Brian Funk

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Emmy Award Winning Songwriting Duo JP and Kat of Earworm Music - Music Production Podcast #335

Brian Funk

JP Rende and Kat Raio Rende are a husband and wife songwriting team and founders of Earworm Music. JP and Kat write and produce music for kids television, animation, film, and commercials. They won an Emmy for their song "Friends with a Penguin" sung by Billy Porter on Sesame Street. They've produced music for various shows including Gabby's Dollhouse, Baby Shark's Big Show, Barbie's Dreamhouse Adventure, and more.

JP and Kat shared details about their unique collaboration, allowing them time to work together and separately. They gave a glimpse into how the process of writing specifically for kids and how scripts, pitches, and deadlines all play a significant part in their work.

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Episode Transcript:

Brian Funk:
Hello everybody and welcome to the Music Production Podcast. I'm your host, Brian Funk. And on today's show, I have JP Rendy and Cat Rayo Rendy of Earworm Music and they do a lot of cool stuff. Congratulations, first of all, they just won an Emmy for the song, Friends With a Penguin that they wrote for Billy Porter. That was, what a catchy song and fun. Great job guys,

JP Rende:
Thank

Brian Funk:
congrats.

JP Rende:
you,

Kat Raio Rende:
Thanks.

JP Rende:
thank you, thank you.

Brian Funk:
They write for Sesame Street, Gabby's Dollhouse, Princess Power, Baby Shark's Big Show, Barbie's Dreamhouse Adventure. There's a long list of stuff they do. They do a lot of work for kids in animated TV and film commercials. I love the Charmin, Shiny Hiny song they have. That

Kat Raio Rende:
Ha

Brian Funk:
was

Kat Raio Rende:
ha

Brian Funk:
great.

Kat Raio Rende:
ha.

JP Rende:
Hahaha

Brian Funk:
A lot of fun. Kat, you've sang with Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Ray Charles. A lot of really impressive stuff. You guys are doing great work and it sounds like you're having fun. You've married your music and your lives together. So

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah.

Brian Funk:
it's a really unique combination and I'm very excited to talk to you guys. I had a lot of fun digging into your catalog a bit, getting ready for the show.

JP Rende:
Sweet, thank

Brian Funk:
Welcome.

JP Rende:
you.

Kat Raio Rende:
Thanks.

Brian Funk:
So, first of all, congratulations on the Emmy. That's great.

JP Rende:
Oh, thank you.

Brian Funk:
That must've

JP Rende:
Yeah,

Brian Funk:
been

JP Rende:
that

Brian Funk:
a real

JP Rende:
was

Brian Funk:
treat.

JP Rende:
really fun. That was a really fun night.

Kat Raio Rende:
That was a wild time.

JP Rende:
Yeah, we didn't think we were gonna win, honestly, because we've been nominated before and it's really a crap shoot. You never know. You really never know how the cards fall. And I remember the first time that we went out to the ceremony, maybe it's just a little bit of arrogance. Of course we got this. We got this.

Brian Funk:
Hehehe

Kat Raio Rende:
This is

JP Rende:
It's

Kat Raio Rende:
Sesame Street.

JP Rende:
a great song. Ah, we lost. And it felt so bad. It felt, you know, I'm gonna give it real. A lot of people are like, oh, it doesn't matter. It felt bad to lose. So when we got nominated again, we went out with like, hey, it's probably not gonna happen. Let's just have a great time. And we were up against a Ben Folds song. And it was a really good song. Like, Ben Folds, I don't know you, but I wanna know you and you're fantastic. It was called

Kat Raio Rende:
little things.

JP Rende:
The Little Things Charlie Brown. It was for Charlie Brown's special. So I

Brian Funk:
Oh

JP Rende:
was

Brian Funk:
wow.

JP Rende:
like, he's gonna win, it's all good. And then when Jojo Siwa called Friends With a Penguin, we were shocked. Like, full on that meme with Taylor Swift like this. We were totally shocked and it was a really fun thing. And you know, the song, as silly as it can come across on the surface, has a much deeper meaning about, you know, just say hi to somebody that's different than you and you can become friends and don't be afraid of anything that's dissimilar because that's how we learn from each other.

Brian Funk:
Is that the Emmy behind you, Kat? I see.

Kat Raio Rende:
I know, I was trying to cover it up because I don't want it to look like a douche. I'm sorry, I don't want it to look like a jerk, but

Brian Funk:
No, that's great.

Kat Raio Rende:
yeah.

Brian Funk:
You should

Kat Raio Rende:
So.

Brian Funk:
have that proudly displayed.

Kat Raio Rende:
Ah ha

Brian Funk:
Yeah,

Kat Raio Rende:
ha!

Brian Funk:
that's awesome.

JP Rende:
Yeah, sorry, I have one too. It's not in my studio. I gave it to my parents. And partially I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna look at that and become complacent. So I always gotta stay hungry, so.

Brian Funk:
Yeah, yeah, right. That's a big part of it. You know, you mentioned being silly. And this is like something I kind of wanted to talk to you guys about because there's, I think, a different mindset that goes into writing songs like this compared to like being an artist. You know what I mean? Like

Kat Raio Rende:
Yes.

Brian Funk:
a serious artist. So just to give you a sense of where I'm coming from with this. I have my serious artist side,

Kat Raio Rende:
Hehehe

Brian Funk:
where I write my songs and stuff. But a few years back with a friend of mine, we wrote songs kind of directed for kids with special needs, specifically autism, for social behavior stuff. And it's called social story songs. And that's something that's often used to help teach proper behavior in places, restaurants, how to interact with people. We had a song similar. to the concept of yours, the perfect greeting for who I'm meeting. So it just teaches

JP Rende:
Oh

Brian Funk:
you

Kat Raio Rende:
Yes!

Brian Funk:
how

JP Rende:
wow.

Brian Funk:
to say hello and stuff. But what I found with that was it was very liberating to write in that way where you didn't have to be so artistic about everything and so serious about it. I had a lot of fun with that. And I wanted to ask you guys a little bit about just that mindset and that way of writing and getting free to be silly with it a little bit and have fun with the songwriting process.

