah, like they say, like you're not allowed, we can't do that, but I guess you know, it's like whatever. I guess he did so good that we'll we'll break the rules this time, I guess. Which is like yeah, fair enough, I I guess.

SPEAKER_04 23:39

But uh, so um that how how how did you prepare for that one for that battle?

SPEAKER_02 23:46

Very stressfully, because like I say, I don't usually accompany myself, and I'd I'd I'd heard of the song, but I hadn't um I hadn't heard it so much that I knew all the lyrics by heart, and then on top of that, trying to accompany myself on guitar and learning the solo, like I didn't even learn the proper solo, I just kind of like all right, it's it sounds a bit like this, so I'll just you know it'll it'll sound close enough and it'll sound alright. So I just spent like you know every day just going over it, learning the lyrics, learning the timing, and then for the chords, I think I just kind of like I I I cheated. Well not cheated, but like like pretty much everything while I'm singing is just power chords, just you know a fifth. So just like just keep it simple, it'll sound fine. The backing track's there too, so if I flub it a bit, you know, like it'll catch me. And then during the solo, I was like, oh yeah, this is sounding this this sounds really cool. And I I went down on like one knee and I was like, yeah, hell yeah. And then I and then I stood up and it hit my head on the microphone, and I'm like, oh Jesus, and I kind of like I messed up on the timing for the for the ending, like ah crap, but whatever. It was really fun.

SPEAKER_04 24:59

Yeah, and did you cut the track yourself?

SPEAKER_02 25:02

Yeah, I found uh I found a karaoke track so I could sing because you know I I I can't do the drums and the bass and the synths at the same time. So I found a karaoke track, and then I found another version that had no guitars, so it was just rhythm section, so I could cut out the solo and I just spliced them together. So when I'm singing it's the karaoke track, and then I just cut in the guitar solo. Well, I I spliced in the version with no solo so I could do the solo myself, and then I once a solo ended, jumped back into the normal karaoke version. And if you listen real closely, you can kind of hear the switch because the drums sound a little different between the two, but nobody's paying that much attention. So I figured it's close enough.

SPEAKER_04 25:49

How much time did that take?

SPEAKER_02 25:51

Not that long. A couple hours, just messing around on Audacity. Doing it during your off period at work, or oh no, no, I think I did it, I probably did it the day before on Saturday.

SPEAKER_04 26:08

Yeah, no, I mean that that that performance was great. Sounded good. That was a good one. You were did you win that week?

SPEAKER_02 26:17

Yeah, that was the first one that I got first place.

SPEAKER_03 26:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:22

And then came Power Ballad.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

Power ballad. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:27

I don't even remember what did I do?

SPEAKER_03 26:31

What the heck did I do? It wasn't a journey.

SPEAKER_04 26:38

I don't remember what I did.

unknown 26:44

Let me see.

SPEAKER_02 26:46

Oh no, I did uh Who Wants to Live Forever? That's right.

SPEAKER_04 26:50

Oh, okay. I can see that.

SPEAKER_02 26:52

I did I remember. I was thinking no, my bad. That was tribute night. It might have been Faithfully, but I don't remember.

SPEAKER_04 26:59

Oh yeah, Tribute Night. So was it Tribute Night and then Power Ballads?

SPEAKER_02 27:02

I don't think so. I think it was Power Ballads Fr. Or it was Tribute Night was first. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Skipping ahead. Yeah, Tribute Night. Tribute Night, and I did um I was gonna do Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson. This is a really good song. And I figured if if it's Tribute Night, it's gonna be something a bit more emotional, like a ballad. And that's one of his good ones. But then I was like, but it's MJ. He goes up there. Yeah. And then I remember there there's one guy that I like on YouTube a lot, and he uh he had just recently done a cover of Who Wants to Live Forever, and I didn't really know that song, but I was listening to it, and I was like, man, that's a good song. And the more I was thinking about it, I was like, I think it was like two or three days, like it was a Thursday, Thursday before the show. I I I messaged Jonas, I was like, Jonas, I'm changing my mind. I'm doing this song. So I had like three days to learn the lyrics and do it, and that one came out pretty good. I like that one.

SPEAKER_04 28:10

You didn't do top three that week, right?

SPEAKER_03 28:12

I don't know. I might have, but I don't think so.

SPEAKER_04 28:17

Uh because I remember um Otto and Shanti got first and second because they battled against each other and the same song.

SPEAKER_03 28:25

Ah, that's right. But yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_04 28:29

I don't remember who got third. Then um Then Comes the Power Ballad.

SPEAKER_02 28:35

Yeah. That one was Faithfully. And uh you know, that one I've known for ages. It's one of my it's one of my favorite classic rock songs. I I don't remember too much about it, so it didn't go like terribly well, but it didn't go terribly bad. So that's alright.

SPEAKER_04 28:56

Yeah, you're just always coasting by well coasting at the top.

SPEAKER_02 29:03

Yeah, I think which which makes sense because I think the next night was country night, which was Yeah, so unless you had country night, how'd that go? Well, like you were saying, I think I think at that point I was starting to get a little bit too comfy, and I say coasting, because that was bad. Uh it didn't feel that bad while I was singing. I kind of knew the song, the song that I picked. My my sister recommended it because I'm not big on country at all. And uh I uh she goes, Oh, sing this one, uh, what hurts the most, Rascal Flat. And I'm like, oh yeah, that's a good song. I know that one. Uh and I already knew the words. So okay, and the song's not that hard, the range isn't crazy, it's a little high, but not that bad. So I was just jamming that throughout the week and it was good. And then that night, I think like just uh I just happened to because like you know one of the problems earlier on that was happening to a lot of people is that during the the battles at the end, the bottom two, a lot of people weren't learning the songs, so they'd get eliminated. So like I should probably just just in case. I I I did get into the habit of learning a bit of the songs, not as much as I should have, but you know, in enough that I I can go up there and give it a shot. So that that week I was learning that song. I forget this song, but it's one of those really popular ones. I forget what it's called. Uh the battle song? Yeah, it was uh it was that one that was I don't know how you do what you do. So in love with you. Is it Amazed? Um baby, I'm amazed by you. Something like that. I forget what it's called.

SPEAKER_04 30:59

So you were in the bottom two?

SPEAKER_02 31:01

Uh yeah. Bottom three? I think it was actually that night. There was three of us. It was me, Andrea, and Zeke. We all had to do it. And uh Zeke.

SPEAKER_04 31:13

Uh but didn't Shanti get eliminated Country Night? Uh I think that was like the surprising thing. Well, she forgot the lyrics. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:25

Was it? No. I don't think it was Country Night. Amazed Lone Star.

SPEAKER_02 31:34

Yeah, Amazed Lone Star. No, I think Shanti got eliminated the the night before like the the the third to last night. Oh, the judges pick. Yeah, that that's the one. That's the one she got eliminated on. Um, because in Country Night, Andrea got eliminated. It was uh it was Mizik Andrea.

SPEAKER_04 31:58

All three of you had to do it, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:00

We all had to do it. And it was like I was gonna say while I was singing, I feel like, yeah, that went okay. And then when I was listening to the judges, I was like, oh man, maybe I didn't do it so hot. Oh dear. And then and then it's like, yeah, I got in the bottom three, and I'm like, oh my god, did I really just flub it that bad? And I was like, well, thank god I know the freaking uh the battle song. So I did it, and I was like, all right, let's let's ham up the performance. So I go there, do a little dance or whatever. And and I think it went well. And then they had like I think they had the contestants vote on who to get eliminated between the three of us. So that was also very stressful. Yeah, the poor days. They started doing that, and I was like, it's like, oh my god, that sucks so much. But I guess fair enough, like this is what they have to do all the time. But it sucks. Yeah. So I made it through, but I was like, I remember like at the end of that night, I was like, I was I was real shaken up. I was like, oh my god, I gotta I gotta be more what was I saying? I was I was getting too comfortable. I can't, I gotta I gotta step up my game.

SPEAKER_04 33:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:11

So so uh that next night was uh judge's pick.

SPEAKER_04 33:16

Right.

