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0:46

Hello and welcome back to the iHeart podcast

0:48

Speaker series, where each week we get a chance

0:50

to chat with some of our favorite creators, podcasts,

0:53

host producers, thinkers in the

0:55

space.

0:55

Today.

0:56

I'm really excited about our conversation because we're

0:58

talking to not the hosts of just

1:00

one podcast within our network, but

1:02

the host of two podcasts. Will hopefully

1:04

get to a little bit of both of them. But the

1:07

one and only Lance Bass is joining

1:09

us. Lance, Thanks for joining us?

1:10

Are we going? How are you? Man?

1:12

I love the spirit of this podcast

1:14

This has come out of our Burbank studio

1:17

where we launched some really really fun,

1:19

really playful, terrific nostalgia

1:21

based podcast and this is certainly

1:24

no exception, but Frosted Tips. I think it's

1:26

just a genius name for a podcast

1:28

that you know, has one boy band icon

1:31

interviewing other boy band icons. You're

1:33

obviously known for much more than that, But the focus

1:35

of this podcast is that. Can you tell us

1:37

a little bit about the origin of the podcast here?

1:39

Yeah, you know, I've I've always wanted to use the name

1:42

Frosted Tips in some way on podcasts.

1:44

So you guys came to be and wanted

1:46

to.

1:46

Do a podcast, I'm like, okay, I have the name,

1:49

I just don't know what the foe.

1:50

Is just yet.

1:50

And y'all came up with a great idea, you know, let's

1:53

interview teen idols you know something about

1:55

and specifically with boy band members,

1:57

because you know, there's so many boy bands

1:59

out there, but we really didn't get to know

2:01

all the individual ones, and especially

2:04

right now looking back, you know, twenty years ago,

2:06

what was it like for them? So I think it's just a

2:08

nice recap of what your favorite teen

2:10

idols are doing. Today, and it has been a blast

2:13

because this show is all about the fandom,

2:15

you know, because boy bands, you know, teen

2:17

idols.

2:18

It's all about the fans.

2:19

And so many times the fandoms

2:22

were separated's like you can only like this and

2:24

I have to like this, and we have to fight, you know. But

2:26

now that we're you know, older and mature,

2:29

we can all kind of you know, flow into

2:31

one.

2:31

Each other's fandoms.

2:32

And that's what's been so fun about this podcast

2:35

is really crossing over all of these groups

2:37

and sharing the like experiences

2:40

between everyone.

2:41

Oh that's awesome, and you're absolutely right. It did feel

2:43

like there was this moment where you had to be like all

2:45

in on whoever your band was and that

2:47

total loyalty, which is fun in many ways.

2:49

But actually I'm curious sort of looking back, were

2:52

you guys friends with you know, members

2:54

of other bands. Was there sort of a kindred spirit

2:57

or a shared you know, like, oh my god, this is

2:59

also crazy what we're going through or what was

3:01

that like at the time in terms of relationships

3:03

with other bands.

3:04

Well, in the moment, no, we really didn't

3:06

get to hang much with any other bands. We

3:08

had no time to be friends with these guys,

3:10

and then of course, especially with the Backstory Boys,

3:12

you know, it was in sync versus Backstreet and it

3:15

became this kind of friendly competition,

3:17

but not so friendly to fans.

3:19

So that kind of kept us apart.

3:21

You know, even when we see each other to war shows, we still

3:23

kind of, you know, kept away because

3:25

we had to keep the rival going.

3:27

But you know, it's it's fun to talk about.

3:29

That now because it's just so ridiculous

3:33

how we were all fit against each other.

3:35

But it also just kind of made it fun. And I always

3:37

tell those guys, I mean, we're all really good friends.

3:39

Now. What I love about it is it really

3:41

kept us all on our toes. If we didn't

3:43

have the Backstory Boys on our tail at

3:45

all times, we kept going

3:48

up and up and just really improving

3:50

what we were doing. So I mean, I kudos

3:52

to those guys to making us better.

