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Unfamous with Justin Tranter: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Justin Tranter + Morgan Stuart
Most of what you love in pop culture didn't happen the way you think it did. Unfamous, hosted by Grammy-nominated songwriter Justin Tranter, reveals how creative work actually gets made. Each episode pairs a celebrity with the collaborator behind their biggest moments in music, comedy, film, and entertainment. You get honest stories, real insight, and a practical blueprint for building a creative career.
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- 3 days ago59 min
The Temper Trap Tried to Recreate “Sweet Disposition.” Here’s What Happened.
“Sweet Disposition” started with someone practicing scales in a tiny rehearsal room. The music came together almost immediately. The lyrics were finished the next day. In this episode of Unfamous, The Temper Trap join Justin Tranter to break down how one of their most enduring songs was actually written — and what happened after something created almost entirely on instinct became the song everyone wanted them to recreate. They talk about reaching a point where, after nearly 15 years of writing, recording and touring, they were spent — creatively, relationally, all of it — and what happened after time apart gave them the opportunity to get back into a room together with no expectations. Within the first hour, they felt a spark again. The band also gets into what more than two decades of making music, stepping away and finding their way back to the collaboration has taught them about ego, compromise, resentment and trust, including the early “Temper Trap manifesto” that still shapes how they think about the work: it doesn’t matter who comes up with the part. It matters whether it’s the best part for the song. It’s a conversation about writing a great song — but even more about what it takes to return to a creative partnership with enough perspective to make something new. Chapters: 0:00 Preview: “Sweet Disposition,” Burnout & the Spark 0:38 Meet The Temper Trap 5:49 Why Being in a Band Is the Ultimate Collaboration 9:01 When a Song Keeps Refusing to Be Finished 9:53 How “Sweet Disposition” Was Written 14:38 Can You Recreate Your Biggest Hit? 16:59 When “Sweet Disposition” Found a New Generation 21:09 What Happens When a Band Runs Out of Fuel? 23:40 What Actually Brought The Temper Trap Back 26:25 How a Solo Song Became a Temper Trap Song 28:38 Compromise, Ego and the Creative Marriage 32:25 Serve the Song, Not Your Ego 33:38 The Temper Trap Manifesto 34:36 Does Great Art Need Conflict? 38:37 From Retail Jobs to Starting The Temper Trap 43:56 The 10-Hour Drives That Built the Band 46:44 The Songs That Made Them Want to Be Musicians 54:03 What They’d Tell Their Younger Selves 56:33 The Skill That Matters Beyond Talent Credits: Unfamous is hosted by Justin Tranter Created by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Produced by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Written & Researched by Morgan T. Stuart Director: Morgan T. Stuart Co-Director + Cinematographer: Olivia McCrary Audio Engineer: Mike Sabri Camera Assistant: Kolbi Samantha Special thanks to Mark Beavan, Jimmy Knehans, and Lily Golightly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 1 weeks ago26 min
Paul McCartney Took 100% of the Publishing. Here’s Why.
Paul McCartney can love your version of his song and still take 100% of the publishing. So how does any of this actually work? In this Unfamous recap, co-creators Justin Tranter and Morgan Stuart revisit the biggest lessons from producer Bongo ByTheWay and songwriter/artist Ant Clemons, starting with Ant’s Paul McCartney story and a breakdown of the difference between samples and interpolations, when borrowing something familiar can increase a song’s chances of connecting, and when the publishing cost may no longer be worth it. Then the conversation gets into the less-visible mechanics behind great creative work: why producing is as much about managing personalities as operating a computer, how Justin uses who / what / where / when / why to map lyrics, the melodic math he used while writing Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” and Justin Bieber’s “Sorry,” and why Bongo and Ant believe artist development still matters, from songwriting and performance to having a creative identity strong enough to survive success. Chapters 0:00 Paul McCartney, Producer Psychology & the Rules Behind Hits0:42 Why the Behind-the-Scenes Creators Connected 1:52 Paul McCartney Took 100% of the Publishing 3:24 Sample vs. Interpolation: What You’re Actually Paying For 5:32 When Should You Kill an Interpolation? 7:46 The Producer’s Job Is Emotional, Too 11:58 The Song Map: Who, What, Where, When, Why 14:22 Why Structure Creates More Creative Freedom 15:22 The Melodic Math Behind “Good Luck, Babe!” and “Sorry” 19:26 What Music Is Missing: Artist Development 21:22 Singer-Songwriters Need Development Too 23:33 How Do You Prepare an Artist for Success? Credits Unfamous is hosted by Justin Tranter Created by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Produced by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Written & Researched by Morgan T. Stuart Director: Morgan T. Stuart Co-Director + Cinematographer: Olivia McCrary Audio Engineer: Mike Sabri Camera Assistant: Kolbi Samantha Special thanks to Mark Beavan, Jimmy Knehans, & Cory Jasin. Chat with the Unfamous team: https://tr.ee/jwPZ3j Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 2 weeks ago1h 19m
