November 16th, 2018 
Jackson Murphy 
When the producers of Nickelodeon’s The Loud House decided to do a special musical episode, they reached-out to a familiar team. Award-winning songwriters Michelle Lewis and Doug Rockwell collaborated on “The Loud House” theme song a few years ago. For the new special, Really Loud Music, Lewis and Rockwell crafted more than a dozen pop tunes to tell the story of young Luna Loud’s dream of becoming “America’s Next Hitmaker.” I spoke to them this week about writing the songs – and an exclusive clip is below. The Loud House: Really Loud Music debuts Friday November 23rd at 7pm ET on Nickelodeon.
Jackson Murphy: I’m amazed that you were able to get 15 songs into 22 minutes. Structurally, how were you able to pull that off?
Doug Rockwell: I didn’t even know we pulled it off until right now. I thought we had, like, 3 hours of music. I’m glad they cut it down to get much shorter! (laughs) Honestly, it just came so easy for us. Michelle and I have been working together for a while and we became really close with the people over at “The Loud House”. We just got into this groove where it just kind of happened. The stuff we’re writing about too – it’s all fun. It’s fun and it comes from the kid within all of us. Us as kids: I know I had a really short attention span, so maybe that’s where the length of the music shined as well.
Michelle Lewis: And I’ll add that it’s much easier to cut down than add.
DR: Yes. That’s one thing we ran into. A lot of times, we’ll write a full-length song. And we’ll go back when we see it to picture and cut down from there. So some of the songs that are actually in there, we actually cut down from maybe 2-3 minutes down to… a minute and 40 seconds.
JM: But I feel like in listening to each song – even if they’re only heard here for a little bit or 2-3 minutes – some of them could really be heard on the radio. Michelle, was that really a goal… to make some of them feel like they could be heard on the radio?
ML: Absolutely. Doug and I both come from pop music. We didn’t come from writing for film and television. Our start was writing for pop artists on the radio. So production values-wise, that’s sort of our go-to. You mix it differently for TV. The vocal levels are louder. You use different effects. But ultimately the music and the song structure we wanted to use was more pop than musical theater or children’s television. It was a decision for sure, and we’re really happy that “The Loud House” people were open to it. We get a little music theater in a couple of them… but for the pop moments… it is supposed to be about a song that gets on the radio, we wanted it to sound like it could legit be on the radio.
JM: And I think they can. So Doug, there are so many characters on this show. Why did Luna Loud feel like the right one to base this story around?
DR: The writers actually came to us with the concept, originally – that they kind of wanted to play off the whole “American Idol” thing and the whole competition to try to be a star. She’s kind of the rocker in the family – the rocker chick. And at “The Loud House”, they’re big music fans, too – so it kind of made sense if they were gonna do a big musical episode to base it around Luna. But what they did I think was really cool. They intertwined all the characters in there. But this is all going on inside Luna’s head. Her passion… love and obsession for music kind of spread around everyone else, and they did it in a really cool way. Luna’s always been the rocker chick on “The Loud House”, so I’m glad that they gave her some limelight on this one.
JM: So you talk about this being a close process working with the entire “LH” team. Michelle, was there any back on forth on how many songs you could fit in? Was anybody nervous about that?
ML: It was really organic. What the writers did, to their credit, they pulled us into every step of the process. We were never written into a corner. Every time they came up with a plot point, they would turn to us and go, “Is this where we would break into a song?” It was very collaborative. And I think that shows. The trickiest point was that medley in the beginning where each member of the family… weigh in on what Luna is going through. And how to make that work was the only real code we had to crack. And then everything else was natural the way you write a musical. You figure out the plot points: where there needs to be a song, where there needs to be more dialogue. But they did this with us, and we were really appreciative – and I think it worked.
JM: The episode is basically broken into halves, and in the early part, every family member gets their “own kind of song” – and that’s one of the main themes. So, for both of you, what music style or genre defines you?
