Technical issues and Marvin Hamlisch interview

Dude, I don't know. Every day there's something new. Yeah, it's like a little consistency is all that the world is really looking for, right? Dude, this is an entire week where we are just trying to be able to put on the best show we can. And we've been successful for the weeks prior to this. And we continue to try and ask for some assistance on this. And we're not seeming to get it. So I'm a little frustrated about this again today. But, hey, thank you folks for tuning in to Grand Theft Audio Radio. Let's see if we're even on. Okay, something's wrong because we're not even on the air. Okay. We're playing an old episode. Let's go. Hey. Good. Yeah. We're not even broadcasting on the air. We're not even on the air. We're not even on the air. We're not even on the air. We're not even on the air. We're not even on the air. We're not even on the air. We're not even on the air. We're not even on the air. Okay. I'm talking over the mic. Do you see anything coming up on the board to your left? The lights are... Is it processing my... Okay. So... But we're not on the air. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. This is a different episode of GTA coming up now. Nice pass. Quit unexpected. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I look forward to getting you guys in here through again. Hey, you too. Bye. Okay. I don't know who is running this place now. but this is just bullshit. This is recording. I finally had to convince him yesterday that a dude... Hey, hey, hey, hey. So it's going through to there, but it's not coming out. So how do I switch where the input is? Come on. This sucks. Okay, um... I'm gonna go back. He's already figured out that that's something that they enjoy in their life. Well, I've always gone by how old a person I should be. The way I came up with this was, uh, you take your age at 18, cut that in half, and then you add nine years. So at 18, I shouldn't be dating anyone under the age of 18. It's just probably good common practice that you don't get yourself into any trouble for underage sex. But as you grow older, I got a superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Man. Hello? Hello? Hello. This is Nicholas. Hello, Nicholas. How you doing, man? This is Jake from Grand Theft Audio, Skid Row Studios. How are you this morning? Hey, I'm doing good. I'm doing good. I just got your message right now. Sorry, I was asleep still. All right, so what's the problem? Like, usually the show just starts at 9 o'clock. It's out, and whatever's playing stops, and then it starts picking up the signal from inside the control room. And this morning it did not do that. Did the computer in the control room lock up? No. It seems to be running. I guess there's a program, maybe it's called NiceCast, and it is up, and it says that NiceCast quit unexpectedly. Click reopen to open the application again. And I've tried to do that, but that doesn't seem to be doing anything. Oh, really? Okay. Have you opened up Radiologic DJ? I will see. I believe that's open. Radiologic DJ, yes. It says preference set default. Okay, was there... So you're supposed to have a show that's supposed to be going right now? Yeah, we do a daily show from 9 to 11. We've been doing it for a couple months. Oh, okay. You turn... All right, so did you have... All right, so there's nothing playing right now? Nothing at all, not even a pre-recorded broadcast? Yes, there is a pre-recorded broadcast going out. Okay, and you can hear it? You can't hear it? Did you turn up the button marked CR on the soundboard? The control room, the volume? Yeah, we can hear it. Okay, is your show supposed to start at 9? Okay, look at the recorder. Okay. And look at the recorder in the rack now. The solid state recorder, silver one. The thing that records every show, is it running? Yes, it is. Okay, so the hour is running right now? Yes, is it 27? 17, 20, 18, 20, 19, yeah. Oh, wow, okay, so that's working, and there's a pre-recorded show playing, but the pre-recorded show never... It never stopped. Yes. Okay, click the button that says, um, the button that says Auto. Yeah. Click, it says Auto on right now, yes? Yes. Okay, click it. Okay. So that it says Auto off, and tell me if the rebroadcast stops playing. Okay, um, hold on. Yeah, it's not gonna be on there. Yeah, it's not gonna be on there. Hold on two seconds. Um. Hey Brent, do you have it on your phone? I can bring it up. I was just doing a test. Oh I forgot. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. Yeah, the old episode is still running. Okay, and which channel faders do you have? What's up right now? Like I'm talking about beyond the microphone that you guys use. Do you have 10? Are 10, 11, and 12 all up right now? 11 is up. 12 is up. Yeah, I guess they all are up, yeah. They're all turned on and up in volume? The only one that's on is 11. Okay, yeah. 11. 