3:54

That makes a lot of sense. Now, that's terrific. I

3:57

love that you launched the podcast. The first

3:59

conversation that you have was with jac

4:01

because you've got somebody that really hasn't

4:03

given a whole lot of interviews, Like, tell me

4:05

about that experience getting him to agree to do this

4:07

and what was that chat like.

4:09

Well, he can't say no to me, right, which

4:12

is great, you know because having a host like myself,

4:15

you know, it's just a phone call away, and it's

4:17

hard to say no when someone asked you to directly,

4:19

like will you do this? Because you know, there's so

4:21

many podcasts now and I'm sure everyone

4:24

gets asked, and you know, I say

4:26

no to so many things. But I think, you know,

4:28

with these guys, they want to tell their story,

4:30

you know, and I think it comes from you

4:32

know, the questions that I asked is

4:34

probably questions that they've never been asked before, and you

4:37

really get to the psyche of what

4:39

they went through. A lot of people just cannot relate

4:41

to it all, especially you know, journalists

4:43

or interviewers. Unless you've lived it, you don't

4:45

get it.

4:46

I can't imagine.

4:47

Yeah, So with JC, yes, he doesn't

4:49

do any interviews, and I was super

4:51

excited, you know, to get him, and he was

4:53

my first guest because that is the number one person

4:55

the fans wanted. They're like JC, we've not

4:57

heard from him. And then a lot of people like ash

5:00

Lee Parker, Rangel, you know, again

5:02

very rare to hear an interview from him. Jonathan

5:05

Knight. You know, it's just like all these

5:07

Jordan Knight, a lot of these musicians

5:09

that just don't like to speak too much, and these fans.

5:12

Have been wanting here, what has

5:14

been going on in the last few years.

5:15

So, yeah, Liver, what are

5:17

you finding and in common among the

5:20

groups? Other than like it was clearly

5:22

a you know, I'm sure just a bizarre

5:24

and surreal experience to live through it all.

5:26

What are you finding sort of in common among

5:28

the guests as you have them on?

5:30

Well, major similarities in the fan groups.

5:33

We all have very similar fan stories,

5:35

scarily the same fan stories.

5:37

It's like it's it's like a repeat.

5:39

I've also realized that pretty much every

5:41

single teen idol has gone through horrible

5:44

managers and just horrible business

5:46

practices. They were all taking advantage

5:48

of it at such an early age, and unfortunately

5:51

it still happens today. You know, the

5:53

business hasn't changed too much. I'm still

5:55

hearing horror stories about teen musicians

5:58

and teen actors just going through it. That's

6:00

one thing that we really really relate to is everyone

6:02

has that horror story of their first manager,

6:05

their first age.

6:06

Everyone taken advantage of them.

6:07

With that in mind, have you guys had a chance

6:09

to talk to many of the sort

6:12

of more more recent boy bands and others

6:14

that have been coming up and share some of your experiences

6:17

passed down some of that wisdom in more recent

6:19

years.

6:19

Yeah, you know, we just had because you know, the show

6:21

isn't just for us old people.

6:23

You know, we want to bring in all these.

6:24

You know, teen idols and that's now we have bts,

6:27

we have you know, all the great kpop happening. And

6:29

the newest band that has been put together is

6:31

the New Menudo just had those boys

6:33

on last week and it was so fun to

6:35

see them because they're so young. I'm talking about

6:37

ten years old and twelve years old, and

6:40

just to see the star in their eyes about

6:42

like what they're about to experience and their first

6:44

single is doing so well and they're getting all these

6:46

fans. It reminds me a lot of when in Sync

6:48

started and watching them go what they're going

6:50

through now, I just feel like I need to protect

6:52

them, Like, oh, so I'm just giving them

6:54

so much advice. I don't know if they were listening to me,

6:57

but I'm like, okay, guys, make sure this doesn't happen

6:59

to you and you know, when you write together right as a group,

7:01

you know, as a brotherhood, before you go to bed at night, make

7:03

sure that you know, you get everything out and you communicate.