Kat Raio Rende:
That is the most fun that I think that you can possibly have, especially when it comes to like, I'm neurodivergent and like writing from that perspective and writing, there's like that is a really great, it's a really good place to come from, but also like a really great way to like get all of that out. You know, like you said, like being an artist, I started off as an artist and And it's just not as much fun. It's so much fun writing for like to be silly. And like, you know, there are some artists that do it now. And there's, especially for like, you know, they're for kids movies, but like the recent Barbie movie had a song by Lizzo that I thought was so funny. Like it started off as, I did not write it, but it was a song that was. the first time it came around, it was very serious and happy. And the second time around, it started getting panicked because Barbie was changing as a person. And,

JP Rende:
Poiler alert.

Kat Raio Rende:
spoiler alert, sorry. But it's so fun to write like that because like, as writing for kids and knowing their parents are also watching it, it's so fun to like, add adult content in it. Like, we wrote a song for Baby Shark's big show called call me Billiom and where Billiom, Baby Shark's best friend, was trying to be an adult and he said I'm not William now from now on call me Billiom and then the song is like this very serious like rap song and there was like a funny little I don't know if it's an Easter egg but for the adults where it's like I have a cute sign in my living room that says live splash love I'm Billiom it's like You can get to the parents, the silly side of the parents. It brings out the silly side of the parents too. And it's so fun to like add like, I love puns, adding

Brian Funk:
Uh...

Kat Raio Rende:
puns and I dream of fish puns. But it's so fun to add, I

JP Rende:
True

Kat Raio Rende:
do.

JP Rende:
story.

Kat Raio Rende:
I wake up in the middle of the night and like, JP, I'll be right back, I gotta go. Sometimes I'll like go hide

Brian Funk:
Thanks

Kat Raio Rende:
in

Brian Funk:
for

Kat Raio Rende:
the

Brian Funk:
watching!

Kat Raio Rende:
laundry room and just like write, you know, write things down or sing into the voice recorder. But. There's nothing like, I think of it as like neurodivergent writing, but it's just you get to write what you actually want to write, whereas everything else has to be in this like serious box and

Brian Funk:
Hmm.

Kat Raio Rende:
kids music you just do, like kids think like that and they enjoy it, so I really love it the most.

Brian Funk:
It's something I've taken to my artist side too. You know, playing in a band when we're trying to come up with music, a lot of times it does start out kind of silly and it's gibberish or blabbering or just placeholder lyrics. But being free enough to do that has opened the door to actually get into some of those other areas too. And I find

Kat Raio Rende:
Oh yeah.

Brian Funk:
it's something I encourage people to do is like. Don't be afraid to be silly. Don't be afraid to make bad music. And I try to remember that with myself because a lot of times things that might not seem like my masterpiece after I work on it for a little while starts to come together a little bit

Kat Raio Rende:
Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk:
when I'm not so judgmental about it.

Kat Raio Rende:
Oh, it'd be so nice to add that into it. Like Primus and Macklemore and Eminem and who else? There's some artists that really do it well.

Brian Funk:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
Harry Grip.

Kat Raio Rende:
Well, Perry Grip is a kid's artist, but

JP Rende:
Yeah, but

Kat Raio Rende:
he's

JP Rende:
he's

Kat Raio Rende:
like

JP Rende:
amazing.

Kat Raio Rende:
the king.

Brian Funk:
Yeah, and you mentioned too, I guess, the concept of just capturing ideas whenever you get them at the moment. So you're jumping out of bed. I think that's such a smart thing to do because I think they disappear so fast.

Kat Raio Rende:
I

JP Rende:
Yeah,

Kat Raio Rende:
mean,

JP Rende:
have

Kat Raio Rende:
sometimes,

JP Rende:
you, have you, oh sorry Kit.

Kat Raio Rende:
I was just gonna say sometimes, the whole song is there. Sometimes we'll read a brief when we get a song, and we will read a brief at night, or in the afternoon on a Sunday, and then wake up on a Sunday morning at two o'clock and be like, here, here's this, and there's the whole song. Or the main idea of the song usually comes in the middle of the night. And it's

JP Rende:
Yeah.

Kat Raio Rende:
so much fun because it's like you didn't write, I didn't, you know, like your subconscious writes it and you're like, that's a good idea, subconscious. Thank you.

Brian Funk:
Thanks for watching!

JP Rende:
Well, mine is sometimes I write the most amazing songs in my dreams and then like I wake up and they're fucking horrible. But in your dreams, like they're the greatest song ever. You're like, oh my God, I'm gonna

Brian Funk:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
change the world with this song and then you have all these accolades and people are singing your song and then you wake up and you hum a tune, you're like, what is that? So, but fortunately, cats middle of the night stuff is always.

Brian Funk:
Well, I think

Kat Raio Rende:
Most

Brian Funk:
it's

Kat Raio Rende:
of

Brian Funk:
important

Kat Raio Rende:
the time.

Brian Funk:
that you're comfortable with letting that stuff in. Even if it is, it turns out to be bad. Just let the music in or let it out, however you want to look at it. And

Kat Raio Rende:
You know what,

Brian Funk:
then

Kat Raio Rende:
writing,

Brian Funk:
later, judge.

Kat Raio Rende:
yeah, writing lyrics too. The way that I personally write lyrics is I'll write, and it goes for ideas in general. Even if you have really bad ideas, you kind of have to like. Expel them first so I'll write all the worst stuff and knowing it's not going to be possible knowing that like if you're writing for a specific character who's an octopus and you really need to change it, you know, it's and it's an octopus specific Line and it's definitely not going to work for them. You write it out anyway, and then Once you get all the bad, you know, once you get all the stuff that doesn't work out first, you know you have it like for some reason it just sticks in your brain until you let it, until you're like, okay, I'll give you some attention, you know, write it down, and now after that's done, the other stuff comes to mind for whatever reason. You know, you put your bad rhyme down, you put your... It's not like you have it as a placeholder either. You just literally have to like write it on a piece of paper, write it on a, you know, a Word document. And then... once you've given it the attention that it needed, it goes away and leaves room for other things, I think.

Brian Funk:
Last weekend we had a party at my house and it's like this thing we do once...

JP Rende:
Thanks for the invite, Brian.

Kat Raio Rende:
Hahaha!

Brian Funk:
Yeah, I'm

JP Rende:
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Brian Funk:
kind of sad because you guys aren't that far away.

Kat Raio Rende:
hehe

Brian Funk:
But we have just music outside, so we just set up drums and guitars

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah.

