Yakking with Yante - Episode 8: Josh Talbert

In this episode Daniel talks with former student Josh Talbert about his experience at school and what he’s been up to since graduating from the HUB in 2023.

DY: How would you describe your time being at the HUB Houston?

JT: It’s been an amazing experience working with lots of teachers I knew back at Monarch and I’m extremely thankful that Coach enrolled me to join the HUB in September of 2020 during the pandemic. Sure, I've had some ups and downs but that’s just a part of life. I never would have friends like Emerson or Quint had I stayed at Monarch and never told my parents the issues I was having there. It was a little hard at first explaining my feelings to Mr. Nathan and Ms. Aviles because I never worked with Mr. Nathan at Monarch and me and Ms. Aviles started at the same time. But it got easier as time went by. I guess I had to put all my Monarch stress in the past. Overall, it was a life-changing experience and three years of my life I'd never give away.

DY: What were your favorite classes that you enjoyed taking during your time?

JT: Animation, Woodworking, HUB Hero video editing, Songwriting, and the list goes on. I may not have gotten to do theater class, but that’s OK. Ms. Krause and Ms. Cay offered me to observe future rehearsals whenever I visit at least once a year even if it’s just for a day. Sometimes it was nice to present my Metacritic compilations in Animation class (projects to keep me occupied for when the internet is down). Speaking of theater class, the BFF song in the SpongeBob musical was composed by the Plain White T’s right? Well, months before our big SpongeBob play, Tom Higgenson (the lead singer) surprised a little girl in the hospital with their signature “Hey There Delilah” song. You should check that out sometime it’s rather sweet.

DY: How did you describe your time being at the HUB Camping trips like Camp For All or Morgan's Wonderland Camp?

JT: Fun, exciting, enjoyable, and very active. Never a dull moment. Camp for All has been way more memorable with you guys than with Monarch. I like how Mr. Nathan would give me the ideas to make humorous excuses such as my doctor forbidding me to dance or sing and that bowing after performances makes me feel very gassy. But I loved doing the ropes course (my favorite part of Camp for All and Morgan’s), horseback riding, and observing the barnyard animals. During the Smores parties, I remember me and Jacob cut in line to stealthily receive seconds with Owl City music blasting through the speakers. Tear Jerking times (in a rather good way like the ending of Toy Story 3 where Andy gave his toys to Bonnie before heading off to college). Morgan’s on the other hand, felt like an updated version of Camp for All from an electric zipline that gives you a breathtaking view of nature and wildlife to telling corny jokes in front of people during the campfire parties. I’ll never forget my irrational fears of Johnny Depp that I’ll randomly bring up at night that kept every HUBster awake. It was nerve-wracking having the beds next to fire alarms at Morgan’s (worrying I'll accidentally knock my foot into the glass and the thing potentially might go off). I liked taking the group picture with the Camp shirts Jacob used to design for us. He always makes the best shirts, don’t you agree?

DY: How would you describe your time at The Monarch School and Institute? 

JT: It all started back when we lived in San Antonio, my mom would drive me 3 hours from there just to see Ms. Sharon in Houston. That’s how we eventually moved to the Woodlands just so I could attend Monarch. At first, it was an amazing program and I knew lots of people who now work at the HUB like Ms. Alison, Ms. Shivali, Ms. Cay, and of course, Ms. Julie. But then in 2017, I felt like the program took a huge nosedive and I don’t mean that in a good way. I felt like some of the teachers (not all, but some) didn’t care that I felt uncomfortable in some crowded events and karaoke. I took my stress out on people I cared about and I just wasn’t happy anymore at Monarch. Bridging really felt more like a politically-charged program than a school for students who can achieve great big things. Basically, nowadays I feel like Monarch is being treated like politics and less like an actual school. I really didn’t have a very supportive group of people at bridging who would sometimes belittle me or other students. I’m thankful I got out while I could during the apocalypse. It’s rather sensitive for me to talk about Monarch because I’m trying to move on. It was a struggle and a very challenging dynamic to figure out, I was so young I didn’t know what was going on like all of a sudden, the teachers I liked weren’t around anymore. It was devastating.

DY: How did you find out about The HUB Houston? 

JT: Ms. Julie told my mom that’s where she was going to work starting in 2018 and then during the pandemic, My parents were looking at alternative schools for me and we knew several many people like I said from Monarch who now work at the HUB. Basically, I took my first steps into the HUB on Hodges Day 2020. Isn’t that something to talk about?