7:05

So many life lessons I've learned I would

7:07

love to pass on to these future boy.

7:09

Bands, and hopefully they'll listen to their elders.

7:12

I would think they would, or at least I would hope so.

7:14

But you know, it's interesting as you think about

7:16

looking back on this time, sort of

7:18

in contrast to the music space.

7:21

You know, we have a lot of shows that

7:23

we call the rewatch space where we might

7:25

have you know, Zach Braff and Donald Fazen looking

7:27

back on Scrubs, or Zoey Deschanel

7:30

looking back on New Girl, or lots of other

7:32

shows like this. So many of them say,

7:35

this is the first time I've watched any of these episodes

7:37

since you know, I was living in that time,

7:40

And some of them honestly never even

7:42

watched some of the episodes. They went, they acted,

7:44

they did their thing, they walked away, and that was sort of the

7:46

end of the experience. I would imagine in the music

7:49

space, you sort of can't escape it. Right

7:51

wherever you are, you're hearing your music from

7:53

time to time, But has there been any part

7:55

of it where you've gone back and you were like, oh

7:57

my god, I completely forgot about

7:59

like this aspect of what it was like

8:01

to live through that time.

8:03

Yeah. I mean, you're right.

8:04

You know, as a musician, you kind of live with it

8:06

always, but you know, going back, there

8:09

are especially when I'm interviewing you know, the guys

8:11

from in Sync, There's so many stories

8:13

that I've been telling for years, and

8:15

then I'll tell the story on you know, on the show,

8:17

and that Joey Vinton's like, no, that

8:19

that didn't happen that way. I'm like, what are you talking about?

8:22

Actually was this? I like what?

8:24

So? Just how your

8:26

mind just completely rewrites

8:28

history.

8:29

Yeah, fascinating. I mean I could swear.

8:31

Something happened this way and it just did not, and

8:33

they'd show you the video.

8:34

Like, no, you here it is. But

8:38

it's amazing what your.

8:39

Brain will trick you to thinking and what you just create

8:42

as you get older. Yeah, I mean it's it's

8:44

it's fun. So I get called out a lot on my story.

8:46

Is that just weren't true?

8:47

Yeah?

8:47

Yeah, revisionist history there, That's

8:49

that's pretty great. Let's

9:06

talk a little bit about the extra Frosting.

9:08

I love this idea. I love any excuse

9:11

to have somebody like Debbie Gibson on the podcast.

9:13

But tell the listeners, if they've not had a chance

9:16

to check out the podcast yet, what happens

9:18

with extra Frosting.

9:19

Yeah, you know, there are a finite amount

9:21

of boy band members out there, so we are

9:23

opening up to this extra Frosting, which we released

9:26

twice a month, Extra Frosting. Literally

9:28

right before I got on with you, we had Tiffany. So

9:30

it's kind of like to follow up on our DeBie interview.

9:33

That's so good, and I'm so.

9:34

Interested in bringing in, you know, people like Donnie

9:36

Osmond, you know, people that live this

9:38

teen idol world but in different booket.

9:41

It's like, what was it like for him in.

9:42

The seventies compared to what it was

9:45

like to me in the nineties, compared to what it

9:47

was like for Dream Street in the two thousands, what

9:49

it's like for bts today, And see

9:51

what those similarities are because it was

9:53

so similar, but then you have like, whoa,

9:55

there was no social media, so it must have been so

9:58

much safer. But yeah, I mean it's so intriguing,

10:00

and especially because it's selfish for me because

10:02

I get to catch up with the idols that I liked,

10:05

you know, to bring the people that I was a

10:07

fan of, which is just really special just

10:09

for you know, little Lance.