11 would be the one that... Well, when a show is going on, normally just the mics are on, and 11 would be on and playing things if you had sound clips or music as a part of your show. Which we do, yeah. Okay, so a pre-recorded program is still running right now, but the recorder is on? Yes. Okay. Okay, so did you turn auto off? I sure did, yes. Okay, what I'm thinking you can do is... Okay, in the program Radiologic, it's letting... I'm sorry, I'm sorry. The program that is currently playing, rebroadcasting, it shows what it is, right? Like you can see the name of it and everything? What is it a rebroadcast of? What it says on the list is it says, Now, Skid Row Studio Live. Okay, and you've seen it playing? Yeah. Yeah, hold on, let me see what's going on here. Does it not make a lot of sense to me? Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Like that little list on top that says before that just heard and now Yeah, what it says for now is skid row studios live You You You You Other programs it could be playing I just don't I just don't see it Yeah Okay, so well the the way that we're checking it like what's on the air like every time We go on the air we pull up our our What are they called like our iPhones or whatever and opened up and throw the stream on there? so we just check the stream make sure it's going out and What if that is playing is an older episode of our show Grand Theft Audio It's it's literally not I do not see it anywhere that it's playing I mean it is not on This radio logic page at that what that has up is something called drew marks bad advice and skid row studios Silence track half a second. I mean it is not queued up anywhere that I see Oh okay actually okay okay I'm starting to understand more what you're saying now Alright actually pop up pop up iTunes and see if for some reason it's playing in there Jeremy how to fix some stuff in there and he transferred some stuff over there And I think it actually might be running an iTunes Yeah, I have iTunes up and is not playing in there I have iTunes up and it is not playing in there Shit wow okay okay um let me see Okay so you've looked for every application that might be controlling sound that's going on You can't find where your rebroadcast is coming from? Yeah, I'm trying to um okay. What is this? This is called? Okay, um this is called radio logic scheduler and Yeah, that just shows that the time programs how long they run and which ones are lined up for the week I think that has to do with the rebroadcast but there's no sound coming from there The only two places where there's sound coming through that goes on the air like as far as like songs and things are radio logic Okay. DJ and iTunes Um, alright I'm thinking, I'm thinking, okay Did you Um I I sure did I tried Jeremy first and I tried Sonia who used to be our engineer Um, I tried both of them first but I got nowhere with them like I had no answers Oh wow okay okay um Okay so the recorder end is working right Technically it is recording then your show is recording Yeah It's supposed to be a live broadcast right now Yeah Okay you turned the microphones off they're not on on the on the soundboard Uh mics are on on the soundboard Which which mics do you have on? We have the two that we work with uh two and I guess five Okay I guess turn them off for now Okay I got a mic is this is a mic is this is a mic I got a mic Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now, is it registering me there? So you can tell him that? I'm hearing it on the speakers in here now. But we're still not, we're not, we're not hearing anything that's being broadcast out through these speakers. speakers like we usually would. I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I'm still trying to figure out why. Because, only because I haven't dealt with that problem yet myself. I've only been at the studio for a month. Yeah. And so far that issue has not popped up for me, so I'm trying to figure out why it is that. Hey Brent, when I'm talking, is it coming through those microphones over there? The headphones? Let me check. Yeah. Hey Wade, so your partner just said that he can hear you. Can he hear microphone one through his headphones? Now he can hear microphone one through his headphones. Yes. And you just turned on five, and so I can hear five in my own headphones now. But the rebroadcast is still running, yes. Yeah, but we're not hearing it in the headphones either. That's really weird, Owen, because whenever the recorder kicks on, it's only supposed to be recording a show that's being done live in the studio. It doesn't record rebroadcast. And it's a rebroadcast, but everything is set up and timed together so that a rebroadcast is supposed to stop