The much-anticipated ‘MacGyver The Musical’ album has been released on Yellow Sound Records, subsidiary of Broadway Records. Tristin Mays, star of the recent MacGyver TV series reboot, joins the MacGyver: The Musical album with her solo track ‘Too Much Future.’ Mays’ fiery performance is sure to make you wanna jump up and rock-out with the clever if not brilliant lyrics echoing in your head for hours…
‘Too Much Future’ is a protest song which centers around the show’s protagonist ‘Ingrid’ – a punk rock singer in an underground band who, inspired by Mac, helps stop the invasion of West Berlin, brings down the Berlin Wall, and prevents World War III. While this may sound outlandish, ‘Ingrid’ is not much different from a real-life 15 year old German girl named Britta Bergmann, who kickstarted a punk-rock movement in 1977 that ultimately helped bring down the Berlin Wall.
Although ‘Ingrid’ and her band may echo the sentiments of this real-life counterculture group of punks, Tristin Mays breathes an entirely new energy into the role when performing the song on the MacGyver The Musical Album.
Read the full interview below to see how ‘Too Much Future’ resonates with Tristin, her favorite lyric, video with footage from the recording session, a message to ‘Save MacGyver’ fans and more!
INTERVIEW WITH TRISTIN MAYS
By Rosie of MacGyver Global
Q – What’s your name, where are you from and what’s your involvement on the MacGyver musical album?
A – My name is Tristin Mays, I’m from everywhere. I’m from New York, I was born in New Orleans, I guess you could say I half-way grew up in Los Angeles too. And now I’m kinda from Atlanta. I don’t know… I’m from everywhere [laughs].
Q – What’s your involvement on the MacGyver the Musical album?
A – My involvement in this project kinda came out of nowhere – I got a call from Lee – the all-time creator, everything of MacGyver, icon… and he told me that they had been doing a MacGyver live play in Texas for a while, and that it was incredibly successful – I had no idea about it. And that was first of all, awesome news to hear. But he asked me if I wanted to be a part of the MacGyver musical album that they were gonna be doing for the show. And, that’s everything to me, because first of all I’m obsessed with the show, of course, and I’m also obsessed with musicals. So, musical plus MacGyver, that equals Tristin Mays. [laughs]
Q – What does macgyver mean to you?
A – MacGyver to me means improvise. It means figure it out. It means we’re going to get this — [pause] — done no matter what or no matter how. Whether it’s illegal or not, we’re doing it. [laughs] Get the job done – that’s what macgyver means.
Q – What’s the most recent thing that you macgyvered?
A – The most recent thing I Macgyvered… was a car bumper. It was flying off when we were driving down the freeway and we stopped by a hardware store, got some Gorilla Glue, glued it back onto the car, um… We were hoping to get a glue that wouldn’t show up on the rim of the bumper, but this was that glue that foams up and turns into that big yellow foam. So there’s that. But we still fixed the problem. We macgyvered it. The bumper did not fly off on the freeway. Gotta improvise, right?
Q – What’s it been like working on the MacGyver musical album?
A – So this project has been a quick process. Today was the recording day – I got to New York about a week ago. We had an awesome rehearsal the other day. That was so freakin’ cool. Just to meet everybody and see the love and the passion that they’ve had about this show they’ve been doing for a long time, and just to see everyone come together again. It seemed like an incredible excitement I was really glad to be a part of; great energy.
Today was the recording day, and I just walked in and everyone’s already mid-song, doing their thing, everyones belting out notes and just having a great time, and here I am thrown into the mix, doing my thing. So I can honestly say It’s been great. It’s been just what I needed right now.
Q – Do you have a favorite lyric on the album?
A – My favorite lyric is [from] the song I just sang – it’s called ‘Too Much Future’ and even though it has to do with the storyline that’s going on in the actual show, it really resonates… because it means a whole different thing to me. My favorite line is: “But they won’t break us ‘cuz we have heard the call”
That means you can’t stop me… You can’t stop me from doing whatever it is that I’m going to do. You can’t say anything that’s going to change me or who I am. Because I know what my destiny is – I know what my calling is. So I just think that line is super cool. [Begins Singing] “THEY WON’T BREAK US ‘CAUSE WE HAVE HEARD THE CALL” It just makes me want to scream it out!
There’s a lot of lines in the song that kinda mean that: “Day after day controlled by others who decide our fate.” I’ve been saying that for so long. I’m tired of the monotonous fitting into certain boxes and everyone wanting me to be a certain type of way, when I just want to be myself. Like, “Don’t wear black all the time” – “I’m going to!” You know? Just… these boxes. And for me it really resonates. I’ve heard the call, so I’m gonna keep doing things the way that I want to do it and everybody else should too.
Q- If you could share this album with anyone, who would you?
A – Everyone. I’d share this album with everyone. I haven’t heard maybe four of the songs on the album, but all of them have such a good message, they’re all so much fun. Especially for everyone who loves theater and performing and singing and stuff like that. This is just so much fun, especially the MacGyver fans, I think that they should all hear it.
I honestly can’t wait for all the MacGyver fans to find out about this project right here, because I feel they would go absolutely crazy. You know, they’ve been trying every single day to get the show back. “Save MacGyver” “Save MacGyver,” and I honestly don’t know if there’s any chance of getting the show back, but this right here is a way to keep it going for them. It’s a way to keep the energy there. The love is still there, so I’m looking forward to sharing it with all of the MacGyver fans.”
Purchase the MacGyver: The Musical Album featuring ‘Too Much Future’ with Tristin Mays HERE.
MacGyver: The Musical is produced by creator of the original MacGyver TV series Lee Zlotoff, who also co-wrote the book of the musical with Kate Chavez, Robin Holloway, and Lindsey Hope Pearlman. Music and lyrics by Peter Lurye. The album features music production by Tony and Emmy winner Michael J. Moritz.