SPEAKER_02 33:17

And what the heck did I get? I got that Bon Jovi. I got uh how do I not know this one? I won that night. Uh uh I'll be there for you. There we go. And um I had gotten that one. Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. I got that one. And I remember thinking like everyone got really good songs for things. Like I remember uh Eli got uh Living La Vida Loca. I was like, I was really looking forward to that one, but um but yeah, I got the Bon Jovi, and I was like, okay, I know but I remember I got the thing, it's like you can draw again if you want. And I'm like, and everyone's like, no, don't do it, do Bon Jovi. And I'm like, okay, I can do Bon Jovi. I don't think I know this song though, but whatever, I'll learn it. And then I heard it back, it's like, oh wait, no, I have heard this song, I just haven't heard it that much, and not for a long time. So it's did the you know, learn the lyrics, and for that one I did something fun because I just wanted to do a like it's got that little sing along, the section at the end. So I think I think I like I came up with like a more interesting melody to sing along to. And I was like, alright, cool. Well, what if I do like a little back and forth, like a uh call and reply with the audience? I was like, cool, I want to do that, but it's not that long. And you know, it changes chords every every measure, and I need it to stay on the same chord because it's not gonna make sense. So I just did a little more splicing. I found the karaoke track, and then I got those sections, and I just extended them by an extra two beats or an extra two measures, so that the you know, I'll do the bit, and then the audience does the bit, and it's in the right chord, and then the next one, and the next one. And and that was a lot of fun. And that time I got first place, the second time I got first place, and that was very cool.

SPEAKER_04 35:15

That was a judge's pick.

SPEAKER_02 35:17

I did think it was funny that the only two times that I got first place, I didn't pick the song. The the judges picked the song, or it was random. Uh I thought I was like, that's maybe I'm not picking the right songs. Well, I mean, but it whatever.

SPEAKER_03 35:36

It was fun.

SPEAKER_04 35:39

Uh then we had uh semifinals. There's ten of you left at that point.

SPEAKER_02 35:44

Yep. What was that like? I was stressed because, well, like I said, for the finale, I did Phantom, and semifinals was uh movie night. So you pick a song from a movie, and I think they had told us about the rest of the nights like a month or so before. So we got to see all the themes, and when I saw movie night, I'm like, oh, awesome! Phantom of the opera, obviously. But then I thought, wait, no, what if I save that for the end and do something real special with it? So that right about that time, like a month before, that's when I started kind of having the idea for what I was gonna do for the finale. So then I thought, alright, I gotta pick something else, and I was between two choices. I was uh I was either gonna do the one I did, um, The Bells of Notre Dame from Hunchback, or uh Conte Partido from Andrea Bocelli, because it was in that that scene from Step Brothers at the end with the drum solo. I was like, all right, that that counts. It was in the movie. That's fairly for yes, yeah. Everyone's like, you know, and I've done it before a karaoke. I like I love that song, I've known it for ages. And every time I sing it, everyone's like, oh, it's the freaking Catalina wine and makes them like, yeah, yeah, it is. So I was like, all right, people will like that one. But I wasn't sure. And I was like, I really wanted to get to the fan, like at that point I'd already started working on the phantom thing. I I'd had the track finished, like the friggin' the 13-minute supercut of the play. I'd had that finished for a couple weeks at that point, and I was like, I was sitting on it, I was like, it's like I want to do it, but I gotta keep it a secret. And I was like, I just uh I just really wanted to make it to the finale so I can do it. And I'm like, and then I'm happy. I just want to do the song, so I gotta make sure that I pass in this round, so it's gotta be really good. So I went to Medica because Medica was always the one that I was like, I was like, canela, and then uh they like a lot of the showmanship and like and I can I can do that. Jonas is kind of like a little bit of everything, but Medica is always always on about like vocal technique, so I was like, I was like, I want to make sure that I sing it right and I don't screw it up like I did with the other ones a few of the times. So I was like, can we do uh can we do like a little session, run through the song, see what you think, tell me which one of these two you think would be better. So I met up with her and we ran through we we ran through botchelli for the most part, contepparte doing like vocal techniques, like okay, just do this and this part, or do that, do that, okay. That sounds better, whatever. And then for like the last 10 minutes, it's like, you want to do the other one too? And I'm like, all right. We ran through it once, and she was like, Yeah, okay, let me just, you know, just the same techniques, right? And make sure you're in your breathing right, placement and all that. And I was like, all right, cool. And then I ended up picking the one that we barely worked on, and I think I decided because we we did it on Saturday, we had a little session, and the next day was the performance. I still didn't know, but I had tracks ready for both of them, and I think it was it was that morning, the morning of the competition that I decided, all right, I'll just screw it, I'm doing hunchback. I need some outfits, and I need someone to help me act because the scene requires of two people. So I uh it was like I needed I needed an outfit for the clown guy, the the the jester, Clopin, and I had no idea what I was gonna do with that. I needed a priest outfit for the for the bad guy for Frollo. I was like, all right, I got this little I got this cool like long black coat and I got this red sash that works for the priest thing. And my mom, she was like, she she dressed me up for the Bon Jovi night the week before. I didn't mention like I'm wearing like my mom's clothing for this one because 80s Bon Jovi, women's clothing. So I said, Mom, I need your help again. And she she made me the shirt that I wore that night. She she had like the material there. She was like, Oh yeah, I'll make it. Just worked on it for like four hours. And when I went to my folks' house to pick it up, she was like, Oh my god, it's been such a hard time. I'm so sorry. Thank you so much, Mom, for helping me out. So they put the costumes together that day. Um, and my family had a birthday party going on. My aunt's birthday at a ranch somewhere in McCallan. And I went to go there for a couple hours before the show. And while I was there, me and my sister, we were just running through the little bit where she comes out, like, all right, you're gonna do this, you're gonna wear this. Uh, this little I had I had a little stuffed Chewbacca about the size of a baby, and I wrapped it up in my bed sheets, my black bedsheets. So it's like this looks like a baby bundle, it's fine. So you're gonna wear this, I'm gonna steal it, I'm gonna smack you, you're gonna fall down. Uh, we gotta time it right to this part of the song, blah, blah, blah. So we worked it out, and and that was it. It was pretty much everything for that song was prepared that day. I had the ideas for like a couple days when I was considering which song to do. And when I finally decided, like, alright, I gotta get everything ready. It was a lot of just costume stuff. And then I wanted to do that big reveal. So I told the judges, I told my sister, all right, tell the judges that I'm gonna walk in from the side while the song is playing, because it's like, you know, like just Gregorian chanting right before the actual orchestra kicks in, and it's like 30 seconds. So it's gonna be cool. I'm gonna walk with like a big old cloak over me so you can't see. I'm gonna walk on the stage, and then right when the bang comes out, I'm gonna like throw it off, and it's gonna be me in like this crazy sparkly outfit, and then I'll do the play. And then there's a little puppet, and I had a puppet to do the puppetry bit. I had to do a costume change on the stage. It was it was wild, but it came out pretty alright, I think.

SPEAKER_04 41:32

So, um, how long was the performance?

SPEAKER_02 41:35

That one was about six minutes. It's a bit long there's like there's the intro section and then the flashback section, and then the finale section. So it's like three different parts typical Broadway.

SPEAKER_04 41:52

So was there like um I mean they're still a top three that that week, right?

SPEAKER_02 42:01

Uh no. I think for that one, they just uh Well, it's because only five moved on.

SPEAKER_04 42:07

So that's literally where half people got eliminated. How did they do that that um uh elimination?

SPEAKER_02 42:12

Uh well they just it was like one and one. So there was a ten of us, and then they would have one person go, uh it's like, all right, you and then it was like a great job tonight, and and and they would like do a little pause like they do in all the game shows, and we're like, But I'm sorry we won't see you, or whatever. And it's like okay, whatever. And then like the other one's like, and we're looking forward to seeing you, something like that. And it was like basically alternating. So I was like, this person, no, this person, yes, this person, no, this person, yes. So but by like by the time we got to like the sixth or seventh, I was like, okay, they're doing a switcheroo, but you know, I was like, but they're probably doing that to fake us out. Because at the end, I think they did like two people that got eliminated, and then one person that stayed. And I was like the third one to the end. So by the by the time they got to me, there was only two people left and maybe one spot left. And I think the ones I remember I was me and Alice and somebody else. I forget who was left on the stage for the last for the last bit. And and I got to stay. I was the last one, I think, that they called to stay. Or the second to last, I forgot. So they they kept me on my toes. But afterwards, I was like, you know, they said, Andre, you're gonna stay? And I was like, Oh, thank god. I can do because at that at that point as well, I'd already started working on the big box for the Phantom Knight. So like I I've already dumped a lot of hours and a lot of money to build this thing.

SPEAKER_04 43:48

And then you don't get it. Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_02 43:50

I mean, like, I would have found a way to use it somehow, but it uh but we got it, we got it in the end.

SPEAKER_04 43:56

Do a a puppet show for your students.

SPEAKER_01 44:00

I guess so.