running. Okay, do you play clips? Do you play sound clips or music on your show as well? Yes. Okay, do you build your own playlists and have them inserted in the Radiologic? No, I handle everything through a soundboard on the screen. Okay, oh yeah, I'm in the talk room computer? Yes. Yeah. Okay, so you run the soundboard yourself. No, I'm sorry, that does not happen here. That happens from the, yes, yes, yes, I'm sorry, from the talk room computer, yes. Yeah, you set up your sound clips on the soundboard in the talk room computer, right? That's correct, yes. Okay, okay. Okay, so there's not even, if you wanted to stop the rebroadcast, it'd be playing. You don't see anywhere where... I sure don't. I sure don't, no. I looked on this computer, I looked on that computer to make sure that it wasn't somehow running in the iTunes on the one in the control room or on the page for... I got a superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv Hey, this is Jake Belcher back again. That was Spirit Map, one of my favorite types of show. They will be coming up. I think you're going to see them. It's open with vendors. You're going to see them live pretty soon. Jake Belcher, I'm over in Las Vegas. I'm going to go. I'm going to go. I'm going to go. I'm going to go. I'm going to go. I'm going to go. I'm going to go. So what if I turned off 11 and turned on just 10? Yeah. Yeah. You're still coming through there, right? So you guys are up for some awards, right? That's right. So what categories are you in? Well, RV and RV. So you guys are up for some awards, right? So you guys are up for some awards, right? Grand Theft Audio and my name is Jake. Yes. Okay, cool. Thanks, man. All right. Perfect. All right. All right. All right. I'm going to get the phone to go to my buyer here. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. I'm going to shoot a video for me. you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you No. I got a superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv I really think they see signs that Smash is coming on television. Big show called Smash. There's a show called Smash now. Smash. Smash. Smash. What is it again? Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Yeah, I'm here myself. I'm here myself. Through the phone. Call 1-800- I don't know the rest. All right. Phone's ringing. I have nothing coming here. Phone's ringing. Hold on. Try again. Brent, just talk to your phone. Okay. I'll get it in a second. This is the best call now. Get back on your phone. Say again. Say again. Try on your phone again. Talking into my phone. Are you hearing it? Yes. It's like one second delay. Haha. Haha. I wonder if this stuff is recording. Probably is. Awesome. All right. Should I turn off my phone? Yeah. At least we know that that part is working now. Yes, we do. Okay. I'm going to call my phone. Okay. I'm going to call my phone. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Hey there, YouTuber! Now stop me if you heard this one. A lion, a zebra, a hippo, and a giraffe walk into a casino. Run from the law. Guys, we got a tale. Right on time. Well. Who knows what we're going to do here. This has definitely been a fucked up waste of a day. Yep. Glad we came down. Got up early. Yeah. Well, I have such little respect right now for our listeners. Such little respect for our listeners? Just the whole thing in general. I'm going to eat this big-ass Subway sandwich. I ate a big-ass Subway sandwich. Delicious. Sure are meaty, motherfucker. What did you get when you get this Philly cheesesteak? Yeah, it's pretty good actually. It's like, you want vegetables? I'm like, fuck your vegetables, bitch. No. Meat, cheese, and sauce. Those vegetables can suck my dick. Well. Hey, everybody. This is not going out to anyone, so what's the difference? Right. This is all going to get deleted. Yep. It already basically doesn't exist. Exactly. All we're doing is talking to each other through the microphones instead of without the microphones. A little bit easier. Yeah. I can hear you really well. Yeah. It's kind of nice. And the fact that we know that the phone works. Yeah. Good, clean signal. Yeah. The way we're getting it. And here I am still using the cough button when I don't have to because this isn't going out to anybody. That was just for me. It was. It's so I don't clear my throat in your ears. So I mentioned I should be pleasant and not just chew right into my phone. No, that's quite all right. I don't mind. I know you're hungry. Thanks. You had salad for dinner. Definitely not as hungry now as I was earlier. Well, good. It's a big ass sandwich. It's a big ass sandwich. So Elvis is coming back from the dead thanks to some digital wizardry. Why are they doing that? Digital Domain Media Group Incorporated, the Academy Award winning studio that created