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1. Hi Stephen, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
Hey Vents! It’s been a crazy couple of years, but things have been magical! I just wrapped up a 73-city world tour opening for Big Time Rush, came home to a record deal with Red Slushy Records, and then fell madly in love with the most incredibly brilliant woman. I’ve never felt so lucky.
2. You’ve built such an interesting career around putting your own spin on other artists’ songs, and now you’re releasing your first-ever studio album, Rhinestone Monster. What made this the right moment to finally create an album that feels like your own artistic statement?
These are the songs that we performed opening for the Big-Time Rush tour, which sold over 1 million tickets. We wanted to capture the energy of some of our favorite songs from that extremely special experience. These songs were ready for the world to hear. It was just a matter of finding the right record label and studio that could handle such a variety of music styles. I am so fortunate to have landed at Red Slushy Records. They really took care of everything.
3. You’re taking songs that audiences already know—from Olivia Rodrigo’s “Driver’s License” and Britney Spears’ “Toxic” to My Chemical Romance’s “Black Parade”—and giving them completely different interpretations. What do you look for in a song before deciding that it’s something you can make your own?
To end up on my set list, a song really must mean something to me in a significant and deep way. For instance, “Welcome to the Black Parade” has always been a favorite of mine, but it took on new meaning when we performed it in Krakow, Poland, the day after we visited the Auschwitz concentration camp. Everyone in Krakow had heard that we had just been on a tour of Auschwitz, so we decided to put all our energy into performing that song for the first time on the tour. From that moment on, this song has had a different meaning to all of us. It really became a big challenge to bring that energy from that night to the album.
4. “Driver’s License” is such an emotionally vulnerable song, but your version features Edwin McCain. What did you want to bring to the song that listeners might not expect from the original, and how did Edwin become part of the track?
First, it was an unbelievable honor to get to work with double platinum recording artist Edwin McCain. The guy has been one of my heroes for many, many years, and I think he brought a soulfulness to the track that really says something beautiful. The reason I started doing this song was that I noticed that aside from “Yesterday” by the Beatles, there are not a lot of popular songs where a man is grieving the loss of a relationship that are as eloquently written as Olivia Rodrigo’s hit. The lyrics just spoke to me, and teaming up with Edwin just hammered the message home. Everyone deals with heartbreak, but the feeling that the city is broken after a relationship ends is a message that really stuck with me.
5. Your cover of “Crazy” famously helped put you on Cee-Lo Green’s radar and eventually led to you opening for him. Looking back, how did that experience change your confidence as a vocalist and performer?
I’ve been singing and playing the piano since I was three years old, but up till the success of “Crazy,” those skills were used for other things. I’d use my piano and singing skills to get work during the holidays playing piano in people’s homes. I worked at many restaurants and bars as entertainment, and I would play for my mom after dinner when I visited her house. Singing in my life was mostly for musical theater, having gone to school at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, or my role as Shrek in the Shrek musical on Broadway. This was where I found myself using my skills and making a living. When “Crazy” exploded online, I was lucky enough to have a manager (Gary Ousdahl) who knew where to focus it and an agent (Joey Flaherty) who found me gigs to make it a financially viable part of my career. More than anything else, the 8.8 billion streams on “Crazy” made me trust in my instincts and not be shy about this new career path.
6. Rhinestone Monster brings together songs from very different musical worlds. Was the goal to make all of these tracks feel like they belong to the same Stephen Kramer Glickman universe, or did you want each song to have its own personality?
All my albums in the past have been a bit diverse, but this album has a great flow. It’s got some big rock covers, some epic tracks, and a few intimate moments. “Iris” was one of the biggest songs that we performed on the tour, but when I was on a short break, I fell madly in love, and for the first time, I truly understood the words of that song. Every night, I would sing it on stage. I would see her eyes sparkling in the thousands of lights. The people would wave back and forth. When it came time to record that cover for the album, I put a photo of her on the music stand, and it really helped personalize the song in a way. I think it’s beautiful. I’m not a songwriter, but I love music, and I love connecting to it in different ways.
7. You’re also collaborating with some major names, including Broadway legend Adam Pascal on “Welcome to the Black Parade.” What was it like working with Adam on such an iconic My Chemical Romance song, and what did he bring to your interpretation?
When Adam Pascal said that he would do this song as a duet with me, I cried in my car. I have been a fan of this man since the early ‘90s, so I worked diligently with our producer, Jason LaRocca, our drummer, Buddy Gibbons, and our guitarist, Soren Crisell, to turn this song into the most epic piece of music I’ve ever been a part of. We basically brought in an orchestra and a choir to fill out every detail. I will be forever grateful to Adam Pascal for this experience.
8. Between your work in music, acting, comedy, and your time as Gustavo on Big Time Rush, you’ve spent years entertaining audiences in very different ways. How have those different parts of your career influenced the performer you are today?
I respect and love my career history, and I am not ashamed to show fans that I’m right there with them. I still go back once a year and watch a few episodes of Big Time Rush because it brings me so much joy. I’m a better performer because I get to do what I love with people I love.
9. There’s something particularly fun about the title Rhinestone Monster. What does that phrase mean to you, and how does it capture the personality or attitude you wanted this album to have?
Before going out on stage to perform for tens of thousands of people every night on that tour, I had to become something else. I searched for a word to describe it for a long time, and I feel like “Rhinestone Monster” is a great description. Every night I would become this monster on stage that would take all the attention in the room, and my band and I would burn these venues to the ground one after another with covers of Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, and Peter Gabriel. We were big, loud, and monstrous. I found a lot of pride in becoming something bigger than myself.
10. You’re releasing “Driver’s License,” followed by “Sledgehammer,” before eventually unveiling more of the album. How did you decide which songs should introduce Rhinestone Monster to the world, and what do these first releases say about what listeners can expect?
“Driver’s License” almost feels like a Bruce Springsteen song the way that we did it, while “Sledgehammer” is a pure 80s hair metal cover. On my first album “The Moving Company,” every song was super depressing because I was in a bad place emotionally, and I used music to help me get through it. But this album “Rhinestone Monster” was born on stage in front of rushers all over the world. It has that energy in it all the way from beginning to end.
11. What does it feel like to finally have a full studio album that represents your own voice—and where do you hope Rhinestone Monster takes you next?
It’s so awesome to be able to make music the way you hear it in your head. Making a studio album is such a crazy blessing, and I love Red Slushy Records and Fab Factory for being so supportive of me on this journey. After the album is out, it would be so incredible to perform at some festivals and hit the road again next year. However, one of my ultimate goals is to find my way back to Broadway and musical theater. I’m taking it all one “monster” step at a time.
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