SPEAKER_04 44:02

Uh and then uh so the the semifinals um what what was it like as soon as I finished? Um everybody was everybody.

SPEAKER_02 44:14

It was pretty good. I think everybody took it really well. I think like the only it was like I I remember Alice was a bit beat up about it. She was like she was upset. I was like, oh man, poor thing, you know, go over there and say, hey, I'm sorry, you know, you did great and everything. But then after a while, I I was talking to Alex, because he was in the final five as well. And I was just talking to him at the bar, and he was like, he looked a bit down, and I'm like, What's what's up, man? He's like, look, it's like I can't make it to the finale, and I'm like, no, don't you, don't, what are you talking about? And he's like, I can't, man. My my wife is getting surgery that day, and I have to be there. I'm like, oh god, that sucks. I was looking forward to having Alex there. But you know, it's like it's like, I mean, you know, it's his wife family, of course, of course. So then I was like, well, how about that? What are we gonna do now? And then like five minutes later, I was over there in the back, like me and uh Eli, maybe Jake and Zeke or whatever. We're there with Alice, and then Jonas telling her, listen, uh, Alice can't make it. So you were like the you were the runner up, so you're gonna get to be in the finale. And she's like, Oh my god, and she she got really emotional and really happy, and I was like, Well, I guess everything worked out somehow.

SPEAKER_04 45:29

Yeah, yeah, I did hear about that. Um yeah, I haven't had Ali Alice or Alex on the show yet, but um Alex Alex said he'll do it. I just we just haven't gotten it.

SPEAKER_02 45:43

Oh, he's that boy's busy as heck. Yeah, this is that's his job, just performing with his bands.

SPEAKER_04 45:51

So yeah, he's got his his kids all that too.

SPEAKER_03 45:55

Kids take a lot of time. I can only imagine. You have like 30.

SPEAKER_02 46:02

Yeah, they're all teenagers and they all oh my god.

SPEAKER_04 46:06

They're have you ever been called dead?

SPEAKER_02 46:08

Um by a student? No. No way. They're in high school. That would be really weird. Yeah, that'd be like I I look more like I look more like they do than I look like their parents. Uh I'm only 28. When I started working in high school, I was 25. I got mistaken for a student a few times because a lot of them look like we look the same age as me, or I look the same age as them. It's the beard that kind of keeps me from being identity mistaken all the time. There is a there's one funny story for uh my first year on Halloween. I was in a costume and I let my normally have my hair in a ponytail, but I had to let my hair down that night, that day, and it was during lunch, and I was leaving my room and I was like, I was locking up my door, and I heard one of the security guards, this this older lady, she's really nice, and she just the hallway's empty, so it's just me. So I knew she was talking to me, and she's like, Mika, tiens getting a lunch, and I'm like because she sees there's my hair and it's big long uh cape, and I turn around and like it's me, miss. And she's like, ah, it's her. That was really funny. Uh but um yeah.

SPEAKER_04 47:24

You felt pretty.

SPEAKER_02 47:25

Nah, it was it was like uh I was dressed up like like the Kiss guys with like the black and white rock face paint. It wasn't I wasn't I wasn't going for pretty, I was going for brutal and metal.

SPEAKER_04 47:38

Uh I went to see KISS. Oh yeah. When they came to the Netherlands last year.

SPEAKER_02 47:42

My my friend went to go see that too. I'm not a super huge KISS guy, like I wasn't dressed up like exactly like them, but a different band that's kind of the same idea. They're called Karakangren, and nobody knows who they are. They're from the Netherlands.

SPEAKER_04 47:56

But then you make it to the final.

SPEAKER_02 47:57

Yep, we made it to the final. So that week, oh my goodness, I was busy as heck. Because um, I may have gotten a little over my head thinking I could build the box by myself. So uh and like and I was already gonna ask my dad for health because like my dad's an architect and he's really into you know like he likes building stuff. Like growing up, we would work on houses, build cabinets and stuff. So I've I know my way around a the toolbox. So I figured you know, it'll be cool, something for us to do together, because I don't live with my folks, I don't see them super often. So it'll be neat. And yeah, I had him help me out, and we worked on it two or three afternoons that week. So basically, as soon as I'm done with work, I go home and we do start working. Cutting the wood, painting it, and the oh my god, the the film on the on the the the the quote unquote wind mirror screen, it's like a it's just like a reflective tape you put on windows to keep out the sun. And it has this thing where like if you know it reflects light from the brighter side. So if it's dark on the inside, you can't see in there. But if you turn a light on inside, you can see through it, and I'm like, oh that's perfect, because the phantom has that little mirror reveal at the beginning of the play. So that's what I tried to do. At the end of the day, during the actual show, the light that I used was a little too weak, and it was also too ripply because we couldn't get it super tight and smooth because it was just loose. Like the paper was just loose on the frame, so the wind would make it wave about, and you couldn't see through the mirror that well, unless you were like right in front, which was kind of lame because that was kind of the point of the whole thing, but it was still cool, and we worked on it like Tuesday and then Thursday and then Friday and then Saturday morning until we finally finished it like Saturday night, and then Sunday. I went over there, I had my little costume, just doing a quick little run through, and transporting it was a nightmare because it was a big it was windy and drizzly and cold that day. So we're like, how the heck are we gonna get? This is a big thing. This is like seven feet tall, four feet wide. It's a it's a chunky box. So we put it in the flatbed, we tied it down with some straps, we covered the top of it with like uh an extra, another bed sheet. My bed sheets got so much use at that competition for so many things. Um, but um How'd you fit it through the door? Uh at the at the bar?

