Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Hi everyone. Welcome to the it's all for Love podcast. I'm Cheryl Mazza, the healing dancer, your host. This podcast is all about Michael Jackson and how he continues to spread love in our world and inspires us to live our best lives. Thank you so much for watching and or listening to this episode. But before we get to the episode, I have a few things that I want to tell you. If you are watching this podcast on YouTube, please make sure that you are subscribed to the YouTube channel and also like the video of the episode that you are watching. And I would also love it if you would leave us some comments about how much you loved the episode. If you are listening on any other podcast platform, if you are able to please subscribe on that platform. And also what would really help me is if you would leave a review on whatever podcast platform you are listening on. The reviews help the podcast to be more seen and to spread the word to other Michael Jackson fans about the podcast. And as always, I am looking for guests to be on the podcast. So if you would like to be a guest on this podcast and tell your Michael Jackson story, I would absolutely love to chat with you. Make sure to check out the show notes and find the link to click on to schedule a coffee chat with me or you can email me. The email address is also in the show notes. Thank you again for listening and or watching. It's all for Love. Hey everyone. Welcome to the it's all for Love podcast. I'm Cheryl Mazza, the healing dancer and today we have James from Canada with us to talk to us about Michael. James is a neurodivergent and non binary poet, actor, model and most often lyricist, vocalist and frontman on stage and off of the world's sparkliest rock band, Hot Apollo. Welcome James. I'm so excited to have you here to talk about Michael. Thank you so much.
[00:02:12] Speaker A: My pleasure. Excited to be here.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: Yes, yes. So I want to know when did you first discover Michael Jackson?
[00:02:20] Speaker A: I don't remember the exact age. My instinct is I was like around 7 or 8 and I just, I remember like the first time I heard my mom who was like a you know, fan, like she was alive when you know he was like first coming out with this stuff, like you know, the Thriller era and all that. And like he was telling me about like the crazy stuff he did with like storytelling in the visuals he added to his music, like how he was like groundbreaking in the like the whole music video scene and like telling like a complete like kind of narrative within like what, like seven to 10 minutes, you know, on either side of a song. And I thought that was like. That really, like, captivated my mind and, like, was very inspiring because, like, storytelling and music were two things that always really resonated with me and that I always want to take part of. So he, like, I saw that he was based on the trail, and I remember one Christmas he. He got me a collection of, like, all his music videos and stuff, and I was blown away, just, like, sitting there on Christmas morning just, like, you know, devouring everything from, like, you know, like, Thriller, Beat it and like, some of the, like, later ones. I can't remember the song name right now. The. It's gone in my head. But the one with the. It's only Egypt or something.
[00:03:31] Speaker B: Oh, remember the time?
[00:03:32] Speaker A: Yeah, you remember the time? Yeah. And like, the, like. I mean, even, like, what was that? Like, late 80s, early 90s. And the, like, the, like, crazy, like, like CGI stuff they were doing, like, way before that stuff was everywhere. Yeah, it, like, yeah, just. It really, like, struck that chord in my heart.
[00:03:47] Speaker B: Oh, I love that. So your mom introduced you to Michael? Yeah, yeah.
[00:03:51] Speaker A: Big ups to Dr. Patricia for spreading the. The word of MJ to me.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: Thank you.
Great. Well, do you remember any other times from childhood where Michael would show up or anything? Like, maybe you're looking at his videos or something like that.
[00:04:08] Speaker A: Oh, okay. Yeah, I was like, that was like, most of it. But I do remember this one other time. My brother got this, like, video game. It was like a boxing game. And he told me that, like, Michael Jackson was an unlockable character in it. Like, you could play in, like, Fox as Michael Jackson. And I was really confused because, for one thing, like, I didn't expect him to be like, a character in. As a. As in a boxing video game, of all things. And also the picture he showed me of Michael Jackson in the game didn't look like any version of Michael Jackson I'd seen before. So I was very confused. But in retrospect, it's pretty cool for him to be. To pop up in the most unexpected places.
[00:04:46] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, that's cool. I've never even heard of that. I have to look at. Look that up because I know there was.
[00:04:51] Speaker A: I remember I was like, I was so young, but.
