My Chemical Romance: The Musical

with Jessica Conrad 🩰

Sep 01, 2022

Jessica Conrad is featured on this week's episode of Nicstalgia. We discuss the best 2000s movie soundtracks, 'cheese grater' music videos, and our shared formative experience: DANCE!! We deep dive on dance studio culture and its impact on music discoverability, the dance world’s impact on pop culture, and the harsh realities of a career in dance.

You’ll hear about Jessica’s epic 8th grade talent show performance, where she got a standing ovation, and how middle school was actually kinda like Mean Girls IRL. Turns out, you don't have to choose between being a dance girl, theater kid, or emo kid: all can coexist. It's hard to make a decision about what to do with the rest of your life at 17, but what really matters is being the kind of person your teenage self would think is cool.

Watch/listen: YouTube • Spotify • Apple Podcasts • Website

🛼 Haven’t You Heard?!

My fav things from the internet rn:
A Deep Dive Into My Chemical Romance's Video For Helena - need I say more??? Also MCR is at Mohegan Sun tonight and although I’m not there, and not thrilled about it, I hope everyone has a great time.

Gen Z isn’t mourning the past – we’re trying to redeem it. I could probably write a thesis about this article lol, covering nostalgia, nowstalgia, and how every generation of youth reckons with young adulthood. Beyond interesting!

Why are we all so obsessed with early web nostalgia? I LOVE analyzing the thread of continuity between web1 (webpages), web2 (social media), and web3 (the decentralized internet, which includes but is not limited to the metaverse), and I stan retro futurism. The intersection of nostalgia and technology is particularly fascinating, especially as a Millennial. We were the first generation to grow up in a truly hybrid environment, both with and without technology.

Ever wonder about the detailed history of iconic 90s catalogue turned mall-store-of-my-dreams, dELiA*s??? This article was written a few years back, so now it’s much more evident how the 90s Y2K trend cycle was revived, but still a fun read. It was actually a part of Fast Company’s The Design of Y2K, a series telling the stories behind the most influential products of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Other pieces from the series discuss the Motorola Razr, AIM, and the PalmPilot. Iconico.

📹 Pop-Up Video

On this week’s podcast episode with Jessica Conrad, we talked about our love for ‘cheese grater’ music videos. A meme comparing the two was in circulation a few years back and had a relatively recent resurgence on TikTok; the view of silver metallic, very Y2K-inspired rooms in 90s-00s hip hop videos looked strikingly similar to the inside of a cheese grater. “Lights, Camera, Action!” by Mr.Cheeks is a great example of this.

The “cheese grater” aesthetic, fisheye lens, and aerial shots comprise the signature style of prolific music video director Hype Williams. Also fun fact, he shot the 2007 Playboy photos of Kim Kardashian, where “You’re doing amazing, sweetie!” was born.

Pretty sure I need to do an entire Nicstalgia episode (series? anthology?) on music videos. Until then, here are my favorite Hype Williams MVs:

“No Scrubs” -TLC
“She’s a B**ch” -Missy Elliott
“The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” -Missy Elliott
“Mo Money Mo Problems” -The Notorious B.I.G.
“Supernatural” -Wild Orchid (lol ICYMI, I talk about Fergie’s pre-BEP girl band in)

💿 Hey Mr. DJ, put a [playlist] on

Playlist of the week:
To 2005 and Beyond, one of my favorite playlists that does in fact include all of my AIM away message and Myspace songs. These angsty, nostalgic songs take me RIGHT back to a very specific place and time.

For the uninitiated, here are 7 songs from this playlist that you can get started with:

“Helena (So Long & Goodnight)” by My Chemical Romance 🥀⚰️
A theatrical, melodramatic masterpiece about MCR’s lead singer Gerard Way and bassist Mikey Way’s late grandmother, Elena. This band rejected the ‘emo’ label even at the peak of their popularity because of the negative stigma attached to the genre, but they definitely have a glam edge and stage presence that set (past and present tense) them apart.
“MakeDamnSure” by Taking Back Sunday 📣🛣
WELL I TRIP OVER EVERYTHING YOU SAY 🗣🗣🗣 The amount of times I have scream-sang this while driving (both in my red 2002 Ford Focus named Candi when I was sixteen and also now, being sixteen x 2) is either impressive or concerning. Depends on who you ask.
“The Mixed Tape” by Jack’s Mannequin 📼💌
Cannot understate JM and singer/pianist Andrew McMahon’s previous band Something Corporate’s influence. I recently saw him in concert and would be full-blown lying if I said I didn’t shed a tear during this song and “Dark Blue”, obviously, which was my Myspace song at one point.
“Hands Down” by Dashboard Confessional 🚪💋
I fully remember this being my AIM Away Message. (The drama.) Also saw the very talented Chris Carrabba perform IRL recently and he has the presence that, when he’s talking to you, makes you feel like the literal only other person in the world. Truly magical. He said this song is about “the best day of my life”, which I find very endearing. CC is also an Aries from Connecticut, go figure!!
“Soul Meets Body” by Death Cab for Cutie 🔮☀️
You know when you close your eyes and just let your beautiful little face be kissed by sunshine? Maybe a warm, light breeze even floats by? And for that fleeting moment, you are happy, you are content, everything is okay in the world, and you somehow feel less alone? Yeah, that’s this song for me.
“For A Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic” by Paramore 🧡‼
I stan Hayley Williams and that’s all there really is to say about that. Bold statement and likely an unpopular opinion, but I might actually like this song more than “Misery Business”. (Lyrically, I definitely do.)
“The Best Of Me” by The Starting Line 🎸🎧
Including this one because I’m so amused by the story of their formation; the guitarist invited the bassist to the band via email after seeing his his AOL Messenger profile lolol.

🏆 Nicstalgia Trivia

Me and Jessica both grew up in dance studios, where we were able to discover music we wouldn’t have otherwise had access to. There was a song played at the barre that I was fully obsessed with, not knowing it was called “Watermark” for literally 22 years.

Who is the singer, pictured above, that supplied the soundtrack to much of my time as a childhood ballet dancer?

Find the answer in this week’s episode of Nicstalgia!

The Real Reason The Pussycat Dolls TV Show Was Canceled

Last Week’s Answer
“Buttons” by the Pussycat Dolls was Rachel’s first Myspace song. Incredible. You might be wondering, What’s PCD’s connection to the 90s? Well, Robin Antin started PCD first as a burlesque troupe in 1990 (with Christina Applegate was a performer).

The subject of an episode of Dark Side of the 90s, which infamous nightclub did PCD have a residency at from 1995-2001?

The Viper Room. This place is and has been associated with all kinds of problematic people/things, but it holds a firm place in 90s history.

Watch last week’s episode, I'm a dELiA*s Girl in a 90s World with Rachel Burke from 90s Obscurity, on YouTube!

Nicstalgia