unknown 50:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:35

Oh my that was a that was an ordeal as well. We got there. It's a double door, so I figured, okay, we'll just we'll just open the second door. And we got there and we asked, hey, can we get the second door open? It's like, yeah, for sure. And it was like rusted shut. They were there for like 10, 15 minutes trying to open the open the thing. They got we got like my dad, we had his truck and we had some tools there, so we got like a hammer and a screwdriver, and we're just trying to like figure out how do we do this. But we we got it eventually. I don't know what they did. I was too busy doing other stuff. And um brought it inside and then the balloons. So I brought it inside, and I was I was just gonna have it like like flush against the back wall, and then I walk in and the wall is covered in balloons for the for the for the finale. And I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. Where am I gonna put it? And then they told me, Oh yeah, we're also gonna have the band set up before the performance. I was like, what are you talking? No, I need the entire stage. This box is really big. And they're like, what are you talking about? We we will we have to do it. I'm like, you guys told me to do something big and go crazy with the production. I need this stage. I started getting all like all diva about it. It's like, I need my space, get these balloons out of here. I mean, like, like not that much, but I was like, I was starting to stress out a little bit, like, oh my god, what do I do? But we figured it out, we put it at an angle, had enough space, it was fine. And then the other thing was that you know it's it's Phantom of the Opera, so I need someone to be Christine and I need someone to be Raul because there's like that drama between them. So my idea was like, well, let's get Alice and Eli. They both like they both have like a dramatic flair to them. So I I told them about it. I just like I told him that I needed them for something, but they didn't know what they were supposed to do. We don't we never got to practice it, and I figured it's really simple what they have to do. So we'll just I'll just explain it to them and hopefully it comes out alright. So we were there and Alice was there, and I told her, Alright, you're gonna be Christine. It's like you've seen the play. He said, Yeah, I've seen it. It's like, all right, cool, then just kind of just be Christine, you know. You're kind of interested in the phantom, but you're really into role, and then I'm gonna get really jealous, and you'll be scared, and you know you know what to do. Then Eli. Oh my god, we were I was stressing out so much because Eli wasn't there, he showed up late, and I'm like, Where is this boy? I need him. And then he finally showed up, and I'm like, oh my god, thank god. You here's what you're like. Have you seen Phantom of the Upper? It's like uh like maybe I don't though. It's like all right, well, well, here's your character. You're really into this girl. Basically, you're gonna be with her, all lovey dovey, unless I'm there. Everything else, just kind of play it natural. He's like, All right, let's do it. Also, I'm gonna strangle you in one part. So um, here's the here's the thing. Let's tie it around your neck like a scarf, and then just wear it until I'm strangling you, and just you know, just hold it down so I don't actually choke you because I'm gonna be singing at the same time. I can't be worried about whether I'm killing you or not. So it was all very, very slapdash, very last minute. And then for the actual performance, um we I couldn't have the box on the stage while everybody was there, well like while the other performers were going. So I had to figure out a way to take it up there, um, but also take it up like right before I go on, but also take it up there and get inside in a way that wouldn't spoil the surprise, I guess. So what I ended up doing was like I had my oh my I had like a whole bunch of family there because they all wanted to come to the show. So what I did was I told my dad and my cousins, all right, you're gonna take the front and the back. I'm gonna get like I'm gonna sneak inside before I go on, and and I'm gonna have my I'm gonna put my costume on in there. I was already wearing like the vest and the shirt and black parents. I just have to put on the cape, the hat, and the mask. And I was also wearing some like scar makeup under the mask, but you couldn't really see it that night because the lights were red and this makeup was red, so it just it was almost pointless, but whatever. But so I uh I'm gonna s I'm gonna kind of sneak inside while um I forget who oh my god, that's right too. Alice needed me to do something for her performance, just like you know, pretend to be like a like a I don't it was from the play Evita. I've haven't seen it, but she's like, You're gonna go up there and you're gonna put this kind of coat on me, and then it's like pretend like you're touching on my makeup or whatever, and then I'm gonna shoe you off the stage. I'm like, alright, cool, easy. But I was going right after her, so I didn't have much time to prepare as soon as we were done. So I like as soon as she booed me off the stage, I ran to the restroom. I started putting on the scar makeup as quick as I could. And then when I heard that uh I finished as quick as I could, and I go into the box, which is right next to the stage, just kind of like slip inside while nobody was watching, and I had my stuff with me, and I was getting dressed, and I was like, and then finally when I put all the stuff on, I was like, all right, you, my dad in the front, my cousin in the back, outside, and that me from the inside, I'm gonna lift it from the frame, and we're just gonna walk upstage together. So I had to like step onto the stage while I'm in the box, and that was funny, a little bit tricky. And we got there, I had to plug in the light with the extension cord, and uh once I figured everything out, thank God everybody was cool. I was like, Yeah, yeah, take your time, it's all good. I'm like, yeah. And I was already starting to sweat while I was in there from all the the the adrenaline because like I'm gonna go, but I'm also worried about all this stuff that could fall off at any moment. They just passed me the mic through a little bat uh little gap in the back, and then they just start the music, and I was just listening, and alright, cool, I can hear. And then did the whole thing, and that was and that was Phantom. I don't think anything went terribly wrong with it. Oh, there was one thing that was a bit awkward. There's one part where I get really angry at the two of them. I get really jealous, and the like the the the famous little theme plays like for a good like 20 seconds. And I was gonna do like a like a make a make a big show of it and like like rip off the cape and then take the mask off it so you could see the scars underneath, and then do the finale sequence, which was like pretty much half of the song. And but I was like, I can't be holding the microphone while I do that. So I'm as soon as like I finished singing the the line and the music's playing, I tried to put the mic back on the mic stand, and it was the wrong size. So there I am for like like like seven seconds, just standing still, just like like trying to shove it into the the the little clamp, but it was way too small. And I'm like, geez, I'm gonna break it. Screw this, I don't have time. So I just turned around, just took it off with one hand and did everything with one hand. And it was like, well, that was a bit awkward, but whatever. We'll uh we'll keep going. And and it went really well. Alice and Eli, they did they did excellent for the the very little direction that I gave them. Uh he really played it up while he was being strangled, which was excellent. No, it was really good. And then at the end, I had my sister help me out again because at the end of the at the end of the actual play, right? The phantom sings that big last note, the music plays, and it's awesome. And then he goes and sits in a chair, and he covers himself with like this big old cloak. And then like the the mob comes down because they're kind of they're trying to like find the phantom and kill him because he he killed somebody upstairs. And one of the girls, one of the dancers, she goes into the chair, takes the cloak off, and he's gone. And it's just a mask sitting there on the chair, and then like the music uh finishes up, and that's that's the end of the play. So I wanted to do something similar. So what I did in with the box, I I had a little secret compartment in the back, and there was like there was a little curtain right in the middle of it, a black curtain, so you couldn't really tell. And I had a tiny, tiny hook in there. So I told my sister, Alright, once I finish my last note, I'm gonna go back inside of the box. It's gonna be like 30 seconds of music. Right when it starts to kind of quiet down, you're gonna go up on the stage like you're like looking around, all curious. You're gonna open it wide, wide, wide so everybody can see inside, and I'm gonna be gone. I'm gonna be behind the the curtain, and I'm just gonna have the mask hanging there so that everyone can see oh wow, he disappeared in this of the mask. Oh wow, so cool. Whatever. And you're gonna take it out, hold it up to the light while the music ends, and it's gonna be super cool. And she nailed it, it was great. And and that was that. Uh that was Phantom.

SPEAKER_04 59:14

How was it vocally?

SPEAKER_02 59:16

I'm happy with it. Listening back, I've listened back to the recording many, many times, just as and every time I finished, I'm like, yeah, that was cool. There was a few times when I was kind of like, he was like, ah, it's only the just a tiny bit flat right there, which is probably why I got second place. Because like listening to Aldo, he did granada, and at least to my ears, when I was listening to it, it was like it was dead on point. It sounded excellent. And then listening back to mine, I was like, okay, yeah, it was a little bit pitchy in a couple of parts. So and like and some of the judges did tell me, it was like, ah, it was like, it's like just I just by a hair. It was really, really tough. It was really it was between the two of you. And like, and even for me, after I finished up, I was like, people asked me, like, oh, who do you think is gonna win? Who you think is gonna be like he's like, You're gonna win? I was like, I don't know. I mean, he was really good. And then when it was the two of us at the end, they left the the the two for me and him, and we were there on the floor, and they were gonna say who was second and who was first, and we were talking, I was like, Who do you think, man? Who thinks? And I'm like, I don't know, dog, honestly, 50-50. And he's like, Well, like, well, if like I was like, You totally deserve to win. He said, I'm like, no, no, you totally we were just we were just doing that, just broing out at that point. I was just having a good night, so I didn't and I didn't care who won. And then I got second place, and I'm like, Oh yeah, you won.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:42

Hey, let's go.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:44

So it was cool. Like, I wasn't sour about it at all. Everybody, like everybody else that talked to me was they were like, no, Arthur, you got robbed. And I'm like, no, no, I didn't. He he earned it.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:56

Yeah, I mean, I mean, you could have gotten 20 judges and you know, all judge differently. Maybe someone would have picked you, someone would have picked him. So that's just you know what it came down to that night. But it was, yeah, it was a great performance. Thank you. You put a lot into it.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:17

Definitely, and it didn't go to waste the the box, because I was like, I left it there for a week uh after after the show. I was like, I am not putting this back in the truck and driving home. I ain't doing that. Uh, because my folks live down in Mission, I live in Edinburgh, it's like a 30-minute drive. So driving all the way down there and driving all the way back at two in the morning after all that. Absolutely not. So I just like I just I asked um one of the bars bar staff. I was like, hey, can I can I just leave it here? We'll put it in the corner or something. He's like, Yeah, no, it'll be fine. It's like, yeah, we'll we'll come back tomorrow to get it. And my dad was like, I can't go tomorrow, it was too busy. And then, like, all right, we'll go the next day. And the next day he was busy, and then we went again early, but they were closed. And it's like, okay, we we're too busy later, we can't come back. Well, I'll keep it until tomorrow. And then the next day it was raining, so we couldn't go. So I stayed there basically until Friday. Like from Sunday to Friday, it was there, and I and I and I went in and it was like, and it was in good shape. They put it all the way in the back. The film had come off a little bit. I guess some people were messing around with it, but otherwise it was like in perfect condition. I was like, all right, cool. Thank you. Uh, people at Rockwell. And we took it back, and my mom, we had a a birthday party for one of my um my great aunts, my my grandpa's brother, and she was like, do the phantom thing again. I'm like, oh my god, all right, let's do it. So I did it again at my my parents' house. And and that time I wasn't worried so much about like placement, uh acting so much because I I wasn't gonna act it out again with other people. I was just gonna do the song as it was, do a little bit of acting here and there, but not too much. So I was I was a lot more focused on the vocals, and it came out better that time than it did at the competition, which is fine. And I'm thinking, like, I mean, I still have the box, so I'll probably end up like you know, it'd be it'd be cool to do it again, just like as a little performance for some event somewhere. So I'll keep it around, I'll keep it handy.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:23

Yeah, I mean, I think that would be a great show if uh that thing ever happens where everybody performs that scene already.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:31

Yeah, definitely. If we do that, I'm I'm definitely using it for that.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:35

Yeah, nice big stage. So then the finale happened, second place, and then y'all are partying there until Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:47

Uh yeah. I I r what did we do?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:54