[00:04:53] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, nice. Well, how does Michael Jackson inspire you throughout your life?
[00:05:02] Speaker A: A big part of it, apart from the, like. I mean, the primary part is the blending of, you know, music with, like, storytelling and fantasy, especially because, like, you know, from, like, shape shifting in the time music Video to, like, becoming a werewolf and all the, like, the wild, like, tales he told in his videos. That really got to me because, like, I do have a very fantastically oriented mind, too. And also how, like, he did, like. Like, kind of never letting go, like, a childlike wonder and, like, infinite imagination that I think a lot of people are told subtextually to. To grow out of as they grow up. And I've never bought that. Luckily, I was never getting good at picking up on subjects anyway, so I kind of had an easier time of escaping that. But I did love how, like, he always carried through, like, his, like, you know, true inner child to, you know, the end of his life and that.
Setting that, like, precedent too. Like, I always respect him for that as well.
[00:06:14] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. No, I love how he was always a child at heart, you know, Always playing.
[00:06:20] Speaker A: Yeah. And never. Never stopping dreaming.
[00:06:22] Speaker B: Yes, exactly. Yes. So when did you start your band?
[00:06:30] Speaker A: Kind of, like, right after high school. I was like, I. I played with a few, like, friends fans in high school. That kind of went nowhere because they were friends bands and they weren't. It took a while for me to realize that they weren't taking it as seriously as I was. And, you know, they're so great people, but, you know, when you're in any kind of group project, you've got to be all on the same page and have the same goals in mind. And my mind were just different from the people around me. So that kind of disillusioned me from music for a while. I kind of concentrated on. On, like, written poetry for. For, like, about a year after that, because I didn't need to rely on anyone else and open the potential for disappointment. And then I kind of, you know, like, wised up and realized, okay, anything worth doing is going to have some potential pitfalls and hindrances and disappointments along the way, but if it's meaningful to you, you've got to keep persevering through it. And I realized I couldn't live a life without being part of music. And after that, I just thought, okay, whatever happens, whatever setbacks I encounter, I'm just gonna. I'm just gonna push through, smash through, keep going. And it's been like that ever since.
[00:07:45] Speaker B: Oh, I love that. Yeah, that's very.
[00:07:48] Speaker A: Now we're working on our. We're just about to release our third album in a couple months, as we're speaking. I don't know if this is being released, but, yeah, as of the first month of 2025, the album is the third album is imminent.
[00:08:00] Speaker B: Very nice. Yeah, a lot of performances around where you live or.
[00:08:05] Speaker A: Yeah, we actually just got invited to play a very unique show. An event. Usually, you know, it's centered like. Like rock shows or whatever. This one, it's actually a poetry cabaret. And. And it's. It's themed around like 70s, 80s, like, like disco era, Studio 54 with like, extra like fantasy bits on top. And it sounds like a perfect vibe for us in like, you know, aesthetically and. But it's mainly like three poets are getting up and reading their stuff, and if the audience likes them, they can like, pay for private poetry readings. And the organizer, like, saw me at a fashion show I was modeling in and we got to talking and she's like, yeah, we have this thing. Would your band like to like, play before the posts go on as a way of like, welcoming everyone in and setting the tone for the night. And I thought, yes, let's. Let's do this. So, like, as like a half hour before I hopped on the call with you, I was just meeting with a band and we were like, kind of rehearsing for that, so I'm very excited.
[00:09:11] Speaker B: That sounds really good.
[00:09:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:12] Speaker B: Wow. I wish they would have stuff like that around here.
That's awesome. Do you still write poetry or is it more?
[00:09:20] Speaker A: Yeah, oh, yeah. No, I never stop anything I'm interested in doing and the loves I have are just, you know, in my heart forever. But I kind of got to a point where I realized it is the, like, publishing market, from what I've heard, is not in healthy state right. Right now. And poetry hasn't been like, a big concern for a while. So I've heard some poetry, how hard it is, like, get your stuff, like published professionally and. Or even, like, you know, get readership. So I thought my. My plan is just to get famous from the music and then it'll be far easier to get people to buy my poetry.