Brian Funk:
and stuff. And there's a lot of jamming that happens. And it's very spontaneous, but... Sometimes you want to try to develop it a little bit and you sing a little bit and you just sort of have to be okay with whatever fits whatever works and just get stuff out and Sometimes the thing that might even have felt silly or dumb in the beginning starts to actually make sense and work That and I think that freedom That you give yourself to be okay with that Is so important because then if then the good stuff can come out without getting kind of gate-kept, you know, before it had a chance.

JP Rende:
For sure. I think that you really hit the nail on the head is you can't be afraid to write shit. You can't, you know? And what that can do is you gotta get that bad stuff out of you before the good stuff can come. And self-judgment is...we all suffer from it many times. And I commend you for doing that at a party, because I know that like... even in our studios, Cat's studio's not far from mine, but when we're each kind of like messing around with stuff, we really don't want the other person hearing it, just because

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
it's not that they're gonna judge it. I think Cat knows the way that I write and I know the way she writes, but it's just the fact that I wanna be able to get out all the kinks that I'm feeling, and I feel as though that... there's a bit of a show-off-ness when somebody else is hearing it.

Brian Funk:
Right.

JP Rende:
We're professionals, right? So we have to conduct ourselves as quote unquote professionals, so it's like we play the wrong chord in front of somebody else and they're like, you know a six is a minor, right? But

Kat Raio Rende:
Ha ha

JP Rende:
you

Kat Raio Rende:
ha!

JP Rende:
mess up and you play a major and you're like, oh no, I didn't do that. But when you're by yourself and you don't judge, then fun stuff can happen. So.

Brian Funk:
Hmm.

JP Rende:
I do think it's important to not be afraid to just mess around and make it sound like crap because for all you know the next time that you go sit down and write, one little nugget of that crap session could make the song that you're working on now. Brilliant.

Kat Raio Rende:
Wanna hear something, JB? That I've never

JP Rende:
Short.

Kat Raio Rende:
told you? I mean, it's not whatever. But the reason why I don't like to hear, for you to hear what I'm doing is because I think you're gonna like it. And I'm like, I'm not, it's not done, it's not done. So I think that like, you know, my first thing tends to be pretty, depending

JP Rende:
Oh, here it

Kat Raio Rende:
on

JP Rende:
comes.

Kat Raio Rende:
where it's coming from.

JP Rende:
Here it comes. I

Kat Raio Rende:
What?

Brian Funk:
Thank you.

Kat Raio Rende:
What do you think I was gonna say?

JP Rende:
thought you were gonna say like, my first thing tends to be really, really good, but it's not good enough for me. So I don't... Ha ha

Kat Raio Rende:
No,

JP Rende:
ha.

Kat Raio Rende:
no, it just like, it's just like a rough thing. And sometimes it's like a little bit simple or something. Sometimes like, my memory is kind of, I can't always access it. And sometimes I'll write something that I'm like, oh, this might be close to something I've worked on before, or sometimes like something I've written before. And, or it's like, you know, it's like, for lack of a better term, it's like derivative of my own stuff, I guess? And so I'll be like, I can't do, I want to do something new on this. Like I want to change, like there was, there's, there was a song we were working on yesterday for Baby Shark's Big Show and it was like this wacky, like really out there, like chord change that didn't belong because two characters who don't get along were trying to, were finding out that they were friends. And um, it, I, It was really out there and I'm like, this part is good. I don't want him to hear that because it's not actually finished. But the other chords were like so much the same and the same and the same. So I knew the rhythm was good. I knew the production was good. It was really good. I knew that you were going to like it, Jay. But I knew there was more to go and I knew it was going to be like, keep it. And that's what happened.

JP Rende:
Yeah.

Kat Raio Rende:
And I was like, oh, but you know, we did end up keeping it. And usually when he says stuff like that, it is the right, it was the right thing to do. So that's something that like, we tend to kind of hear, when we hear it undone, the other person will, either JP will pair it down for me or I will do something on his tracks.

Brian Funk:
Right, nice. You know, it's interesting, you guys, your situation, right? Cause you are partners in the music and you're married too.

JP Rende:
Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk:
And it's often, those are often comparisons that are made when you're in a band. It's like being married to a couple of people or all these relationships. And so much happens, I mean, within a relationship, but then within a musical relationship, and sometimes they affect the other relationship, you know?

JP Rende:
Absolutely.

Brian Funk:
but it seems like you guys have figured out some ways to make that work. And one of the maybe interesting things that's going on right now for people that are watching, they might be able to tell, but you guys are in the same building, right? Same house,

Kat Raio Rende:
Oh yeah.

Brian Funk:
but

JP Rende:
Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk:
different spaces. You have your own separate space for that,

JP Rende:
100%.

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah.

Brian Funk:
for your work.

JP Rende:
We learned this a long time ago. We do our best work together, but when we're actually like in a co-writing session, we both tend to be a little bit headstrong on our ideas and sometimes that affects the music in a negative way. So we found that part of our process that really works is that if we get a brief for, you know, we get hired to do something is that we'll come together for a very short while and say, okay, what are we thinking here? Okay, I'm thinking X, Y, and Z, and I'm thinking, okay, that's cool. And we do the collaboration there before we even get to an instrument, anything. And then it's like, okay, once we kind of settle on, let's say, okay, we're gonna do an up tempo that kind of has like something that sounds like this, the kind of pantomime or sing something with a drum beat that's like, th

Kat Raio Rende:
Mm-hmm.

JP Rende:
I'll add stuff, she'll sing some ideas, I'll sing some ideas, and then before we know it, we have a cohesive track and song, but then Kat is the last person, not the last person to touch it, because I do the mixing, but the last creative, so once she's singing it, she could be like, hmm, you know what, this idea really wasn't good, and just be like, hey. Do you mind if I try this? And sometimes I'm like, yeah. And sometimes I'm like, no. No,

Kat Raio Rende:
Hehehehehehe

JP Rende:
you may not. You may do it exactly the way I did it because I like it. And then we fight, and then we fight some more, then we argue, then we realize that I'm wrong and she realizes that she's wrong. We find somewhere, sometimes it's in the middle and then sometimes it's like, you know what, Kat? You're absolutely right. And that's it. So that's our process. It's not the most...

Kat Raio Rende:
collaborative? No, it is

JP Rende:
No,

Kat Raio Rende:
collaborative.

JP Rende:
no, it's not the most cohesive, but I think that it helps us and it helps save our personal life as well, because in the very beginning, we would argue in the studio, before we were married, before we were even dating,

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
and then it'd be like, well, I don't wanna see you for a while, I'm mad

Brian Funk:
Mm-hmm.

