Cory Blair and Teen idle: A Twist on a Classic
On March 21st, Shore Points Records released a Girls Only Compilation Album that highlights female and non-binary artists from the independent music scene. Among these tracks is a reimagined cover of Lady Gaga’s song “Bad Romance” by New Jersey-based artists Cory Blair and Teen Idle.
Both of these artists bring a distinct creative perspective to the project. Cory Blair, a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter based in Asbury Park, blends indie-fold story-telling with experimental textures, producing atmospheric soundscapes. On the other hand, Sara Abdelbarry, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who goes by the name Teen Idle, blends rock influences with dreamy arrangements. Together, these two created an entirely new version of “Bad Romance” that encapsulates raw emotion and intricate instrumentation. This project highlights the duo’s ability to reinvent pop songs through an alternative lens.
In a recent interview, the two talked about the inspiration for their cover and what they hope to convey through it:
Q: What made you choose this particular song and artist to cover?
A: After reflecting on who the most iconic women in pop music are, we toyed around with covering Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, and Madonna, but after deliberating, Gaga was the clear choice. Even though Sara and I both have diverse musical influences, Gaga was an early inspiration for both of us when we were young. It was tough to choose one of her songs, given how large her discography is, but we kept coming back to Bad Romance. We didn't want to recreate her sound, but wanted to respect her artistry by reimagining the song in a powerful way in our own right.
Q: How has this artist influenced your own music and creative journey?
A: “It was kind of earth-shattering for me, listening to Gaga for the first time. I remember feeling ashamed of listening to her so much, I didn’t know I was a little art freak yet. I wasn't ready to come out as a queer person. I was playing the piano and just beginning to sing at that time, about age 14. The Fame left a big impact on my early songwriting.” -Cory
“I remember being obsessed with the idea of pop stardom since I was 6 years old. Whenever I’d come home from school in the 2nd grade, I’d run across the street to my neighbor Adam’s house so we could sit in front of the TV and watch MTV music videos. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to become a pop songwriter and felt from a young age that I wanted to become a superstar of some sort. When I was old enough to really reflect on these ideas, Lady Gaga came and shook up my whole world. Not only were her pop hooks really infectious, but something about the way she is unabashedly herself really resonated with me as a weird kid who didn’t really fit in during middle and high school. Gaga was and is a formative influence on my artistry. She embodies everything an artist should be, and is also such a sincere, family-oriented, good person which is what I always hope to be.” - Sara
Q: Do you remember the first time you heard this song? What impact did it have on you?
A: “I heard it on the radio. I felt like I couldn't stop hearing the song. It was like an anthem. I didn't know what club music was yet. But I knew it made me want to move! I realized later how my queerness as a teenager was shaped by Gaga’s music and the widespread impact she had on all of her fans leading up to Born This Way and beyond. Gaga was able to pull from art history, high fashion, cinema, dance etc., and bring out a collective freedom of expression that gave people permission to be themselves. I knew I felt myself when I was listening.” - Cory
“There are certain songs throughout my childhood and teenage years that just transport me to a really specific place even when I hear them now. I think ‘Bad Romance’ is one of them because I distinctly remember the craze of the song slowly overtaking my middle school and being played at all the dances. I was 11 when that song came out, and I just remember being wholly absorbed in its melody and freakiness. It just felt so comforting to listen to, and now reflecting on Lady Gaga’s tendency to create a space for those without a voice, I could see why, since I was going through some bullying at the time in middle school and having a hard time.” - Sara
Q: Did you approach this cover differently than your original music?
A: For both of us, we wanted to challenge ourselves to see how far we could go and produce, engineer, arrange, and mix this cover song ourselves. We both have a strong musical ear, but we wanted to see how far we could take the arrangement and if we could reimagine the song in a way that honors Lady Gaga’s original song but brings our own flair and heart to it, playing with genre and instrumentation. In this way, our arrangement was more thought out than perhaps the way we approach making demos for our own songs, which is more stream of consciousness.
Q: Were there any unique challenges in translating the original artist’s style into your own?
A: Through doing this cover, making the arrangement was probably the trickiest but funnest part. This was mostly because our vision for the song was extremely different than the original, both tempo-wise, genre-wise, vocally, and with instrumentation. One funny and completely unintentional challenge was that once we translated the song into the version we imagined, a more slowed-down country-inspired ballad, the song ended up being 8 minutes long. Figuring out how to shorten the length obviously became challenging — we had to figure out what we could rearrange and take out while not removing super essential parts of the song.
Q: What emotions or messages do you hope to convey through your version of the song?
A: The depth of desire, lust, and love, crush energy, southern twang, kind of a breeze of Appalachia, and cross-country romance.