I think we yeah, yeah, I remember the Jonas' band, the Dirty Birdies, they were playing there until the end of the night, and we were just there. They a couple people went up and sang. Chris went up and sang. I think Medica even went up and sang a song. And then I went up, they made me do uh Enter Sandman or Metallica.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:15

And I think Jake said he sang a Green Day song or something. He might have.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:20

Yeah, I think it was um might have been Basket Case. But uh it was a really fun time. Oh, and then I did also um Your Love by the Outfield, so like back to back, Metallica and then Outfield, completely different. And at that point, I was already like my my voice was exhausted because I'd also done Sweet Child of Mine with Jonas at the beginning of the night for the duets. Oh, yeah. So like that's a hard song, and then 15 minutes of Phantom, and then Metallica, and then by the time I'm like get to Outfield, I'm like, oh my god, just oh god.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:55

Outfield is high, yeah, yeah. And you know me, I gotta go even higher because I'm a for some reason.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:04

Yeah, just jump the fifth or jump the octave. Sometimes I'll do that. But it was it was fun. I think everybody like at two in the morning, some people were late, let's go to Whataburger, and I'm like, I'm going to sleep, you maniacs.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:18

To Waterburger after all the drinks and pizza and wings, they still oh my god, yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:22

I mean, I I never I never ate while I was there. I just I don't like I don't like singing right after I eat. Yeah, but that's and by the time I finished singing, I'm like, I don't want to eat anymore. Plus, usually I'd already eaten a lot that day earlier on, so I was already stuffed. But uh you know. And thank God it was it was Thanksgiving break, so I didn't have to go to work the next day.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:44

Yeah, so did your co-workers know or students know?

SPEAKER_02 1:05:47

Um a couple of my co-workers did. I invited a few, but I couldn't make it. And my students, I think a few I told a few of them. I don't really talk to them about. Stuff I do outside of school. Not because it's like bad or anything, but it's like it's I don't know. It ain't their business. I mean, sometimes if they're like the more like artsy or musical type, we'll I'll talk about it to them. But most of my students aren't. So if I'm like, oh yeah, check it out. I did uh I did I did some Broadway over this weekend at a singing competition, they they wouldn't care.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:20

I like it. Uh so did at work have they ever asked you to sing or something? Either principal or coworker is that part of your Yes, but I didn't.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:33

The last year, um, for Christmas, we had a little luncheon, and the the principal he knew that I sing, and he's like, Sir, Mr. You gotta you gotta sing a song for us for the luncheon. I'm like, uh alright. Um let's do it. And then um but we ended up not doing it. But by the time it was like it was gonna be time for me to sing, I told him, I was like, we'll we'll wait till the end. And I'm like, alright. And then by the end of the by the end of the luncheon, like most of the people were already gone, so it's like ah, what's the point? So I was like, I'll I'll do it another time, and I never did. But um this past year, like right now, this is the luncheon we just had a week ago or so, they they had the all the departments go up and do like impromptu karaoke. So like everybody's singing at once, and then I called up the English department, my department, and I'm like, oh my god. So we go up there, and uh there's like and like they they know that I sing, my co-workers. They may haven't heard me, most of them, but they know. So like Andre, come on, you gotta you gotta take point on this one. And I'm like, wow, okay, but what what are we gonna do? And then somebody suggested White Christmas, because everyone's doing Christmas songs, and I was like, that's a little bit low for me. I don't I don't know about that. And there was another guy that I know, the uh coworker, isn't it? His name's Kevin. I met him at university when I was going there, and he was like the student director of the of a little contemporary pop choir that we had over there. So I know he sang, and he's got a real deep, like deep baritone bass voice. I was like, Kevin, this is more your speed, this is like in your range. I'll I'll back you up from behind. So he was doing like most of the work for that song, and I was like trying to harmonize or do the octave behind him in the back. So afterwards, everyone was like, Oh, like they would they were going up to him and being like, Oh, Kevin, you sing so good. And I'm like, Finally, they can stop bothering me about it.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:31

They're like, Andre, you don't really sing, do you?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:35

You don't really know it. You were you've been lying to us this whole time. Like, I I would have if they picked like a it was like this, it's like it's like, oh, I'm dreaming. It's like it's really low, and I'm like, I don't want to. I've learned my lesson by singing those little songs.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:51

You just had some some flashbacks to that.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:54

Maybe maybe if they gave me like a shout off to Keeler or something, but we're at school and it's noon. There's no drinks here.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:01

There's no eggnog?

SPEAKER_02 1:09:03

No, not at school.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:06

So the show finished. Um what'd you learn?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:12

Uh what did I learn?

SPEAKER_02 1:09:16

I don't know. I was always terrible at these. But preparation, I suppose. Preparing better. Learn a little more about my my proper range, I say. What to do, what not to do. Small technique fix-ups here and there, like breathing, replacements and all that. Because I don't usually do songs I'm not terribly familiar with, but you know having them give us themes, so we have to work within a certain a certain style and a certain genre. That was good. Good to see them. Stretch st like stretch your skills and see where you can go. Get out of your comfort zone and all that. Um also got a li I would say a little bit better at my uh I guess stage presence. I've been performing on stages for a while, but for the most part, I used to play drums in a in a metal band, so there's not much I can do. I'm sitting on the drum kit. I've only been singing with a band for about a year, so I'm still kind of busy figuring out what to do when I'm on the stage. Like like some people, like like Alex or Eli, they're like they know what they're doing up there. They're really good showmen. And I'm just kind of like, I just kind of rely on my voice most of the time. I don't do very much. So I think I got a little bit better at that with some of the stuff that I did. But it's still just kind of like it also just depends on the song. Like if the song calls for it, then yeah, I'll I'll get a little more animated. But if not, I'll just you know, just kind of stand there and do my best.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:02

So I know we we talked about this um a few days ago, but you studied management.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:09

Yeah. I went to university for business management.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:14

And then you said, nope, I'm gonna be the teacher. Yeah, I'm an English teacher. English teacher.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:20

So that was a very weird, very weird trajectory.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:26

So do you have a plan or an idea of make music a bigger part of your life or the the main part of your life?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:38

More ideas than plans. Because I have some ideas of what I could do, but they're all rather d different. And maybe it's possible to do some of them, like more than one of them, but like since I'm a teacher, it wouldn't be too difficult to like be like like music teaching, because I teach English right now. I could go back and actually pass the music exam this time and maybe teach that. Maybe teach theater too. Like sometimes when I do like some of the more Broadway type pieces, people ask me, like, did you study uh a musical theater? And I'm like, Absolutely not. No, I didn't. It's like, why not? You're so good. I'm like, Well, I don't know. I I got into it when I was like in my early twenties. It's a little too late for that. But you know, maybe maybe do something there. And then the other thing, especially after that phantom thing that I did, people tell me it's like, oh you should try out for Broadway. I'm like, maybe. But that's uh that's that's a long shot. That's rather a long shot. I may I would be interested to try, but I gotta figure out how I could do that realistically. I can't do it here, I have to move somewhere. So then you gotta figure out how am I gonna live while I'm doing that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:59

Let's say if like um something like Three Days Grace like we're looking for a new elite vocalist, open audition is the audition. That would be it, would you do it?

SPEAKER_02 1:13:09

Yeah, that would be another thing, you know, like singing with like a with like a metal band. Because like Broadway's cool and all that, musicals are cool, but my original love, I suppose you could say, was like like metal music, rock music and those kinds of bands. So yeah, no, if I could like if one of my favorite bands suddenly had an opening and be like, hey, we need a singer. I'm like, yeah, I'm there. Singing their stuff is uh how I got into singing in the first place. So why not? No, that's that's a long shot too. That's probably an even longer shot. But I mean I I would definitely be interested. The more realistic way to do something like that would be like start my own band. Yeah, which is I've I've been thinking about it some more. Like the band I have right now, it's we're we're a cover band and it's really fun, but we don't do originals. And it's not the music that I would choose to do, I suppose. So perhaps that. The only thing that's kind of tough about that is the music that I want to do. Nobody here does it. As far as like metal goes, 95% of the metal musicians down here, it's all like death metal, which is cool, but that's not what I want to do.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:28

You gotta move to Austin, Texas.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:30

Yeah. Or at least San Antonio. But Austin, I don't know. I've I've never been much of a big city guy. They're just so crowded. But uh I was like San Antonio or Houston, I think would be neat. Austin Austin would be nice to just travel to.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:55

Yeah. You know, there's so many Texas born legends and music like big name people that you want to think, oh that's Texas. I mean top. Yeah. I got um TV Ravon.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:16

I did not know that one.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:18

Austin, Texas. I used to play on the corners of downtown Austin 6th Street.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:26

Well, look at him now.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:29

So I mean it can be done. I guess right, everybody has their their time or their plans. Yeah. What they feel comfortable doing, but is that what you gotta do, right? You gotta be uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:41

Yeah, that's a thing. And I've that's probably the biggest thing that I took away from this one. I've I've always kind of erred on the side of caution or erred on the side of comfort. I don't really like to get out of there. So I think doing this this competition was uh a good first step and finally doing it. Especially because I'm older than most of the other contestants. Bunch of a bunch of youngsters. I'm I'm 28. I was I was surprised. A little surprised, but also kind of like, no, I guess it kind of makes sense. Most everybody there is like 22, 24, 25. Two or three of them were like 17 and 18. Like they they're getting started early. That's good for them. I didn't start singing until I was 20.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:32

Yeah. But I mean, you know some people are you know, naturally good. Did you have that kind of voice when you started?