JP Rende:
at you, whatever. So we found that within our professional life to kind of keep it there. And then, you know, once we go upstairs and we're with our kids, it's like, you know, we'll still talk about it and we'll still sing, but the kind of negotiations are over at that

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah,

JP Rende:
point.

Kat Raio Rende:
and it allows us to like show instead of tell. Like instead of being like, I want it to sound like X, Y, Z, and then they have their own idea of what it could be because it could be anything. Like we're trust. People trust us now, thank God. It allows us to show each other instead of having to tell them about it, which we'll never say. If you're like, I wanna marry these two styles that are crazy, the other person will be like, that's terrible. But if we have the right idea, it will end up working out. And also, on a side note, we're very serious, at least I am very serious about like, when work ends, we try not to talk about work. because if you're spending nearly all your time with someone, because don't forget, we go out with our friends and we go on dates and a lot of our time is spent together. We were like, okay, nine o'clock, I'm gonna go. and I'm gonna be on my room, you're gonna be on your room, and we can, you know, you have to knock before entering the whole thing. It has to be very separate so that the two of us can feel like we're not, like we're coming home from work or going

Brian Funk:
Mm-hmm.

Kat Raio Rende:
to work because it's, you know, just a staircase down instead of having to even leave the house, which is a wild

Brian Funk:
Right.

Kat Raio Rende:
thing.

Brian Funk:
Yeah. And it's hard enough on your own even to divide that kind of labor, especially when you're not clocking in

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah.

Brian Funk:
every

JP Rende:
Mmm.

Brian Funk:
day, or you have the kind of job where it follows you, where you can take the work home or, you know, you can think about your music all day long, all night long

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah.

Brian Funk:
to have those lines are really important.

JP Rende:
Well, what I find that's pretty awesome about our job is that we have deadlines. And deadlines, I think, are really, really important. Before we did this, you know, Cat was doing the artist thing, and I was doing the songwriter producer thing, and just writing songs and hoping people would buy them or pick them up and sing them or whatever, but there was no deadline. Like, I could take months on a song if I wanted to. And I feel as though that having deadlines helps us get fully involved in the project and then finishing it and on to the next one. And I find that helps creativity, creatively, for me at least, kind of be all in it and then boom, it's like a conveyor belt. It's off and the next one comes. So good, bad, or ugly, that project is at least until we either get feedback or whatever, is off the plate and we can kind of start fresh. So it's kind of like, I guess, is it Tiger Woods? I don't know, somebody's saying like, you can't, don't worry about the last shot you did, worry about the one you're doing now.

Kat Raio Rende:
Mm.

JP Rende:
And that's how I take the music.

Kat Raio Rende:
Especially pitching, because there's so much pitching involved. Even,

JP Rende:
Oh yeah.

Kat Raio Rende:
you know, we know all our peers who are at the top of their game still have to pitch.

JP Rende:
Yeah, I hate pitching.

Kat Raio Rende:
It's a wild thing.

JP Rende:
It's the worst.

Kat Raio Rende:
Like after you write it, it's none of your business. And you have to just like, that one's done.

JP Rende:
Mm-hmm.

Kat Raio Rende:
No matter what it does.

Brian Funk:
Can you take us through the process of a project, a song? You know, you mentioned a pitch, a brief, then the deadline, of course.

JP Rende:
Sure.

Brian Funk:
What does that look like and what is the general timeframe? Or maybe it depends on the project.

JP Rende:
It really depends on the project, really. Like we also work on jingles, and sometimes that's 24 hours. So something will come in, and like the Charmin, for instance, hey, and you know, we're gonna do these toilet songs. And a

Brian Funk:
Thanks

JP Rende:
lot

Brian Funk:
for watching!

JP Rende:
of times when it comes to jingles, the lyrics are already written, so we just kind of gotta make something out of it. But let me give you a, like in the... television world is a brief will come in. Well, do you want a pitch? They're very similar. Do you want a pitch or let's say we have the job and we're just working on the brief?

Brian Funk:
Can you do both? Cause

JP Rende:
Sure.

Brian Funk:
that

JP Rende:
They're

Brian Funk:
sounds

JP Rende:
very,

Brian Funk:
pretty

JP Rende:
very similar,

Brian Funk:
interesting.

JP Rende:
whereas,

Brian Funk:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
well, I'll do a pitch first. So we'll get an email from a network that, let's say Disney, we were just, got one last week. And it'll say, okay, here's the premise of the show, we're looking for a theme song, it's gotta be within 30 seconds to a minute long, it has to incorporate the kind of premise, sometimes they'll say we want the name of the show within the song, sometimes they will say we don't want the name of the show in the song, then they will give us references. And this is where,

Kat Raio Rende:
Hmm

JP Rende:
you know, I really dislike pitching is because the references are so bizarre sometimes and they don't make any sense. And I understand where they're coming from because I think that, you know, in a perfect world, it would be like, oh my God, we're gonna have like, you know, a Dua Lipa beat with a ska, you know, horn section, and then what we're gonna do is like, you know that like, really cool filtered guitar that Third Eye Blind used on their second record? We wanna have that in there with like, lyrics like Lizzo. Now, it sounds awesome, but it's nearly impossible to do.

Brian Funk:
Right.

JP Rende:
And sometimes people... people hit it, you know, but.

Kat Raio Rende:
I am gonna interrupt and just say that like, and sometimes the references, as they are for anyone are subjective. So like what

Brian Funk:
Hmm.

Kat Raio Rende:
I, as the show runner, might like about a specific song, might be different than what you might like. And so they'll be like, we really like this song. And sometimes they'll describe why they like it in an effort to really pinpoint it down. But sometimes you have to like, you know, especially if it's a very popular song, sometimes you have to be like, oh, that just means they want high energy.

Brian Funk:
Hmm.

Kat Raio Rende:
or like, you know, shake it off has been

JP Rende:
Oh, Cat,

Kat Raio Rende:
the

JP Rende:
I

Kat Raio Rende:
thing,

JP Rende:
was just about

Kat Raio Rende:
right?

JP Rende:
to play a game

Kat Raio Rende:
Or like,

JP Rende:
with you. I was like,

Kat Raio Rende:
Iconopop,

JP Rende:
all right, the

Kat Raio Rende:
shake

JP Rende:
first

Kat Raio Rende:
it off,

JP Rende:
song

Kat Raio Rende:
happy.

