[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
This is the EMG Podcast.
All right, welcome back to another Spotlight edition of the EMG podcast. I am here today with Ms. Sydney McQuillan Grace of Electric Boulevard fame. Sydney, how are you?
[00:00:24] Speaker B: I'm doing really well. How are you?
[00:00:26] Speaker A: I'm doing good. Lovely plants. We were just talking about Sydney's plants in the background.
[00:00:30] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:00:31] Speaker A: Yes. We are doing this via Zoom for those of you who are listening and not watching.
And it was kind of an impromptu thing that we wanted to throw together quickly because Sydney did something that is so remarkable, in my opinion, especially given because I'm a super fan nerd, which we'll get into. But I saw her last weekend. I was like, you have to come on and you have to discuss this. But before we get into all of that, tell me in a soundbite, as I always ask people this and this. You know, your actions are the focus of this interview. Typically, you are the focus, and I'll still get you back here for one of those. But who is Sydney in a sound bite?
[00:01:09] Speaker B: Who is Sydney in a sound bite? Gosh, that's a really hard one.
Sydney is a creative, collaborative person who's just looking to continue to expand as an artist and as a person.
[00:01:24] Speaker A: Okay, I like that you were like. Didn't know I was going to ask you that, but you were very well prepped without burying the lead. Tell us all why you're here today. What are we chatting about?
[00:01:35] Speaker B: Okay, so I had the opportunity recently to fulfill a huge lifelong dream for me personally and have a super career highlight singing background vocals for. For Miley cyrus for the SNL50 anniversary homecoming concert at Radio City Music Hall. And then also on the 50th anniversary for SNL, their televised special.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: Yeah. Which is amazing. And I have so many questions. In fact, I didn't want to bother you that night, but you and I were texting a little bit, and then when I saw you in person last week, I said, I have so many questions. Let's save it for the podcast. So I really don't know a lot of the specifics, but, you know, obviously we always highlight our performance talent roster and how great everybody is, and the accolades that you all put together individually that then become part of the larger collective. And I was so proud of you and happy. And also, I am a SNL super fan. Right. So I had the SNL 50th, like, on my calendar from months and months ago. Like, I'm not planning anything. I'm going to be here, and I don't think I knew that you were going to do this. And so I'm watching on on Friday night, the concert. And Miley was the first one up, you know, five and minutes or so into the show. And I'm looking and I'm like, is that Sydney? So I meet. I immediately go to Instagram and of course I see your. Your updates and stuff. So tell me, tell me the bat. Like, how did you get there? How did you get to. Hey, I'm on stage at Radio City with Miley Cyrus.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: Okay, well, so first of all, let me just say I am also a super fan, Grew up watching this show, absolutely loved it. Would, like, sneak downstairs to try and watch it with my folks.
And I also had it on my calendar. I also didn't know I was gonna be doing it until. Let's see. So we shot the homecoming special at Radio City first that aired on Friday night. I got a call Wednesday.
[00:03:48] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:03:49] Speaker B: So a friend of mine who I had worked, have worked with many times in the past, who is a phenomenal backup singer. Well, just an amazing performer in general, but she does backups for a lot of people. She is on tour in Europe right now. And Miley's sound person, or somebody from her team called her and said, hey, I know you used to live in New York.
Miley really wants to have some backup singers for this upcoming homecoming concert. Can you try to put together a couple of girls to send over?
So this was Wednesday. At probably around 11:30, I got the call.
We were in. We were asked to meet at radio city at 1:30.
So literally, it was that afternoon.
I got the call from my friend Dinash. And she, you know, said, can you be available for. For a gig tonight? And I was like, maybe. What's it for? And she said, it was for snl. And I said, yeah, I'm on my way. So I met down. I went down to Radio City, met the other two girls who were going to be doing backup, who were absolutely lovely and fantastic. And yeah, we had maybe 30, 40 minutes before Miley actually arrived on property. And we went over some backing vocals for her song Flowers. We thought that was going to be the only song that we were doing. We even came up with a cute little choreo moment. And then Miley came in and said, okay, cool, we're not going to do anything like the record. We're changing up the arrangement. Let's go. I said, all right. We went over it for like 20 minutes. And then we're on stage sound checking with Miley and Brittany and the Roots.
