Lisa Loeb partners with Meet Cute, marrying music and podcasts
This week’s story features Lisa Loeb in a 90s-themed rom-com called Fairy Godmother. Lisa plays herself as a fairy godmother for Noah, a failure at romance who never makes it past the first date. The story incorporates Lisa’s hit song "Stay (I Missed You)” into the script, merging two different forms of storytelling into one. Why is this important to us? Our goal with Meet Cute is to push the creative boundaries of storytelling in order to inspire people and make people feel more when they tune in.
Music and scripted content both can tug at the heartstrings and change your mood for the better. When we listen to music, certain areas of the brain light up, including those that control movement, attention, and memory. It draws out experiences from our past that we associate with certain emotions, and in doing so it changes our brain chemistry. This Scientific American article suggests that music impacts the way we see visual images, and perceive the world around us. The release of dopamine can be stimulated by a song in the same way we can’t help but smile when we see a stranger help someone on the subway, or witness a proposal.
These are the moments that we are trying to recreate in our audio stories. And today, it’s in the form of our story Fairy Godmother where the song “Stay (I Missed You)” is not only heard in the story, but plays a key role in the story - as if the music was a character.
Stay tuned below for an exclusive Q&A with Lisa Loeb!
✨ Meet Cute Q+A: Lisa Loeb 🎶
How did you find out about Meet Cute and what drew you to working with Meet Cute?
I found out about Meet Cute through a friend, Rob Wilder. We know each other through a mutual writing teacher, Natalie Goldberg, one of my favorite teachers of all time. I love the idea of bite-sized stories you can listen to, especially rom-coms. There’s nothing to take your mind off of your life and what’s going on in the world like a story about two people connecting.
I love voice acting, but this Meet Cute in particular was so interesting and funny that I really wanted to be a part of the story. Rob wrote a really funny version of myself in this short rom-com that really resonated with my sense of humor and I wanted to help tell the story about finding love right in front of you. Also, it reminded me of Uncle Arthur in Bewitched, so I was all in.
What was the recording process like?
It was a little tough finding a few moments of silence with no one around, but I have a great set-up at home. With the Meet Cute director on a Zoom, able to hear my every line, it was really fun and easy to do. I’ve had a lot of experience recording at home before COVID, and now with stay at home orders, even more experience with my equipment and carving out time when there’s a priority voice work project.
One can argue that “Stay” was an integral part in music breaking through in feature films when it was one of the anchors of the Reality Bites soundtrack. Do you see any similarities here as the podcast space rapidly evolves?
I have to say that I haven’t seen the movie as many times as other people, so someone else would have to dissect the script to tell me how it all fits together. I will say that podcasts are what keep us all company. They are the strangers we can safely let into our homes and cars. And they become our friends.
How do you decide what new opportunities to pivot into and take on? Did you ever think you would get into scripted podcast voice-acting?
I get so many offers from all over the place, from people just starting out and making independent films or starting their podcasts to large commercials, TV shows, and radio shows. I collaborate with musicians on their projects and instigate collaborations with others. I always like to go with what resonates with me. I like to tell a good story and connect with people. If I can do those two things and I think it’s going to be good quality, then I try to participate in those projects.
I wanted to participate in the rom-com with Meet Cute because I’ve wanted to work with this platform for awhile now, either as a voice, through writing something myself, or even just using my music, so this fit the bill. People don’t have a lot of time on their hands, and the short stories in this format work for a lot of us. Also, I love connecting with folks in the middle of the Venn diagram – I end up re-connecting and connecting the dots with people through other projects, which is rewarding as a musician. Also my songs like it, too, they end up getting heard by so many more people.
Thanks, Lisa! Check out the music video for her newest single “Most of All” here!
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