SPEAKER_02 1:16:44

Absolutely not. I um I was like I back when I was in college, like t 19, 20, and I was a bit more like I uh what's the word? I don't know. I I guess I was a bit more energetic about learning and doing music. I got myself a little condenser mic, a little interface, and I would just start recording just random stuff that I would do, like little guitar stuff or doing covers of songs, and I still have a lot of those early covers that I did like six, seven years ago. And oh my god, it's rough. I don't like listening to them anymore. But you know, I just it's good to keep them around, I guess, just to remind myself you know, how progress works.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:33

Yeah, I remember the first videos I have of me singing. Yeah, they're not good.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:38

It's always rough.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:39

And there's a little funny story. It's back in high school. I had uh I was I was dating this one girl, and she wasn't super into the music I listened to, but uh one day uh we were driving around and I was showing her some Iron Maiden and I was like, this song's awesome, and I was trying to sing along to it, and she's like, Andre, please you can't sing that high. And I took that personally Where is she now?

SPEAKER_04 1:18:02

You still have her on Facebook?

SPEAKER_02 1:18:03

Oh absolutely no, we she hates my guts. We didn't last after high school. Oh man. Send her a clip it was uh it was kind of funny because during college, I was in St. Mary's for two years right after high school, and then I came back down here mostly because it was way too expensive up there. But for my last semester in 2017, or 2018, 2016. 2016, one of my last semesters there. Uh she was in one of my classes in my in my night class, where it was like three hours long. And like I haven't I haven't spoken to her since like 2012. It's been like six years or something. And it was it was weird. We didn't say a word to each other the entire semester. We didn't even look at each other. It was like she doesn't want to talk to me. We didn't we didn't split on the friendliest of terms.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:02

Uh you studied the same thing, or was it just uh core class?

SPEAKER_02 1:19:06

Oh, I do. It was a core class, it was like like a psychology or philosophy type thing that I had to do for core for core. I think she wanted to do like anthropology or something. At least when we when we split in high school. I don't know what she's doing these days.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:26

You're you're too busy performing on Broadway to think about her.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:31

I mean, you know, that'd be cool one day. We'll see.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:36

Uh so. You wanna sing a song?

SPEAKER_03 1:19:40

Alright, I suppose. We can we can try it. I should be warm enough at this point. Yeah, all you gotta do is not mess up.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:49

Yeah, just gotta not do that. Do you want to do the whole thing or just a little bit?

SPEAKER_04 1:19:54

I can do the whole thing. Or do you want to do just one or two?

SPEAKER_02 1:19:57

Uh we'll just do the one. We'll do anthem. I never get to sing the songs of the bands that I really, really like because nobody knows them. So for Kara, like whenever we go, Karaoke's like, alright, do the stuff everyone knows. Do some Guns N Roses, do some Aerosmith. And it's that's cool, it's good stuff, but I was like, ha, if only people liked like Camelot or Stradivarius or Blind Guardian.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:20

Or some other European bands that they're doing.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:23

Yeah, those are European bands that nobody knows. But they got some really good vocalists. This guy, the guy who sings in this song, uh his name's Roy Kahn, Norwegian guy. But he's got one of my favorite voices. A lot of the my earlier stuff was again imitating his style and eventually just you know growing out of it, finding my own voice. But he was one of my and he remains one of my big influences.

unknown 1:20:53

I hope I remember the words.

SPEAKER_06 1:25:42

Oh no.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:43

I did it a Jake back three times. Wasn't that bad, was it?

SPEAKER_01 1:25:50

That's neat. Who are all these people want to come from?

SPEAKER_04 1:25:54

Oh, that was great. That was Andre Nella Tehera.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:59

Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_04 1:26:01

Anthem. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:04

It's a gorgeous song. And so this is a band from they well, the band's from Florida, but the singer, this guy's from Norway. So they're mostly American, but they've been around since like the mid-90s. This was 2006 this song came out. And I didn't get into them until like 2012, 2013, and by that time this singer had already left, which was a crying shame. I've seen them live like four times with the new guy, and he's great, but I still haven't seen my boy, my boy Roy. I haven't seen him like it because he lives in Norway now with his smaller, less popular band.

SPEAKER_04 1:26:44

Yeah. Living in Norway must be nice.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:48

I yeah. I've been to Finland. I imagine it's very similar, and it's gorgeous, it's gorgeous over there.

SPEAKER_04 1:26:56

You done a lot of traveling?

SPEAKER_02 1:26:58

A good bit. My mom, especially. My mom did a lot of traveling back in the day, so she took us everywhere. A lot of Mexico, obviously, for family, but been to like the the pyramids, I forget what they're called. Went to Cancun and Tulum, Puerto Vallarta a few times, and then been to Canada and a good few places in Europe. We were in England just this summer. And it was nice. It was weird too. We were up north in like uh Manchester and Liverpool, and it was really cold. And then we'd go south to London for like three days, and it was really hot. And it was and it was annoying. It was it was a bit like Texas.

SPEAKER_04 1:27:49

Um but did you understand the people pretty well?

SPEAKER_02 1:27:52

Oh yeah, damn everyone speaks English and I mean the accents weren't that heavy. Like people don't speak like they saw the top. It's it's it's like you know, people speak normally enough and you could understand them.

SPEAKER_04 1:28:04

Even the people from Liverpool?

SPEAKER_02 1:28:07

A little bit more difficult to understand, but uh yeah. Yeah, they they do like the the regional accents are very distinct over there. I l I I I watch a lot of like movies and TV with like British actors, so I I I get the I know I I understand all the accents, but the southern accent, like the London accent, it's definitely a lot more easy to understand for Americans than like the northern ones.

SPEAKER_04 1:28:33

I wonder if the teenagers in like England have slang also like how they're slang here. I'm sure they do. Much you would not understand what they say. Because I don't understand my my nieces and nephews sometimes. I mean, you work at a high school.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:51

Oh yeah. I mean, I understand them. I I speak Spanish, I speak English, and I understand what they're saying. It's some of the foulest stuff you've ever heard, but I understand it.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:02

Well, you wouldn't trade it for the world.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:04

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:06

It's for the kids.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:07

It's for the it's for the kids.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:09

It's for the kids. That's what we're here for.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:11

Yeah. And they're like, they're not they're not so bad. They're just they're they're they're good kids for the most part. They're just not the best students sometimes. That's that's the distinction.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:21

Were you a good student?

SPEAKER_02 1:29:23

I was a yes or no. Like I I was good in that like I behaved and I you know followed the rules and I was respectful and all that, but I didn't do my work sometimes. I was a good lazy student. There we go.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:36

No disruptions.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:37

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:40

Uh when did music start being a thing in your life though?

SPEAKER_02 1:29:44

Um probably when I was in high school. Because before that, I didn't like I've heard music before, but I didn't really care for it.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:53

So not like middle school choir theater or anything. Oh no, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:57

I uh I my my mom put me in piano classes when I was like eight, and I was super not about it. I think my my cousin, my uncle and my cousin that live down in Mexico, like he's uh he was a director of a university choir for a while. And his son grew up learning a bunch of different instruments, and his daughter grew up uh a singer. She's like a prof they're both professional musicians now. She's gotten she's acted in La Rosa de Guadalupe.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:28

Oh really?