[00:05:41] Speaker A: Okay, hold on, hold on. I've got to unpack all of that, please. Sorry. It's a good thing you and I set up multiple recording things because I got so excited I forgot to hit record on Zoom. So let me hit. I'm going to hit that really quickly. Hold on. Okay, wait for it, wait for it.
Okay, so this is actually happening at Radio City, right?
[00:06:00] Speaker B: It is, yeah.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: All right, so when you get there, you meet these girls for the first time. You start to like, okay, let's work out some. You're taking this harmony, I'm taking that harmony, or whatever.
And then are you in a dressing room or you on the stage? Like, where are you?
[00:06:14] Speaker B: No. So we went into Radio City. The entire building was basically taken. I mean, this is a huge production.
[00:06:21] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, sure.
[00:06:22] Speaker B: They had. They didn't even release to the people that were like, the other people performing, who all was going to be there. And so, yeah, we found a random stairwell by the bathroom downstairs, and the three of us just posted up, sat down, and started going over. Okay, who wants to take what? Who's comfortable where? And we'll just, you know, jump in.
[00:06:44] Speaker A: So Miley comes in. This is the first time you're meeting her. What does she say? What does she do?
[00:06:49] Speaker B: She was. Couldn't have been more lovely and welcoming. Immediately she came in and gave us all hugs and was just so grateful that we were there and thankful. She was like, I know this is so super last minute, but I'm so, so happy to have you guys. And so she's like, we're gonna change up the arrangement.
I had looked up because she'd only performed Flowers one other time live before.
[00:07:15] Speaker A: But wait a second. She didn't do Flowers on the show, right?
[00:07:18] Speaker B: What was that?
[00:07:19] Speaker A: She didn't do Flowers. She did the. The COVID of Pretty Little Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
[00:07:25] Speaker B: She did that, and then she followed it up with Flowers.
[00:07:28] Speaker A: Oh, and that didn't air.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: It did air.
[00:07:31] Speaker A: Am I going crazy right now? Do I not remember seeing flowers?
[00:07:34] Speaker B: You are going crazy.
[00:07:35] Speaker A: I am, yes. I am going crazy.
[00:07:36] Speaker B: But you should go back and watch it, because it's an awesome performance.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: I have it pulled up in a second, and we're gonna.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: We're gonna put it up.
[00:07:42] Speaker A: I love Flower her. My favorite Miley moment was Flowers at the Grammys where she was geeking out about, like, I'm on the Grammys. Like, she is like, all of us at 12 years old who grew up in New York, you know, I love that. But so she comes in. All right, so you do. And then how did Brittany Howard of the. Of the. You know, she's got her own amazing career, but originally of Alabama Shakes. What was the tie in to the two of them? I wasn't aware of their collaboration together.
[00:08:08] Speaker B: So I actually don't know what spawned their collaboration, but I'm just so grateful that it happened.
[00:08:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: I personally am a huge fan of both of them. I think they have. As vocalists, I think they have the most interesting and beautiful and unique vocal tone out of any pop stars that we have right now. So anytime that they come out with something, I'm immediately going to listen to their music.
[00:08:31] Speaker A: Yeah, they both have very distinct voices.
[00:08:34] Speaker B: Very, very much so. We didn't realize that we were going to be doing Crazy Little Thing Called Love until we were on stage.
So Miley came back over and was like, okay, we're going to do Crazy Little thing called Love 2, but we'll go over it later. I said, okay, great. So Britney comes over and introduces herself. We're on Radio City stage, by the way. I'm like, right in front the Roots, you know, Quest is right behind me. And, yeah, I mean, it was just one of those moments where it was, you know, jump in, you're thrown into the deep end, and you sink or you swim. And we decided we were gonna swim, so that's what we did. You know, we knew that song well enough to kind of do a unison backing harmony. And then we were obviously gonna go, and we really learned it and figured out who wanted to do what part because it's actually pretty complex vocal arrangements. So. Yeah.
[00:09:30] Speaker A: What's more stressful for you, standing on stage at Radio City with the Roots and Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard and being told, hey, we're singing this song now that you didn't know and just being thrown into it versus, like, you're singing someone's first dance.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh.