JP Rende:
that everybody always asks, I was gonna go one, two, three, and we were both gonna say

Kat Raio Rende:
Shake

JP Rende:
Shake

Kat Raio Rende:
it off.

JP Rende:
It Off. They love Shake It Off. They love that boom. Boom.

Brian Funk:
Right.

JP Rende:
Love

Kat Raio Rende:
Or

JP Rende:
it.

Kat Raio Rende:
like, and other times, the references are so, not obscure per se, but like so indie or so dark, which generally like doesn't work for kids stuff. And then the end product is never as indie or dark. It's just that like sometimes, and this is no disrespect to the showrunner, they don't want it to be dark or indie. They want it to have the show to have substance. I mean the song to have substance of some sort and so maybe you know that's how you're interpreting the fact that they have this like, you know, very slow song with very things that are very like off Inappropriate for a kid's song sometimes like and we only know this because we do it so much that that's not necessarily what they want They want a little bit of like a deeper vibe. That's

JP Rende:
Yeah,

Kat Raio Rende:
that's usually about it

JP Rende:
I think interpreting briefs is an art form in itself.

Brian Funk:
Hmm.

JP Rende:
Because again, it's not, you know, the showrunners and the network, they're not trying to make our life difficult. They're trying to get the best piece of music that, you know, conveys their idea of the show. And it's our job to kind of say, yeah, I get what you're saying, but I don't think that's exactly what you mean. Like Kat's saying. And sometimes it is, and a lot of times, you gotta just take a shot, and you gotta say, well, I don't know if they're really feeling it. I don't know if what they're asking for works. And again, sometimes we're right, and we'll win, and be like, okay, we had an instinct on what I think works for the show, and sometimes we're clearly wrong, and that's okay. I mean, that's all part of it, and I think that's where. the creativity lies within this kind of work is that we do have the freedom to choose or not to choose,

Kat Raio Rende:
Mm.

Brian Funk:
Mm-hmm.

JP Rende:
where otherwise we're just, you know.

Kat Raio Rende:
gonna be killed by AI.

JP Rende:
We're just cranking product down a conveyor belt, like just building cars, we're not. So we're able to kind of put our spin in what we do within those briefs. And again, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, and that's just part of it.

Brian Funk:
So yeah, a lot of decoding. That happens in bands too. That happens

Kat Raio Rende:
Definitely.

Brian Funk:
especially when you're talking with people that aren't musicians. They'll say very abstract things.

JP Rende:
Well,

Kat Raio Rende:
Oh.

JP Rende:
that's one of the most difficult things is when we're getting feedback from non-musical people and they will always say, listen, I don't know music at all. And so anytime they'd be like, I'm like, okay, here it comes. And then it's just like, yeah, you're right. You don't know music at all. And

Kat Raio Rende:
Oh

JP Rende:
that, you know, but, you know, it's always really great when you're working with. a network that has a point music person because they're able to filter all the awesome ideas that's coming from the non-musical people and say, okay, I get it. I get what you want and I'm going to speak to the composers the way that I can convey that. So that's awesome.

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah, it's very different working from a new show in a big network than a, you know, even a big show that's going to network or that is being developed. We really like working with new shows too.

Brian Funk:
Right, because you can craft that identity a

Kat Raio Rende:
Oh

Brian Funk:
bit,

Kat Raio Rende:
yeah.

Brian Funk:
I guess.

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah, there's

JP Rende:
Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk:
Rather

Kat Raio Rende:
a little

Brian Funk:
than

Kat Raio Rende:
bit

Brian Funk:
trying

Kat Raio Rende:
more

Brian Funk:
to

Kat Raio Rende:
interpreting,

Brian Funk:
fit into it.

Kat Raio Rende:
but

Brian Funk:
Yeah.

Kat Raio Rende:
it's worth it.

Brian Funk:
Right.

JP Rende:
Definitely.

Brian Funk:
So that's a pitch. And

JP Rende:
Yeah.

Brian Funk:
that would mean basically you don't have the job yet.

JP Rende:
Oh no,

Brian Funk:
So they're kind of fishing around.

JP Rende:
that's the worst part about it. Again, I don't wanna be negative, but it's really, it's hard because you're putting all your effort into it. And again, actors have the same thing when they go on

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
the audition.

Brian Funk:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
This is part of the job and nobody likes it, but you can get... a real kind of sense of pride when you're able to crack that code and be like, look,

Kat Raio Rende:
Hehehe

JP Rende:
we gave you this and you love it and it works and it works on, you know, for the whole tone of the music of the series. So we really love that.

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah, and a lot of times, sorry, a lot of times, if you've already had something that you really like that you could maybe reuse from something else, then you also have an opportunity to kind of like, I don't know how it is for you, but generally, we do this for a living and we really enjoy what we do as a job, but sometimes we have these other musical ideas that are. that we wouldn't maybe play with on our own, you know, if we have something or like if we just have the time to do a pitch, sometimes we'll do something really crazy and really out there just because like it's just another way to like flesh out what some idea that you that you have and a lot of times that works that does work because sometimes if you're getting five songs or more you're just going to pick something that jumps out to you.

JP Rende:
Yeah.

Kat Raio Rende:
And so a lot of times that's what works.

JP Rende:
Yeah, and now the...

Kat Raio Rende:
Assignzons?

JP Rende:
Assigned songs, thank you very much. Very, very similar except the pressure is kind of off because you know you have the job, but you know that there's always gonna be notes, there's always gonna be feedback. And sometimes it's great, actually I found that a lot of times the notes that come back are like, spot on, we're like, yes, I get that. Yes, our chorus takes too long to come in or this lyric just isn't really fitting, beautiful. But I do like the fact that we know we're gonna get a second shot. And a lot of times in pitching you don't get a second shot. It's like, yes, no. You've

Brian Funk:
Mm-hmm.

JP Rende:
done all the work, put all your heart and soul into this song, and then it's just like, sometimes it works for them, sometimes it doesn't. It really has nothing to do with your ability. It has nothing to do with that your music isn't good. It just wasn't working for, or what they, it just wasn't what... they had in mind and that's fine. But when you're assigned a song, if you do deliver something that isn't exactly what they have in mind, you get other chances to kind of revise it and kind of, I guess it becomes another collaborative process then with the network. And I think that's always, I love collaborating. So I find that it's kind of fun to collaborate with people that don't necessarily do exactly what you do.