visual effects for Transformer films and Tron Legacy, has signed an agreement with Core Media Group to jointly develop and produce a series of virtual Elvis Presley likenesses for a range of entertainment projects, including appearances in shows and film. And TV productions. With studios in Los Angeles, London, Vancouver, Canada, and other cities, Digital Domain created the computer-generated likeness of the late rap star Tupac Shakur for Dr. Dre's recent show at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Is there a lot of arts down there, you think? No. Is there a bunch of booths that have like art stuff? No. It's a tattoo shop. Are tattoos art? For some people. To a certain type of deviant. Core Media Group, a portfolio company of Apollo Global Management, owns the license rights to Presley, Muhammad Ali, and other figures and brands. Muhammad Ali is not a surprise that we'll probably wind up seeing him relatively soon. Let's not tell Carl that we're on the air and just be horrible to him. Okay. Come on in, you dumb motherfucker. Right now we have the dumbest person on the face of the planet joining us. You can't believe what a fucking retard this guy is. Hey, how you doing, dumb-dumb? Poop for brains. Stinky. Knee-high talk. I'll give you a stinky. Yeah. We have brought you in here for a special piece of information. What? We have your mom on the line, and we're going to talk about incest. Yeah, right. Thank you for being here, Carl. Okay. Okay, Carl's mom. Say something. Hello, Carl. Yeah, I'll tell you this much. We're not on the air. We're having technical difficulties. There's no show going on. There's no show going on. I would never actually treat you like that. It is recording what we're saying, but it's not going out. It is never going to exist anywhere. There was another one of our episodes, for some reason, is broadcasting over the Skid Row. They don't know what's wrong. Yeah, and Jeremy won't be able to. Yeah, we'll be able to do that. We'll just cut out the last 30 minutes. Yeah, at 1030 when he gets here, you guys can record it, and it'll be available as a sound clip for an upcoming whatever. Okay, that's cool. Yeah, yeah, fine. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So at least you don't have to cancel that. Clown just actually showed up, and we had to, you know. Yeah. Wow. He's going to, we lost Karen Kilgareth for our live show, so he's going to fill in for her. Oh, right. What happened with her? No real explanation. Just can't make it. Well, he's better. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Yeah, well, let's held that fresh. Yeah. Yeah. I just sent the notices out. I am really surprised with the sheer number of computers that you've gone through that you haven't bought one of those ones that are, like, in those, like, steel cases. This is pretty solid. Oh, no, I believe that they keep getting a little bigger every time you get a new one so that they'll absorb some more damage. But, I mean, I've seen those ones that they talk about where, like, it's shockproof. You can drop it from, like, 10 feet up, and it'll... Oh, no. No. No. No. No. They'll absorb it, and they're... I mean, it's the casing that's so much more expensive. About day two or three of me having this one, I was running to a movie screening in Poverty Hills, and my bag flipped open, and it went, boom, into the pavement. But nothing happened. It's been fine. I'm shocked. Shock. Shock, I tell you. Shock, I tell you. Well, they have shock absorbers on those, too. But, I mean, I don't know. I mean, with my luck, I thought it would totally be the new... I thought it was on the water. It's... My file system. I'm going to go down. So... You want the paper? I think I'm just going to... Sure. Head back early. May as well, right? uh good they give you guys a good discount uh we get 50 off on days we work we get nothing when we don't work all right yeah so you can order a car too like these scrambled eggs i usually just get one egg and one pancake and it cost me like two bucks and 64 cents yeah and since i just usually choose to get on my tips all right because somebody kicked me breakfast exactly all right i'll give it to you all right i found the number form i'm going to read over my questions thanks hey i see uh um yeah is that all right oh really oh or 925 or 1025 okay oh what is it okay thanks bud oh hey we still let's figure out today for sure um this van halen thing because i don't want to leave you stranded and i just got a call from rachel really oh because she wants to be live or what uh no i don't know if she's live or not i don't know if she's live or not i don't know if she's live or not uh no because she didn't get a chance she wants to cut off all her own bumpers and all her own things and she's having a computer problem she hasn't been