Here's the thing. I actually think they're both very similar. And I'll tell you why. For me, the sound check wasn't that I wasn't that nervous for that. You know, we were obviously being thrown into this. So, you know, there were no. There wasn't as many expectations for us, you know, until the actual performance date. But knowing that this performance meant so much to everybody in the audience, so much to the artists that we got a chance to work with and the Roots, I mean, so. And the band. It's the same as doing a first dance, because it's like, that's going to be a moment that everybody in that room remembers, you know, so it's more than just singing the right notes. It's capturing a feeling and making sure that as, you know, as the performer, that you are really delivering and making something special for the people that are. That are there.
[00:10:47] Speaker A: So how long was your sound check for?
[00:10:50] Speaker B: Maybe like 20 minutes.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: Okay, very good. So now you get up with the sound check. You walk off.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: Now what happens now? We went up to a dressing. A random dressing room in Radio City where Miley's whole team was being held. And she said, okay, great, so we're going to record some of the backing vocals. So because, you know, it's live performance and there can always be audio issues and she wanted the blackened vocals to sound lush and big. We recorded, prerecorded some of those backing vocals that day and then we also sang them live, obviously during the show.
So we went upstairs and hung out, actually for about 45 minutes while her team was getting ready to get all the recordings.
[00:11:41] Speaker A: Did you do the recordings in just like a dressing room?
[00:11:43] Speaker B: Yeah, actually, if you. I'm sure if you soloed out those vocals, you would hear like Cher sound checking in the background, the Backstreet Boys sound checking in the background. It was super cool. It was awesome.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: So let's get into some of the tea here. And now I'm going to ask you about Radio City. Not Sunday night, Sunday night. I want to get into a whole different thing. But who'd you meet? What was it like backstage?
[00:12:06] Speaker B: It was. Here's the thing, this is such a well oiled machine. You know, they have so many people, so many different celebrities, so many different artists in the building that they have. They really try to keep you in whatever dressing room and they'll isolate it and bring you down. Mainly just because otherwise it would be a disaster zone. I mean, they'd have thousands of people just milling about, you know, so we didn't actually get a chance to really meet a ton of people at, I will say the backstage area from when you're going on and going off and you're waiting was pretty cool. Yeah, yeah. I accidentally body checked one of the Backstreet Boys, Kevin. He's okay. He's doing fine. He survived. Very good. I mean, we saw Lady Gaga. We got to hear her sound check. Absolutely incredible.
Who else did we see? Of course, my mind is like blanking. But it was, you know, it was just really cool. You couldn't, you know, go anywhere, take like a step because it was so packed. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that, yeah, you. And you would just and it wouldn't be just musicians. It would be, you know.
Oh, my gosh. I'm blanking on the name. But one of the original, like, the original, like, cast members were, like, backstage when we were there, too, and I was like, oh, my gosh. So it was just really cool to see everybody. I mean. Yeah. And it was just an exciting, obviously exciting energy to be around.
[00:13:35] Speaker A: So that's the. So now that's Wednesday, Right? So now the show aired on Friday. When was was it? I can't remember. Was it live? It was live, right?
[00:13:42] Speaker B: It was live, yeah.
[00:13:43] Speaker A: So when do you report back on. On Friday and kind of walk me through that experience?
[00:13:48] Speaker B: What about wardrobe?
[00:13:49] Speaker A: Talk to me about wardrobe.
[00:13:51] Speaker B: That's a great question. I think when something's put together, you know, kind of last minute, and also, I mean, everyone has very different body types. But so they asked what wardrobe, what we had, and so they kind of gave us a mood board of what it is that they were looking for, and they asked us to send in some options of what we already had, and then they spiced it up. So the black dress that I was wearing in. In the show was mine. And the jacket that I was wearing, the leather jacket, was something that they. They provided for me. Yeah, yeah. And that was pretty much, I think, the same for. For most of the girls. One of the girls had amazing style, and so they were like, you know, like, we're gonna try to match this.
[00:14:32] Speaker A: That's really great. So you get there Friday. You get your. What time did you have to arrive Friday?
[00:14:38] Speaker B: I think I had to be there around 2.
Don't quote me on that.
And, yeah, we were there early. We did a little sound check again, same day, and then went upstairs, obviously did hair and makeup. We shared a dressing room with Cher singers, background singers, who were awesome. We almost.
We. We almost. Maybe we're going to have to sing or fill in for Cher's backup singers on Wednesday because there was something going on, and we were like, we are available.
[00:15:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Could you imagine Cher? She killed it. She was. Oh, my God, she was incredible.