DY: How did you feel when you were a senior back in 2023?

JT: It was hard to accept at first because I knew I’d miss lots of people I care about but thanks to modern technology. I know I’ll always be in touch with my favorite HUBsters and I’ll at least visit once a year in person. I am currently penciling to a summer camp called Perform like a Pro on June 23-26 by the way but figuring out plans. That would be worth more for my birthday than Vero Beach or Jacksonville (we evacuated to Jacksonville during Hurricane Milton by the way).

DY: Where did you get your love and interest in animations metacritic and movies in general?

JT: I guess maybe it was the different textures and graphics with computer-animation, especially seeing the June 10, 2010 trailer for Tangled (one that was shown in theaters with Toy Story 3 and set to “Trouble” by P!nk from her 2003 album Try This). It makes sense in hindsight because both P!nk and Mandy Moore (voice of Rapunzel) have been compared to loads of other pop artists out there such as Kelly Clarkson, Hilary Duff, The Veronicas, the Backstreet Boys, Ashlee Simpson, and Michelle Branch if you really take time and think about it. You can find this Tangled trailer on YouTube if you search for one that was released on “June 10, 2010” and runs for 2 minutes. The trailer was slightly criticized for the focus being more on Flynn Rider and less on Rapunzel but it was the first Tangled trailer I ever saw. I do sort of understand frustration from the fans though. Then we had AppleTV that would let you play trailers for certain films. I feel like the animation genre has lots of amazing colors, visuals, and graphics. Even videos on YouTube on how they did everything and concept art books. I also feel like I can trust the genre to be family-friendly most of the time with the exception of that rated-R food movie with Seth Rogen that was released in 2016. In short, Animation is my favorite genre because of the colors, visuals, graphics (especially the 3D ones), and appeal to adults and children alike. I love anything Disney and Pixar as well as Sony, DreamWorks, Fox, and Universal. Those Spider-Verse movies are getting more and more complex with the animation as time goes on. When we saw Across the Spider-Verse with Quint, didn't it feel like the movie took place in a painting to that of Van Gough rather than a comic book? That’s what kind of makes me think Across in some ways tops Into in terms of animation styles and crews. I’m sure I’ll find some good programs in conjunction with lots of YouTube videos and the tutorials on animation that Ms. Cay emailed me. I’m looking for programs that aren’t too technical but ones that are more about drawing and painting and not specifically learning to animate. I’m sure the latest Wild Robot film by DreamWorks is one of the most complex animated movies of our generation because it won several awards and was acclaimed by critics.

DY: How are you liking it in Florida? 

JT: It does get lonely but I’m zooming with Ms. Cay every once in a while and facetiming both 101 and high school whenever I get the chance. Depends on the day you know. Like I said, my plan is to mostly visit in person once a year. We’ll find some programs with good people eventually. Maybe similar to the HUB, I don’t know. I know we’ll find some good people and I’ll make sure to keep everyone posted on my daily life.

DY: How did you come up with a nickname for the host King Yante?

JT: Maybe it was something I came up with whenever we used to play JackBox with Mr. Nathan. I honestly don’t remember because It’s been such a long time. But I'm sure it’s a name that will stick with one person forever.

DY: Aside from classes, what were your favorite memories you had when you were at High School? 