Who Gets The Final Say? Inside The Hollywood Reporter
The best-looking photo can still be the wrong cover. And one bad compromise can turn a bold creative idea beige. The Hollywood Reporter’s Maer Roshan and Alison Edmond join Justin Tranter to reveal what actually happens behind some of Hollywood’s biggest covers—from Angelina Jolie asking them to redo an entire lighting setup after one shot, to orchestrating The White Lotus cast across two coasts and pulling together a Mikey Madison shoot the morning after her Oscar win. They break down how a cover goes from an idea to the final image, what happens when talent or publicists push back, why the most beautiful photograph doesn’t always serve the story, and why great creative work can fall apart when too many people get a vote. It’s a conversation about taste, trust, fighting for an idea, knowing when to defer to someone else’s expertise, and developing enough experience to stop second-guessing your own. CHAPTERS 0:00 Why the Best Photo Can Still Lose 1:16 Meet The Hollywood Reporter’s Maer Roshan & Alison Edmond 7:31 How a Hollywood Reporter Cover Actually Gets Made 11:08 Why the Most Beautiful Photo Isn’t Always the Right One 13:21 Photographing a Controversial Celebrity Story 17:07 Why Celebrities Care So Much About Their Image 18:03 Angelina Jolie Made Them Change the Entire Lighting Setup 19:44 What Happens When the Talent Has a Bad Idea? 23:15 How Do You Avoid a PR-Controlled Interview? 27:16 The Insane Logistics Behind The White Lotus Cover 30:11 Shooting Mikey Madison the Morning After Her Oscar Win 32:08 How Do You Create an Iconic Image in the iPhone Era? 37:05 The Most Common Way a Great Idea Gets Ruined 38:47 Why Creativity Dies by Committee 40:17 How to Fight for a Great Idea Without Killing the Collaboration 44:39 How Alison Edmond Learned to Stop Doubting Her Taste 49:31 Their First Jobs in the Magazine Business 52:09 How They Spot Talent Before Everyone Else Does 54:16 Why a Print Cover Still Means Something 56:08 “Don’t Be Stupid”: Alison’s Path to British Vogue 59:28 Growing Up With Censored Magazines in Iran 1:00:46 Why “Manifesting” Still Requires an Obscene Amount of Work 1:03:08 The Prince Harry Cover That Got a Letter From the Palace 1:04:38 How The Hollywood Reporter Balances Print, Digital & Social 1:09:01 Gag or Drag: Celebrity Creative Directors, Publicists & Bad Covers 1:14:14 The Career Advice They Wish They’d Learned Earlier CREDITS: Unfamous is hosted by Justin Tranter Created by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Produced by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Written & Researched by Morgan T. Stuart Director: Morgan T. Stuart Co-Director + Cinematographer: Olivia McCrary Audio Engineer: Mike Sabri Camera Assistant: Kolbi Samantha Special thanks to Mark Beavan, Jimmy Knehans, Luke Burland + 2BEntertainment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 3 weeks ago1h 24m
The Lost Boys Was “The Hardest Thing We’ve Ever Done”: The Rescues on 60 Songs + Band Therapy
The Rescues spent five years writing The Lost Boys for Broadway. They wrote nearly 60 songs, rewrote lyrics again and again, cut a song they loved after watching it stop the show cold in front of an audience, and reached a point where they had to ask whether they could keep working together after it was over. Justin Tranter reunites with Kyler England, AG and Gabriel Mann to break down what actually went into creating the musical, and what happens when three longtime collaborators with completely different ways of working take on the hardest project they’ve ever made together. They also trace the unlikely path that got them there, from forming for a $500 wedding gig and landing five Grey’s Anatomy placements to building separate creative careers before The Lost Boys unexpectedly brought them back together. Plus: why they needed “band therapy,” how they learned which creative battles actually mattered, why a great song still might need to be cut, and what five years of rewrites taught them about trust, ego and letting the audience tell you what isn’t working. Credits: Unfamous is hosted by Justin Tranter Created by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Produced by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Written & Researched by Morgan T. Stuart Director: Morgan T. Stuart Co-Director + Cinematographer: Olivia McCrary Audio Engineer: Mike Sabri Camera Assistant: Kolbi Samantha Special thanks to Mark Beavan, Jimmy Knehans, Wayne Wolfe, Hannah Wallace, and Nicolette Carcaldi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Sep 30, 202658 min
When "Pushing Through" Stops Working: Rainbow Kitten Surprise on Reinvention
What happens when pushing through stops making you stronger and starts getting in the way of the art? Justin Tranter sits down with Rainbow Kitten Surprise's lead singer/songwriter Ela Melo and her partner and movement director Cat Cogliandro to unpack how movement, trust and recovery changed the way Ela and the band perform. They trace “Devil Like Me” from a homemade recording built with cardboard-box stomp claps to its live reinvention, revisit the 2022 Red Rocks performance that forced Ela to confront how far she had pushed herself, and talk honestly about sobriety, creative conflict and knowing when to ask for help. It’s a conversation about building a better show, but also a more sustainable way to keep making art without buying into the idea that suffering is what makes an artist great. Credits: Unfamous is hosted by Justin Tranter Created by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Produced by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Written & Researched by Morgan T. Stuart Director: Morgan T. Stuart Co-Director + Cinematographer: Olivia McCrary Audio Engineer: Mike Sabri Camera Assistant: Kolbi Samantha Special thanks to Mark Beavan, Jimmy Knehans, Bailey Katler and 2BEntertainment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Sep 23, 20261h 28m