[00:15:16] Speaker B: I saw her on Sunday night. So when we did the SNL televised special, I was like. I walked out on. And obviously, it's a small studio. It's New York City, so it's. You know.
But right in front of me, I was like, who is. Has that fabulous blonde beehive? And then she looked over, and I was like, Cher.
[00:15:38] Speaker A: Yeah, that's.
[00:15:39] Speaker B: I literally audibly went, cher.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: Amazing.
[00:15:43] Speaker B: That was the only person I geeked out about Really?
[00:15:46] Speaker A: I. Of course, Peacock has some anti, you know, theft device here, so I just want to share the screen. It won't let me share, but I'm staring at this picture right when it starts. There's, you know, dead center. Miley's on the left, Britney's on the right, and there you are. Boom. Dead center. So cool.
So you finished your singing performance, right? And then were you able to watch the rest of the show? Did you have to hang out in the back? Like, what happened?
[00:16:09] Speaker B: That's a great question. We weren't really able to hang out in the back again because there's just.
[00:16:14] Speaker A: It's too many people.
[00:16:15] Speaker B: Yeah, too many people. So they brought us back to our dressing room and we could kind of hear everything, but we couldn't see it. And the entire audience was sold out. I mean, it was such a cool tribute that they did. Everyone that was in the audience had either worked for snl.
[00:16:32] Speaker A: Yeah, they were affiliated.
[00:16:33] Speaker B: Yeah, affiliated in some way. So it really was like a homecoming concert.
[00:16:38] Speaker A: Amazing.
[00:16:38] Speaker B: You could feel it in the room. I mean, that house holds about 6,000 people, and everybody was, like, psyched to be there, and it was. It was just cool. So, unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to go and kind of watch the rest of it, but we did get a chance to hear it. And, you know, obviously I. I had wanted to leave a little bit early, not stay for, you know, the very end, mainly because I knew we had Sunday coming up and I wanted to, like, rest, get my rest, make sure that I had everything ready for that day, too.
But, you know, ran into some fun celebs right as I was leaving out the side door.
Got to chat with Tracy Morgan. He was really cool. And Lauren Hill was coming in as I was leaving, too, so. She's so tiny, but she's so beautiful.
[00:17:26] Speaker A: Is she really?
[00:17:27] Speaker B: She was so good.
[00:17:27] Speaker A: She has a very tall appearance.
[00:17:29] Speaker B: I know, I know. She's got a big personality, but. No, she's. She's a teeny thing, but she was discreet.
[00:17:35] Speaker A: Did Miley say anything to you afterward?
[00:17:39] Speaker B: Yeah, Miley. First of all, Miley is like an incredible person to work with. Incredible collaborator. She knew exactly what she wanted for the arrangement. She was always on time. Her vocals are perfect live. She is just incredible and couldn't be kinder or more welcoming. So at the end of. I mean, at the end of our rehearsal on Wednesday, she had asked us to join on Sunday, so we weren't initially being contracted for Sunday's performance. That was something that she asked us to do after our time with her on Wednesday, which was pretty cool. And the thing that she kept saying was, yeah, you know, you've been thrown into the deep end and you guys knocked it out of the park. And that really says a lot. Yeah, so that was. That was pretty cool. It was nice to hear.
[00:18:30] Speaker A: So at what point were you contracted for Sunday?
[00:18:33] Speaker B: We were contracted, I think, officially on Thursday morning. We got the call. We got the call to see if we were available and if it was something we'd be interested in doing.
[00:18:43] Speaker A: Let me.
[00:18:43] Speaker B: So this is. We had rehearsal there that night for that on.
[00:18:48] Speaker A: Wait, on what night?
[00:18:49] Speaker B: On Thursday.
[00:18:50] Speaker A: Oh, so you went to 8H on Thursday?
[00:18:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, let me. Let me back up because I'm gonna. I'm gonna really geek out over that.
[00:18:57] Speaker B: Please, please.
[00:18:58] Speaker A: Do I have a question that I don't know if anyone other than me would find interesting, but I'm going to ask it anyway.
[00:19:04] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:19:04] Speaker A: When you get contracted for this, I know how you get contracted for private events. I know how you get contracted for Broadway when it's something like this. What is the actual mechanism? Like, is there a legal document that is sent to you or is it on a handshake and then how are you paid afterward? Like that. I find the business of that so interesting.