able to do it so she asked for that oh okay but we can still go there right i don't know what the point is for sure oh no no i'm trying to well i don't know i want to fix my i haven't done anything for cause effect i need to do the the theme song and we did do we did cut our cause effects opening two weeks ago i forget what song do i use uh it was the it was the musical partisan um ue lewis song oh you're right okay i'm sorry that's fine that's fine and if you want to do anything tomorrow we can always go in a half hour early tomorrow but i don't see a big reason to go out there today no no no that's fine i'm sorry i forgot i had that that's fine i just blanked thanks dude you know oh um um um um um um um um um um um um um um um um um um um um um superv Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And if they had left me a message that said that, then I would have just gone ahead and recorded the show, but we were freaking out, so we basically did nothing today. Okay. Yeah. No problem. I appreciate you getting... Yeah, it's still down, so... Yeah. We had some pretty decent people here today, too. Emmy, Oscar, Grammy winners. So, you know, things happen when they happen, so can't complain too much. Can you tell me one thing? I'm in the control room right now, and I'm trying to bring up the screen from the other room. And it says, connect to shared computer host. Do you know what I put there to be able to pull up that screen so I can take a call? And I can't remember. I know what you're dealing with. I have a notebook at the house, and I'm at the board right now. Okay. I'm in the camera. Are you doing, like, some screen sharing where at the bottom, like, little icons? Yeah, that's what I'm trying to do. I'm just trying to get the other screen to come up on here. No problem. No problem. We'll figure it out. Thank you so much for your help. Yeah, no problem. Good luck. Thank you. Bye. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This is Skid Row Studios. Can you hear me? Hello? Okie dokie. I have no idea why this is not going. He's not here anymore. Yeah. Oh, I can't test it unless I have someone calling in. I don't know. What does that sound like? Hi, sorry. We're just going to test something. If you dial back and just hold on until we're ready, it'll just be another minute or so. But, yeah, or just call us back with that number. Yeah, yeah, we can call out. If you can call back in and then just hold until we tell you that we're ready. You may not hear something for a second, but it's okay. Is that all right? Oh, my God. You don't have to. There's something. It's a nightmare. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. I got a superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv superv Okay, give me a speaking test with you. Welcome to Causeversations. Okay. Marvin, can you hear Carl? I hear him fine. Excellent. Okay, I'm going to give you an intro, and then I'll jump into the first question. Now, we're talking about Pasadena. Am I right? Yes, sir. This is about Pasadena Pops and a little bit about your career, and it's going to be about 20 minutes, if that's all right. Okay. It's going to be in the newspaper, and I also own a web radio station, so it's such a rare thing to talk to somebody of your stature. I thought, oh, well, if you wouldn't mind, I'd also record you for radio and give you extra exposure. We have about 20,000 listeners. Okay. Okay, thank you. All right, so I'm just going to start with the intro. Ready? Okay. Welcome to Causeversations. I'm Carl Kozlowski. And today, I'm especially honored to have an extremely rare individual in that he is one of only 11 people ever to win all four of the greatest entertainment awards that America has to offer. He's a winner of Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and Tonys, as well as a Pulitzer Prize and two Golden Globes, and he's now the conductor of the Pasadena Pops, who start their new season at the L.A. County Arboretum. And please welcome Marvin Hamlisch. Hi, how are you? Just fine. How are you? Well, I'm looking forward to Pasadena. I love Pasadena. I've got to tell you, I love that whole world. Yeah. I particularly love the orchestra. I don't know if your people understand this, if the audience understands this, but the orchestra really are the same people that are basically doing all the movies. And so they work during the day, you know, doing the soundtracks for the movies, and then they come at night to rehearse, and they're these crack musicians. I mean, it's like... They probably do the show without a rehearsal. They're just fantastic. So it's wonderful. It's a lot of fun. And we have three wonderful shows this year at the Arboretum. Three really, really good ones. We start out with... They're playing our song with Luis Yarnas and Robert Klein, and