Unfamous with Justin Tranter

An Instagram DM became “Rush.” “Bloom” started with Troye Sivan thinking it wasn’t working. And after more than a decade of writing together, Troye and Leland are still trying to surprise themselves.

On Unfamous, they break down their creative partnership, how Troye keeps evolving without repeating himself, the stories behind “Rush” and “Bloom,” imposter syndrome, writing for RuPaul’s Drag Race, and what makes the right collaborator click.

Chapters are below so you can jump straight to your favorite parts.

Chapters
0:00 Troye Sivan Introduces Leland
2:09 How Troye Sivan + Leland Met
6:27 Their First Song Together Ended Up With BTS
10:57 Why Troye Never Wants to Make the Same Album Twice
18:43 Why Songwriting Is Mostly Social Skills
22:10 How an Instagram DM Became “Rush”
26:57 Troye + Leland on Imposter Syndrome
29:46 Cirkut, Mark Ronson + Getting Nervous Around Your Heroes
32:34 How “Bloom” Went From “This Isn’t Working” to an Album Title
37:12 What 11 Years of Writing Together Teaches You
43:08 Writing Pop Hits vs. Writing for RuPaul’s Drag Race
47:33 Britney, Janet + the Pop Music That Changed Them
55:55 Why Great Artists Are Secretly Music Geeks
57:01 How Troye Keeps Evolving Without Forcing It
1:03:33 What Troye + Leland Would Tell Their Younger Selves
1:10:42 Gagged or Dragged: TikTok, Gay Icons + Pop Songwriting
1:16:31 The Best Advice for Creative Collaboration
1:18:52 Troye’s Advice to Songwriters: Not Every Collaboration Works

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: Sherrae Rucker

Special thanks to Mark Beaven and Jimmy Knehans
Shout out to Leslie Tranter and Chloe Pappas on Patreon
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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.
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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

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.

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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