10:10

Oh Man, that's so fun. Well, you co

10:12

host the podcast with your husband Michael, and

10:15

I'm curious for him, what's been most surprising

10:17

for him? Is there any part of like your life in

10:19

that era that has surprised him or any

10:21

part of this I don't know.

10:23

He never really tells me that kind of stuff.

10:25

I mean, I love having him here because we're both

10:27

such pop culture fans, you know, and he's a little

10:29

younger than me, so he really got

10:31

to experience the en sync of it all

10:33

on Backstreet and Brittany and Christina, so

10:36

you know, it's awesome. I had the inside view, but

10:38

he had the outside view. So it's very interesting.

10:40

His take as a kid watching all

10:42

this and what he thought was going down, but what

10:45

was actually happening we can actually talk about

10:47

now.

10:47

But it's fun.

10:48

And I'm learning how to share my space because

10:50

you know, his interviews and I

10:52

forget is that.

10:53

I'm like, oh crap, I'm like, yo, you joined here

10:55

too.

10:55

You can ask questions, but I

10:57

talked a little much, but I'm getting

11:00

better at it.

11:00

Yeah, it sounds so much fun. You guys are a

11:03

great duo on the show.

11:04

Now he makes fun of me the whole time, so the fans

11:06

love that he just got everyone.

11:08

I was going to say, I didn't want to admit it, but that, yeah, is sort

11:10

of like the best part of the show. So yeah,

11:13

So we got to see each other a few weeks

11:15

back at a conference called Podcast Movement,

11:17

when we announced the launch of

11:20

a network of shows Caught out Spoken, dedicated

11:23

to LGBTQ voices. We're

11:25

so thrilled to have you jump in on this with

11:27

us. You know, a big part of our mission here at iHeart is

11:29

to make sure that we're bringing in voices

11:32

from all different communities and making

11:34

sure that the diversity within podcasting

11:37

should reflect what the population looks

11:39

like and the industry as a whole. Has a long

11:41

way to go, but we see it as a big part of our

11:43

mission to do that, and your involvement

11:46

in this has meant that we get to promote

11:48

shows from creators that aren't as well known

11:50

but our members of the community and have incredible

11:52

podcasts, but maybe talk a little bit about that.

11:55

You shared the stage with a couple of other members

11:57

of the team again who are emerging creators.

12:00

They're not necessarily household names yet but have

12:02

unbelievable shows. But can you talk a little

12:04

bit about the launch of Outspoken and why it was important

12:07

for you to jump on board when we said we were launching

12:09

it.

12:09

Well, it's important as a storyteller

12:11

to tell your story and to share that

12:13

stage with such brave people from

12:15

my community, and our community is so

12:18

diverse, you know, I will never understand

12:20

what it's like to be trans, I will never stand

12:22

what it's like to be a lesbian. I will never understand

12:25

what it's like to be bisexual.

12:26

But we're all.

12:27

Family together, so I'm learning

12:29

as the listeners are learning too. So when you're

12:31

sitting next to a doctor and all these professionals

12:33

that are living their authentic life and

12:36

sharing their personal stories and people

12:38

listening being like wow, I can relate to that,

12:40

And Yeah, you don't have to be a celebrity or

12:42

anything like that.

12:43

You have to have an incredible story and

12:46

be passionate about it.

12:47

So I was just honored to be up

12:49

with those guys and learning so much

12:51

about them because you know, they've had a lot of

12:53

struggles, even more struggles than I have.

12:55

You know, it was lucky to be able to.

12:57

Be in a band that you know, became popular

13:00

and add a lot of you know, people loving

13:02

me at the time, but a lot of these

13:04

especially content creators, they grew up with just so much

13:06

hate just by being who they are, so

13:08

to come out of it in such a positive way

13:10

and to be able to share their stories and help

13:13

so many people out there, it's incredibly be a

13:15

part of a network like that well, and it.