Inside Pop Songwriting: Hits, Failure, Fear + What Actually Makes a Song Work
What makes a great song when everyone is trying to reverse-engineer hits, virality and the “right” way to be an artist? Justin Tranter sits down with friends and collaborators Sasha Alex Sloan and Amelia Moore, two artist-songwriters whose careers keep proving that some of the best creative decisions are the ones that look wrong on paper. They unpack how an imperfect choice became one of the most memorable parts of Camila Cabello’s “Never Be the Same,” why the “too complicated” riff in Amelia’s “See Through” became a TikTok singing challenge and helped lead to her second record deal, and what getting dropped taught both of them about failure, freedom and trying again. Plus: writing for other artists, the very different mechanics of K-pop, how to say no without killing a writing session, and why neither industry rejection nor industry praise can tell you who you are. Credits: Unfamous is hosted by Justin Tranter Created by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Produced by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Written & Researched by Morgan T. Stuart Director: Morgan T. Stuart Co-Director + Cinematographer: Olivia McCrary Audio Engineer: Mike Sabri Camera Assistant: Kolbi Samantha Special thanks to Mark Beavan, Jimmy Knehans, Shaina Botwin, Sam French and Mady Davis. Download Cash App Today: https://click.cash.app/ui6m/w4mqomzg #CashAppPod Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Cash App Visa® Debit Flex Cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, and The Bancorp Bank, N.A., pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. See terms and conditions for the Sutton prepaid card, Sutton debit flex card, and Bancorp debit flex card. Cash App Green features, Savings, Direct deposit, Round ups, Overdraft coverage and Discounts provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Sep 16, 20261h 3m
Why Some Songs Work Onscreen and Others Don’t: Pitch Perfect, The Devil Wears Prada + Wednesday
What makes one song perfect for a scene while another, even a great one, just doesn’t work? Justin Tranter sits down with music supervisor Julia Michels and songwriter, producer and arranger Alana Da Fonseca to break down the judgment behind the music in Pitch Perfect, The Devil Wears Prada, Wednesday, Off Campus and more. They get into testing whether “Toxic” would still connect with a younger audience, knowing instantly that KT Tunstall’s “Suddenly I See” belonged in The Devil Wears Prada, reinventing “Paint It Black” for cello, and why writing for screen means serving the story instead of protecting your song. Along the way, they unpack taking notes without ego, navigating directors and creative politics, and why the best song you’ve ever written can still be completely wrong for the moment. Credits: Unfamous is hosted by Justin Tranter Created by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Produced by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Written & Researched by Morgan T. Stuart Director: Morgan T. Stuart Co-Director + Cinematographer: Olivia McCrary Audio Engineer: Mike Sabri Camera Assistant: Kolbi Samantha Special thanks to Mark Beavan, Jimmy Knehans and the Guild of Music Supervisors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Sep 15, 20261h 3m
Why Some Songs Work Onscreen and Others Don’t: Pitch Perfect, The Devil Wears Prada + Wednesday
What makes one song perfect for a scene while another, even a great one, just doesn’t work? Justin Tranter sits down with music supervisor Julia Michels and songwriter, producer and arranger Alana Da Fonseca to break down the judgment behind the music in Pitch Perfect, The Devil Wears Prada, Wednesday, Off Campus and more. They get into testing whether “Toxic” would still connect with a younger audience, knowing instantly that KT Tunstall’s “Suddenly I See” belonged in The Devil Wears Prada, reinventing “Paint It Black” for cello, and why writing for screen means serving the story instead of protecting your song. Along the way, they unpack taking notes without ego, navigating directors and creative politics, and why the best song you’ve ever written can still be completely wrong for the moment. Credits: Unfamous is hosted by Justin Tranter Created by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Produced by Justin Tranter & Morgan T. Stuart Written & Researched by Morgan T. Stuart Director: Morgan T. Stuart Co-Director + Cinematographer: Olivia McCrary Audio Engineer: Mike Sabri Camera Assistant: Kolbi Samantha Special thanks to Mark Beavan, Jimmy Knehans and the Guild of Music Supervisors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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About Unfamous with Justin Tranter
Most of what you love in pop culture didn't happen the way you think it did. Unfamous, hosted by Grammy-nominated songwriter Justin Tranter, reveals how creative work actually gets made. Each episode pairs a celebrity with the collaborator behind their biggest moments in music, comedy, film, and entertainment. You get honest stories, real insight, and a practical blueprint for building a creative career.
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