SPEAKER_02 1:30:29

Yeah. In like one episode, but still that's pretty cool. And she's gotten a couple, like she's got a couple music videos out right now. He's got his little jazz pop Latin band down there, so they're doing well. And they try to he tried to teach me guitar when I was younger, when I was like 10 or 12, and I was like, this is stupid. I don't want to learn guitar. But in high school, I started playing the drums, and I would just play a lot of like a lot of rock stuff, disturbed and Avenge Sevenfold and all that. And I also got really into Dragon Force. That was probably like the first band that I got super duper into. I was like obsessed with them because it was so cool, and I never heard anything like it. These animals are so fast and so crazy and high. And um, and yeah, it was that was that. Listen to a lot of metal, it was it was a good mix between like the new, like like just general heavy metals, Iron Maiden and Metallica and all that stuff, too. Some of the newer stuff, and that's also when I started getting into some of the more obscure European stuff, which in my opinion is a lot better. And then in when I got to college, I started listening to more power metal, which is the like death metal is really, really fast and aggressive, and it's got those vocals, and power metal's got the more clean and high vocals, which is kind of what I do now. So listening to them is what got me into singing for real real. Because before it was just playing drums, and I started picking up guitar and piano a little bit too around the same time.

SPEAKER_04 1:32:02

So, did you ever watch uh so I remember there's a video years ago um 2018 or something? It was it was this guy who was like uh a metal like vocalist, like a metal band and stuff. Like those screams, right? And um it was like how to scream like a metal vocalist or how to sing like a metal vocalist or something. And then um all the comments were like this is stupid, this is just a a workout video or eating right video, like it's nothing about actual voice technique. Because what he says is you have to eat properly and you have to, you know, be somewhat in shape and stuff to make sure your your voice doesn't get damaged over time, yeah. As properly as you can.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:49

Yeah, I mean, there is some technique to it, because what like when I was in high school and I listened to a lot of like death metal, like yeah, there's like some a monument. I didn't listen to a lot of like the I guess what you call screamo bands, like asking Alexandria, bring me the horizon. That was like a bunch of my friends did that. I listened to other stuff like like Northern and Siferum and Winter Sun, some Demoborg gear, Amona Marth. And it's like it's the screams are a little bit different. Uh, and there is some technique to it, but like no matter what, it's kind of hard on your throat. And I I would do a lot of that that kind of singing, screaming while I was driving around in my car. And I got good enough at it that it wasn't like you know, I wasn't hurting myself. You know, you figure out how to do it, where to place it, and all that, where to place the the rumble to get that sound where it doesn't hurt so much, but it definitely like it's it's not great for your voice, so those people they have to take good care of it, like drink lots of tea and drink lots of honey, always hydrate and all that. So it it it's important to do all that stuff, but I mean there is some skill to it.

SPEAKER_04 1:34:01

Oh yeah, there is. Um Mariachi, there's uh I don't know if you ever hear like uh sometimes artists, vocalists will there's more in ranchera, a little bit slower stuff, but there's like this this kind of like um roughness, this kind of grunt that goes right before you sing uh a melody or something, you you kind of like something. Yeah, or like when you're singing something very emotional and it and it's almost like it's coming out like a little bit of scream, but yeah, still controlled melody. Yeah, it's really bad for your voice too.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:40

Yeah, and some of like the this one guy in particular, like um singer of Blind Guardian, Hanzi, Hanzi Kirsch, he's a fantastic vocalist, and he he must take really good care of his voice because he's been doing this stuff since like the late 80s, and he still sounds dynamite, and like his style, it's it's very high, and it's like a clean voice, it's not screaming, but he puts a lot of rasp into it. So instead of like uh it'll be like that, and like, and he does it all the time, and it's that got really that that was one of the tougher things that I figured out how to do without sounding bad or without hurting myself, but you know, like everything else with practice comes with practice.

SPEAKER_04 1:35:30

Do you remember your very first performance in front of people?

SPEAKER_02 1:35:36

Singing? Yeah, yes, I wanna say yes. I think I was in college, yeah. It must have been college because in high school absolutely not, I would not perform in front of anybody, except for drums, maybe, but I was in college and it was my freshman year, and they were doing like a little karaoke thing in our dorms, and at that point I'd I'd have been I've been kind of starting to sing, but I wasn't that good at it. But um, they were doing karaoke, and I was like, oh, I kind of want to do some Disney because I'm I was I'm still am like I'm big into like the classic Disney, the like the music is really, really good. New Disney is sucks and it's terrible and I hate it. But old like old Disney, like everything up to Frozen was very, very solid. And Moana's good too. I think it's all right. Ray and The Last Dragon was the biggest piece of crap I've ever seen. But um, but but yeah, that's why I decided, oh, I'm gonna do I want to do a song. So I did um what did I do? I did Aladdin, uh Whole New World. Oh, I did that, and there was some girl there so like, oh, let's do it together. I'm like, oh yeah, let's do it. And then I I was used to one, I think I was used to doing the movie version, and then the track they pulled up was the Broadway version, which was a little different, it's a different key. So uh I what I I was so used to doing the one, it was in like a lower key, and then when they said the music starts playing, and I started singing, like, oh my god, this is the wrong key. What am I doing? Oh no, and then someone told me it's higher, it's higher. Like, oh okay, and then I just kind of fixed it and we caught on and we finished it up, and it went well. So it wasn't that bad. And it was like a it wasn't like on a big stage, or it was like in the middle of a crowd in a little square, so it was I wasn't too nervous about it. The first time I performed on a stage, I was probably for my recital. So while I was there, I was doing a music minor, so I was hanging around the music department a lot, and I met a bunch of the music people there, and they had a little music fraternity, uh, Mufi Epsilon, and I'm like, yeah, I'll join. Why not? And part of the uh initiation was that you had to perform something with music. Most most everybody did a song, so I did uh this one song, uh, this one song by a Finnish band, Insiferum. So it's it's kind of similar to the one I just did, Anthem, but not not as crazy with the range. And uh and it went well. People people told me that I sounded like uh like Josh Brolin or something. I'm like, oh my god, really? Thank you so much. I'd only been singing for like two years at that point. So that was cool. After that, I was like, maybe I'm not so bad after all. And I started getting him singing a lot more, mostly to myself, just in the car. That's that's where the first half of my singing uh really started.

SPEAKER_04 1:38:38

In the car, then as soon as you get to the parking lot park, uh singing doesn't exist.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:42

Yep, yep, no, we're we're done with that. I also I got to do a lot of practicing that way because for a couple years I was for like three years I worked at dominoes. So it was it was pretty chill because you know you go on a delivery for like 30 minutes and I'm just like just singing along in the car. So that worked out.

SPEAKER_04 1:39:03

And did you ever take voice lessons at the university? Like were you in a vocal studio or work with any professors?

SPEAKER_02 1:39:10

No, at least not really at St. Mary's when I was there for my first freshman sophomore year. No, that was mostly just drumming because I was a I was a drummer, that's what I was trying to do. And then I came back here and I took a couple of music classes. Um, it was like a music history class, I took a piano class, and it was okay. And I did one singing class, but it wasn't like a private with a tutor. It was like it was it was a classroom with like 15, 18 students, and we would just like it was it was rather, I guess, basic stuff. Like it's a singing class for people who want to, you know, begin to sing. And at that point, I was already not bad. I wasn't great, but I was not bad. So I was one of the better students, I guess. But then after that, about a year or two later, I started taking lessons with uh the teacher I'm with right now, Maria Avalos. She used she used to be a faculty member at UTRGV back when I was UTPA, I think. Right now she works uh PSJA um in a middle school as a choir director.

SPEAKER_04 1:40:25

Oh so she just does kind of her her lessons on the side type of thing.

SPEAKER_06 1:40:30

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:32

She's good, yeah. She she's the one that told me about the New York competition.

SPEAKER_04 1:40:37

And you're still working with her now?

SPEAKER_02 1:40:38

Yeah. I mean, yeah, I still take lessons every every week, except for right now, we're both on vacation, and then during the summer we take a break. But it's good. We know there's always something you can work on. Oh yeah. She tries to get me to learn. Now that now that I'm pretty getting like Broadway, I kind of I've got the Broadway style down. So we're doing a lot more classical stuff, artsy stuff. So and then some stuff I've never done before, like like gospel music. Never touched it ever. But but they got some good music there, so it's a completely different feeling to what I normally do, but it's it's fun. I'm learning some like you know foreign language pieces too, like like some French songs, some German songs. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:41:26

Should try some Maniachi music. That's another one that I've never tried before. Yeah, a whole different genre.

SPEAKER_03 1:41:33

No, they were supposed to do a ranchetto night. They were supposed to. Did not happen. That's a shame. That would have been cool.

SPEAKER_04 1:41:40

What happened with that? I guess they realize they're like maybe they can't. We don't have anybody left that sings ranchetos. Yeah. Maybe it won't sound like it.

