Weird Al’s approach has often been to parody specific popular radio songs. The Lonely Island comedy-trio made some of the most iconic comedy songs on Saturday Night Live—frequently featuring some of Hollywood’s biggest names like Justin Timberlake and Natalie Portman.
And now we have Kyle Gordon. A comedian who has been making a name for himself in the art of parody songwriting, taking over one genre at a time.
He released his debut album, Kyle Gordon Is Great, on March 1. The 8-song comedy/parody album is a radio-fueled road trip. Each track represents a different genre. In between the songs, scripted comedy bits present fully authentic radio banter tailored to the upcoming song’s genre. And he nailed it! The album offers a fun listening experience, playing out like an alternate universe radio station when you’re streaming it and caught in traffic.
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Gordon’s game-changing track was “Planet Of The Bass.” Released in August 2023 under the pseudonym DJ Crazy Times, the ‘90s European dance parody appeared on the U.S. Billboard charts, received worldwide coverage, and was just added to Fortnite as a song/dance.
And for his next hit, he went emo.
Reminiscent of the 2007 Myspace glory days, “My Life (Is The Worst Life Ever)” became a viral hit on TikTok and introduced us to his emo character Raven Shadow Bane of the band Our Wounded Courtship. We had him stop by the idobi Radio studio to perform the track… and he did not disappoint. You can check out the full performance here.
As a kid obsessed with Weird Al Yankovic and The Lonely Island, it’s cool to see a new artist creating quality parody music and just having fun with it. It’s an awesome genre that people often overlook or poorly execute, but when done right… it becomes laugh-out-loud funny. And Kyle Gordon is nailing it.
idobi Radio sat down with Gordon after his session and chatted about the success of his recent parody tracks, deciding which genre to parody and why lyrics and overall authenticity are so important for him to fully execute his vision.
Read an excerpt from our chat below and watch the full interview here.
How did it all begin to where you started exploring these different genres and then making spoof songs?
Funny enough—this song, “My Life (Is The Worst Life Ever”—this character, this pop-punk emo—is actually my oldest bit. In college, I wrote a song called “I Really Hate My Step Dad.” My first iteration of this was called My Dark Little Corne, and I did it with a full band, and we’d do it at improv theaters.
Comedically, I’m drawn to doing characters. That’s what a lot of people know me for doing online. I was never a “stand-up.” I was always doing improv or when I was performing solo, I would do characters.
It really all started from this pop-punk emo character.
What’s the plan with the music? Has it turned into something you didn’t expect?
Actually, “Planet Of The Bass” was the only song I wrote just for the album. Everything else were bits I had been playing in New York for a long time. But my goal was always—because they’re genre parodies—I wanted them to—with full production—actually sound like the genre I’m parodying.
So, even just making the album and having it exist, that’s mission accomplished to me. But also, being able to come out with the music videos…
What was the release and response like for “My Life (Is The Worst Life Ever)”?
It’S been great! Because it’s a song I’ve been doing for so long, it was sort of cathartic to get out. But I didn’t know because it’s been so long since I wrote it. Like, “Are people still gonna be into it? Are people still gonna care about it?”
But seeing the response from people who are fans of pop-punk/alternative/emo music embracing the song was amazing. You never know how people are going to respond to it. So I was very psyched that everyone has a great sense of humor about it.
