The Curtain Call on Pop-Punk, Perfectionism & Chasing the Spotlight on 'Baby You're The Star of the Show' – Interview

Photo:@theonlymang

The Curtain Call, a one-man band by Los Angeles-based, Connecticut-born Jeffrey Packer, loves to write catchy songs and can’t wait to be in the spotlight of your next playlist.

Packer’s recent release, 'Baby You’re the Star of the Show,' is described as a hymn to the disillusioned performer – one self-aware enough to feel embarrassed for craving the spotlight but doesn’t want to stop chasing that high.

The groovy, fast-paced track is inspired by the early 2000s pop-punk/emo-scene, and takes a lot of inspiration from Fall Out Boy’s iconic 2005 album, From Under the Cork Tree, and the lyrics describe the perspective of a disillusioned performer about the guilt one feels touting themselves as an artist and subjecting people to their performance under the guise that it’s for their benefit. The song carries with it a tongue-in-cheek vibe when performed live because it becomes exactly the thing it’s trying to poke fun at performers for doing.

“I immediately loved it so much I became very precious about the song, and it became really hard to finish. I think when I finally found the chorus melody, the lyrics came right out with it, and then I became even more obsessive because I really liked the concept, so I felt like the rest of the song had to be perfect,” Packer explained. 

It took him months to finish the lyrics to the verses, and he was forced due to a time crunch - his first show, where a lot of friends and family were going to be in attendance, and he was intending on playing the track at the show. He called that order of events poetic, considering the nature of the song itself.

“All the lyrics for the verses born out of those feelings of being self-conscious and embarrassed about being in the spotlight while also really wanting to be there, and being even more embarrassed about the fact that you want to be there.”

Packer is a perfectionist. The instrumentals came first while he was composing the track and immediately fell in love with what he was creating, but that also turned into a roadblock. 

"Lyrics, for me, always tend to be the hardest part of the song and, far and away, the last part to get finished. When I’m writing about subject matter that I care about, and that’s really affecting me at the time, they tend to come out much more easily because I’ll have a lot to say on the subject. I really don’t like when I feel myself trying to force out lyrics, but my heart’s not really in it, so I try to ask myself what is important to me."

When Jeffrey finished writing "Baby You’re the Star of the Show", there was already a show in the works that would be full of friends and family. "This was actually the first Curtain Call show, and I was having debilitating pre-show nerves, catastrophizing and worrying about every possible outcome. What if I mess up and embarrass myself? What if no one shows up? Etc." He took inspiration from those fears. "I guess, mostly, the inspiration came from those stressful feelings, and I think the playfully self-effacing lyrics are almost a way to cope with those feelings and address them head-on in a meta sense with the song. It’s literally singing about the way I knew I’d be feeling while performing it."

Naturally, music has inspired The Curtain Call's tunes. This track had a specific inspiration: "I wrote this song after revisiting Fall Out Boy’s From Under the Cork Tree. Albums, for me, are very sonically tied to their artwork. Ever since I was a kid, I liked to stare at album art while listening to the songs, and the two sort of blend together. To me, the songs on that record blend perfectly with the ornate-looking pastiche of vaudevillian, Victorian, and punk aesthetics. I really wanted to write a song that I felt also had all those traits."

Growing up with parents who loved the iconic 70's/80s music and a sister who introduced him to the wonderful era of MySpace, it's no wonder they all come together in 'The Curtain Call'.

"I think my parents' favorite music of the 70’s and my sister’s MySpace bands really all affected me in the same way. They both made me appreciate songs with an absolute earworm of a chorus. I think what these even very disparate genres have in common is their pop sensibility. Just by nature of inhaling so much of all types of music from such a young age, I couldn’t help but notice these patterns and inject them into my own songwriting."

If you can't get one song or two out of your head, that just means his job is done right, and having a memorable chorus is one of them. "My first rule for a chorus is I have to like it. And not just be OK with it, or that it just “works”—I have to really like it. I really try to do that with the whole song, though. A lot of popular songs with a memorable chorus feature verses that can be somewhat forgettable, but to me, if you can make the whole song catchy and it works, then why wouldn’t you?"

It's no secret we all love the early 2000's pop-punk feel while still adding some contemporary influences, and honouring them has become muscle memory for him.

"This is actually something I’ve noticed that feels almost like a muscle that I think every artist probably has and is constantly developing, and it just gets easier the more and more you write. 

Most of my songs, if not all, are born out of some piece of another song. Sometimes it’s something as tiny as a word or a phrase, or maybe it’s just the overall feeling of a song. It starts with something striking a chord with me and thinking, “Oh, I want to write something that makes me feel like this song just did.” And then I take it in my own direction."

Being Vulnerable is never an easy task, but releasing this was never something he was afraid of compared to his other tracks.

"Honestly, the vulnerability has never bothered me with writing music. My fear is actually quite the opposite. I’m way more afraid of trying to be honest and vulnerable but failing at that and coming off as disingenuous." 

In true TOP8 fashion, we had to ask what his dream lineup is to share a bill with?

"My dream lineup would be The Curtain Call opening for AFI. That would be the most full-circle moment for me because they’ve had a massive impact on my sound and how I’ve approached songwriting for a very long time now. And there would be no one else on the bill, so maybe I could still get to bed at a reasonable time afterward."

THE CURTAIN CALL'S TOP8 UNEXPECTED INFLUENCES

Nightmare of You: Their self-titled record is easily in my top five desert-island records. Every single song has been my favorite song on the record at one point or another. 

The Smiths: I would love to have lyrics that carry this level of brutal honesty and relatability. 

Tom Waits: I want to meet him really badly. 

Teen Suicide, or any of Sam Ray’s plethora of projects: Sam writes these gut-wrenching melodies that just sear themselves into my brain. I try to write riffs like that, where even if there were no lyrics, the guitar or whatever instrument it is could make me feel something just on its own. 

Cocteau Twins: They were so far ahead of their time. I think it’s insanely special to create a sound entirely your own, have it be so highly original, and somehow still so likable. 

The Antlers: I am massively inspired by their seminal concept album Hospice. I think the lyrics and the melodic motifs build an incredible and immersive world. I’d love to write a record like that one day. 

Three 6 Mafia: My sister showed me them when I was younger. They’ve been a staple ever since. They were major pioneers in implementing horror influences into their melodies, and that’s something I often try to do with my own music. 

Carly Rae Jepsen: I want to write a chorus like "Call Me Maybe" one day. 

We predict his dream will become a reality soon, if 'Baby You’re the Star of the Show' is any sign of what we can expect from The Curtain Call in the future. You can stream the track along with all other songs by The Curtain Call now on streaming platforms. Go Hit Play!

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