JT: All the projects me and Ms. Cay worked on together from April F. to a halloween story with a few other HUBsters (We even have a few inside jokes about Anna from Frozen and whenever Ms. Cay says “womp womp”, I often ask if any ducks wandered into the creative zone and she’ll for example say it was just a wandering trumpeter). Moving forward, there was also Morgan’s Wonderland, all the Camp for All trips, Jessie’s Bites, Every Alley Theater performance (in my later years), working on the snuffle mats with Ms. Aviles for production class, DeCamara visits (as time went on), the food trucks, The SpongeBob musical at Queensbury, the silent film camp I did in 2021, the dance practices we had with Mr. Anand before spring formals whenever he used songs like “Stereo Hearts”, “Party Rock Anthem” (in my opinion, the only song by that group with a slightly informal stage name that’s actually good because I feel most of their stuff is a little repetitive and the electronic instrumentals they have can bother my ears a little bit sometimes because of how loud and ear-piercing the sounds can be, no offense), “Jump Around” and “Teach Me How to Dougie” (speaking of Jump Around, I remember hearing the song in a DC: League of Super-Pets trailer in November 2021 that ran before theatrical prints of Encanto and there is a song off Everlast’s solo career I like called “What It’s Like” that he released in 1998. It’s a rather dark song but he manages to tell three stories perfectly), the Pet Guessing game, The Jewish Family Services field trip in 2022 (I was offered to retake that culture trip because the previous year, there was a cold going around and we had to zoom with Ms. Emily), me and Nick’s warthog wars, all the holiday/spring markets, the art car shimmy in 2022, the animated movie tier lists I’d recreate for ReelAbilities season every year, the Cambodian Rock band (reminded me a little bit of a mixture between famous bands and artists such as The Cranberries, Sixpence, Paramore, Avril Lavigne, and Hey Monday. You know, a cross between post-grunge and pop-punk. Lavigne especially due to all the colorful language), the Galveston trip with DeCamara (even if it was hot and humid that day), when Ms. Karen gave me a BLOOM fitness gym bag even 3 weeks into my first school year with you guys, cleaning graffiti off the Gully with Ms. Julia’s class, picking up trash with Ms. Aviles whenever we’d go on walks around the neighborhood (but not smashing it like WALL-E does, I’m not a robot), all the times we had dance-party gatherings during the pandemic, every Talent Show, every HUBcaps performance, the camp I did with Mr. Nathan where we went on loads of expeditions around the Houston area like rock-climbing and bowling, and working on the HUB hero videos and doing occasional announcements. BTW, off-topic statements. First of all, You know how I’m a big Mandy Moore fan (because she’s the voice of Rapunzel) and when the puppet show class performed “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas (the hits of ‘09) and I often hear the HUBcaps performing that song? Well, Is it alright if I think both artists (Mandy Moore and the Black Eyed Peas) have more similarities to the music of Adam Lambert than 3OH!3 does (only because 3OH!3 is a hip-hop duo and Adam Lambert is a pop artist)? I would understand if it was Panic! at the Disco or Cobra Starship being compared to Lambert because they have more melodic vibes at times. Spotify made a huge mistake on that in my opinion. Second, on the day we went to the Cambodian Rock show at the Alley Theatre, Universal published the trailer for a rated-R talking dog movie called Strays starring Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx. It was like happy-sweet kids materials went sour the day we went to the performance. Back to topic, it’s an endless list of favorite HUB memories.

DY: I know you talked about how you are determined to open and find a great spot for a potential Comic Book Store. How's that going for you?

JT: It’s a challenge. It was suggested to me that parking, rent, and visibility are important topics for everyone. I always want to be mindful of where I have my store set up because one shopping center has a bail bonds next to it and I don’t want to spend my days worrying about being robbed or anything like that even if I installed high-tech security systems. Ever since Helene and when my house flooded, I’ve been wiser and more mindful (and slightly stricter) about flooding. I often inspect the area for crime, parking, visibility, and rent but flooding is a new one. If I did end up having a Houston comic book store, I would either aim for I-10 & Brogden in the middle of Katy Freeway by St. Martin’s Church and Edward’s IMAX or Wirt & Westview by the Kroger and the old Jessie’s Bites church we used to volunteer at before St. Martin’s (I swear, that church vaguely reminds me of Hogwarts but minus Harry, Ron, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Snape, and Hermione) and everything. Why? Because I want to have my location next to a Starbucks so I can have friends or co-workers at whatever Starbucks location I’m close to, maybe every other Tuesday for staff meetings and plans to expand the business. Talk about life, plans for business, and enjoy a cup of coffee or pink drink if you know I mean. I like choosing Starbucks locations that first opened on the same day or week as a favorite animated movie of mine that scored a 71 on higher on Metacritic because I consider those ratings to be the best. Currently, we have a window cleaning business and we own the territories of St. Pete/Clearwater where we go to other businesses and give them estimates on how much to clean their windows and every year in July, there’s a huge convention where all the FISH employees win numerous awards. Back to the comic book store, I’m either looking at Vero or Apollo Beach because I took a trip to Vero Beach for my 18th birthday and I saw that the Starbucks is right next to an AMC Theatres. There is a bail bonds but there’s a courthouse right next to the said bail bonds which makes me feel a whole lot better. Speaking of Jessie’s Bites, I might think about doing something similar called Josh’s Bites. Mr. Guy didn’t mind but Ms. Cay thought I’d have to be aware of copyright. Bella and Winnie loved Jessie’s Bites. Bella is extremely picky and Jessie’s Bites would be all she ate. Winnie sometimes eats like a pig but they both were big Jessie’s Bites fans. While we were visiting a few weeks ago, we did buy my dogs new treats and toys from Jessie’s Bites including freeze-dried pieces of steak and beef jerky. Bella loves steak.