SPEAKER_02 1:41:48

I can't imagine like some people like like like Chris or Eli. I can't imagine them doing like ranchetto pieces. I I could give it a shot. Like I've sung I've sung some Vicente Fernandez before. Not that much, but I've sung a few, so maybe I could do it.

SPEAKER_04 1:42:05

Yeah, that would have been that would have been funny. I think it would have been a good show. Eli singing uh Volver or something.

SPEAKER_02 1:42:15

Hey, if anything, he would put on a good show. He's that's the one thing he never fails on, he's always very entertaining to watch.

SPEAKER_04 1:42:23

Yeah, he is. And just talking to him is so much energy.

SPEAKER_02 1:42:28

Oh yeah. I'm like, I he's cool. Like I'm I'm jealous because I was like, I I want to have that kind of like because it was really cool when we did the um we did the little the sponsorship Christmas show at this little event that they had at the RGV clinic in Edinburgh, and everyone did a couple of Christmas songs, and Eli comes up and he starts doing jingle bell rock and he starts like dancing around, talking with the crowd, and then a bunch of like a bunch of kids, little little girls, like seven, eight-year-olds, they just go up behind him and start dancing, singing along to the song, and he was like, Yeah, my little elves, and he starts dancing with them, and it was it was really, really cool. I was like, Man, I I can't do that. How does he do it?

SPEAKER_04 1:43:10

Yeah, I mean answers can learn, but there's just something when you're you're born with uh yeah, no, he's definitely present.

SPEAKER_02 1:43:19

He just he's got that personality, yeah. And if you don't have it, you could learn it, but it's gonna take it's gonna take some work. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:43:28

So have you decided on what what what's next? What's next with uh music with career? What are you gonna do?

SPEAKER_02 1:43:37

Well the first thing I want to do is I finally want to start like getting into production. So I've got some ideas for like original songs that I haven't really fleshed out because I I have no gift for recording and engineering. And there's also just like just for fun, uh there's like I've wanted to do covers for a long time and just like just posting them. Maybe they'll maybe do like a little cover channel on YouTube or something. There's there's some really good people out there, and it's like I can I can do that. So I want to learn that. I don't know why it's taken me so long. It's probably because I'm just and I I see the interfaces on some of these programs like like FL or um I don't I don't even know what to use anymore. But I get intimidated and oh there's so much stuff here. I can't learn all this. I'm not even gonna try. And then six months pass, and I'm like, maybe I should try.

SPEAKER_03 1:44:27

And I look at it again, I'm like, nope, nope, nope. You would learn it in six months.

SPEAKER_02 1:44:31

Yeah, I know, right? It's uh tragic. But I I I I do want to start now. And now that I know a few people that know about this kind of thing, maybe uh maybe this time I'll finally do it.

SPEAKER_04 1:44:47

Yeah, I mean it's fun. I've recorded a couple songs, um, written some originals, I think six originals. I recorded two of them. Nice. Um didn't really release them anywhere, but just yeah, I mean it and it's good. It's uh you know, writing your own thing. Uh you get to really see what what um what you got inside of you and then just kind of lay it out.

SPEAKER_02 1:45:12

Yeah, and if nothing else comes of it, it's still something cool and fun that you can do.

SPEAKER_04 1:45:18

Yeah, like I'm a songwriter.

SPEAKER_02 1:45:20

You just walk around wear that on your sleeve.

SPEAKER_03 1:45:25

What's the song? It's like, yeah, I write music. Oh, anything I've listened to? No, probably not. Unless you broke into my phone.

SPEAKER_02 1:45:33

Yeah, but it but even so. That that that's the next thing I want to do. As far as professionally, I probably do. I I think I'll just I'll probably bite the bullet and uh I don't know, put some auditions out there. I'm I'm not I'm not gonna go to New York to try for Broadway. Jesus, Jesus Christ, no. That's uh I'm that's a that's a really big pond, and I'm and I'm a tiny little fish. Oh about like San Antonio or like like I say, San Antonio, Houston, Austin, Dallas or something, somewhere in Texas. Probably move out there and figure out what I'll do to eat and just start putting some feelers out, do some do some auditioning. That would be cool.

SPEAKER_04 1:46:21

That was really great um episode, but also just uh the show. Um you know, from I guess I can say this now, right? From the very beginning, around week two or three or something. I think uh I don't know who I was talking to. What's his name? Juan. Yeah, yeah. And we're just kind of discussing like who we thought the top five were gonna be. Like from the beginning. And then um pretty much the consensus was everybody had at least for the majority of the top three um that we could agree on. That was Shanti. She didn't even make top ten.

SPEAKER_02 1:47:06

I but that was she could have, she would have. That was a fluke, and I felt yeah, that was that was hard, that was hard to watch, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:47:14

Everybody had Shanti up there, but you know, it just didn't happen. Aldo, and then you I mean, I like that's top three.

SPEAKER_02 1:47:25

I did hear a few from even even Alex, because I've known As for a while, and when we we saw each other there at the audition day, and he's like, Are you auditioning? I'm like, Yeah, it's like oh nah, screw this, I'm not even gonna try. You you already won. And I'm like, nah, come on, man. We don't know that. Um, but like I I was confident in going in. It's like, I know I can sing pretty alright. But then I heard some of the auditions, and I'm like, okay, there's people good. And then after some time, for me, my tops were like Shanti was at the top as well. She was like, I was like, the people that are gonna make me sweat at the end. For me, it was Shanti and Chris. Those two I would say were like like everybody was good, but like those two were like on another level.

SPEAKER_04 1:48:11

Yeah. Chris, Chris is really good. Yeah, I had Chris in the top five as well. My top five was Aldo Shanti, you Chris. And the one that I would fight people with is Eli.

SPEAKER_02 1:48:25

Eli. Eli.

SPEAKER_04 1:48:27

So the voice, right? Everybody's like the voice, but he's got the scotter.

SPEAKER_02 1:48:34

Yeah, yeah. Like when I when I when we're getting to the end, when it was semifinals, and there was 10 of us left, and I was like, all right, who who do I gotta beat? Who's my competition? Because I want to make it to the finale so I can do my friggin' phantom thing. I was like, Chris Michael, uh Chris and Chris and Aldo were like the top ones. I was like, Michael, probably he's really good. Um Alice and like it's like Eli. Eli's a wild card. Because like he's like, I don't know, he likes this sometimes he just surprises you. Yeah, it's like it's gonna be like it's gonna be good, and then like whoa, he puts on like this crazy, crazy show, and it's like, oh my god. So and he was the first one, I think he he was the first one to get first place on the first night.

SPEAKER_04 1:49:32

Yeah, that's right, yeah. And that that's a really set the tone. But yeah, no, I mean I had you going to the finals in the beginning. I was like, this you got you got the voice for it. So the top two could have gone either way. Um it went that way that night. But I think you still got a lot left in you. Oh, yeah. A lot more shows, competitions.

SPEAKER_02 1:50:00

Oh yeah. If I stopped now, well that'd just be sad because I just got started.

SPEAKER_04 1:50:05

Yeah. But yeah, it was uh it was a good show, good uh good competition. You did you did an amazing job.

SPEAKER_02 1:50:15

Yeah. Everybody did great. And I had a really good time every night. Like the only time that I was sad was the time that I almost lost, and I was really beating myself up about it. Everything else, great night, and everybody and everybody was super cool. Like all the other contestants was like uh like like Jonas would keep telling us, like, I think we got lucky with our first batch because you guys are something else. You guys are really like you're great singers and talented and everything, but you're also like really cool and nice people to be around. And I agree. Everybody's real cool. I'm glad we all became good friends. Yeah, that was uh the I guess the I don't know, you call it an anomaly or something, but whenever somebody would perform, the other consensus would just kind of gather around and cheer on and just hype them up because I mean like and like I I I can't speak for anybody else, but like whenever I would do it, and I would do it plenty, I was like I I wasn't like putting it on to be like, oh, this is a I'm being all strategic and Machiavellian to make myself look good in front of the judges. No, it was like I just it was genuinely having a great time.

SPEAKER_04 1:51:19

Yeah. Yeah, that was a good time. Let's see if there's a season two or what else um in store for any more performances. We shall see. But this was uh Lost Maniachi Saga's RGB got talent uh edition. Had our second place winner, Andre de la Tejeda.

SPEAKER_02 1:51:44

Thank you. Thank you for having me. It was a cool, uh good conversation.

SPEAKER_04 1:51:49

Yeah, and we'll have more later. Indeed. And I will see you all later. Play this.