[00:19:24] Speaker B: Yeah, there's. I mean, honestly, it's very unique to every situation.
And so for this, because it's televised, it was definitely a little different.
So there were, you know, that. That involves more than just kind of like being contracted by Miley or snl. That's contracted by.
[00:19:45] Speaker A: Who were you contracting with?
[00:19:47] Speaker B: Is it NBC? It was both. It was both the Artist and the television show. But the television show, those contracts, I believe, came through sag, aftra Got it is a union that. Yeah. Is for film and television. So, yeah, that's how those kind of went. I mean. L. Luckily, we had Dinash helping us kind of work through all of those contracts because. Yeah, they're. They're definitely.
[00:20:15] Speaker A: I assume they were very hefty.
[00:20:16] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, they. They were. And just, you know, just. They're very specific, as they should be.
[00:20:24] Speaker A: So.
[00:20:24] Speaker B: So, yeah, it was great to have.
[00:20:26] Speaker A: Her walk us through. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So. So you get the call Thursday. So now you have to go to the hollowed ground of Rock Color Center Studio 8H. For any SNL person that is, like, that's. That's literally the Mecca, right?
[00:20:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: Talk me through. And you're a fan, so it's not just, hey, I get this cool television gig. You are An SNL fan. So, yeah, walk me through that whole experience.
[00:20:50] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, honest, I was. I was so psyched because when I got the call for the Homecoming concert, I was like, this is amazing. And we get to do Radio City. There was the teensiest part of me that was a little sad that we weren't actually at SNL studios.
So when we got that call, I was so beyond psyched because I was like, oh, man, this is going to be.
[00:21:15] Speaker A: This.
[00:21:15] Speaker B: This is everything. This is. The dream is to be, like, on, like, snl, you know, that. That stage that you just see every week.
Yeah. So when you go in, it's. It's smaller than you think it is. Have you ever gone as an audience member?
[00:21:29] Speaker A: Well, so it's so funny. I love how you said this to me last week. You said, yeah, it was on my bucket list to. To be on snl, to sing. And I'm like, that's cool. My bucket list is to just be in the audience and watch the show. I have never attended the show, but I went for one of the, like, the. The NBC studio tours. And so we went in there on like, whatever, like a Wednesday afternoon. It was empty. But even that, I was like. Like, I couldn't. I was pinching myself. And I can't even imagine that you were at the Seminole. You're a part of Seminole history of snl, which is crazy.
[00:22:01] Speaker B: It's honestly probably one of the coolest things I've ever. I've ever been a part of. I've ever done one of the most amazing experiences. It's honestly, it's like an active beehive almost. It's smaller than you think it is. There's like four stages across this big, long room. And the stage is kind of the one. If you're in the audience and you're looking, it's all the way on the right hand side. And it was incredible to just, you know, walk through there. The reason why I say it's kind of like an active beehive is because there's so many little rooms and little pockets. It's not just that stage area. Every single, you know, room is filled with somebody doing something amazing for the show. So you peek into one room as you're, like, on the, you know, hallway going to the. Going to the stage, and it's like, oh, someone's making these amazing, incredible wigs and this person's doing costumes, and this person's like, you know, it's like. I don't know, it's like Jimmy Fallon, like, Popping in to say hi to somebody or, you know, I mean, it's. It's alive.
[00:23:08] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, actually, that was one of my questions for you, and you kind of touched on it before is I. With the amount of people that they had, artists, performers, stagehands, so on and so forth, I was thinking to myself, like, for the Sunday night, for the actual show that aired on NBC, how did they fit all of those people in there?
[00:23:28] Speaker B: I don't know.
[00:23:29] Speaker A: Like, where did they stash you? Where did they put you?
[00:23:32] Speaker B: We were on. We were on a different floor, so we were actually.
We were being held in Kelly Clarkson's show, like her studio, like one of her dressing rooms for guests.
[00:23:45] Speaker A: Amazing.
[00:23:46] Speaker B: So that was pretty. Thanks, Kelly.
[00:23:47] Speaker A: Yeah, thanks, Kel. So same thing there. I mean, now on the. On the actual special, she does Nothing Compares, which is the Sinead O'Connor song. And of course, as an SNL superfan, you know that Sinead O'Connor has this special checkered past with SNL. Why that song? Did we ever get a reason as to why?
[00:24:07] Speaker B: I hope. I mean, I. I hope I'm not giving away any secrets. I think Lorne. Lorne Michaels.