DY: How did you make your google slide presentations that you create and share with people?

JT: It’s a huge process sometimes. I often like to have my archived Metacritic articles for days when Spectrum is out but I may think about switching to the AV Club because the latter website gives more accurate ratings to certain animated films. Similar to most academic grading systems. I’m still figuring that out. I often think about the layout and how I want the color pattern to look depending on the topic of each animation project whether that’s Metacritic’s near-perfect animated films or top 100 animated films. I like how their lists don’t cut off like some websites do such as Rotten Tomatoes. I want to do my own combination of Metacritic and the AV Club combined with a movie reviewer I like named Zachary S. Marsh who reviewed films throughout 2009-19 and is even nice enough to most of the time to tell you what previews were shown before whatever movie was out at the time even if it was released in 2009 or 2010. He doesn’t care. I want my dream animation project to be a combination of all Metacritic, Zachary S. Marsh, and the A.V. Club all in one big package someday but I just can’t figure it out because Google Slides has limited space and so much room to add things. When I complete the projects, I take pictures of them on my phone or on my computer via screenshot and then put them into one big video and then wait to pick the day that feels right to send out the big feature.

DY: Can you describe more about the sessions that you had with Ms Cay that you have almost daily?

JT: We meet 2-3 times a month via Zoom but we always do an unplugged session whenever I come visit Houston at least during the regular school year. Aside from that, We’ll talk about life events and do many other things as the list goes on. We’ll do lyric substitutions, exchange marching band jokes and many others, and work on HUB projects like The Wizard of HUBz and The HUB! Musical. We did a big hour-long video together, most recently reviewing Mandy Moore’s music, career, and Tangled because we both like her music and albums (especially Wild Hope & Coverage). Anything off Wild Hope is a favorite between me and Ms. Cay, a major favorite in our sessions. It was Mandy Moore’s fourth studio album as she wrote it going through a breakup. I feel like Mandy deals with her emotions and breakups in more healthy ways than some pop artists like she never swears in her music I mean. Moore released the album on June 19, 2007 and toured with artists such as Kelly Clarkson on her My December tour as well as Sean Kingston, Ben Lee, Mika, Paula Cole, and Shwayze. We often as well talk about what artists are similar to each other and review movies (already released or newly released or upcoming). She’s sent me a few links to some online animation programs. I watched a few tutorials on character development. I remember hearing that you need to make sure your character is perfectly balanced and not a flat one-dimensional character. We often joke about Sony Animation having to learn the hard way with The Emoji Movie being severely panned by critics due to lackluster jokes and boring characters/plot. She also told me about how to make good comic-relief characters similar to Timon & Pumbaa from The Lion King, Dory from Finding Nemo, Tow Mater (most of the time, with the exception of Cars 2), the Genie from Aladdin, Olaf from Frozen, Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc., the Minions from the Despicable Me franchise, Bing Bong from Inside Out, Perrito from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and Ducky/Bunny from Toy Story 4. I was a little reluctant at first because sometimes there are poorly-written comic-relief characters like Jar Jar Binks, Lucy (from Charlie Brown), The Logging Locos (from the Sharon Miller era of Thomas & Friends), and Mater (only in Cars 2). Another tutorial I watched was about pixel art as I learned you have to make the colors very small in order to get the best pixels. Me and Ms. Cay always enjoy our sessions together, she’ll often give me advice on not to worry about things and live in the present. It’s hard but it’s useful advice in life. She always makes advice sound funny by making light of crazy days I had whenever there’s a zoom outage or something like comparing it to “Into the Unknown” from Frozen II. We’ll sometimes check in extra during hurricane season depending on how active the season is throughout September and October. She always tells me and everyone at the HUB will always be there to support and care for me no matter what I’m going through or dealing with in life. We’re always talking about demonetization on YouTube and what we can do to avoid it (just stay on YouTube’s good side). I remember she loved seeing our HUB Hero lyrics while paying tribute to Smash Mouth’s former lead singer, Steve Harwell. We often bring our pets to the zoom session webcam and it’s always exciting as me and Ms. Cay often make lots of Rapunzel and Anna jokes together. We often talk about the HUB school of rock camp and if it was enough to make Jack Black jealous. But Ms. Cay thinks Jack Black would have been very proud of our HUBsters for the 20th anniversary for School of Rock. It would have been crazy if they got a guest visit from Tenacious D altogether. I’m sure Jack Black would behave in front of our hubsters. I mean technically, I like Tenacious D but they can be edgy at times. Edgier than some bands. Say you’re listening to a blink-182 or 3OH!3 song on the radio, and you hear maybe a few irreverent references. I mean sometimes, Tenacious D cranks it up to 11 but not as much as some people feel like. I mean the problem is, you don’t want to become too much like the Bloodhound Gang. You know, making dirty jokes/innuendos in every song or video of yours. Just try to balance your songs between silly and serious the best you can. Maybe a few one-liners but think before you speak or post. Long story short, what me and Ms. Cay like to do in our sessions are write lyrics, review music and movies, make inside jokes, and basically keep each other posted on the HUB and Florida. Right now, like I said. I’m penciling to do the Perform like a Pro camp on June 23rd this year and working with Ms. Cay on the lyrics for each song for the HUB Musical! releasing on November 24th later this year.