Kat Raio Rende:
Mm.

JP Rende:
especially with script writers, collaborating with them is so much fun. Like Kat said, showrunners, which most of the time are also script writers. So yeah, it's a lot of fun.

Brian Funk:
How much time do you generally have to

Kat Raio Rende:
Hehehe

Brian Funk:
work on a song?

JP Rende:
Um, okay. So pitches and assigned songs are roughly about a week. You get about a week

Kat Raio Rende:
depending

JP Rende:
to

Kat Raio Rende:
on

JP Rende:
do

Kat Raio Rende:
what

JP Rende:
it.

Kat Raio Rende:
kind

JP Rende:
Depend,

Kat Raio Rende:
of a song

JP Rende:
depending

Kat Raio Rende:
it is

JP Rende:
on sometimes,

Kat Raio Rende:
and how

JP Rende:
you

Kat Raio Rende:
big

JP Rende:
know,

Kat Raio Rende:
it

JP Rende:
we've,

Kat Raio Rende:
is.

JP Rende:
we've been known to be the, the team that gets called on the ninth hour where

Kat Raio Rende:
Thanks for watching.

JP Rende:
they've gone through so many different like rounds and they're like, okay, JP and Kat, sadly, you have two days. Can you

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
do it? And we're always like, yes, yes. And, and that kind of like. puts a little pep in our step, because we're like, all right, let's get down to business. But generally, for television, it's usually about a week, sometimes two. That's with songs. Now with underscore, because we also do a lot of that, how that goes is we will get a animatic. which is basically like a storyboard and it'll be a couple scenes. Sometimes it's a whole episode and that's nuts, but most likely it's a few scenes, so there'll be like a real action scene, a kind of sentimental scene, maybe a comedic scene, and they're not gonna spot you. You're just gonna go for what you think is best for that. Now that's a... also a very, very tough ask because usually when we're spotting, when we're working on a show, the director is spotting us. So what that means is music spotting for those who don't know, we will watch the show or movie together and they'll say, okay, at time code. whatever, I need something, I need a hit here. So he's gonna open a door and slam it, so within the music I need to hear that. And then what I want you to do right after that, there's gonna be something lurking around the corner in a few seconds, so I want you to start giving me something that's a little bit foreboding, you know. And that's

Kat Raio Rende:
Thanks for watching.

JP Rende:
beautiful because they're telling you what they want. But then where the art comes in is like foreboding can mean a lot of different things. And depending on the project that you're working on, especially if you're doing animation, it can't sound like, you know, the inception soundtrack.

Kat Raio Rende:
Hehehehe

JP Rende:
It can't be the most like wildly dark thing. I don't care if there's a monster coming out. The

Brian Funk:
Alright.

JP Rende:
monster is gonna look like a silly little nothing. You can't have like real, or sometimes you can, but in my experience, they'll say things like foreboding or peril, but you gotta kind of read the room, as they say, like it's for children,

Brian Funk:
Right?

JP Rende:
a lot of times.

Kat Raio Rende:
That's interesting about the underscoring is like you're giving, you're kind of giving children the, when it comes to doing for children, you're giving them the emotion that's not being said, especially if it's one that's a little bit like higher level than they know. Like a lot of times we'll write, we'll write, there have been episodes of like Tab Time on YouTube where she gets into serious, Tab Time has Tab at the Brown. and she gets into serious concepts like death and separation

JP Rende:
Yeah.

Kat Raio Rende:
and when, and Sesame Street too, and when you write underscore or music for them, you're empathizing with the feelings that they can't put into words yet just developmentally. And it's nice because if you can't say it because it's just something that they just don't get it. you're still giving them something musically that they can feel. And that really helps, I think.

JP Rende:
Definitely.

Brian Funk:
Right, guiding them through the feelings.

JP Rende:
Yeah, and it's really nice to, as our company grows earworm, to be able to wear the different hats. I mean, we love writing songs. Like we started as song people and I think we'll always be song people first. But as the years progressed and we started doing more underscoring and sound design and it's just, that's a fun, fun job

Brian Funk:
Hmm.

JP Rende:
because

Kat Raio Rende:
Mm.

JP Rende:
you, like, You are building the tone of the whole show.

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
And like one of our really good friends and collaborators, P.T. Walkley, who is the main music guy for Gabby's Dollhouse and also Blue's Clues and You, his sound is just so amazing. And you can always tell when it's a P.T. cue or song and he created that sound for that show. And whenever we're lucky enough to be involved, what we're doing is bringing our sensibilities, but knowing that it's PT's world. So we have to be in that world. So that's a big responsibility on both parties, whether you're additional composer, which is what we are for Gabby's, or main composer, because it's, again, it's your world that you're creating. And... That's the most fun part when you're working on a show from the ground up, is that you're really helping shape the sound of the show.

Kat Raio Rende:
Mm.

Brian Funk:
Right, right. Yeah, very delicate thing. There's a video on YouTube I show my sampling class. Mrs. Doubtfire recast as a horror film,

JP Rende:
Oh

Brian Funk:
recut

JP Rende:
my

Brian Funk:
as

JP Rende:
god,

Brian Funk:
a horror film

JP Rende:
I

Brian Funk:
as

JP Rende:
love

Brian Funk:
a trailer.

JP Rende:
it.

Kat Raio Rende:
Oh yeah!

JP Rende:
I love it.

Brian Funk:
It's

JP Rende:
I

Brian Funk:
hysterical

JP Rende:
love that.

Brian Funk:
because Mrs. Doubtfire, fun loving family film, you change the music a little bit and it gets stalker, creepy vibes, you know, and it real

JP Rende:
100%.

Brian Funk:
fast becomes...

Kat Raio Rende:
That's

JP Rende:
100%,

Kat Raio Rende:
like a perfect

JP Rende:
and I love that.

Kat Raio Rende:
example.

JP Rende:
I love that because, you know, now that we're in a new time, I don't know if Mrs. Doubtfire would play well in this. It is a bit creepy, you

Kat Raio Rende:
Totally

JP Rende:
know,

Kat Raio Rende:
creepy.

JP Rende:
like a dad dressing up like an old woman just to see his kids because his wife doesn't want him. Like, it could be a horror movie.

Brian Funk:
Yeah, it's delicate.

JP Rende:
Actually, I think it would be a fucking amazing horror movie.

Kat Raio Rende:
Hehehehe

JP Rende:
Heh heh heh.