[00:24:15] Speaker A: I like how you just drop, like, you know, Lorne, you're on a first. You're just.
[00:24:19] Speaker B: I'm not on a first. I don't even. I don't even. I'm really not. But I saw him, and I obviously geek. But no, I. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You know, I think he. Miley's been on the show so many times, and I know that she has, like, a close relationship with him, and I believe that was something that he had asked her to do.
I think that there were. What I noticed in the show when watching is that there were also specific performances that they were trying to kind of hearken back to. Like, at the Homecoming, they had Nirvana, you know, and throughout that kind of night with Sabrina Carpenter and, you know, at the beginning, and she was doing a duet with Paul Simon. Paul Simon, Yeah. So really trying to kind of touch on some of the more famous or favorites of his, I believe.
[00:25:19] Speaker A: Yeah, you could tell that it was. Again, for somebody that knows and, like, follows the history of whatever, you could see that it was his musical taste kind of throughout the.
[00:25:27] Speaker B: It was a love letter. It was a love letter to Lauren. And it should be, because he's been. He's. He's, you know, created something incredible. And. And so, yeah, I'm. I'm so happy that he got a chance to really enjoy it all. Enjoy it. Yeah.
[00:25:44] Speaker A: When your performance Was over on Sunday on the actual show, Same thing. Do they whisk you back to Kelly's dressing room and are you just sitting there for the rest of the evening?
[00:25:54] Speaker B: Yes, but that, that was a little different because they act, they had big TDs in there so you could watch the show.
[00:26:01] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:26:01] Speaker B: So, yeah, there were, it was, it was really nice to be able to kind of see some of it, because, to be honest, on Third on Friday, after the homecoming concert, I went home and I watched it because I was like, we didn't really get a chance to, like, see, see it, so I went home and watched it.
[00:26:17] Speaker A: Yeah, of course. Amazing. That's so cool.
[00:26:20] Speaker B: So I could see what everyone else's performances looked like. I could hear him, but I couldn't see him. So it was great to be able to go back and watch some of the show and see what skits and who was popping up. And I mean, like, we had no idea. So it was, oh, it was so great.
[00:26:35] Speaker A: It was so enjoyable.
And so did you, on your way out, did you ever stay? It's like, miley, give me a call or, you know, SNL if you need me. You know, any inroads slave there? What do you think?
[00:26:46] Speaker B: I mean, I, I, you know, we definitely, you know, when we were saying goodbye, said, you know, please let us know. We would love to be considered for any. Anything that you have coming up in the future.
So, of course, I mean, you, you, that would be amazing.
An incredible dream come true, too. So, you know, would love that.
[00:27:08] Speaker A: Yeah. But, yeah, well, I, like I said on behalf of, like, you know, the whole EMG collective and the family, like, we're so happy for you and we're so proud and, like, you're one of us. You know what I mean? So, yeah, you were up there, and I have a colleague who has a company like ours in Europe, and his horn players were on the show as well with Paul McCartney and.
[00:27:31] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:27:32] Speaker A: And so it was cool to say, like, ah, your musicians are there and our musician is there. It's very, it was a, it was a very achievable moment. And so we're so happy and proud of you.
[00:27:43] Speaker B: Thank you so much. Yeah, no, it was an incredible experience and I'm so grateful for the opportunity. And here's hoping that that leads to more, More doors that open.
[00:27:57] Speaker A: Last question for you. You've got to give me your top three SNL cast members of all time.
[00:28:03] Speaker B: Okay. Of all time.
[00:28:06] Speaker A: Okay. All right. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Of your time. Because everybody has, like, the Cast that they, when they were younger, like, they broke in on. Right. So I'll just. From when you started watching until now, who are your top three cast members?
[00:28:18] Speaker B: Okay. Mine kind of spans, obviously. I'm going old school. Mike Myers.
[00:28:24] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:28:27] Speaker B: All time fan.
[00:28:28] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:28:28] Speaker B: Will Ferrell.
I mean, you can't not. And Molly Shannon.
And I saw Molly Shannon.
[00:28:35] Speaker A: She's all over that show.
[00:28:37] Speaker B: She was all over that show. And I saw her a couple of times in the hallways, in the elevator. We had seen each other randomly so many times, and I was just like, hey. By the end, she's like, hey, that's really cool.