DY: What are your plans for yourself in the future going forward?

JT: I’ll maybe apply for a beginner job at a local movie theater selling tickets to customers going to see a movie no matter the genre, I have a couple HUBwood Studios revival projects in the works like an Annie book releasing June 18th this summer based on the theater play that’s happening soon as well as of course, The HUB! Musical. In case I haven’t explained, it’ll be about a real estate developer named Earl Bose (German for Evil) who wants to tear down the 101 campus and build a children’s playground. And then a few HUBsters (me, King Yante, Jacob, Jillian, Benny, and Quint) having to work together to stop Earl from demolishing the 101 campus and along the way they will learn lessons about teamwork, positivity, bravery, acceptance, mental wellness, perseverance, and friendship through thick and thin. I want this project to appeal to HUBsters alike and to their family members. Your parents, brothers/sisters, aunts/uncles, and friends of their families. The musical will have a wide range of musical styles going from hip-hop to folk, and dance-pop to heavy metal. I plan to include 6-7 musical numbers in the styles of artists I’ve been influenced to compose for The HUB! Musical including the likes of Mandy Moore (of A Walk to Remember), Sammy Hagar, Jewel, Five for Fighting, Mumford & Sons, Beck, Carrie Underwood, Jason Derulo, Fall Out Boy, Train, Barenaked Ladies, and Flo Rida. Those artists/bands are my influences for The HUB Musical! Some TV programs I got the idea from are The Backyardigans and a short series called Big Block SingSong that airs in Canada on CBC Kids and here in the United States on Disney Junior. As far as the songs go. I have songs titled “In With the New” (the villain song), “Gratitude”, “The HUBster in Me”, and “Peace, Love, the HUB”. It'll be a fresh new project based upon my life as a HUBster and all the challenges I've faced and all the good times I've had at the HUB. I am incredibly excited for you to see what I'm going to create for the HUB musical when I release it to a limited set on November 12th and later officially expand into a full release on November 24th in time for the holidays. There might be a little twist to the project where the HUB! ends up moving both campuses to Florida learning to accept life’s lessons on how not everything lasts forever in this world and how change is a part of life and how it sometimes means starting new chapters. But don’t get me wrong, The HUB! Musical will have lots of comedy, thrills, and music but also room to breathe and relax every once in a while. I may consider wanting to give Ted ED talks on animating, painting, and drawing in the future. I often compare myself to Owl City but different. Why? Because Adam Young started out in his parents’ basement experimenting with electronic music and struggling with insomnia. But now he’s topping charts, working in the studio, providing songs for films like Wreck-It Ralph and The Croods, touring with bands like Maroon 5 and Cobra Starship, and performing in big crowds in concert or on local radio stations. But yeah, I like to consider myself similar to him but with artistic drawings, paintings, and animations. Don’t forget to check out my “Annie” project on June 18th as well as The Hub! Musical later on November 24th (but on November 12th to a limited set of people).