13:16

Was really fun to hear some of the creators

13:19

as well, who are a bit younger, be able

13:21

to say what you meant to them and what

13:23

other creators have meant to them, who

13:25

have shown them bravery, have shown

13:27

them courage, have shown them just intelligence

13:30

and energy and all of this. And

13:33

to get a chance to hear them express

13:35

some of that gratitude was really fun as

13:37

well. We're really excited about the launch of Outspoken

13:39

and everything that's there, but it's just the beginning.

13:41

To your point, it's such a diverse community

13:44

and there's such a range of voices. The last

13:46

thing we want to do is launch a network and say

13:48

Okay, here's our fifteen shows, and now we're done

13:50

with the launch of that, like every month, launching

13:52

new shows and bringing in more voices, and

13:55

it just feels so important to find the right ways

13:57

to do that.

13:58

It's a beautiful thing, and I applaud you guys

14:00

for being able to do that, because you know it's not

14:02

easy. You know, there's a lot of hate in this world,

14:04

and anything you try to do something positive

14:06

and good people like to rip it apart. But I love

14:09

that you've been able to give us this platform and

14:11

it really is as cliche as to say it helps

14:13

people and it saves lives out there, It really

14:15

does well.

14:16

Fortunately the response so far has been very,

14:18

very positive. But yeah, absolutely hear you

14:20

on that. Well, before I let you go, I mentioned

14:23

at the top here you're not just host of one

14:25

podcast, which is Frosted Tips, you're

14:27

also the host of another fantastic

14:29

podcast, which, by the way, right now is ranking

14:31

in the top twenty of all podcasts.

14:33

When the last time I checked the charts, The Last

14:36

Soviet. Can you give the listeners just a little

14:38

bit of an overview of the podcast?

14:40

Yeah, I mean The Last Soviet. It's been

14:42

a pleasure to do. I mean it's taken us

14:44

a long time. We started that show in November.

14:47

I just finished recording it yesterday.

14:49

Oh wow, a long this has been because

14:51

it's a scripted documentary podcast about

14:54

Sergei Krukolov, who was this Russian

14:56

cosmonaut who got stuck in space as

14:58

communism fell in Russia.

15:00

You was stuck in space for over three.

15:01

Hundred days, and it's just one

15:03

of these stories that we need to be reminded

15:06

of. It's a piece of history that we never

15:08

really got to learn because you know, us Americans,

15:10

we only studied our Apollo days.

15:12

But just to really show how politics

15:15

has always been involved in space and how it

15:17

is even day through his story, all the

15:19

similarities are just uncanny.

15:21

But the way that they put this sound effects

15:24

and all these old interviews, it's just one

15:26

of those you want to put the earbuds in and just

15:28

escape into this world. It is beautifully

15:31

produced, and I think that's why it's doing so great.

15:33

I had no idea people would like this.

15:35

I mean, you know, space is very niche and like really

15:37

people want to know about Russian cosmonaut hosted

15:39

by me? But yeah, the fact that it went

15:41

number fourteen this week of all

15:44

podcasts, and it's the number one documentary

15:46

podcast right now. I'm just excited people

15:48

want this type of programming

15:50

because this is what.

15:51

I'm getting into.

15:52

I love the scripted I love

15:54

giving you that sound bath where you

15:56

just the tape, and I want to bring more of these,

15:59

you know, in the future.

16:00

Yeah, it's done in our partnership with a

16:02

brilliant production company, Kaleidoscope.

16:04

Love that they got you involved in this

16:06

and that this is a show we could all do together.

16:09

But again, congrats on once you've pulled off Frost.

16:11

The Tips has been off to a fantastic start.

16:13

The fan base if you look at the number of reviews

16:16

and the five star reviews, like, it's just

16:18

a fan base that was clearly craving this. So

16:20

congrats on that and the success of the Last

16:22

Soviet as well. But it's always good to see you.

16:24

Lance, Well, good to see you, and thanks

16:26

again for let me do what I do.

16:28

All right, we love it. Well, thank you guys for tuning

16:31

in. We'll see you again next week.

16:41

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16:44

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