[00:28:49] Speaker A: It's funny, you and I are about the same age and so our cast members, like, are the same. Right. When we were like kids and like breaking in on that. But what's so funny, I love Molly Shannon. Will Ferrell is like my all time favorite. I love Eddie Murphy, but that's not my era. Right. But. But Will Ferrell is my guy. But in that late, mid, late 90s, I always preferred Sherry O. Terry to Molly Shannon. And Sherry was nowhere to be seen. I know she was in the audience and stuff, but she, like, wasn't on the show. And I was like, oh, come on, I need a little Sherry. You know?
[00:29:18] Speaker B: I know. I know the skit that she did with, well, the cheerleaders was obviously nice. It was, Was perfect for me. I mean, yeah, yeah.
[00:29:26] Speaker A: I love our. Our audience that's listening to this because they have electricity Boulevard at their wedding or they're just interested in this.
The minute I started talking about late 90s cast members from SNL, Sherry Oteri, they've checked out. So I now know we have. It's. We've overstayed our welcome as, you know, as you and I are geeking out. Like, do you remember that skit from October of 97? You know?
[00:29:49] Speaker B: Well, I'll say my favorite new cast member or newer cast member is Bowen Yang. And definitely got to see Bowen a couple of times. Just passing through and yeah, yeah, he's like the coolest ever. And I love his podcast.
[00:30:03] Speaker A: Oh, my podcast.
[00:30:04] Speaker B: He's got a podcast with Matt Rogers and it's. It's delightful. Go.
[00:30:08] Speaker A: I love that. Well, I would if you haven't yet. And this is to you and also to anybody that's listening in. In the run up to the SNL 50th, Peacock put out like many different specials about it. Did you watch all of them? Of course. So did I. How good, how good was the music? One.
[00:30:26] Speaker B: Wait, I actually don't think I saw the music one, but I saw every other one except for that is the.
[00:30:30] Speaker A: Best one out of all of them. And I loved all of them. The music one is a two hour, two and a half hour. Like you have to go watch it. I mean, it's just like how impactful SNL music has been to, like, our pop culture. Like the very first televised hip hop performance was on snl, right?
[00:30:47] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:30:48] Speaker A: However, for anybody from EMG listening here, I'll tie this together. Performers, colleagues of ours or clients. The opening 5ish minutes of that, I'm going to look it up right now, see what it's called. But the opening five minutes of that SNL Music documentary, it takes 50 years of performances and it, it mashes them together the way that our DJs would. And this thing that it creates, like, I don't know, musically, I mean, they're spanning stuff from 1975 and 1995 and they're mixing the keys properly. It's incredible. It's an absolutely incredible thing and I would highly recommend it. I actually, after watching it on a lunch break here for the office staff, I called everybody in and I was like, okay, you need to come watch this. It was like assigned homework, but you need to check that out because that history you're now a part of.
[00:31:39] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:31:41] Speaker A: I love it.
[00:31:42] Speaker B: I love it too.
[00:31:43] Speaker A: Sydney, thank you so much for your time. We're going to put this together on the blog. We're going to put up all your great behind the scenes photos and everything that you do.
We really appreciate it and we hope that, or I hope the next time that you get called for us now because we're going to manifest that, yeah, you might find an audience ticket or two for me. You know what I'm saying?
[00:32:02] Speaker B: That would be amazing. Yeah. My mom was like, listen, listen, I'll.
[00:32:05] Speaker A: Bring your mom, I'll pick her up.
[00:32:07] Speaker B: I love that, honestly, you would have a great time with Mary Rose. But she was, she was very, she was beautiful. Very sad that there were no tickets available to either performance. I was like, I'm so. She's like, then I'm your mom. And I was like, I know.
[00:32:19] Speaker A: Did she tell all of her friends? Now does. She's like Lena, my daughter, she was, I love that.
[00:32:23] Speaker B: It's more like my dad can. He is. He thinks he's like an influencer on Facebook. Like he posts like at least four times a day. He's like, people count on me. And I was like, I'm sorry. I guess so. He was really promoting it. That's great.
[00:32:36] Speaker A: Well, until we meet again. Thank you so much. And we'll see everybody back here for another edition of the EMG podcast. Okay, bye.
[00:32:45] Speaker B: Bye.
[00:32:48] Speaker A: You can find
[email protected] or on Instagram again.