Robert Klein is hysterical. And then at the end of that show, we do kind of a 30-minute version of the show. They're playing our song, which I wrote with Carol Sager. Oh, great. So it's a wonderful show. And then we... We have a lot of... We have a good time here. Yeah, that sounds great. And when you came into... This is your second season with the Pops. Right, right. But you're also a conductor all over the country, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Seattle, San Diego, and Dallas. And I don't know if there's any others, but it sounds like that's a pretty full calendar. Yeah, that'll hold me. That'll hold me pretty good. That's true. So how does one manage to conduct in all these different cities? And how do you manage to do that? Well, I think it's a great question. I think it's a great question. I think it's a great question. I think it's a great question. So you can go to the show and find something unique to do in each of them, because I assume you do different types of seasons in each one of them, or... Well, some of them are different, and some of them you are able to take the same show to different places, which is also very helpful. So that helps. Some you can't. Some are just very time-based. For instance, we just did a show... For instance, if I do a July 4th show in a place that's around July 4th, you can't do that in December. But it gets better. It gets better. It gets done. And it's usually three or four shows per city. So it's not as bad as it sounds, because even though it's these places, every time I go there it's usually three or four times a year. And if you do three performances each time, you're really talking about, in a city, maybe 12 performances a year. So five orchestras, 12 performances, it's 60 concerts out of a year. That's not a lot. Yeah. And meanwhile, that gives me enough time to do what I really love to do also, which is to write. I'm writing a show right now that we're very excited about, which is for DreamWorks, which hopefully will come out in 2014. Wow. So I'm busy. So what is the show, if you can talk about it, for DreamWorks? Because you don't tend to do as much conducting or scoring for films anymore, so that should be a real treat. What are you working on? Yeah, I love Broadway. I am doing a movie for HBO, which is... I'm doing a movie for HBO. I'm doing a movie for HBO. I supervise supervising supervising supervising supervising supervising supervising supervising supervising supervising supervising supervising supervising superv superv superv and Matt Damon. And so we start that in August. Wow. So is the score for that rooted in Liberace-style music? Yeah, it's what we call an adaptation score. I doubt that there will be any brand-new notes. This will all be based on music that Liberace is famous for. Okay, because in The Informant, you worked with Soderbergh as well in 2009. Right, right. And that's a really fun score. I mean, I interviewed you once before for Pasadena Weekly, and I remember noting that I thought that just made the movie. I loved it. Well, I love that score. To be honest with you, I think that score deserved more of an honor than some of the scores that I've gotten nominated for because the way I look at these things is, who else would have come up with that idea? You know what I mean? That was a really off-the-wall idea to come up with what I call a score that really is like something that's really, really, really, really, really, like his condition. You know, he's bipolar, so is the score. And so I was very happy with it. Wow, okay. So, but is that score even available for people to buy it? Because I'm trying to find it, and it seems... It might be on iTunes. I don't know. Okay, got it. No problem. So I want to ask, and we'll get back to the Pasadena things in a bit, but as far as your life goes, you've been involved in music pretty much your entire life. Your dad was an accordionist in a band, so how did music influence you growing up? And were you formally trained, or did you pick it up? Oh, I'm a Juilliard student, yes. Oh, wow. I'm totally formally trained. I went to Juilliard for 13 years, and piano was in the house, and I took it up at the age of five and a half, and I've been at the piano ever since. Wow. So one thing I've always wondered, when people are composers such as yourself, then how does that... How does that process work? I mean, are you just flooded with musical ideas everywhere you go? You hear music in your head, and you just got to get it out, or is it more complicated than that? No. I am what I call a gun for hire, meaning I write because somebody has written a book or someone has written a libretto. There is characters on the page, and I start to get into those characters, and I write for those people. No, I'm not sitting in a restaurant every day and