Brian Funk:
Yeah, it doesn't take much to change that. So it's a great example of how important the vibe and tone is.

Kat Raio Rende:
Definitely.

Brian Funk:
And

JP Rende:
Definitely.

Brian Funk:
I can only imagine, especially working with films and TV shows for kids, that's so important.

JP Rende:
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I would say, you know... B. The, I guess, kids and family kind of space that we find ourselves in most of the time, not all the time, but most of the time, it kind of has a really wide spectrum of stuff, and I love it. I really do love it, because we can be as silly sometimes and as serious, just like Cat was saying with Tab Time. We did just do an episode on death. where there is a song that we didn't write, but we had to produce and then do the underscore. And it's a real heartfelt song about missing somebody and it's important. So it's like, just because it lands in the kids and family space, doesn't mean that there isn't a depth there as well. So I think it's a great space to be in.

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah, I think the depth comes from honoring what you're talking about. And that goes with like, not only the concepts, but like. like if we're doing like a celebrity song, also honoring their own their own styles. Like I think people would I think when you have a celebrity on a show and you're writing something that's not really that their style of song, it's it just doesn't come off even to the kids as authentic because they're like I listen to you know Cardi B or I listen to the Jones Brothers and that's not their style. So like. like when we did a song for Cardi B on Baby Shark's big show called Seaweed Sway, like it was a big task to write for her, first of all, on the show at all, like her being who she is, and like her being like on a bash, like I'm gonna say what I want, I'm gonna do what I want, and having like the hair history of like WAP and all that, it's like that stuff, to put her in this space could be just like a big. a big flop because if you wrote something that was childish for her or in the wrong genre but we had to make sure and same thing with Billy Porter. We had to make sure that the production that we did that was not by her producers or Billy Porter's producers, the production that we did for her or him was their style of production and even embodying and trying to empathize with their own writing style or their own... Lyric style or their own melodies is a big deal like you have to be authentic for kids in every single way like even there was a we did like a we did like a Hanukkah song once and a lot of the song like we my stepfather's Jewish and We've celebrated Hanukkah number of times, especially when our kids were born But like a lot of times the Hanukkah songs are like, we are celebrating Hanukkah and we're gonna put a mammonora. And like everything is so like, like you're talking at kids instead of coming from like a place of empathy. And so we wrote this really fun song. What was the name of the song?

JP Rende:
uh... a fish devil of lights

Kat Raio Rende:
Okay,

JP Rende:
because

Kat Raio Rende:
the

JP Rende:
of

Kat Raio Rende:
title,

JP Rende:
the

Brian Funk:
Hehehe

Kat Raio Rende:
the title notwithstanding, the song had to be like a

JP Rende:
I

Kat Raio Rende:
hey.

JP Rende:
don't think we wrote, I actually think that when we were assigned that song, they wanted it to be called that. I don't think we came up with that

Kat Raio Rende:
Oh yeah,

JP Rende:
title.

Kat Raio Rende:
we did not.

JP Rende:
No. I don't

Kat Raio Rende:
We

JP Rende:
think

Kat Raio Rende:
did not.

JP Rende:
we wrote that song.

Kat Raio Rende:
But, um, but, um, the song was from like a, hey, we've all been celebrating this and you can learn from us, but we're gonna tell you what it's, you know, we're not gonna tell you as a person who doesn't know anything about it, because if you celebrate Hanukkah, like, you know all that stuff. And

Brian Funk:
Mm-hmm.

Kat Raio Rende:
you learn, a lot of times I think that at least our kids like learn more not by talking at them, but talking about it in conversation, like, oh, this is what we're doing. And they pick up better when they feel like you're talking about something in a connected way versus like talking at them.

JP Rende:
Yeah, and actually, just to jump in, do you remember how when we first started Friends with a Penguin? This is a cool story. So we did our normal, like, hey, Billy Porter, cool. And with Sesame Street, we don't write the lyrics, we just write the music. So we got these lyrics, and again, on face value, it's like, what the hell is this? You know, but then you start to read into them and then you read the scripts and you're like, oh, okay, I get it. And I remember I was like, I got this, Cat. So I went into the studio and I started writing something and it was good, but it was not Billy Porter's, like it was not his sound at all. And I was like, yeah, but he could sing this and it would sound good doing it. Cat's like, yeah, that's true, but like Billy Porter is like larger than life.

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
So then she was like, all right, now I got this. So then I was like, okay, you're the boss. She took it and started adding the strings and the real fun things, and then that kind of inspired me. And we kind of went, it was a real cool collaborative effort, but if Cat didn't stop me from, I think it sounded, I think it started to sound like an Andy Grammer song, which is fine, like, and. Definitely Billy Porter's such a wonderful singer. He could do it, but is that Billy Porter? Absolutely not. And then when the video and he was wearing that awesome gown, it was just so cool. And that was Kat telling me to like, whoa, steady boy. You got it. You.

Brian Funk:
I think it's awesome that you guys do that. It must be such a fun creative challenge as well.

Kat Raio Rende:
It's definitely better than other jobs we could have had. Huh.

Brian Funk:
Right.

JP Rende:
Yeah, I always joke that like when, you know, I might have, you know, I would have to learn how to make a really cool cup of coffee at Starbucks, you know, if anything happened with this, because, you know, we just love it so much and we've just devoted so much of our time and energy into it and don't want to do anything else.

Brian Funk:
It's fantastic. You guys have had so much success with it. Great. Follow your dreams story, you know? And

JP Rende:
Definitely,

Brian Funk:
it's

JP Rende:
definitely.

Brian Funk:
really...

JP Rende:
And again, we're always learning and we're always trying to get better. By no means do I think that we are finished products. I think that we are work in progress. And, you know, like right now, it's a slow time for us with the rider strike and the sag strike and networks kind of cutting back. So... what we're doing is we're utilizing this time to kind of hone in our craft and always stay relevant. And just, it's a great time to kind of check where you're at and kind of project where you wanna be. And that's kind of part of the reason that like my Emmy I gave to my parents, cause I don't wanna look at that every day and just

Kat Raio Rende:
Hehehe

JP Rende:
be like, see, look what I accomplished, you know? It was a great accomplishment and I'm very proud of that, but I'm also looking to the future on the other wonderful projects that we will be involved in.

Kat Raio Rende:
And we are involved with. We have a number of projects. I don't know, can we talk about the, no, thank you. I was like,

JP Rende:
No, no, unfortunately we can't because,

Kat Raio Rende:
I just get to like, how do

JP Rende:
yeah.