[00:09:58] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:09:59] Speaker A: So in the meantime, I have a lot of backlog that. That's ready to go whenever anyone wants to publish it, but I'm just like, it's. I can only like, push like ultra hard at so many things at a time and just like, trying to like, focus on like, the business side of poetry at the same time. Just, I. I don't have a, like, wherewithal for it right now, so I'm still writing stuff, but like, you know, couldn't wait to. To push it, to focus on one.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: Thing at a time. Right.
[00:10:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:28] Speaker B: Yeah. Awesome. Well, do you have a favorite Michael Jackson song?
[00:10:32] Speaker A: Thriller always has a special place in my heart because it's the first one I heard at the same time I saw it too, which made a huge impression when I was like 8.
But honestly don't stop till you get enough is probably the one like I listen to and dance to and sing to the most.
[00:10:49] Speaker B: Yes. Oh, that's a great song. Yes.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: Yeah, just like pure like optimistic like bullion energy. Just like really, really gets me going every time.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that reminds me of like one of my favorite songs is off the wall. Yeah, yeah, it's that same energy, you know, I think.
[00:11:06] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah, the one like the opening with the cracking at the beginning.
[00:11:09] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:11:10] Speaker A: Great tone setter. Yeah. Very, very punk rock of him.
[00:11:14] Speaker B: Yes. Do you have a favorite video music video by Michael?
[00:11:20] Speaker A: It's funny. Yeah. Honestly, maybe I remember the time because I remember the first time I saw it and I thought the video was cool. But again I was like 8 and I think the, the actual music of the song was like a little above my head. It wasn't something I could like easily just like move my body to instantly. I feel like kind of get in the right frame of mind for it. But like the, the like crazy things he did in that video, like, like the like how hard you must have pushed to get. Get that video made in like 1989 or whatever. Yeah, that, that really, that like the art history of it made a huge impression on me.
[00:11:55] Speaker B: Yeah. Does Michael Jackson ever show up magically in your life these days?
[00:12:01] Speaker A: No. But to be fair, like not, not to my knowledge. But I have a very kind of tunnel vision mode I go into sometimes where I don't notice like the people around me even if they are appearing non magically unless they specifically like and, and like vehemently try to get my attention and then I'm happy to like interact with them. But I kind of like, I can walk by, you know, a person, you know, I see like I go out every weekend or whatever but if I'm like on the street and like on. On a task, I will not notice them unless they say hi to me and like you know, loudly too. So maybe he's been like kind of hopping around on the periphery and he just hasn't been loud enough because you know, he was a soft speaker when he wasn't belting it out. So yeah. Michael, if you're out there, no offense to you, just try to louder. Call my name louder if you want to. If you want to have a discussion. Right.
[00:12:51] Speaker B: Jump in front of me, please.
[00:12:52] Speaker A: Yeah, that would do it. Yeah.
[00:12:56] Speaker B: What do you want the world to know about Michael Jackson?
[00:13:00] Speaker A: I guess that it's okay to just, you know, like, be true and. And like, flamboyantly so about. About expressing your inner child, like, however old you are.
[00:13:14] Speaker B: Yeah, I love that. Is there anything else that you would like to talk about with Michael?
[00:13:21] Speaker A: I mean, if I could talk with him, I think. I mean, I'd. I'd probably ask for a singing lesson. Getting. Getting some singing tips from Michael would be pretty huge.
[00:13:31] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:13:32] Speaker A: Because I'm still trying to push my voice further and, like, hearing his perspective on it would be. Be a real treat.
[00:13:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I can imagine that would be great. I would ask for dance lessons.
I love to dance, but definitely cannot dance like him, so.
[00:13:48] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, no, he was. He was unimpeachably grooving.
[00:13:54] Speaker B: Yes, it was.
Well, great. I mean, that's all the questions that I have for you.
Unless there's anything else you would like to talk about.
[00:14:05] Speaker A: No, that. That kind of like, sums up, like, yeah, a lot of my. My thoughts and feelings about. About the dude. But, yes, enjoy.
[00:14:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. And I will let everybody know where they can find you in the show notes.
[00:14:21] Speaker A: Yeah, everywhere.
[00:14:23] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much. It's all for love, and we'll see you next time.
[00:14:28] Speaker A: All right, bye for now.