going, oh, my God, I love this hamburger. I love this hamburger. Is this true? No, I don't do that. I just eat the hamburger and pay the money. But when I need to write, when there is an actual assignment to write, that's when I write. Wow. So this is a lot funnier than I thought it would be. I love that answer. So then basically over time, though, you worked on so many amazing music, so much amazing music that has really stood the test of time as well. You know, of course, people, just some of the people that may not know, you're responsible for adapting Scott Joplin's works on The Sting, the fantastic entertainer especially. You wrote The Way We Were. Nobody does it better. You do the melodies, though, and you worked with people like Carol Blair Singer for the lyrics, correct? Or do you do the lyrics sometimes? No, no, I only write music. Okay. So how does that process work when you're working with a songwriter? You know, like Carol, you had Particular Magic with and worked with a lot, but was she the only person you worked with during that stretch, or? No, I mean, both Carol and I worked with other people. Uh-huh. Uh, I mean, I based my way of writing very much like Julie Stein did. Julie Stein wrote with a lot of different lyricists, and I like that, too. I mean, I don't think you should just sit down with one lyricist. I mean, it works, don't get me wrong, but I prefer working with different people for different projects. And again, you know, you watch the film, film you're watching you know uh uh the spy who loved me you know you're watching the film you kind of get into it and the next thing you know she comes up with the title like nobody does it better and you're off and running so yes i mean the way we were would never have been written unless there was a film called the way we were unless there was a book called the way we were so i mean these things all have their way to slowly but surely get to the part where they need music and that's where i come in okay so um then what would you say uh the key uh to conducting is because what made you decide to switch over or to add that to your repertoire shouldn't they switch over to me to me when you're doing a pop show and you're conducting the most important thing is clarity clarity to the musicians if the musicians understand what you're doing you know like keep it simple if they understand what you're doing you're gonna have no problem if you get too um esoteric too uh i don't know too wild too uh um very uh i don't know i don't know what the word is exactly but you know where it's getting too much you don't want to go over the top you want to be very straightforward it's very much like getting directions you know like when you stop somewhere and you ask the person for directions and if you hear them say well you go to the corner one east uh one tenth of a mile to go to the northeast corner make it a left however when you see the it's it's too much you go i don't know where i'm going you want someone to say go up two miles make it a left and you'll be fine uh and that's what you want from a conductor i mean a conductor is literally conducting you through to get you from the beginning to the end and you want him to be his directions to be very precise and easy to follow okay so then um with all the types of music that uh you've done um what do you listen to on your own i mean do you have a favorite artist or set of artists or style of music that's nice when i'm in my car when i'm in my car i only put on serious radio and i only put on two stations which is either broadway or seriously sinatra um when i am doing a show for instance that i'm doing now which has a lot of hip-hop in it then i will purchase on itunes hip-hop tunes that i will kind of emulate or at least use to get me into the groove so on my own i tend to go for sinatra or broadway so the projects you're working on for dreamworks has hip-hop you're saying just say that again i'm sorry oh yeah just say that again i'm sorry just say that again i'm sorry Which project has hip-hop music? Is it the one for DreamWorks? The DreamWorks, right, yes. Really? Well, that's an interesting mix. How did you wind up crossing into that? I mean, I know I asked you about the project in general, but I didn't realize it was hip-hop. That's quite a switch. Well, it's not all hip-hop. It's a combination of traditional and hip-hop. So I'm just glad I got the assignment because I'm loving what I'm doing. Yeah, yeah. Is there anything that, because this seems like a surprising fit for you, so has there been any project that you've worked on over the years that you can say was a particular surprise that you were asked to do it because something's off the wall for you? I think the biggest surprise in my career was getting the Bond film. Huh. You know, because, I