Kat Raio Rende:
I do this?

JP Rende:
I mean, yeah, I'll tell, I can tell you, Brian, just don't put this in. We're gonna do the Baby Shark live show. We're gonna, we were hired to do the music for a live stage performance, but I don't know

Brian Funk:
Oh

JP Rende:
if

Brian Funk:
cool.

JP Rende:
it's been, I don't know if it's been announced or anything, so yeah.

Kat Raio Rende:
I was talking about the other

JP Rende:
What

Kat Raio Rende:
project.

JP Rende:
Barbie?

Kat Raio Rende:
No, 80.

JP Rende:
Oh, you know what? Actually, I wanna come back on your show, dude.

Kat Raio Rende:
haha

JP Rende:
I think this is

Brian Funk:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
awesome. We will talk about some of these other projects as well as they come out. This one is one that we're developing on our own. But no, it's not ready to be discussed yet.

Brian Funk:
Okay. Well, cool. We'll do a little wrap up then and then I'll trim this to fit nice. You guys have such a cool partnership both musically and as far as life goes. Earwormny.com is the website. Is there anywhere else you'd like to send people to check out your work?

JP Rende:
I believe my Insta is, my Instagram is also EarwormNY.

Brian Funk:
Mm-hmm.

JP Rende:
Is that correct, Kat? All

Kat Raio Rende:
Yep, AeroWorm

JP Rende:
right,

Kat Raio Rende:
NY.

JP Rende:
cool. EarwormNY.

Brian Funk:
Nice.

JP Rende:
I did have a TikTok for a minute

Brian Funk:
Thank you.

JP Rende:
and I was doing not music. I thought that I was gonna be the new Dave Portnoy of Serial, because

Kat Raio Rende:
I'm

JP Rende:
I love Serial. So

Kat Raio Rende:
sorry.

JP Rende:
I called myself the Serial Slayer. I think I stopped, I did a few things. So like, I would buy these like, junk cereals and I would be like, wow, cereal, and I would taste them and I would review them. But I haven't done that in a long time. And

Kat Raio Rende:
No, but you're very serious about cereal.

JP Rende:
I'm very serious about cereal. I love cereal. But I remember Kat, you know, this is part of our personal life. She's like, you know, maybe you should, you know, lay off on doing those reviews, you know?

Kat Raio Rende:
Okay,

JP Rende:
And I'm like.

Kat Raio Rende:
wait, no, my thing about it was not that part. It was the fact that we were opening a full box of cereal every, like every day, and it was always like junk cereal, but also like that we were wasting like the milk in the cereal because you can't eat that much cereal.

JP Rende:
Oh yeah, that was the whole stick. It was like, how

Kat Raio Rende:
Do you know

JP Rende:
fun

Kat Raio Rende:
how big his bowl was?

JP Rende:
would, it wouldn't be fun to just pour regular, so I would, I took a salad bowl, poured the entire box in,

Kat Raio Rende:
I'm gonna

JP Rende:
took

Kat Raio Rende:
go.

JP Rende:
all the milk, because

Brian Funk:
Right.

JP Rende:
it was the visual, like, you know, but

Brian Funk:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
yeah, turns out that having a successful YouTube channel or TikTok account or any sort of food review, it's very difficult. It's not as easy as it looks, as obviously you know with your show.

Brian Funk:
Well, maybe it's like a song title you can bank for later. Serious about cereal.

JP Rende:
Serious About Cereal,

Brian Funk:
All

JP Rende:
I

Brian Funk:
right,

JP Rende:
love

Brian Funk:
come

JP Rende:
that.

Brian Funk:
up.

JP Rende:
That's actually really good. That would

Brian Funk:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
be like a really fun, like just kids song. Cause like we write a lot of songs around the house with our kids all the time.

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah.

Brian Funk:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
And I don't even want to call it writing because it's just stream of consciousness and it's just so much fun. And sometimes, actually we were going upstate this weekend, just Kat and I, and we were talking about that. I would really love to be part of a project where we could just come up with stream of consciousness songs and not have to worry about like production value or anything, it could just be like, just silly, silly stuff that just, you know, kind of makes you giggle. Like, I don't know who wrote, there was a show on Nickelodeon many years ago called Sanjay and Craig. I've never really

Brian Funk:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
watched the show, but I remember hearing the theme song and it was just like, Sanjay and Craig. They're in the best friends hall of fame. Sanjay, hey Craig. There is no best friends hall of fame. They lied, we made it up or something.

Kat Raio Rende:
I'm gonna go.

JP Rende:
And it was just the

Brian Funk:
Thanks for watching.

JP Rende:
most absurd thing. And again, the song itself is very catchy. I'm still singing it, but I don't remember it having to like, it wasn't like super slick production. It was just funny. So like

Brian Funk:
Right.

JP Rende:
out there, anybody wants really silly songs that just have. stream of consciousness, things, we are your people.

Brian Funk:
I love it.

Kat Raio Rende:
Sounds like a TikTok channel, Jade. Just saying.

JP Rende:
No, can't do it, can't do it.

Brian Funk:
Too much cereal in a bowl.

JP Rende:
too much cereal in a bowl.

Brian Funk:
You gotta make your choices. But hey, I know we're running late here, so we'll wrap it up. It was really awesome talking to you guys. JP Rendy and KatReyo Rendy. Check out EarwormNY.com. So much fun music on there. And congratulations on the Emmy.

JP Rende:
Thank you.

Brian Funk:
And I wish you all the best of luck, and hopefully we'll get to chat again soon.

JP Rende:
Definitely.

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah.

JP Rende:
And next time, if you're ever playing live, we'd love to come and see you.

Kat Raio Rende:
Yeah.

Brian Funk:
Yeah, same. Yeah, we're not too far apart. So that'd

Kat Raio Rende:
Thanks.

Brian Funk:
be cool.

Kat Raio Rende:
Where are you?

Brian Funk:
Long Island.

Kat Raio Rende:
Wow, that's not

Brian Funk:
Yeah,

Kat Raio Rende:
far at all. Cool.

Brian Funk:
no, not at all. Cool.

JP Rende:
Awesome.

Brian Funk:
Thank you guys and thank you,

JP Rende:
Thanks man.

Brian Funk:
everyone, for listening.

JP Rende:
Be good.

Kat Raio Rende:
Thank you.