Q: Are there any other female artists who have significantly shaped your musical style?
A: “So many countless figures: Lucinda Williams, St. Vincent, SOPHIE, Cate Le Bon, Cassandra Jenkins, Gwen Stefani, Pauline Oliveros, Suzanne Ciani, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Adrianne Lenker, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill. Many of them are genre-defying, continuously challenging themselves and evolving with their music.” - Cory
“So many. The first pop star I ever became obsessed with was Gwen Stefani, but after that period, there have been so many more influences, people I look at as trailblazers and movers and shakers. Some of these artists are St. Vincent, Mannequin Pussy, Japanese Breakfast, Caroline Polachek, Shania Twain, Angel Olsen, and Victoria Legrand from Beach House.
Q: If you could collaborate with any influential woman in music, past or present, who would it be and why?
A: “It would have to be Suzanne Ciani. She opened up an incredible world of sonic possibility not only as a masterful solo artist but as one of the early pioneers of electronic music. I first heard Suzannie Ciani on YouTube and it set me on a path to discovering my voice through electronic synthesis.” - Cory
“Probably around a year and a half ago, I discovered this very underrated older Egyptian artist named Maha. I found her through this Berlin-based label Habibi Funk, which reissues all of these lost and rare albums by Arab, North African, and Middle Eastern artists throughout the decades. They re-released her album, which came out I believe, in the ‘70s in Cairo but never really gained any traction. Discovering Maha shattered my world, between her voice and sonic arrangements, so I’d definitely pick her.” - Sara
BTS of Cory Blair and Teen Idle making their cover of “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga.
They also shed light on the role of women in the music industry and the challenges that they typically face:
Q: How do you see the legacy of women in music evolving today?
A: We hope that more badass women and femmes just keep taking over the industry and shaking it up even more and more. We’d love to see more and more women recording engineers, producers, and beyond, and help create and be part of a space where this becomes more normalized and celebrated.
Q: What challenges do you think women in music still face today, and how can the industry support them better?
A: “Women, trans, and non-binary artists are just generally underrepresented and heavily criticized, on top of being overly sexualized. It’s not that there aren’t enough opportunities out there, it's just that promoters, venues, and event curators could do more to represent a more diverse selection of artists and actively seek out collaborations to develop unique events.” - Cory
“I definitely think the status of women in the industry is much different than it was years or decades ago, but there’s still certain issues that still exist and maybe always will. Even though there’s more representation of women in bands and behind the scenes, women artists can still be heavily criticized or represented unfairly. I read a newspaper review of an artist I admire’s new album, and the critic sort of tore her to shreds for no reason, but my guess is because her new musical direction didn’t seem to fit what he expected of her or saw her as. It was sad to read, and I think as us women start to get more and more into positions like producer or engineer, we will face criticism from people not used to us being in such roles. The sheer shortage of women engineers and producers is an issue in itself.” - Sara
Q: What does Women's History Month mean to you as an artist?
A: “It means persisting and standing up for what I believe in, following in the footsteps of Assata Shakur, Harriet Tubman, Marsha Johnson, and Shireen Abu Akleh. Having a voice and doing something with it. Pushing myself in a good way to perform more, put myself outside of my comfort zone, and create with other artists continuing a legacy of collective liberation for the oppressed and underrepresented.” - Cory
“I think it just means reflecting on the musical traditions that came before us, whether those are indigenous musical traditions or the women in music that paved the way for us to be able to write music, release it, and be taken seriously. So many incredible women have contributed to shaping the current state of the industry for women, one in much better shape than it was decades ago, that it would be difficult to name them.” - Sara
Q: What advice would you give to young women looking to make their mark in the music industry?
A: “Listen, develop, and continue to create at all costs. Learn by doing and lead by example. As an artist who does so much on my own and by myself, I always ask myself what serves the vision best. Try not to be too hard on yourself, enjoy the creative process, but remember that it is a sacred process and your work is like a harbor, you choose who comes in, who does not. You choose what comes in and what goes out. Don't compromise on your vision, be compassionate and support each other, continue to ask questions, remember that you are the artist and you are the one who must assert your message, no one else can do that for you.” - Cory
“The biggest advice I have to give is to trust your instinct and don’t let anyone try to convince you otherwise. If your gut is giving you positive or negative feelings, it’s probably correct whether those feelings are about a potential opportunity, artistic decision, or a person. Women and young women especially, are often taken advantage of by more seasoned people in the industry who want to take advantage of them or micromanage their careers, so the most valuable asset you could have is having a strong sense of self and knowing when and when not to engage with an opportunity, person, or experience based on a mix of your emotions and aspirations.” - Sara
Keep up with them on Instagram!
@coryblair.music
@teenidlemusic