mean, we did get a big hit song out of that. Yeah. And the Charlie Stein was brilliant in it. But why they picked me, I'll never know. But I'm thrilled they did. You wrote a real classic, you know, ballad for it. I mean, what was it? It wasn't the typical, maybe that's why you're surprised because it wasn't like liverlet dye kind of epic. No, no, no, no. It was much more of a torchy, very sexy ballad. Oh, absolutely. But what I mean is, is that why you were surprised that they picked you because it wasn't? Yeah, right, yeah. You weren't the epic kind of guy? Right. Okay, got it. Right. Yeah. And so then, what would you say, has there been like a most difficult project in your career that's something that you wish could have, turned out a little bit better, or maybe it was a big challenge, but you wound up working out great? If I understand the question, you're saying that... What was the most challenging thing you ever had to deal with? Like something where, man, that was tough, but it worked out great. Or were you ever disappointed or wish, like even if it was something famous, did you wish anything could have turned out different on any of your projects? Oh, no, I, you know, I never looked back. I never, and I never, it's like, you know, it's like, what it's like is you're in a plane and you're going through turbulence, right? Uh-huh. Now, what can you do about it, really? I mean, what can you really do about it? You can either scream and yell, you can pray, and you can take three Valiums. That's about it. You can't really turn the plane around, right? Yeah. In the same way, we can sit here forever discussing, you know, this thing was that I wish I'd changed that chord, I wish I'd done that. No, I don't do that. I'm so happy with how it all ended up, but just happy that we're fine and dandy. And I leave it at that. Okay. And do you have a particular favorite project, though, out of everything? Well, Chorus Line, to me, is still one of my favorite moments of my life because I got a chance to work with Michael Bennett. Yeah. And it's where I always wanted to end up, which was on Broadway, so I was very thrilled about all that. That's great. Okay. And what about, one thing I read is that you were an early accompanist for Barbra Streisand. Is there any stories you can tell about working with her? Well, I was the accompanist for the, I was an assistant dance ranger on Funny Girl, and that's where I first met her. And we have been friends since then, since I've been about 19 years old, so it's been a long time. Wow. And I've been very lucky. I've worked with some of the greatest people in the world. I've worked with her. I've worked with Dina Manziel. I've just worked with Liza Minnelli since the age of 16. So I've been very, very, very lucky in my career, having met just about anyone that I ever wanted to meet. So I'm very happy with that. Okay. Okay. And what would you say is people can look forward to, this season with the Pops? Well, as I said, we have the... The Planar song, yeah. We have the Planar song. I think that's in, I'm correct, that's in the middle of June. I think that's the 16th of June. Yeah, that's where we're... Right. And then we do the, we have Michael Feinstein coming in on the 21st in Pasadena. He's unbelievable. In fact, he's fantastic. That's for July 21st, right? What? July 21st. Yeah. And then I'm just trying to think. And then we have a Gershwin show on the 8th of September. So all in all, it's going to be darn good. A darn good season at this beautiful place called the Arboretum. This is the first year that we've played at the Arboretum. And it's a gorgeous outdoor facility. Absolutely gorgeous. Well, that's great. Yeah, because that was a big hullabaloo in Pasadena about switching over from one venue to another. So you guys really won out, it sounds. It's going to be wonderful. They're going to love it. People are going to love it. It'll be new in the beginning, but I think people will love it. Listen, thank you very much. I've got to run. I've got to go to rehearsal right now. No problem. Perfect timing, sir. Thank you. All right, thanks a lot. Bye. That was a conversation with the legendary Marvin Hamlisch. Thanks for listening. That was good, dude. Can you hear me in there? That was good. Can you hear me in there? Okay. Very entertaining. He had one joke there that just made me laugh my ass off. I love that hamburger. I love this hamburger. Hilarious. We got about four minutes until we're out of here. So I'm just trying to wrap up a couple things on this side, get things ready for tomorrow. You're fine. Wrap up. You're fine. No. No. That's what I'm trying to find out. I'm trying to find out. I'm trying to find out. I'm trying to find out. I'm trying to find out. I'm trying to find out. I'm trying to find out. I'm trying to find out.