DR: Oh, man. That’s tough. I come from so many different influences. I grew up dancing to The Beatles while my parents were playing it on their stereo in the late 80s. And then I got into punk rock music. But I always had a passion for pop, too. I just like any song that is catchy and hooky. But I also have a really big passion for musical theater too. And then also, to top it off, people get so surprised when I tell them one of my favorite bands is Phish. It is such an unorganized list of influences as I go. But the way I always describe it… any genre, if it’s a good song, if it’s well-written, if it’s something I can connect to and it sticks in my head, regardless of whatever genre it is, I’m gonna love listening to it. So I know it’s a very vague answer, but it kind of sums me up.
JM: You have quite a catalogue.
ML: I musically came of age in the 90s, so I’d say the 90s R&B one we did for Laurie – that came a little too naturally. It was so much fun and so in my wheelhouse and not anything I really get to do right now. That was awesome. My favorite genre in life is British rock. Huge Radiohead fan. But we didn’t get to do a Radiohead song. That would’ve been amazing if one of the kids did one.
DR: That would’ve been so much fun. We’re gonna have to write one and pitch it.
JM: So Doug, you actually voice the Doug character – the co-host of “America’s Next Hitmaker”, the show that Luna is auditioning for. Tell me about voicing an animated version of yourself.
DR: I can’t even begin to tell you the little kid inside me is still glowing. It was the coolest thing ever. And the way it happened, I think, is my favorite part. Michelle and I would get a lot of the scenes and the dialogue and we would write our songs according to. And we got this one scene where Luna meets these two music execs. And I was reading the script and this character’s name is Doug. I’m like, “Is this a joke?” And the other character’s name is Michelle. And we weren’t sure if they were messing with us or not. So we wrote back to them: “Hey! What’s the deal? Is this us? Are we playing us? Is someone else playing us?”
They kind of surprised us with it. And next thing I knew, we’re in the booth. I’m playing the part of myself. Obviously, I wouldn’t say it describes me as a human because it’s a little bit of a used car salesman kind of music exec… which I don’t think I am. But it was still really, really cool. And especially to be on the other side of the glass. Usually, Michelle and I are directing the talent – and we’re going through different takes while recording their vocals. We’re so used to being there in that moment – but when you’re thrown on the other side of it, it’s definitely a very different experience. And it was exciting. I couldn’t be more grateful.
And to finally see it when we got the preview of it, it was just so cool. It was so cool to see myself in a cartoon… essentially something that will outlive me as a human being. So I’ve kind of been immortalized. So I’ll take it.
JM: Wow. That is deep. You got deep there, Doug.
DR: (laughs) It goes deep. Being a cartoon character brings the deep feelings out.
JM: And the Doug and Michelle characters have a bit of an edge to them. There’s a line the Michelle character says: “You gotta play the game to get the fame”. So Michelle, have you personally witnessed or experienced that in your years of songwriting and being in the music and entertainment industries?
ML: Oh, boy. Of course. I think that’s why I couldn’t play her myself. I couldn’t play the Michelle character because it was too mean. Having been on the other side… I think personally I would relate to Luna a lot more than the character named Michelle.
DR: I think we both do.
ML: We’ve way been on the wrong side of that attitude. Part of the reason I think I went from being an artist myself to being behind the scenes as a songwriter, composer and producer is the pressure of being an artist and on-stage and how you have to look – all the things they get into in the episode is kind of real.
JM: There is a lot of realism in the episode. But I also think it’s a half hour episode that the whole family can sit around and enjoy. Adults and kids will get something out of it. Do you have other ideas for songs for future “Loud House” episodes – maybe more musical-themed episodes?
ML: We hope so!
DR: We really do.
ML: Yes. We love doing this. And I love how we don’t have to sort of dumb down. We can play to our strengths and go for it stylistically.
DR: And I think that the coolest experience of working with them is that everybody trusted each other. We trusted them so much as writers, and they trusted us so much as songwriters. We all really got to be the best versions of ourselves and do what we do best without having to second guess. Being a writer on any vessel in the industry: you are questioning and there are a lot of people you have to go through and for things to get approved. But everyone just works together so great on this team that it just came so natural.
“The Loud House: Really Loud Music” debuts Friday November 23rd at 7pmET on Nickelodeon.
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